Touhou 14.3: Danmaku Amanojaku ~ Impossible Spell Card announced!

[cuc]

Near the end of the internet broadcast "Chotto Summit ~ The Drinking Party of Indie Game Developers" on April 12, 2014, where a few prominent indie devs residing in the Tokyo region drank together and played each others' games, ZUN showed the trailer for Touhou 14.3 - "Danmaku Amanojaku ~ Impossible Spell Card", to be released at Reitaisai 11 (May 11, 2014).

This is a game where folks try to capture the rebel of Gensokyo - Kijin Seija, by trapping her in undodgeable danmaku walls, and you control Seija to overcome these impossible danmaku with rule-breaking items you picked up.

ZUN has uploaded the game's trailer as his first ever Youtube video. He also tweeted: "I can say this with certainty: there is no fan service whatsoever in this game."


Blog post on the game announcement:

The Hakurei Shrine Regular Grand Festival will be held on May 11, and Shanghai Alice Gengakudan will be present again.

This time the game is:

Touhou Project 14.3
"Danmaku Amanojaku ~ Impossible Spell Card."

I've even made a trailer, which is something I seldom do. You can watch it here.

[Youtube Trailer]

Please watch the trailer to see what the game is about.
To tell the truth, I made it when I'm in the mood to try something, so it ends up as a strange experimental game.

If you are interested in a game full of personality like that, please come to Reitaisai and shake my hands.
Since the game is Amanojaku-esque, it is not a gentle game in a lot of ways (laugh)

So, there is still much development to be done.
Just in case, if some unexpected accident renders the game impossible to complete, I'm all prepared to put this game on hold.

That's it, see ya!

There are 9 items in total, all appearing to have proficiencies that can be raised.

Bloodthirsty Yin-Yang Orb:
Teleports you towards the boss (see video for how it works)

Tengu's Toy Camera:
Takes down bullets in the front as photos, with automatic focusing and film-loading
Attribute: Photography Range

Cursed Decoy Doll:
Attracts aimed bullets
Attribute: Appearance Time

Four-Foot Magic Bomb:
A timed bomb that clears bullets; increasing proficiency will enlarge its range; the name references a fireworks mortar shell four shaku in diameter (1 shaku equals about 30.3cm)
Attribute: Range

Folding Umbrella of the Gap:
Warps through screen edges; you can hold the button to hide yourself outside the screen
Attribute: Hidden Time

Body Double Jizo Statue:
Dies in your place when hit
Attribute: Invincible Time

Send-Off Lantern of Ghosts:
Turns you into a ghost, who is invincible, and still can move and shoot
Attribute: Ghost Time

Nimble Fabric:
Makes you invincile; you can't move, but you can control your time of invincibility by holding the button (you are probably invincible as long as you are holding the button, and the "Through Time" attribute might be your reaction time)
Attribute: Through Time

Miracle Mallet(?):
Unknown


Translation of important text info from the trailer:

Trailer story:

Kagerou: I've found you, the Amanojaku we are searching for!
To capture the rebel Amanojaku... They assaulted her with undodgeable danmaku!
Eye for an eye! Fight impossible danmaku by breaking the rules!
Brace yourself through it with rule-breaking items!

In-game menu at 1:45:

(Mission Complete!)
Evasion Successful!

Rest for a While (Return to Main Menu)
Onto the Next Suffering
Save Replay
Challenge the Stage Again
Change Equipped Items
How to Play

Spell cards by order of appearance:

Wakasagihime: Tide Sign "Tidal Wave on the Lake"
Kagerou 1st: Wolf Fang "Bloodthirsty Wolf Fang"
Sekibanki 1st: Sharp Eyes "Hell's Ray"
Keine: "20XX  An Afterlife Odyssey"
Kagerou 2nd: Full Moon "Full Moon Roar"
Sekibanki 2nd: Flying Head "Extreme Long Neck"

Stages:

1st Day:
Seija: "Whatever the means, whoever survives, wins."
Scene 1 (tutorial): "Fight impossible danmaku by breaking the rules"
Yatsuhashi: non-SC

??: "Approaching horror"
Wakasagihime: Tide Sign "Tidal Wave on the Lake"

3rd Day:
Scene 2: "Dangers abound in a full moon night"
Kagerou: Full Moon "Full Moon Roar"

4th Day:
Seija: "Ugh, they are getting stronger. Could there be someone behind them ordering them around?"
(This part can be seen at the end, after the menu screen)

[日巫子]

Details are not clear, but it seems to be a game where you control Kijin, and downturn all danmaku folks throw at you, while making use of the various items you gathered, including Yin-Yang Orb and Aya's camera.

So we're basically flipping people upside down and looting their pockets?

[cuc]

Because I've been unable to keep the news updates flowing, the context needs a little explanation.

BitSummit 2014 seemed to have made ZUN feel a little curiosity and admiration towards the indie game convention format. Immediately after the event, he said he almost wanted to set up his own booth at BitSummit.

Today's broadcast, titled "Choutto Summit" ("a bit summit"), gave him the chance to do things sort of in the indie way: meet other developers, and show each other their games.

[Tiamat]

Kijin? Interesting.  What's "downturn" mean?  Is it like "In Soviet Russai, danmaku dodges you!" or something?

[Helepolis]

We're getting another game just like Fairy Wars it seems. Nice.

[Edible]

Nifty.

[Quwanti]

Gameplay footage appears to be live, right? Any change there will be a video of the livestream popping up?

[Sakurei]

That's it guys and girls. Touhou is officially dead now. RIP

We will never have a good game again. It has been confirmed.

[Helepolis]

Touhou is officially dead now. RIP

Yes, thank you so far for your long lasting support and consideration. With it, I am sure ZUN couldn't have keep on going.

[CyberAngel]

14.3? Sounds like there will be more side games. Maybe even a Hopeless Masquerade expansion, eh?

[Sakurei]

Yes, thank you so far for your long lasting support and consideration. With it, I am sure ZUN couldn't have keep on going.

No problem. It was fun most of the time. But then came the day he made SA. And things went shit from there. Strangely, GFW is good, but every other post MoF is just bad. And the trend continues. The games just get worse and worse. SA seemed bearable (alas scoring is stupid), UFO has a reasonable system, but shit balancing. TD has the dumbest system I have seen in ages - the only saving grace is that Youmu is playable. And DDC is even worse than that. With the dumb gimmicks ? la Seija and Bowl-loli. With a dumb system that encourages bombing all over the place. Boring, uninteresting bombs too.

And now this. With this announcement, I am quite convinced that ZUN lost his touch. What happened to his genius when he made EoSD, PCB and IN? What happened to his ability to make a fun game like he did with PoDD and PoFV? What happened to his creativity when he made the photography games? It's all gone and it will never come back. With every new game he's just confirmed it again and again. Touhou is dead. Touhou remains dead. And ZUN killed it. Or perhaps we did, I couldn't possibly tell.

[Helepolis]

No problem. It was fun most of the time. But then came the day he made SA. And things went shit from there. Strangely, GFW is good, but every other post MoF is just bad. And the trend continues. The games just get worse and worse. SA seemed bearable (alas scoring is stupid), UFO has a reasonable system, but shit balancing. TD has the dumbest system I have seen in ages - the only saving grace is that Youmu is playable. And DDC is even worse than that. With the dumb gimmicks ? la Seija and Bowl-loli. With a dumb system that encourages bombing all over the place. Boring, uninteresting bombs too.

And now this. With this announcement, I am quite convinced that ZUN lost his touch. What happened to his genius when he made EoSD, PCB and IN? What happened to his ability to make a fun game like he did with PoDD and PoFV? What happened to his creativity when he made the photography games? It's all gone and it will never come back. With every new game he's just confirmed it again and again. Touhou is dead. Touhou remains dead. And ZUN killed it. Or perhaps we did, I couldn't possibly tell.

Yes, it is quite difficult to keep people please after. . . how many games did he make again?

Also nobody is forcing you to buy the games now? Why would you even complain? Maybe Touhou 15 will be personally made according to your precise requirements and definition of a "good" game.

Hey I know, I can ask ZUN at Reitaisai myself! Oh man, don't you worry!

[Gpop]

That's it guys and girls. Touhou is officially dead now. RIP

We will never have a good game again. It has been confirmed.

Stay salty my friend

This is quite a surprise, and I'm actually really interested as to how this will turn out :V

[Jaimers]

So it's a puzzle game or something?

Welp speculation on puzzle mechanics ahoy!

Bloodthirsty Yin-Yang Orb? - Cuts a narrow path in the danmaku.
?Folding Umbrella of the Gap?s Prayer?- Stationary shield from bullets above.
?Cursed Decoy Doll? - Misdirects aimed shots.
 ?Tengu?s Toy Camera?. - StB photo as usual.

[Critz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSXrU1FOQag trailorz

[Sakurei]

Yes, it is quite difficult to keep people please after. . . how many games did he make again?

Also nobody is forcing you to buy the games now? Why would you even complain? Maybe Touhou 15 will be personally made according to your precise requirements and definition of a "good" game.

Hey I know, I can ask ZUN at Reitaisai myself! Oh man, don't you worry!

This isn't about satisfying everyone. DDC flopped to bad, not even the japanese care about it. Basically, the last game was so bad, he virtually satisfied only the group of people that are fine with anything as long as it's Touhou. That's bad. And it seems that the trend is continuing with this game. To be honest, I had hoped that he wouldn't make a bunch of dumb spinoffs again like he after UFO, but it seems that we will be getting at least 2 of those before the next actual game, which saddens me some.
Of course, this is a puzzle game, so there is the potential that it might actually be fun, seeing how the didn't mess up on those yet. But I got my hopes up after the DDC demo and was presented with a game so detestable I wish it hadn't ever been released.

I love how everyone here always gets super hyped, every time, accepting everyone that's being thrown their way. I can't imagine how it's possible to be so positive all the time. Care to explain how you do that?

Stay salty my friend

I'm always salty, "my friend"

[Jirachi]

14.3? Sounds like there'll be 2 more spin-offs before a main game. Bleh. Hopefully they will be new things that aren't fighting (HM is somewhat new) or photographic games. I really want a new Phantasmagoria, but ZUN doesn't treat them as spin-offs so it's unlikely there'll be one soon, if this thing is real.

EDIT:

14.3? Sounds like there will be more side games. Maybe even a Hopeless Masquerade expansion, eh?

Uh, hadn't read this. Sounds likely. But I'm really hoping not.

[Hello Purvis]

That's it guys and girls. Touhou is officially dead now. RIP

We will never have a good game again. It has been confirmed.

Oh hell yeah I love these! My personal favorite one was still when UD threw an hours long tantrum about how little he cared about Double Spoiler and how Hatate was the death of the franchise forever.

Personally, I am excited. Seija is not a character I would have expected to get her own game, and I am hella interested in the idea of looting people~

[Chuckolator]

Looks like another gimmicky game, which I love. Pretty cool.

pls no drama

[Gpop]

This isn't about satisfying everyone. DDC flopped to bad, not even the japanese care about it. Basically, the last game was so bad, he virtually satisfied only the group of people that are fine with anything as long as it's Touhou. That's bad. And it seems that the trend is continuing with this game. To be honest, I had hoped that he wouldn't make a bunch of dumb spinoffs again like he after UFO, but it seems that we will be getting at least 2 of those before the next actual game, which saddens me some.
Of course, this is a puzzle game, so there is the potential that it might actually be fun, seeing how the didn't mess up on those yet. But I got my hopes up after the DDC demo and was presented with a game so detestable I wish it hadn't ever been released.

I love how everyone here always gets super hyped, every time, accepting everyone that's being thrown their way. I can't imagine how it's possible to be so positive all the time. Care to explain how you do that?

I'm fairly certain I recall ZUN saying that he only makes games he thinks is fun himself, not generally what the fanbase wants. Otherwise Mima would've obviously come back by now yo :V

He doesn't particularly care about how successful the series is. He just wants to make games

I'm very curious as to how you even came to the conclusion that the Japanese thinks DDC was bad.

Also, Shinkirousoku as 14.5 maybe? :V

[Ciel]

Oh my goodness, YES, SEIJA RETURNS

But the thought that this is a spin off and the gameplay reminds me of Shoot the Bullet... Makes me scared a little. And we all know how hard Shoot the Bullet was. XD;

Here's hoping there's a level difficulty setting this time around.

[Gpop]

Btw cuc, the images are a bit iffy atm. Sometimes they work sometimes they don't. Besides, the trailer is already up on Youtube so I think it's best to put that instead until the images get sorted out :V

[nintendonut888]

I'm really surprised Seija of all characters is getting her own game. Surprised, but intrigued. This game looks really unique from the trailer, and I hope it turns out well!

But I'm so sad Touhou has officially died. Died at 18 years of age, the prime of its life! I should have known it was on its last legs when DDC was treated by everyone as a return to the classic Touhou which made it popular.

[Sakurei]

I'm very curious as to how you even came to the conclusion that the Japanese thinks DDC was bad.

Nobody plays it. It's as simple as that. For the most part, DDC is being completely ignored. As evidenced by the fact that I haven't seen anyone stream the game. Or the fact that we still have WRs that were made in August - less than 2 weeks after the game came out. Nobody has even bothered to try and beat those runs. That's how I came to the conclusion that DDC flopped in Japan as well as it did with the players here that have any sort of standards.

[Hello Purvis]

Nobody plays it. It's as simple as that. For the most part, DDC is being completely ignored. As evidenced by the fact that I haven't seen anyone stream the game. Or the fact that we still have WRs that were made in August - less than 2 weeks after the game came out. Nobody has even bothered to try and beat those runs. That's how I came to the conclusion that DDC flopped in Japan as well as it did with the players here that have any sort of standards.

Naw, DDC is actually like the 37th most played game of 2014, just nudging out FTL and Skyrim.

Anyways, this an official warning to knock off the trolling, posing and "edginess".

[Yatakarasu]

Holy shit, Seija getting her own game?! Yesssssssss. That's really surprising actually.

Looks interesting to say the least, well to me. Too soon to tell how batshit the game could get. Looks like it's in the vain StB and DS more than GFW judging by the menus.

I really hope Seija makes as many trolly comments about other character's cards as possible.

[I have no name]

I liked DDC.

Initial impressions of this?  Seija was put in DDC as an excuse for ZUN to make this game, like Aya in PoFV for StB.  It should be a fun little puzzle game with some potential for shenanigans, though I was hoping for another photo game in the near future, there's still Double Spoiler for me to improve at so it's all good.

[nintendonut888]

Judging from the trailer, it looks like many of the spell cards are literally impossible without using special abilities so it will probably be a lot like Fairy Wars in the respect that you have to use your powers at the right time and place or you will almost certainly die. That's always been questionable design in my opinion, but Fairy Wars pulled it off well so we'll see.

Speaking of the trailer, a second watch makes me notice that Keine is in the game! I wonder how much ground it will cover if it's pulling characters from IN. C'mooooon Yuka!

Also gj ZUN on that Seija portrait. She looks like she's about to power slide through a kitchen.

[cuc]

Updated...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE1lFmDEoHg

[Yatakarasu]

Also gj ZUN on that Seija portrait. She looks like she's about to power slide through a kitchen.

That is the best thing I've heard all week.

Just noticed. Seems to be limited uses for each power. Interesting.