In other news I have learned my lesson from the exercise in misery that was the Ivor and Aye miniboss and have upgraded my stun grenades, incendiary grenades and Atena’s Mad Bomber ability. The next time this game shows me a Shrike that twitchy little RAT is getting barbecued

[giant flame] [giant flame] [deletes your hand] [giant flame] [giant flame] [your healer gets killed by the random fucking pole in your fourth party member slot]

I loved the use of the erhu in Tiny Shangri-La and Kingdom of Nothingness (I understand there is some debate about whether it was actually erhu in the latter, but let’s say it is). It’s so nice to see ZUN branching out so much in style. Most of my favorite songs in this game have a kind of longing, almost nostalgic quality to them, with the exception of Kindom of Nothingness which has this air of grief and regret that feels to me like the dark reflection of the happier songs’ energy. I also really like that quick little three-note piano progression he keeps doing in this game, it ties every song together in a subtle but very strong way.

I know some people didn’t care for this game and it does have a lot of flaws and rough edges, but I find it really pleasant and relaxing to play in a way that is different from other Touhou games, and I think the new characters and music are just fantastic.

They really did everything in their power to make their AMV of the godawful anime adaptation look good but the quality difference between the game animations/illustrations they included and the cheap anime versions is SO rough. Also I just remembered the plot of the first arc of Girls' Frontline is your PMC invading the war-ravaged former Ukraine on behalf of the Neo-Soviet Union which felt a little weird playing through it in early 2021