Presentation is definitely great. I'm almost afraid of the effects, because they're just as good, if not better, than the effects in my own danmaku game.
The main issue I see with AWC, however, would be the fact that it's almost impossible to get past the presentation "layer" and rate the other aspects of the game - e.g., danmaku, gameplay, story, etc. From what I gather, the story is essentially "It's just a normal day, but not really, because there are evil things! Let's go blow them up! Why? BECAUSE THEY'RE EVIL" ? or, the equivalent of no story. This is unsurprising and almost expected, actually, but I can't really complain because Touhou's storylines are pretty bad too.
The gameplay system, that is, those weird symbol things, and filling up those various card-looking things on the right, is overdone and superficial. When there are five (?) types of whatevertheyares, and danmaku's flying around everywhere, there's no time to think "oh gosh I don't REALLY need a bullet clear right now" or soforth. The player doesn't really get a choice, really, because it's a huge flarghing blob of magic or technodynamic energy or whatnot and it's really hard to not gather; although in honesty, I really can't see anyone going "I don't need a bullet clear or item magnet or extra bomb." Henceforth, the gameplay system is simply a facade, that yields absolutely no requirement for any extra strategy at all, aside from the usual "RUN AND GRAB ITEMS" attitude that pervades all danmaku games; whereas PCB's cherry system requires strategic timing of borders, or MoF's faith system requires meticulous item-grabbing adroitness, or UFO's UFO system (derp) requires memorization and precise timing, AWC's symbolthingy system adds nothing to the gameplay at all.
Another concern with the gameplay is switching shottypes. Having a billion shottypes that can be switched between is not necessarily a good thing. Granted, put in the right context, the ability to change shottypes could be a great addition to a game, maybe its selling point. However, that game would have to be built around switching shottypes, not just shove it in as some sort of "extra" thing that adds to the shininess. At least AWC makes it simple: "Stage? Use the biggest spread shot. Boss? Use the focused shot." That's a no-brainer. I must admit that I haven't played enough of this game to truly criticize the shot-switching system, though; I haven't exposed myself to the nuances of the stages enough to be able to say with certainty that the shot-switching system is good or unnecessary. Using shift to switch shots is just plain annoying, by the way. At some points it leaves the player completely at the mercy of the game whether they have a focused or spread shot.
Danmaku - well, there's not much I can say about the danmaku. I felt there was a lot more "raw" danmaku than strategic danmaku, in the sense that memorization wouldn't be very helpful. Of course, it's questionable whether this is intentional or not, or more importantly, whether this is a virtue or a flaw. UFO, after all, is infamous for having lots of "raw" danmaku.
My overall impression is that AWC hides underneath a mask ? layers of fancy shiny magical effects, layers of an ostentatious attitude that pierces into every other aspect of the game: gameplay, danmaku, etc. It's going to take time to peel away at these layers, but eventually, these layers will be removed, and AWC's true colors will be exposed.
Summary
Story: 4/10 ? A story without a story. A world without a background. Zzz...
Gameplay: 6/10 ? Danmaku is not memorable, yet not bad. Most gameplay mechanics are unnecessary and ostentatious.
Presentation: 9/10 ? Awesome graphics, music, effects, everything. Scares the hell out of Bitzeralisis.
