Wow, a new post! Within less than a week! Surprise, surprise indeed! What has drawn me to make such a shocking attempt to entertain all of you? The answer would be boredom and homework. Yes, anything to take my mind off school.
But the reason for this post, as you can tell about the title, is not about school work. Or my rantings. Yes, it is this unknown and probably alien word, "Touhou". You may have noticed that, in addition to the large background image behind the title, there is also something called the Touhouclock located at the right side of the blog.
Yes, all of these relates to the magical world of Touhou, where magical things exist and magic prevails over science (not to say that it doesn't exist). Now, what is Touhou, you ask? To sum it up, Touhou is a bullet hell shooter game, or danmaku, if you prefer. What is a danmaku game then? Well, ever played those vertical shooting game, where you pilot a plane, blasting your way through levels vertically, where enemy planes come in through the side of the screen or the front, firing bullets or missiles at you?
Yeah, it's kind of the same thing. Except you multiply the bullets by a 100 times.
Don't worry; that's the Extra Stage, which is harder than your average Normal run.
Yes, the idea might be a little daunting. After all, you remember dying often during those plane games. A bullet tearing though your left wing, your other wing nicking a stray missile... Multiplying this many bullets will only serve to intimidate you all, no?
Focusing
But let's take a look at several factors which makes Touhou not as impossible of a task as you might think. Firstly, the Focus mode. By holding the Focus button, your attacks are, well, focused, and in most cases gathered at the front to deal more damage instead of spreading out. This is useful against bosses (which are the most important obstacle to clear in the games). Most importantly, Focus lets you move slower, sort of like a break button. This is very crucial so that you won't fly around at top speed and crash into random projectiles (coincidentally also called danmaku).
Non-Focused attack.
Focused attack.
Hitbox
Another factor that prevents you from dying would be the hitbox. Well, in those plane games, a missile touching you anywhere will cause you to take damage and/or die. So if your plane is especially wide, fat, or long... well, we all know what happens to fat planes, now do we? Going back to the original topic, your character in Touhou has something called a hitbox, which is usually hidden. However, during Focus mode, your hitbox, a small little round circle (despite being called a box) will be able to be seen. Any danmaku that touches the hitbox will end your life. BUT, that is, if they hit your hitbox.
See that white dot in the middle of your character? Yep, hitbox.
What do I mean? Well, if they hit your hands, legs or head (Yes, you don't pilot a plane in Touhou), you would not die. Heck, you would get extra points for this instead. The act of dodging danmaku in close proximity is called 'grazing', but more on that later.
Bombing/Spell Cards
The next factor would be 'deathbombing', but before we continue with that subject, let's talk about bombing. Each player is given a limited amount of bombs, known as spell cards. These are flashy abilities that has the main function of clearing enemy danmaku off the screen. Each spell card has a different graphic and removes danmaku in a different way. Some remove them by expanding outwards in a ring, while others seek out enemies, removing danamku as they pass through them. Then there is also a mega laser which makes Goku's Kamehameha look pathetic.
IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZOR!
Another thing to note about bombing is that players tend to bomb to clear danmaku and not to cause damage. They only use them to clear danmaku when they are trapped in a situation in which they are unable to escape, thus allowing them to continue and not die.
Right, deathbombing. The act of deathbombing is the activation of a spell card within a split second of your death. Basically, when a danmaku touches you, you have a short window, normally 0.3 second, to press the bomb button and survive, but using up one of your bombs, naturally. As usual, the small window to deathbomb seems impossible, but with practice, it can become your lifesaver for the rest of your future Touhou life.
Collectibles
Like every vertical-scrolling shoot em' up game, there are collectibles. The main 2 collectibles are Powers and Points. Powers appear as small red blocks with a 'p' on them, while Points are blue blocks with a... thing on them. I can't tell, since there aren't giant Point blocks, as opposed to Powers.
Right, now let's discuss about the collectibles. Powers are, well, basically powers. Collecting them will increase your power. In other words, they increase your damage, and in some cases cause your attacks to change. Points on the other hand give you points. Besides the obvious, Points are a source of Life in many games. Collecting a set amount of Points will give you bonus 1UP. Nifty isn't it?
There are also some mobs or bosses who will drop spell cards upon their death. These can be a green block with a 'B' on them, or a green star shaped collectible, depending on which game you are playing. Obtaining one of these will automatically give you one free bomb!
In the newer Touhou games, health is rewarded through empty star shaped pink collectibles, which you would require a few to successfully get a 1UP. It might seem like a hassle, but in some games it is really easy to get them.
Enemies
Now for the battles. Almost each battle is scripted, and the mobs and bosses will act accordingly. Mobs will always spawn from the same place, and mobs that are destined to fire danmaku at you WILL fire danmaku at you. There is no circumstance where they decide to spare you. No; every youkai, fairy, spirit, furball and magician wants you dead. No matter how far or how near or how much or how little health you have, they will shoot at you if they are programmed to do so. Early in the game there are those who could only hurt you through body contact, but from Stage 1 onwards, it will be a rare sight.
However, despite how merciless the mobs may be, there is a benefit: it is
scripted. Yes, it means that those that fire aimed shots would not suddenly decide to spray you with danmaku, and vice versa. This means that completing a stage multiple times or encountering the same enemies over a course of short period will allow you to analyze and memorize the patterns. This applies to bosses as well.
Yeah, just memorize the pattern. And don't die.
Bosses
Ah, what is a fun game without bosses? Even Pokémon had bosses in the form of Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. Touhou bosses are not as simple as bosses from the other games. Granted, there is no special spot that you must know, no weak points that you must exploit. They can all be easily taken down with a barrage of danmaku. The only problem with them is that they have many lives, up to 6. Bosses also have spell cards on their own. Uh oh, does that mean that they can wipe out your danmaku and damage you no matter where you are, taking you down in 1 shot (everything hostile that touches you destroys you in 1 shot)?
Fortunately, no. Spell cards work differently for bosses. Instead of a full screen explosion designed to take out danmaku, it is a complicated spell pattern which has only 1 function: to knock you out and give you a headache. Actually, that was 2 functions, but who cares. Each spell card varies from boss to boss, each as complicated as the other. Most of the time, they are scripted/patterned, and all you need to do is learn it well. Some of the more intricate patterns require time and patience to understand and memorize, and you need not rush it. Bosses also have non-spells, which are basically just danmaku spam, but those from Stage 4 onwards can be tough and must be handled with care. Oh, did I mention that there are 6 stages, each with their own boss, and sometimes, midboss? What joy!
An example of a boss' spell card.
Getting Started
Of course, after pressing start and entering the game, the first thing you want to do is select the difficulty. The names might differ from game to game, but the difficulties are always arranged in the same order: Easy, Normal, Hard and finally, Lunatic. As someone who just started on Touhou, do
NOT pick Lunatic. Well, you can try, but I doubt you will ever touch Touhou ever again. Either pick Easy to get a feel of the game, and practice lots with Normal mode.
Yes, see the highlighted difficulty with the word 'Lunatic' on it? Do not touch that if you value your sanity.
Next will be selecting your character. Some games give you an option of up to 4, but mostly it is just 2 to 3. Each characters work differently, from their style of play, to the size of the hitbox and the speed in which they move. Usually beginners will pick Reimu, the main heroine, whom I will discuss most likely in the next few posts.
Most of the games will also offer the option to select different shot types. Shot types give your characters the option to attack with a different style while keeping the characteristics of the character (like I said, hitbox, speed etc.). For example, you may trade a weak homing shot for a strong but non-homing attack. Select those that you like which suits your style.
The next and final thing to know would be Point of Collection. There is an invisible line within your field of gaming, where you may cross to gain auto collection. In other words, you vacuum all collectibles like a blackhole, as long as the points are on screen. The Point of Collection is located about 4/5 of the way up the screen. It is not encouraged to do this in the later stages, where mobs are constantly spawning and firing shots at you. However, this is quite useful in early Stages.
Tips
Now, being a beginner, your top priority isn't about getting Points, nor rushing through danmaku to get Powers and using flashy techniques to beat bosses. No, your main and only priority as of now would be to survive. Use every trick up your sleeve to evade danmaku. Study the danamaku patterns well, be quick to react if unfamiliar ones come your way, and use your bombs. I cannot stress this enough. Don't be too stingy about using them, but at the same time, don't use them just to clear up simple danmaku which could be easily avoided. If you can, use up
all your bombs before you die, so it wouldn't be a waste.
Do not attempt to graze complicated-looking danmaku patterns until you are ready for them. For this picture, just move to the left or right side of the screen safely.
Death is common in Touhou, and do not get dispirited after a simple death, or an accidental one. Do not expect to beat the whole game on Normal the first time in 1 CC (continue). It is near impossible if you do not have the experience. You might be a natural, but still do not get your hopes too high. However, there is one important and crucial thing that you must never, ever forget.
Do not retry because of a small mistake. Well, you died in Stage 1 due to an accident. Then you had to use up a continue in Stage 4. Do not retry the game just because of that. If you do, it will only become an endless cycle of Stage 1, 2 and 3. How are you supposed to be good at Stage 5 if you keep retrying at Stage 4? Do not be afraid to lose: Touhou games are
hard, and do not expect to be a master at it straight away.
Dodging
Dodging may seem like a basic move that everybody knows, but of course, dodging in Touhou is a rather hard feat. And thanks to Focus mode, there are many different ways of dodging. Some bullet patterns require you to make big movements, moving from left to right and back to left again without the time to stop and rest. Then, there are mobs or bosses who would try to overwhelm you with a sheer number of danmaku, and the only way to survive these attacks would be to 'micrododge', by tapping your arrow key in the direction you want once, or a continuous succession of tapping to weave your way through the bullets.
Then, for those large numbers of danmaku aimed at you, you can use a method known as 'streaming'. Streaming is the act of moving left, right, up or down the way you would when micrododging, but continue doing so every second. The bullets aimed at you would just brush by you, dangerously close but relatively harmless.
Here, you can see streaming being used on the left picture while it is not in the right picture. Streaming makes it much more safe to move around and the danmaku patterns more easily handled.
Another dodging method is known as 'belting'. There is a time when some mobs decide to fire danmaku non-stop at you. Aimed danmaku. You're doing good, streaming past them like a boss, until you find yourself stuck at the corner.
Now, belting usually used for aimed danmaku that are fired at intervals, let's say every 2 seconds. Use that short interval as a chance to move to any direction free of danmaku at top speed, making the next interval of bullets aimed at you to spread out behind you. Once you're in a safe position, resume streaming again until the mobs are dead.
Now, to make things clear, I am
not a pro at this game. Heck, I can barely finish a 1 CC run. So do not take these tips seriously and expect to be an expert at it, because I have not yet achieved that dream to. But never give up, and do not abandon the game just because you lost the first time. With practice, Touhou can become really addictive and fun to play. Not to mention the fanbase.
Lastly, most will still be confused about what really is Touhou. Well, fret not. On one of my upcoming post, I shall write about the lore of Gensokyo as well as introduce the 2 main heroines of the series: Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame!
YC, signing out.
