[Let's Play] Sengoku Gensokyo! [On Hiatus]

[Validon98]

Well, I did say I would probably be on hiatus, and I guess I was wrong.



Welcome, everyone, to a new Let's Play! Last time, we journeyed together across a broken Gensokyo to stop demons from tearing it apart. Now we go to a more laid-back game.

This is Sengoku Gensokyo (literally "Warring Country Gensokyo")!
For those of you who have not heard of Sengoku Gensokyo, it is based on the game Sengoku Rance, an 18+ strategy RPG by AliceSoft. Don't worry, this game is not 18+, for those of you who don't like that sort of thing (like myself). So, this is a strategy RPG. However, there is a bit of a twist. It's also a visual novel. That means that this game is filled with many cutscenes and plenty of story.
Thankfully, the game has an English patch, so I can actually write down exactly what is being said.
So, here's how it's going to go. For cutscenes, any text in italics will be from the game itself, while normal text is my commentary. I will comment on the events of the game, of course, and not just ignore the fact that the story is even there, because that is against how I play games. Plus it's very hard to ignore the story in a visual novel, so yeah.

As for updates, well, there are different armies and events that will occur in relation to those armies. Every update will see me dealing with one of the armies, although I might split it up into multiple armies depending how long it takes me to deal with each army. Armies at the beginning will be easier to deal with, while armies later on will take much longer. Certain events might get their own updates (those who've played the game know which ones I'm talking about). Also, I may not be exactly on hiatus, but updates are going to be slow, so don't expect it to be as fast as Devil of Decline.

Finally, I will be playing this on Hard. I've only finished this game on Normal, but I want to do it on Hard. Again, those of you who've played the game know why. On that note, please, no spoilers. There are probably people here who haven't played the game theirselves. So, please don't spoil anything.

That should be everything! Next time, whenever I have the tim eto make an update, we'll see the prologue to the game and see what exactly is going on in Gensokyo.

Girls do their best and are preparing.
Please watch warmly until it is ready.
Magical girls are part of large-scale war!
All want their special wish granted...

[Hinacle]

I love this game and I love you for doing this.
Oooh, hard mode, huh~ Good luck with that certain girl
e: wrong girl. That was on Lunatic.
e2: Still hate how that one girl is fight-able so early. 

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

So, this is a strategy RPG. However, there is a bit of a twist. It's also a visual novel.

How the fuck is this a twist?

[Validon98]

How the fuck is this a twist?

Uh, genre bending? You usually don't have strategy RPGs that are visual novels, as far as I know.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

... I could list so many games that prove otherwise.
It's nothing new at all.

[Hanzo K.]

Well, there is the Rance series, Utawarerumono, and a couple others, but it's not particularly common. Not particularly rare either, considering as how a lot of the games like that have hardly ever seen the light of day anywhere but Japan.

[Validon98]

... I could list so many games that prove otherwise.
It's nothing new at all.

I never said it was "new." I never said it was "rare." It's just different from what I usually consider a strategy RPG. So excuse me if I'm not familiar with other strategy RPGs that are like that, okay?
Also, this sort of negative discussion is something I want to avoid. There are people here who just want to have fun, including myself. I'm not an entirely positive person, but I want to try to keep these LPs as positive as possible. I had no problems with that in the DoD LP, and I want it to stay like that for this LP. Are we clear?

[Hanzo K.]

Like a crystal.

[marukyuu]

A SRPG/VN hybrid? That's a game I'd never want to play for lots of reasons (mainly because I suck at strategy games :V). I'm curious about what I'm missing out on, though, so I'll be following this LP.

[Validon98]

So, here we go with the prologue. I tried to extract the text from the game in order to make getting all the dialogue down easier, but ITH ignores spaces completely. It was only after I already screenshotted the update and saved the game that I realized AGTH does a much cleaner job of extracting the text. So, for this update only, I'm just copy-pasting the text from the LP on Giant in the Playground. This update only. I'm extracting it properly with AGTH in future updates.

Prologue: War on the Horizon



When you press "Start" for the first time, you'll go immediately into the game. If you've beaten the game like I have, you can choose between the Main Scenario and National Mode. The Main Scenario is the story mode of the game, while National Mode allows you to play the strategy RPG portion without any of the story, turning the game into something similar to RISK or other war games. For the LP, we're doing the Main Scenario.
Also, yes, I do have a Hina mouse cursor. It used to be a Koishi one, but I changed it for some reason. Maybe because I like the spinning?
That doesn't mean I don't like Koishi, though! You can thank Do the Right Thing for my liking of Koishi...
Enough of that. Back to the LP.



You can only play on Normal on your first playthrough, but I'm doing this on Hard. I might have to pray a little to get through, but I should be able to do it. If I don't screw up.



After beating the game, you can change the statistics of all of the characters, as well as create your own. I haven't toyed with the stats at all, but I'm still going to select "No."



We are so not skipping the prologue.

The Hakurei Shrine.



A shrine located away from the Human Village, flanked by rows of trees, visited mostly by non-humans. From there, one could survey all of Gensokyo, enjoying the beauty of the four seasons.

However, due to the long trek to the shrine from the village, and the rumours of youkai constantly gathering at the shrine, it became a place where normal humans did not dare to tread.



Thus, the humans who did visit the shrine tended to be those even more dangerous than youkai. The head of the shrine who has to deal with them must have quite a difficult job...

I bet said head does.



Yet, thanks to the aforementioned head who is perhaps the most dangerous of them all, the shrine today was once again the scene of a peaceful, warm and friendly environment.

Maybe I should be worried about this head?



Today, like every other day, was yet another enjoyable occasion in the life of "Reimu Hakurei."

The End.

Really, it's over already? Huh, that was fast.



Reimu: "It's not the end."

Oh. Well, thank you, Reimu. I was starting to think the game was shorter and less tear jerking.
You'll see how wrong that is.



...The Hakurei Shrine. Surrounded by young trees, spreading their beautiful green feathers to the floor. The shrine maiden bearing the Hakurei name stood under their shadows, skillfully sweeping the leaves away.

Reimu: Mmm~~hmm hmm, mmmm~~...Well, this should do it. The real thing is going to start soon, though.

She stood in front of the leaves she swept, and sighed. The pile of green was a mere molehill now, but in two months, that molehill would become a mountain. The real thing... the season of falling of leaves was not far away.

And then you'll have to deal with the Aki sisters... not that that's a bad thing, mind you.



Reimu: When the temperature is high, the leaves barely fall, and as the temperature gets lower, the amount of leaves to sweep increases. The world is quite convenient.

: That'd be called the "Law of Conservation of Momentum".

I'm sorry, what? When'd physics matter in Gensokyo?

A bright and cheerful voice matching the atmosphere emerged from the area around Reimu.

Reimu: What's that suppose to mean?

: It means ya sweat the same amount no matter the season.

I guess that makes sense.

The person walked straight towards Reimu, her footsteps reverberating lightly. It was a magician in black clothes...Marisa Kirisame. She had a broom in one hand, and a fearless grin on her face.

The girl could take to the skies using her trademark broom. She did not actually need the broom to fly, but due to her belief that "witches always use brooms to fly", she was never seen flying without one.

That is actually canon, by the way.

Reimu: Oh, my sweat is actually a very precious thing and should be appreciated, you know.



That's quite the happy expression you've got there, Reimu.

Marisa: Methinks that has a deeper meanin' than you're givin' it.

If you don't get this, you have no appreciation of hard work.

Reimu: Do you know why I sweep the fallen leaves everyday? This is a Shinto ritual. The swish of the broom is a dance for the gods, the leaves are offerings... and the sweat is the nectar of the gods. The gods become satisfied upon viewing such a ritual. They will then bless us with an abundant harvest.

Marisa: Hey, I didn't know that. I thought you were just bein' your usual carefree self, but you're actually workin' hard, huh? That's pretty surprising.

Reimu: You think? I'm quite surprised too.

Marisa: Ehh?

Reimu: I'm surprised that you so easily believed what I came up with on the spot.

Maybe you shouldn't lie about Shinto rituals. That's probably sacrilegious, or something.

Marisa: ...You sure have faith in your fate after death, huh?

Uh, pardon? Oh right, lying. Higan. Tongue getting cut off. I remember Marisa's story from PoFV.

With a tiny grin, she shrugged her shoulders. Her words may have sounded unhappy, but their conversations were always for the enjoyment and wit, so the subject never really mattered to either of them.

Reimu: So, what are you here for today?

Marisa: Ya shouldn't need to ask, eh?

Reimu: It's just a customary greeting. It must be nice to be so free everyday.

Marisa: Hey, I'm not exactly free, ya know. I'm busy tryin' to find ways to spend all my free time.

What, the Flower Incident wasn't enough for you? Granted, it sort of solved itself...
This game takes place between Phantasmagoria of Flower View and Mountain of Faith, by the way. Wouldn't this sort of overlap with Silent Sinner in Blue?

Reimu: I've got a sudden craving for some fish with thyme, actually. Want to come along with me?

Marisa: I guess that's one of the better ways to kill some. I know a certain maid who's really good at recipes with thyme in 'em, too.

Reimu: You don't say.

That was a sudden shift in the conversation. "Hey, let's talk about killing time. Hey, let's go have some fish with thyme." Wait, that rhymes. Okay then.

The girls spent all the free time they had enjoying life as they knew it. But while the usual day was carefree, some unusual days would pop up, where the usual suspects would cause uproars. And those with strength in Gensokyo would proceed to handle the situation horribly. This time, the incident all began from the plan of a certain youkai...

Oh? Well, I wouldn't say they handled it horribly. I mean, the incidents got resolved, right?



: I'll make that wish come true~.

Huh? Who's that?

Marisa: Hm? Whozzat?

My thoughts exactly.

The voice came from behind Marisa, roughly at the hall of worship. But there was no one there. Only the echo of the voice and its words remained.



: I am the god of the Hakurei Shrine~. If you wish for me to solve your problems of free time, procure some dishes with thyme as your offering to me~.

Marisa, you look a bit flustered. Then again, voices claiming they're gods from nowhere are a bit disorienting.

Marisa: That's a pretty cheap-minded god.

Reimu: ...*sigh*

Reimu took out a familiar needle as she sighed. It was an anti-demon needle, used for youkai extermination. With a flick of the wrist, the needle flew in a seemingly aimless direction.

: Ouuuuuuch!

Persuasion Needles. Best things ever for rooting out gods. Or just youkai.

The dull sound of the needle piercing something in the air was accompanied by a cry of pain that echoed throughout the grounds. Eventually, a crack showed itself in the sky, and a shadow emerged from the gap.

It was the border-manipulating youkai of enormous power, Yukari Yakumo.



Yukari, Yukari, Yukari. Don't you have better things to do than fool around with Reimu?

Yukari: How violent...you could've ruined my clothes, you know...ow ow...

She plucked out the needle from her behind with an unpleasant frown. The needle seemed to have pierced the top of her clothes, but as she removed it, no traces of any damage could be seen.

*sigh* Reimu is very violent. You should know that by now.

Reimu: Since when did you become the main god of the shrine?

Yukari: My, why not? I'm always watching over you from the moment you wake up, till the moment you sleep after all.

That's creepy. Really creepy. It's just as creepy as when you first showed up in Diamond in the Rough. I'm pretty sure you almost gave Brolli a heart attack.
Moving on.

Reimu: Don't say such creepy things. Why don't you go and get your own food yourself, or get your henchmen to get you some instead of asking me?

Yukari: They're not my henchmen, they're shikigami~. Anyway, leaving the eating part aside, you all were wondering how to spend your free time, no?

Marisa: Well yeah, somethin' like that.



Yukari: So here~, I've got something that'll fix that problem in no time~!

You're kidding me, right?

Reimu: You sound like a door-to-door salesman.

Yukari: Well then, do at least listen to my sales pitch fully. You over there, don't you think the spellcard rules in Gensokyo right now is lacking a little something?

Uh, no. They're fine. I get my ass kicked hard enough sometimes to prove that.

Marisa: Hm, well, I...

Yukari: Right, there you go~. Especially in your case, since I'm sure you're sore about always losing to Reimu, right?

Marisa: Shaddup, I've won a few of those!

It's okay, Marisa. You're still one of the best Spell Card duelers in Gensokyo.

Yukari: So here's a new proposal for you! If you can't win one-on-one, then why not try fighting in large group battles!?

So, like Devil of Decline? That was a bitch, you know. The Three Demonic Pillars fought back pretty damn hard in those duels.



The smile on Yukari's face kept growing bigger as she went on. However, the two were well aware that something fishy was always hidden behind her smiles, and looked at her suspiciously.

Well, it's Yukari. There's always a reason. Always.
I've learned never to trust a single word from her mouth. I'm pretty sure everyone here shares my sentiments regarding her.

Reimu: What? I thought those rules out carefully, yet some people still aren't satisfied?

I'm satisfied! Hello, Yukari, I'm satisfied. I don't want any changes. Status quo, remember? You of all people should know that.

Yukari: Oh, they're very happy. In fact, that excellent agreement has worked out wonderfully. But you see...no matter how tasty a dish is, if you eat it every single day, what would you think of it then?

...I guess you have a point...

Marisa: Yeah, I like my miso to be different everyday.

Reimu: If you want it to be different, then stop leeching off me and go make your own.

Yukari: And that's why I came up with a new set of rules, tailored for team battles!

That fast? Wow, you're faster than the guys making the translation to Devil of Decline.
Not that I'm impatient! Keep on chugging, guys.

Yukari puffed up her chest in pride as she spoke. She then seemingly stopped talking, but instead was waiting for questions about her rules before continuing on.

Reimu: Team battles? Is that like having one person from each team fight another, then the winner stays and the loser is removed from battle?

Yukari: Of course not, that wouldn't be any different from the current spellcard rules. I'm talking about everyone fighting each other at the same time.

It was true that the spellcard rules were created with one-on-one fights in mind, as Yukari said. It was youkai nature to seek one-on-one battles, so team battles were never taken into consideration.

True, true.



Yukari's new rules went something like this:

1. Choose a leader, and the team becomes an army.
2. Anyone, human, youkai, or otherwise, can participate.
3. Armies will have territories to be contested over.

Armies? Wait wait wait, are you talking about war!? You're joking, right?

And so on...Basically, it could be thought of as a typical strategy game of conquering areas. As soon as Yukari ended her briefing, she was immediately bombarded with questions.

Reimu: What do you mean by leader?

Yukari: Just as it says, really. It'll be the person who leads the group. If the leader retreats from the game, that army has lost~.

Marisa: Anyone can participate? So these unreliable fairies 'round here would work too?

Yukari: I see no problem, as long as they can fight and have someone to lead them. I'm sure there are people who may be weak individually, but strong in a team.

Never thought about it like that. Hell, even Team 9 would be trouble if they focused their efforts, huh?

Reimu: By territories, do you mean something like my shrine?

Yukari: Indeed. I've prepared a map that divides the areas of Gensokyo into territories. You can look at it later.

The fact that she even prepared a map for it showed how motivated she was. It didn't seem like she would take no for an answer. But there was still one major problem.

A map? Really now? Yukari's got this all figured out. Suspicious...

Reimu: You said you wanted to get all of Gensokyo involved, but what about those who don't want to get involved, or don't have any interest in this?

It was a natural question given the circumstances, but Yukari's smile only grew wider as she prepared to answer it.

This can't be good.

Yukari: Of course, there will be those who oppose it. That's why I included something very important as well...

What could possibly get a bunch of youkai to get involved in war?



Yukari: The last army left standing will have any wish they have granted. This will also encourage the defeated to co-operate with their conquerors.

Oh. A wish. You know, a wish is what caused the plot of the Twisted Metal series, and we all know how that ended up. Has anything involving a wish ever go right?

Marisa: Oho...Now that sounds interesin'.

Marisa's interest perked up at Yukari's words. She was doubtlessly thinking of all the things she would wish for in her mind. It was far too early to count chickens before they hatched, but thus was her nature.

*sigh* Typical Marisa.

Yukari: Everyone loves festivals and parties, so with this incentive, I'm sure everyone will participate. Well? Interesting, isn't it? You'll do it, right?

Yukari grinned as if she already knew what the answer was going to be. Reimu seemed to be considering it still, but Marisa had already fallen in love with the idea.

No shit.



Marisa: I'll do it. I've got a ton of things I want.

Of course. Books? Magic? Full magicianship?
Skip that last one. You'll see why.

Reimu: You should save that talk for if you actually win.

Marisa: I ain't gonna lose in anything I do. 'Sides, with you and me together, there ain't nothin' that we need to be afraid of.



Reimu: Wait a second, when did this turn into you forming a group with me?

Reimu, you're overdoing it will the "Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaat?" expression.

Marisa: Hey Yukari, I can join up with anyone I want, right?

Yukari: Yes, feel free to do as you please.

Marisa: There we go. Let's do our best, hey!

Well, the main characters of the series have to stick together, right?

Yukari: I'll put you two down as the Hakurei team. Now then, I should start informing other places who would like to join as well. Ahh, so busy!

Reimu: Wha? Hey, Yukari, wait!

Reimu's cries were in vain, as Yukari disappeared into a gap. A calming silence returned to the area. All that remained was Marisa smiling to herself, and Reimu with her hand outstretched into thin air.

Well, that was sort of unexpected and out of the blue.

Reimu: That Yukari...she's usually so lazy about things, yet she's pumped for this somehow...geez, so annoying.

Knowing her, she probably has a reason. What it is, I don't know.

Marisa: We ain't had anything major happen for awhile, so this kinda things sounds great, doncha think? It'll be a tasty way to kill some time.

Reimu: And hopefully we'll be the last ones standing, huh?

And so, the territorial conquest war that would sweep Gensokyo up in its momentum began. Can the two of them really emerge victorious?

I don't know, two against everyone else? It'll be quite a challenge.

Reimu: I suppose you won't let me purposely lose to get it over with quickly, huh?

Marisa: Got that right.

Reimu: ...*sigh*

Sorry Reimu, you're not getting out of this one.

And with that, the opening of the game plays. I've never bothered watching it, because I simply want to get to actual story.

And that's the prologue! But how are we going to proceed with the war? Who is interested in joining? And what is Yukari's true purpose? Find out as Sengoku Gensokyo continues!

[Hinacle]

First!

Can't wait for the rest of this LP. I loved this game when I first played it.

[EyeMtheStron9est]

So do they fuck?

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

So do they fuck?

Only in the fandisc.

[Conqueror]

Oh man, blast from the past from my first post on the forums.

Fandisc so lame, iirc I had to add my own portraits.

[Validon98]

So do they fuck?

=_=

[theshirn]

The choice to use a whole bunch of different artists for portraits can lead to some really jarring scenes sometimes. :V  Some are better than others; Yukari's I don't care for, while Marisa's is great, for example.

[Hinacle]

The choice to use a whole bunch of different artists for portraits can lead to some really jarring scenes sometimes. :V  Some are better than others; Yukari's I don't care for, while Marisa's is great, for example.

Yukari's makes her look kinda manly.  :derp:

[Ikari]

I'll be following that one as well!~

=_=

The simplicity of this response made me laugh way harder than it should.

[Validon98]

Day 1- Beginning of Day 3: The Youkai Plan a Counterattack!

So, the great war in Gensokyo has started. Well, let's get started then!
Or get thrown into a cutscene right at the beginning of Day 1. That too.

The Hakurei Shrine.

Reimu was sweeping the area just like the day before, but in a worse mood thanks to Yukari's whimsical ways. But as she thought about it longer, this could be considered an "artificial" incident from Yukari, so it would be the Hakurei shrine maiden's job to resolve it. It would become one of her normal duties of sorts. And so, she began briefing with the other person she grouped with, Marisa.

Great, more incidents. As if we didn't have enough.

Reimu: "...So, what do we do now?"

Marisa: "Hmm...I guess we should go attack somewhere?"

Reimu: "And where would that 'somewhere' be?"

Yeah, we kind of just started. I don't know if being the belligerent ones would be good for us in the long run.

On Yukari's map, Gensokyo had been divided into 23 areas. Along with Reimu and co's Hakurei Shrine, there were many others like the SDM, Hakugyokurou, Eientei, and so on.

Marisa: "...Do ya think these guys'll join in?"

Marisa started to point at several different places on the map.

Reimu: "You think I can answer you? Though I suppose knowing them, they'd jump at the chance."

Not necessarily. It would be a way to relieve boredom, true, but I don't think everyone in Gensokyo is interested in warring. Wouldn't it cause some sort of upset?

The Scarlet Devil Mansion's Remilia Scarlet. Hakugyokurou's Yuyuko Saigyouji. Eientei's Kaguya Houraisan. All of them had started incidents in Gensokyo's past. If Reimu's group wanted to be the winners, they would have to overcome extremely large obstacles in their way.

Extremely large obstacles? We've kicked their asses head over heels in the past. Granted, this is a whole new way of fighting, but this is Reimu we're talking about. There's no way she'll lose to anyone, right?



Marisa: "They're pretty far, so they won't be an immediate problem...but they ain't gonna be avoidable. We gotta prepare for them by swallowing up nearby armies."

Reimu: "...You're sounding like some kind of strategist now."

Marisa: "Can't say I look like one though. 'Sides, you ain't good with that kinda stuff, right?"

Reimu: "Uh huh. I don't like thinking about such troublesome matters. I'll leave the finer details to you."

Marisa: "Ha ha, you can rely on me, young master."

Young master? I think you're confusing your gendered titles...

Reimu: "...Anyway, what should we do now? These instructions don't really give any clues about that."

Reimu slapped the several sheets of paper she was holding in disgust. It was the instructions for the game that she received from Yukari, but though it went on and on, it never seemed to get to the point.

Sounds like Yukari alright.



Reimu: "I guess hearing from the woman herself would be the fastest way to go about it...You're there, aren't you?"

She seemingly called out to nothing at all. A second later, a crack appeared in the atmosphere, and Yukari popped out of the gap.

Of. Course.

Yukari: "I believe I was called."

Reimu: "Trying to act innocent? I know you've been around for a while now."

You can sense gaps, huh? Granted, I doubt Reimu will develop similar powers to Maribel ever, but still.

Yukari: "Oops, you spotted me? Ah well. As I said, I'm always watching you from the moment you get up, till...hey, put that needle away."

Reimu: "If you were watching, then I assume you know what I called you here for."

Yukari: "Yes yes~, so what exactly don't you know about?"



And we skip the tutorial for combat. We'll go over it later.

Reimu: "Well...actually, forget about it."

Yukari: "My, you know what to do without asking? Will you really be all right? If you don't ask now, you'll never find out, you know."

Reimu: "So stubborn!"



Yukari: "I said put that needle away~!"

Uh, no. Sorry, we kind of know what we're doing. At least, I do. But I have no avatar within the game to tell them, so that doesn't help them.

Yukari hurriedly returned through the gap before Reimu could do what she wanted to. Her voice rang out from the gap with one final line.

Yukari: "Do your best~!"

Reimu fired the needle towards the gap in anger, but the gap closed immediately, and the needle simply flew through the sky.

Marisa: "...Somehow, it feels like she has ya at her fingertips. Are ya really okay with sendin' her away though?"

Oh she does have us at her fingertips. As long as we play her game we're playing right into her hands. What she wants with us and what she has created this game for, we still don't know.
Well, I know, but I'm not going to spoil it, am I?
Ahahahahahahaha...

Reimu: "I bet it'll work out anyway...No, I'll make sure it works out. According to this map, she'll be participating, so I'll finally deal with her fair and square!"

Marisa: "Hoo boy."

Reimu curled hand into a fist, and punched the sky with it. Well, as long as she's motivated somehow...or so the carefree Marisa thought as she watched the irritated Reimu.

And with that, we end yet another cutscene. We've got quite a few before we head into real combat.



So, here's the map. That's us in the top-right. The good-old Hakurei Shrine, right on the eastern border of Gensokyo where it belongs. It's not Strawberry Bose's map of Gensokyo, but it'll do.



So, here's our main map. We've got a couple things here I need to explain. On the bottom, we've got the current Turn (technically each turn is a day, so I'll be referring to them as days), our Ouki count, our current total Cost, our total current Ryumaku, and the amount of actions we have this turn.
Ouki is our money. We can use it to buy items, heal our units, and level up our people. We seem to get a lot more Ouki here than in Normal mode. I guess that's one of the perks of being on Hard.
Ryumaku is our ability to support our army. Each unit has a Cost. If the total cost exceeds our Ryumaku, we start losing Ouki each turn. If it doesn't, however, we start gaining Ouki. Obviously, we want to keep our Cost below our Ryumaku. Our Ryumaku can be increased by Developing territories. More on that in a moment.
Finally, we have the current amount of actions per turn. We start out  with two actions per turn, but that gets increased to three later on.

As for our options, we have Event, Summary, Item, System, and End Turn.
Event allows us to Attack armies, Develop our Territories, and view Events. We can't Attack yet, as we're the only army on the map right now. Developing is simple. Just pick a territory and pick characters whose RES (Research) stats add up to at least whatever the requirement is. The cost is equal to the amount of Ryumaku a territory currently has times three.



Events come in two flavors. You have Conversations, where you can talk to people to raise a hidden stat called Affection. Each character will get Affection Bonuses if their Affection is raised high enough. More on that later. Events can be either War Declarations or other special events related to the story. War Declarations require a certain amount of NEG (Negotiation), similar to Developing. Special events are either free or might require RES. Those who've played this before know which ones I'm talking about. 



Summary has Members and Prison. Members brings us to this screen, where we can see the stats of our characters, heal them, and level them up. Here are the stats.
We've got Name, but that's obvious.
Race is important, in a way. There are a few different races, including Human, Youkai, Fairy, Ghost, and so on and so forth. Humans deal more damage to Fairies, Fairies deal more damage to Youkai, and Youkai deal more damage to Humans. Ghosts take less damage from everything but other Ghosts. There are other races, but saying them would be filled with spoilers. So I'll leave it with that.
Level is the character's level. The only stat affected by Level is HP, but that doesn't mean it's not important.
HP is health, obviously. HP serves a unique purpose in this game, however. The more HP a character has, the more damage they can inflict. If a character is damaged, they lose some attacking power as well. Keeping your characters in top shape is best for dealing damage. Another thing: The amount of damage dealt is based on the character's current HP only. It does not take max HP into account. So, the more you level, the more damage your character will deal over time. Levels are extremely important, therefore.
Melee (MEL) is your base close-range attack power.
Ranged (RNG) is your base far-range attack power.
Defense (DEF) is your base close-range defense.
Wisdom (WIS) is your base far-range defense.
Speed (SPD) determines when and how many times a character acts in battle. The speed system in this game is similar to that from Final Fantasy X, for those familiar with that.
Research (RES) is how well the character can contribute to Developing, Scouting, and dealing with special Events.
Negotiation (NEG) is how well the character can contribute to War Declarations and Recruiting prisoners.
Cost is how much Ryumaku it will take to support that character without losing Ouki. Some characters will be more costly than others.
And that's it for stats. There's a Prison section, where you can attempt to recruit any prisoners you capture. The Prison can only hold so many prisoners, however, so you can't fill it too much without releasing prisoners.

The Item tab allows you to buy items (although we can't do that yet) and equip them to characters. Items raise stats, so they can be quite useful.
System allows us to save, load, and change options.
End Turn ends the turn. So, here's what I did first turn.

Turn 1:
Action 1: Developed Hakurei Shrine with Reimu and Kira
Action 2: Developed Hakurei Shrine with Yumeta, Tsubame, and Toujin
Miscellaneous Actions: Leveled Marisa 1 time

I'll say what I did each turn, as well as anything I did in addition. So, let's end the turn!
Upon doing so, we get a cutscene. Cutscenes often happen at the end of turns, although only a certain amount of cutscenes will show up before they stop showing up altogether. There's approximately 6-7 cutscenes per army, although there might be more or less depending.

At the path between the Human Village and the shrine, many youkai appeared frequently, hoping to obstruct humans traveling the path. It wasn't a big deal to strong humans, but a life and death issue for the weak.

This danger decreased the amount of worshipers to the shrine, so the Hakurei shrine maiden attempted to fight that by punishing any youkai she saw on the path. But youkai weren't renowned for learning from experience.

There's a certain ice fairy that won't learn her lesson. But that's later.



And one of those youkai, Wriggle Nightbug, happened upon a scrap of paper at the along the path. Her eyes practically lit up upon reading it.

Wriggle: "This is... This is the chance I've been waiting for! A golden opportunity!"

Uh, okay...

Now completely enthralled, she read each and every word carefully and excitedly. So much so that she didn't even notice a voice calling out to her.

Hmm?

: "Hey, what's that you found?"

Wriggle: "The time has finally come for all the oppressed bugs to stand up, regain their honour and rise up the social ladder..."

: "...You there?"

Wriggle: "Right now, upon seeing an insect, humans have no other thought but to kill it... But even a insect will turn just like a worm."

: "Heeeey."



Wriggle: "This is the chance for bugs to stand up and be counted! Heh heh heh... They'll see, they'll all see..."

Wriggle, I think you're going a little overboard with this.

: "Boo!"

Wriggle: "Wahhhh!?"

Wriggle jumped as someone suddenly shouted into her ear. She fell on her rump, then looked up at the perpetrator... and found the night-sparrow youkai Mystia Lorelei looking down at her.

Ah, Mystia! So, you selling any grilled eel right now? Oh wait, that's at night...

Mystia: "Geez, you didn't have to get -that- frightened."

You kind of just popped out in front of her. I think she's a little scared.



Wriggle: "That was scary in two different ways."

Um, how did you...? Never mind. I don't want to even know.

Mystia: "What was the other way?"

Wriggle: "I'm not tasty, don't eat me～!"

Mystia: "What kind of per... youkai do you think I am? I've already eaten, so my stomach's full."

Wriggle: "Waaaah!"

Oh relax, Wriggle. I don't think she's going to eat you. You know, she's been eaten by a certain ghost before, if you believe that's canon.

Mystia: "Anyway, what were you getting all enthusiastic about?"

Wriggle: "Huh? Ah, um... Well, here. Read this."

Wriggle stood up as she spoke, and handed the piece of paper she was reading so seriously over to Mystia.

Oh right, the war.

Mystia: "Hmm... Read it for me."

Wriggle: "...You can't read?"



Mystia: "I can't read."

That's canon, by the way.

Wriggle: "Geez... 'Gensokyo War Battle 1; Humans, youkai, fairies and others all welcome to participate. The winning group will have their wishes come true.'"

Mystia: "...What's that supposed to be?"

The paper was, of course, Yukari's advertisement to get people to join her game. Mystia had no idea what its significance was, but Wriggle was heated up at the idea, balling her hand up into a fist.

Wriggle: "In other words, anyone can attack the humans without being blamed. It's a chance to show that meddling shrine maiden from the shrine a real lesson! And then we'll be the last group remaining, the oppressed bugs will rise in social status, and humans will once again know the power of bugs!"

Okay, look Wriggle, I get you want bugs to look important, but honestly, I don't think bugs have social status in human society because it's, you know, human society.



Mystia: "Ohh, I don't really know what's going on, but it all sounds really passionate!"

Mystia really is bird-brained, huh?

Wriggle: "So... I don't really like to rely on you for anything, but I'll definitely be dead meat alone... Want to team up with me?"

Mystia: "If you give me a lot of bugs to eat, then I'll think about it."

Wriggle: "Don't eat them～!"

Poor Wriggle. Having all of her friends threatened like that.

Mystia: "I'm kidding. Eel is tastier than bugs anyway."

Wriggle: "That's still.... Wahhhh!"

Mystia: "Anyway, I'm not doing anything in particular, and I've been punished by that shrine maiden before too, so I'll help you out."

Wriggle: "Really!? Let's work well together, then!"

Wriggle shook Mystia's hand up and down with vigor. Her motivation was more than enough for the both of them.

So, we have to deal with these two jokers, huh? This'll be a cakewalk.



Mystia: "...So, do you know any trees with lots of bugs? Tasty-looking bugs, that is."



Wriggle: "Eek..."

Ah, don't be too worried, Wriggle. I'm sure it's not serious. I think.



So, the Youkai Army, huh? Well, we'll see how this goes.
Another cutscene starts at the beginning of Day 2.

Reimu: "Ahh, it's so hot!"

Reimu was sweeping at the shrine as usual. She didn't actually have to clean up the leaves and dust, but habits can be a strange thing. Besides, she couldn't relax unless she had a broom in her hands.

Marisa: "Ya sure work hard at that every day."



Reimu: "I didn't do it yesterday, and I got so restless. Putting Yukari's thing aside, it just doesn't feel right to not do this every day."

Strange, I feel similarly. Granted, I don't sweep every day. But when I do sweep, I feel sort of calm.

Reimu leaned onto the broom as she spoke, putting most of her weight onto it. The broom started to bend under the stress.

Marisa: "Watch out, your broom's gonna break."

Reimu: "I'll just borrow yours then."

Marisa:" My broom's a special type, ya know. I ain't gonna lend it to no one for sweepin'."

Yeah, it can fly, and yours can't.
Please don't take that out of context.

Reimu: "My, and you think my broom isn't special either? It's a divine tool of the Hakurei Shrine, powered by miraculous virtues."

...As she said that, she waved her broom around as if it was a halberd. Perhaps being hit by it would've given the victim the grace of God, but given how painful it looked, Marisa wasn't going to test it.

What, it's just a simple experiment! It couldn't hurt that much more than danmaku, could it?

Reimu: "Oh, what are you here for today? Another strategy meeting?"



Marisa: "Yeah, well, it's ain't really somethin' to hold a meetin' for, but... Someone else 'sides us has formed an army."

Reimu: "Ehh?"

Reimu replied in shock. It may have been a game that was supposed to involve all of Gensokyo, but up till now, Reimu's army had been the only team that was formed.

How is that a shock? Someone else had to join eventually, otherwise this would be too easy and wouldn't be good for Yukari's little game. I mean, it seems like she wants this war badly, even going to people as lowly as Wriggle.

Marisa: "There's a path that links here and the Human Village, right? Their stronghold is right there. Ya should be able to guess who it is by now."

Reimu: "Actually, nope."

Marisa: "...Right, fine. Anyway, it's a buncha youkai... Seems like Wriggle and Mystia gathered 'em."

Reimu: "That Yukari... When she said she'd get everyone involved, she really meant everyone."

Indeed. Well, except for Mima. Or any of Yuuka's old friends. Or anyone from Makai. Or any PC-98 character, really.



Marisa: "They kept shoutin' 'bout gettin' revenge on the shrine maiden at the shrine... They're real bitter 'bout something. Do ya have any idea what it is?"

Gee, I wonder.



Reimu: "Not particularly. I just discipline them whenever I see them."

Marisa: "...That'll do it."

Reimu: "What? It's pretty much their fault that I never get any worshipers coming here, so it's my right to punish them."

Yeah, right. I honestly don't think you're helping your case, Reimu.

Marisa: "Not like I care, but they're definitely all fired up 'bout this. If ya leave 'em alone, I'm sure they're gonna 'declare war' on us sooner or later."

Reimu: "We can do that too, can't we?"

Marisa: "Yep, or so the rules say. Though we can't yet, apparently."

Because they don't have any territories on the map yet.



Reimu: "I wonder why... Anyway, this seems like an excellent chance, so let's give them some thorough punishment when the time comes."

Marisa: "...I'm real glad I joined up with ya."

Me too. So, that's the beginning of Day 2, right?

Turn 2:
Action 1- Developed Hakurei Shrine with Kira, Yumeta, Tsubame, and Toujin
Action 2- Talked with Marisa
Miscellaneous Actions: Leveled Reimu and Marisa 1 time each

Not much we can do besides Developing, Talking, and leveling people. Well, preparation for war is just as important as battling, isn't it?
More cutscenes!

Wriggle and Mystia had formed the "Youkai Army", and accepted Yukari's invitation to the war game. ...But now that they had joined in the fray, they had no idea what they were supposed to do next.

Mystia: "...Anyway, I called all my friends and other youkai, and they're willing to help out."

Wriggle: "Yeah, that's nice."

Don't just blow her off like that, Wriggle! I thought you two were in it together!

Wriggle appeared to be thinking deeply. Mystia started to get angry over Wriggle supposedly ignoring her.

Mystia: "Hey, are you listening to me?"

Wriggle: "Eh? Ah, sorry... I was thinking about something..."

Really? I thought bugs had short attention spans.

Mystia: "About what?"

Wriggle: "Ah, well..."

Wriggle turned to face Mystia, with the most serious expression she had ever seen on her face. Just a glance at the seriousness of her attitude made Mystia unconsciously straighten her back.

Serious Wriggle is serious.



Mystia: "H-Hey... Is it really that important?"

Wriggle silently nodded. Her stare continued to pierce Mystia like daggers, making her extremely nervous.

Wriggle, you look like you're about to kill someone. Maybe you should look nicer?

Wriggle: "Truthfully..."

Mystia: "...Yeah?"

Wriggle: "......... I don't think we can go any further unless we decide it now."

Mystia: "D-Decide? Decide what?"

What to do next?

Wriggle: "How could you forget something so important... I'm talking about who the leader will be. Let's decide it now."

The grand sound of someone falling over could be heard for miles.

Keine's probably looking out the door to her school right now. "One of my students just said something ridiculous to someone else, didn't they?"

Wriggle: "Hm? What's wrong?"

Mystia: "You really... Don't make such a stupid thing sound so important! I was bracing myself for something really bad, then you come up with that!?"

Hey, a leader is kind of necessary for an army. Some of history's greatest people were military leaders!



Wriggle: "What!? It isn't stupid at all! It's extremely important!"

Agreed!

Mystia's face was bright red from her exasperation. Wriggle began to talk passionately as she looked Mystia right in the eye.

Wriggle: "Each youkai may be a pitifully weak insect, but if they all work together, they become an invincible army! But they need someone to lead them! We can't win against the shrine maiden one-on-one, but with everyone's cooperation and if we decide a leader, there won't be anyone who can match us!"

Mystia: "...And how will we decide who the leader is?"

Rock Paper Scissors?



Wriggle: "There's no need for anything special for that. I'm the only one who can do it after all."

And now I'm falling over in my chair.

Wriggle proudly pointed at herself, but Mystia wasn't convinced.

Mystia: "After all that talk about how important a leader is, you're just selfishly trying to make yourself the leader!"

Wriggle: "Selfish? I'm the one she contacted, I'm the one who brought it up to you, so obviously, I should be the leader."

Mystia: "So what! I'm the one who got lots of people to join this army! You can't do anything by yourself."

Wriggle: "Oh no you didn't!"

Mystia: "Yeah, I went there!"

Just kiss each other already. Oh wait, you're both girls. Never mind.

Their foreheads clashed as they glared at each other. Both didn't care about a falling out this early in the army's life, and neither looked like yielding an inch... until Wriggle suddenly withdrew her head.

Wriggle: "...Hmph, fine. If you're going to be like that, then let's decide this with a fair and impartial round of rock-paper-scissors."

I knew it!



Mystia: "Rock-paper-scissors...? Fine, I accept!"

Wriggle: "No arguments whoever wins, right?"

Mystia: "Right!"

They both turned away, backs facing each other, as they tried to predict what each other would do. RPS allows one to attempt to predict the opponent's move by their character, but such things are never foolproof.

She'll definitely use rock, so I'll do paper... No, she might use reverse psychology, so scissors... Wait, she might use reverse-reverse psychology, so... Such thoughts swirled in the head of the two competitors.

Rock Paper Scissors isn't that strategic...

Mystia: "Alright, I'm ready!"

Wriggle: "Okay, let's do this. Rock! Paper! SCISSORS!"

Mystia: "...................How could I lose～～～?"

Wriggle: "This makes me the leader. No complaints, right?"

Mystia: "...Fine, since you want to be it so much."

Mystia clearly wasn't satisfied, but she had lost the battle and her pride wouldn't let her grumble too much, so she accepted her defeat.

It's okay, Mystia. Maybe another time.

Wriggle: "Alright, let's work well together!"



Wriggle extended her hand towards Mystia, who had her back turned to Wriggle. She gave Wriggle a sideways glance... Then stuck her tongue out.

So childish, and you're both probably at least a few times older than I am.

Wriggle: "...Now she knows the power of bugs."

Riiiiiiiiiight...



So, they have territories now. Fantastic.
Customary start of turn cutscene go!

Reimu: "So, what's happening with them?"

She was referring to the Youkai Army formed by Wriggle and Mystia just the other day.

Marisa: "Ahh, they've set up their base at the forest road between here and the village."

Reimu: "*sigh* They're getting in my way again..."

Just like with Imperishable Night, eh? Except you did have Yukari to back you up that time. Now you don't. This could go a bit awry if we aren't careful.



The map revealed that Hakurei Shrine was connected to the "Night-Blind Road" that continued to the Human Village, and the "Faintly Dark Path" that went to the Magic Forest. These were the Youkai Army's territories.

Reimu: "...So in short, we have to take them out before we can go anywhere else."

Marisa: "Yep yep. And they're itchin' for a fight against ya as well."

Marisa's words darkened Reimu's mood considerably. Why were they so insistent on going for her? That was a question that she couldn't answer herself.

They kind of don't like the fact that you beat the ever-loving shit out of them every time they so much as look at you.

Marisa: "Ya look like someone just raided the donation box."

Not that there's much in the donation box to raid to begin with.

Reimu: "...It's nothing. Let's just beat them up and move on to the next army."

Marisa: "Do ya think it'll be that easy? Seems they've got a buncha youkai with 'em too."

Reimu: "They're still youkai I've punished before. No matter how many of them gather together, they're still no match for me. They'll be flattened."

You sure are confident, aren't you?

Marisa: "...Well, with you around, we'll be okay I s'pose. Alright then, let's eat!"

Reimu: "You know, if you keep coming over for food so much, you should at least make something every now and then."

Marisa: "The best food in the world is a bowl of miso soup made by someone else."

Um, no, it's pasta with butter, salt, and pepper. But people in Japan have different tastes than I do, I guess. Also, stop mooching off Reimu, Marisa.

Reimu simply shrugged her shoulders at Marisa's nonchalance and went back inside the shrine. She still had to prepare her own food even if Marisa wasn't here, so the amount of work was more or less the same anyway.

Marisa: "I'll go set the table! The miso soup ain't ready yet～? Ah, I want mine light brown please!"

Reimu: "Shut up!"

Reimu, you are kind of cold towards others, aren't you? I'm sure that's not going to be important. Not at all.



So, we can declare war now. I'm going to hold off on that. But that's going to be it for today. Next time we see what occurs to the Youkai Army and prepare for our first battles!

[Hinacle]

Ha, Wriggle. Dat poison ability <3

[Validon98]

Day 3 to Beginning of Day 5: Is That So~?

A turn summary, as usual.

Turn 3:
Action 1: Developed Hakurei Shrine with Reimu, Kira, Tsubame, and Toujin
Action 2: Talked to Marisa
Other: Leveled Marisa and Tsubame 1 time each

So then, let's end the turn!

Once again, Wriggle and Mystia gathered to discuss just how to take down that odious Hakurei shrine maiden.

Wriggle: "Hey, I just thought of something..."

Mystia: "Yeah?"

Wriggle: "Maybe we should try to recruit a few more allies?"

That's always a good idea. The more the merrier.



Mystia: "Ehh? Are you saying the friends I called aren't good enough for you?"

Wriggle: "That's not what I mean... It's just that, you know, having more allies is always a good thing, don't you think?"

Mystia: "That's kinda true, but I don't have that many youkai I can call over..."

Wriggle: "Hmm..."

That's kind of depressing for you guys. You've only got ten guys including you two, last time I checked.



While battles would no doubt be easier with more youkai to participate, it would be unreasonable to assume that everyone would want to join. The Youkai Army had now reached a difficult point.

I wouldn't say it's difficult. Just a little worrying.

Wriggle: "We can't really plead those who aren't interested into joining, huh..."

Mystia: "Maybe there are some bored youkai who we can force to join in..."

Wriggle: "We shouldn't use force."

Youkai brutality, youkai brutality!



Mystia: "If they listen to my song..."

I don't know, being Deaf to All but the Song might be bad for those you attract.

Wriggle: "That's essentially the same!"

Mystia: "So mean!"

...To be perfectly honest, neither of these two were truly smart enough to have a worthwhile discussion. In the end, they wasted time without deciding on anything, until...

And that's why they're part of Team 9.



Wriggle: "Hm? ...Hey, what did you just do?"

It's called night blindness, Wriggle. She can kind of cause that in others.

Mystia: "I didn't do anything!"

Or it can not be her. Okay then.

Something was obstructing the sun's rays, casting a shadow on the ground nearby. It unnaturally moved slowly towards them, still surrounded by brightness. A look upwards revealed a similar disc-shaped shadow.



Mystia: "Is that one of those 'Unidentified Flying Object' thingies?"

Mystia took to the skies and tried to get closer to the shadow. She looked at it from right beside it, realizing that it was a pretty sphere of black rather than a disc, but she couldn't see within at all.

A sphere of darkness, huh? Hmm, where have I heard of that before...

Wriggle: "Hey, be careful, getting too close might be dangerous."

Mystia: "Yeah, I'll be careful."

She timidly extended her hand, and it disappeared into the shadows. Her hand met no resistance as it went in, but she couldn't see it anymore. She pulled her hand back out, and it looked the same as ever.

Mystia: "Uwah, this is really weird!"

Wriggle: "Are you okay?"

Mystia: "Yeah, I'm fine. See?"

Yeah, it's just darkness. Nothing in it can possibly hurt you. Except for, you know, Heartless. But that's another series.



Mystia pushed her hand in and out of the darkness several times, gradually going deeper and deeper, until the point where her elbow was hidden... then her fingers hit something.

Mystia: "Gah!?"

She hurriedly pulled her arm out. There was nothing at her fingertips, but the sensation of touching something remained.

Wriggle: "What's wrong?"

Mystia: "T-There's something inside!"

Wait a minute, now I remember...

But nobody could see what it was from the outside. ...The black sphere then stopped it's slow movement.

Mystia: "...Huh?"

...Mystia was on her guard, when she suddenly heard an inquiring voice.

: "Boo, you all've been so loud for awhile now～."

Is that so? Well, you were floating around randomly.



Mystia: "Wha!? It spoke!?"

: "Who touched me just now... Boo, I don't wanna make it all bright, but..."



As she spoke, the sphere of darkness weakened slightly. It eventually weakened enough to see inside, revealing the figure floating at the center of the sphere.

Mystia: "Ehh? Who're you?"

Hey, at least it's bright again. But who else is it but...



: "You're the one who interrupted me floating around, huh? It felt so good, too..."

Rumia! Let me guess, couldn't see where you were going, huh?

Mystia: "Uh... You're a youkai?"

: "Yeaaah, my name's Rumia. So what do you want?"



I like these little nice pictures they have for certain cutscenes. Granted, that darkness looks a little rough. When did darkness have definition of any sort?

Rumia slowly floated downwards onto the ground. It was still a bit hard to see through the darkness surrounding her, but not hard enough to be worth complaining about.

Wriggle: "Well, I'm Wriggle. And she's Mystia. We were just investigating why it turned dark all of a sudden, and why a giant cloud of darkness was flying around."

Rumia: "Ahh, is that so? Don't worry, I just make it dark so that the sun doesn't make me feel warm. I really don't feel like doing anything when it's hot."

Mystia: "What were you doing inside that darkness, then?"

Rumia: "I wasn't doing anything. I couldn't see anything since it was so dark, so I just floated 'round and 'round."

Figures. Hopefully you didn't bash your head into any trees.

Wriggle: "......"



Her reply seemed a little strange, but Wriggle's feelers were tingling with excitement.

Wriggle: "...Are you free?"

Rumia: "Well, I'm sort of busy with being free, kinda..."

...Wriggle's eyes began to twinkle.

Wriggle: "Do you want to play with us, then?"

"Play" is a strange way to put it, but okay.

Mystia: "Hey, wait!"



Rumia: "Play what?"

Wriggle: "A war game."

Rumia: "A war game? Against who?"

Wriggle: "Mostly humans."

And you think that'll attract her?



Rumia: "Can I eat them?"

Okay, maybe it will. Canonically, Rumia does eat humans. If it wasn't for the fact that she is a little lacking on brains, she'd be extremely dangerous. No wonder many fanfics have Rumia as a legitimate threat to humans, like Diamond in the Rough. Stupid, stupid Brolli...

Wriggle: "Um, probably not."



Rumia: "Boo..."

Are you... crying blood? That's kind of disturbing.

Wriggle: "C'mon, you're not doing anything anyway, so help us out! We really need your power!"

"Need"... Rumia didn't understand why exactly her power was necessary, but she at least knew someone was requesting her help for something, which made her feel a little proud.

Rumia: "Hmm～, I guess it's fine then."

Wriggle: "All right! Thanks! Let's work well together from now on!"

They exchanged handshakes, leaving Mystia sighing in their wake.

Mystia: "Geez, you're leaving me out of the decisions again."

You've been getting people together. You don't need to make decisions.

Wriggle: "Aw, c'mon... Anyway Rumia, this is a bit quick, but let's see your power at work. This afternoon sun is really too strong..."

Rumia: "Okaaaay."

Wriggle: "Wow, so dark!"

Mystia: "And so cooling～!"

Most youkai prefer the night over broad daylight. The darkness Rumia generated made the area a resting place for these youkai. Thus, the three of them forgot their original objective, and relaxed in the darkness.

So forgetful...



Rumia joined them now. I assume if we declared war on them earlier, we could have started fighting them without having to worry about Rumia. Of course, I wanted to pump some levels into my army beforehand.

Reimu: "Hey Marisa, something's bothering me."

Marisa: "Ah? Wuzzat?"

Reimu opened up the map for Marisa to see.

Reimu: "I usually handle all my shopping at the village."

You have money to buy stuff at the village? Huh, I guess you do get a few donations after all.

Marisa: "Yeah, me too. Though the stuff they sell at the village can't really be used for my magic experiments."

Reimu: "But there's a 'Human Village' marked on this map, and the position is roughly the same as the actual village."



Marisa: "Hey, you're right. Though there's no way the Human Village's as big as the map's suggestin'."

That's called "Yukari has no sense of scale." I mean, she drew a giant gap to represent her house, and I'm pretty sure it's not that big.

Reimu: "I'm not sure what's going on with it now, but if it's marked here, then it should be a territory that someone's controlling, right?"

Marisa: "Hm, I haven't heard anything 'bout that... Well, knowin' Yukari, she probably went to the village too. Though I can't imagine that half-beast joinin' in."

Yeah, Keine's peaceful enough. Her job is to protect the humans, and stuff like this would be something she wouldn't exactly like.

Reimu: "If we assume they're part of this whole 'game', then we probably can't go to the village anymore."

It was indeed as she said, it wouldn't be possible to just show up at an enemy-controlled territory as if nothing's wrong. ...Normally, that is.

Marisa: "Well, I've been goin' back to my house at the forest just fine, so I wouldn't worry too much. Just worry 'bout it if someone actually makes a fuss."

Reimu: "...I suppose so. I'll be going to the village for a bit to do some shopping then. Take care of the shrine for me till I get back."

Yeah, as long as you're not asking about the war game, I'm sure you can still go pretty much anywhere in Gensokyo. Unless ther person controlling a territory doesn't want you there.

Marisa: "Get some dark-brown miso this time."



Reimu: "It's because you eat too much that I have to go to the village so often, you know!"

Reimu left in a huff, disappearing as a twinkle in the sky. Marisa fell into deep thought as she watched her figure fade away.



Marisa: "...Who's controllin' the Forest of Magic? It's probably her, huh...? She'll probably get on my case for not joinin' her since I live there."

Who, Alice? Nah, I'm sure she's fine with it.

Marisa: "...Ah well, I'll handle it when the time comes."

Let's take care of Turn 4, then!

Turn 4:
Action 1: Developed the Hakurei Shrine with Reimu, Marisa, Kira, Tsubame, and Toujin
Action 2: Talked with Marisa
Other: Leveled Marisa 1 time

Wriggle: "Alright, it's time! That heinous shrine maiden always attacks us just because we're youkai... It's time to show her how fearsome we are!"

Mystia: "Yeah!"

Rumia: "Okay～."

Yeah you're all Stage 1 or 2 bosses. I feel so threatened~.

All the youkai became excited at the thought of getting over over Reimu, except for one youkai who no one ever knew what she was thinking. Whatever the case, morale was clearly at a all-time high.

Wriggle: "...Er, so how exactly does one declare war?"

*head desk*

Mystia: "Hmm, you just send them a letter I guess?"

Wriggle: "Ah, yeah... There we go. Rumia, can you send it over to the Hakurei shrine maiden?"

Ruima: "Alright～."

Wriggle: "We're gonna give her a good beating!"

You wish.

The Hakurei Shrine. Reimu was taking a break from her daily cleaning, while Marisa was flying in from the sky. In other words, it was a normal day at the Hakurei Shrine.

Marisa: "Yo, here I am."

Reimu: "I'm not giving you any."

Any what? Food?



Marisa: "No, it's me who's got stuff to give this time."

Reimu: "Oh, oops. Natural mistake, you're always here for tea anyway. What do you have, then?"

Marisa: "Here, take a look."

Marisa handed over something that looked like a letter, but there was nothing written on the cover. Opening it revealed that it was a declaration of war from the "Youkai Army".

Reimu: "Hm... 'You've been really cocky up till now, we know that well! But now we're going to pay you back big time, so prepare yourself!!' ...Heh."

"Cocky?" I doubt it, Wriggle. We've kind of just been sitting here minding our own business.

Marisa: "That darkness youkai was at the archway... what was her name... Rumia... was it? Anyway, I flew straight into her."

Reimu: "Ah, she was there...? I suppose that means that Rumia has joined them. And they've declared war on us too..."

Reimu crushed the piece of paper into a ball with her hand, with a large smile on her face all the while. A careful look would reveal veins starting to show on her temples.

Reimu: "I always thought I would punish those youkai every so often to make sure they don't get out of line... But it looks like something more drastic is necessary..."

Reimu: "I'll make their whole body regret that they ever tried to pick a fight with me!"

...That's sort of violent. I don't think the Spell Card rules allow for that sort of thing.
Then again, Chloe almost killed us back in Devil of Decline. Maybe she just kept throwing danmaku at us until we collapsed?



Marisa: "Ooh, what a scary shrine maiden."

Reimu's eyes were filled with rage... even Marisa had never seen her this angry before.

Indeed.



And now we're at war with the Youkai Army. This'll be fun. But of course, customary beginning of turn cutscene.


Reimu: "......There, that's done with."

After returning from the village, Reimu stored way all the food and ingredients she bought with a little sigh. Normally she would stock up for the future, but the current season meant food spoiled quickly.

It was at times like these where she wished for coolness of winter to come again. Of course, when it's winter, she'd then wish for the exact opposite.

Reimu: "Well, all these will be used up quickly anyway."

Do you eat a lot or something?



Marisa: "That's cuz ya eat a lot. Ya should learn a bit from me."

Reimu: "I would imagine it's more because I have to prepare helpings for two people every day."

Marisa: "Geez, ya eat two helpings? A real glutton, aren't ya?"



Reimu: "........."

Reimu shot a deathly glare at Marisa, who had an innocent look on her face.

Marisa, Marisa, Marisa. When will you learn?

Marisa: "C'mon, look a li'l happier. I really value your magic after all. Ya should be happy ya have an admirer!"

Reimu: "For someone who ups and comes here without permission to eat, you really... And what do you mean by 'magic'?"

Marisa: "Cooking's a type of magic, doncha think?"

I always thought it was a type of science, but magic works too.

Marisa's opinion left Reimu staring at her blankly. Even after taking some time to process it, it still wasn't comprehensible in the slightest.

Marisa: "No one eats raw cabbage or radish outta the box, right? Hm, I better take that back, there might be some weirdos 'round here."

I've had raw radish before! It tastes a little bitter, but it's not the worst thing I've ever had. That would be sauerkraut. Or raisins. Or pineapple. I can't stand them.

Reimu: "...Well, it is usually cooked first, yes."

Marisa: "Magic is somethin' that comes about when I transform an ordinary forest mushroom into some real powerful sorcery!"

Marisa: "It's the same as cooking. A buncha normal ingredients, through the many skills we use, changes the taste and form drastically!"

Marisa: "And this end product brings happiness and good health to those who eat it. If that ain't magic, then what is?"

You've got a point there, Marisa.

Aha. It sounded like something Marisa thought of on the spot, but she showed that she actually had basis behind her reasoning. And very well said, at that... Even Reimu felt enlightened at her explanation.

Reimu: "That's a pretty interesting viewpoint. But since when does your magic make anyone happy?"

Marisa: "...Don't hit where it hurts, yo. Besides... Magic can't ever be fully understood, and it's a long road that a human's lifespan won't last for."

Yeah, but can't you choose to go youkai?

There are two types of magicians; those who were born magicians, and humans who choose to become one. One who becomes a magician is no longer human, which is why Marisa couldn't be called a genuine magician yet.

That's what I just said.

Reimu: "So, are you going to stop being a human someday?"

Reimu's question seemed to be natural based on the flow of the conversation, but Marisa's expression grew heavy for a split second after she heard it. Then, right after, she was back to normal and continued speaking.

Conflicted, huh? I see.

Marisa: "I dunno. There's definitely a lot of interestin' things I wanna experience or know about in this world, and I can't do 'em all in the time a human has..."

Marisa: "But still, I think accomplishin' things as a human with limited time has more meanin' to it. Since a human's life goes by, just like a flash."

I didn't think of it like that before. If you're a youkai, you're pretty much immortal. You have all of the time in the world, and if you accomplish something, it is only one thing in a long line of things you can do with your practical infinite time. But human accomplishments are something to behold indeed.

Reimu: "And just like your danmaku."

Marisa: "It's good for my danmaku to be flashy. And I definitely ain't gonna stop bein' a human till I beat you."

Reimu: "That's good, you'll be a human forever then."



Marisa: "Them's fightin' words, ya know."

The pure-born magicians, humans who become magicians, magic users who continue to remain human. There are many ways for those to live their lives, and the freedom of choice as to which one they find best.

In Marisa's opinion, none of those choices were inherently good or bad... And that living on as a human was just fine for her.

And we'll never speak of this again.
But that's all for now. Next time, we start our first battle against the Youkai Army. Will we emerge victorious? And if we do, who else will join Yukari's war to stand against us? That's for next time!

[Validon98]

One thing I'd like to note is that I haven't linked to any music for this game. That's because no one has really uploaded the full soundtrack. I'm working on getting a full soundtrack onto Youtube so you guys can hear it yourselves. Please watch warmly...

[Chaore]

One thing I'd like to note is that I haven't linked to any music for this game. That's because no one has really uploaded the full soundtrack. I'm working on getting a full soundtrack onto Youtube so you guys can hear it yourselves. Please watch warmly...

Which is wonderful because the music is fucking -glorious-.

I wish I still had the game installed just for the music ;W;

[Hinacle]

One thing I'd like to note is that I haven't linked to any music for this game. That's because no one has really uploaded the full soundtrack. I'm working on getting a full soundtrack onto Youtube so you guys can hear it yourselves. Please watch warmly...

Uhhhhh (spoilers btw)

[Validon98]

Which is wonderful because the music is fucking -glorious-.

I wish I still had the game installed just for the music ;W;

That it is. It's a damn shame I haven't been linking some of it yet. The people who made it are geniuses. There are certain songs here that are really... let's just say emotional.

Uhhhhh (spoilers btw)

I said FULL soundtrack. FULL. That one is incomplete and is missing stuff like the main map theme and some event themes. It's even missing the main menu theme!

[Validon98]

Well, I began uploading the soundtrack. I haven't finished it, but I uploaded at least around one-half of the whole thing. I'll keep working on it. It's not as if I missed a song that hasn't shown up so far. Here's what you've missed.

Blue Blue Sky is the theme for the opening. I haven't really listened to it, but from what I have heard of it, it's an upbeat song.

Sengoku Gensokyo is the title theme. A rather driving song that makes for a very nice title theme.

A Try with the Mist is the main map theme, which sounds calm, which is perfectly in line with the main mood of the game as a whole.

Settled - Breath is our main event theme that plays during a good deal of events. It's not a bad song. However, other events will have more fitting themes for them when the time arises. You'll see.

Alas, Mischief is our comedic theme for the game. It will also play in the shop when we have access to it later on.

Tremor of Animosity played in the prologue as Yukari began explaining the war game. It'll play later in scenes involving battles or in cutscenes preceding the final fight against an army. A rather badass theme, in my opinion.

That's all the songs that have shown up, as far as I know. I'll finish uploading the soundtrack later and link to any new songs we come across. I'll start working on the next update as well.

[Validon98]

Day 5 to Day 8: Let the Battle Begin!

So, we're now at war with the Youkai Army. It's time to attack!



First, however, let's go over our current units, shall we?
Reimu is completely balanced, good for attack and defense regardless of range. Her special ability is Hakurei Descendant, which nullifies species modifiers as well as some other things.
Marisa is best at ranged combat and packs the almighty Master Spark as an ability. It deals good damage to all enemies, but leaves her stunned. This is basically an encounter weakener, and it gets more and more impressive as the game goes on.
Kira is terrible, and I'm not going to bother using her in combat. She has a good NEG, though, so that's nice for recruiting people.
Yumeta is basically going to be my other ranged attacker, but I cannot let her get approached at close range or she's toast.
Tsubame is fairly competent and close range combat, but has a rather bad defense. He has Full Power Shot, which is a high power shot that stuns him.
Toujin, again, is somewhat bad, being okay at range but not as great as Marisa or Yumeta, mainly because she has a WIS of 1. Really? She also has Full Power Shot, but it's not worth it for her.

So, after talking to Marisa and leveling Reimu, let's attack the Night Blind Road. I brought in Marisa, Tsubame, and Toujin. You can chose some people to Scout out the enemy, which lets you know who you are fighting, but I generally don't use that early on.

Prelude is our pre-battle theme. It doesn't sound that serious at all. Meh.



Let's do this!



And our normal battle theme is Vermilion Bird "South Shichiyado". Not a bad battle theme.

Time to explain how battles work! On the left is our team and to the right is the enemy. At the top is the turn order as well as the two Counters and the... I'll just call it the Victory Meter. At the bottom is the range table and our action commands.
The goal of the battle is to drive the Victory Meter over at least 50% in favor of your army. This is done through dealing damage. Knocking out enemy characters will provide a big boost to your side of the meter, but letting your characters get knocked out will boost their side of the meter, so be careful.
So, how do we attack? This actually confused me the first time I played. I didn't win the first battle mainly because I did not know how to target the enemy.  :colonveeplusalpha:

You see that table at the bottom? Each number on the left represents our characters in order, while the ones up top represent the enemy characters. The letters represent how close we are to each enemy character. There are five ranges: Very Close, Close, Medium, Far, and Very Far. Melee attacks are used at Very Close and Close ranges, and Ranged attacks are used at Far and Very Far ranges. You cannot target someone who is at Medium range, for whatever reason. Melee attacks deal more damage at Very Close range, while Ranged attacks will deal less damage at Very Far range.

There is a difference between Melee and Ranged attacks besides which stats are used to calculate damage. When you perform a Melee attack, the enemy counterattacks as well, which damages the attacking character. This damage is generally small, but against strong opponents, it could be dangerous. Ranged attacks do not incur counterattacks however.

Besides attacking, you can also Advance towards an enemy, Retreat from it, Advance towards all enemies at once, or Retreat from all enemies at once. Characters who have a Special Ability that needs to be activated can use it with Special. If your character has nothing better to do, they can Stand By. You cannot Advance towards an enemy if there is already another enemy than is at Close or Very Close range to you. Also, if you Advance so that you get within Close or Very Close range, you have the chance to get a free Melee attack as well.

Finally, every action you take subtracts from your Counter. Standing By takes away the least amount, while Specials generally take up the most, with Attacking and moving your character lying inbetween. Once your Counter is empty, you can no longer act. When either both Counters are empty or when one army has been knocked out entirely, the battle ends. The one with the most amount on the Victory Meter wins. That's all there is to combat!

These two here are simply cannon fodder enemies. However, because we are on hard, they are pretty tough to deal with.



That's kind of bright, Marisa.



That'll do, Marisa. That'll do.



I manage to down them both, earning me an 80% victory.



When you are victorious in a capture battle like this, the defense of the enemy territory is reduced by the amount of percent you had on the Victory Meter. Because I won an 80% victory, the defense of the Night Blind Road goes down by 80. Different territories will have different defense values, so it will take longer to capture some territories.



You also have a chance to capture enemy troops as prisoners or force them to withdraw from their army. Any unit who is knocked out has a chance to withdraw or be taken prisoner, including your characters. If Reimu or Marisa withdraws from the army, it's an automatic game over. However, at this point, if anyone leaves, I'm reloading the last save. I save scum. Don't hate me for it.



Here is our prison. Terlette doesn't seem worth the effort, so no thank you.

So, in summary...

Turn 5:
Action 1: Talked with Marisa
Action 2: Attacked Night-Blind Road with Marisa, Tsubame, and Toujin, 80% victory, Terlette taken prisoner
Other: Leveled Reimu 1 time

Let's move on, shall we?

Mystia: "Ahh～, darkness is really so relaxing～♪ I wish the whole day was always dark."

Rumia: "I'm a darkness helper～"

Rumia's ability to manipulate darkness allowed her to generate darkness to block out the sun, and become a relaxation spot for youkai. Rumia and Mystia were enduring the light and heat in that fashion.

That's certainly something youkai like.

Mystia: "...Hey, there's something I wanted to ask."

Rumia: "Hm? What is it?"

Mystia: "Well, this darkness is so strong, I can't even see my hand through it."

Because light couldn't get through the darkness, it could not reflect off objects, and thus objects could not be seen. While Mystia was inside the darkness, she could hear and sense, but not see Rumia or herself.



Sorry, I had to do it. Whenever I think science, I think that.

Rumia: "Yeah～."

Mystia: "Can you see me? Or yourself even?"



Rumia: "Nope, I can't see a thing. Cuz it's all dark～."

No duh.

Mystia: "But when we met, you were flying around all dark like this."

Rumia: "Yeah, I was flying."

Mystia: "If you can't see anything, wouldn't it be dangerous?"

Rumia: "Yeah."



It seemed like Rumia should be thinking further, but her figure obviously couldn't be seen, and her tone didn't seem to indicate that she was deep in thought.

That expression still disturbs me. Sort of.

Rumia: "Then again～, I think all the other youkai and humans and birds are all scared of me and avoid me, so maybe it's not that dangerous～."

Rumia: "Oh yeah, sometimes I hit a tree and it's really painful. Trees can't move after all, ahahaha."

Mystia: "...This girl seems like an idiot..."

Birds of a feather flock together, Mystia.



Rumia: "Ehh? Did you say something?"

Mystia: "No I didn't."

Doesn't Rumia have a pose like that in EoSD? She has some sort of pose that isn't sticking her arms out.

Rumia's words were generally a little unsettling, but since since her power was extremely useful, it wasn't a big deal to Mystia.

I don't get how you could somewhat ignore that, but whatever.

So, on to Day 6, then!

Turn 6:
Action 1: Talked with Marisa ("You feel especially close today.")
Action 2: Attacked Night-Blind Road with Marisa, Yumeta, and Tsubame, 93% Victory, Marisa receives affection bonus to RNG, Elceles and Ilfie are taken prisoner.
Other: Full Heal



This battle is technically now a "boss" battle, in the sense that it is a tough battle that might decide the fate of the territory. As such, we have White Tiger "West Shichiyado" as a battle theme.



I don't actually know what Maddening Song does. It doesn't seem to do anything that I can tell.



Alright, Affection Bonus! Basically, you can boost one stat of the character who gets it. Each character can only have two Affection Bonuses, however. I stick Marisa's first one in Ranged. After this fight, I have now captured the Night Blind Road! That's another thing I can develop for Ryumaku.

Wriggle's Youkai Army had lost one of their bases to Reimu's group. The loss had the members of the army in an uproar.

Mystia: "Hey, hey! You were supposed to be so angry at them, yet they ended up winning so easily! What are we gonna do now!?"

Wriggle: "S-Shut up! We haven't totally lost yet!"

Yeah, you still have one territory that I can totally take within two battles left.
...The odds are pretty much against you in every way, shape, and form.



Mystia: "You talked really big, but in the end, you're still so weak!"

Wriggle: "It's not me who's weak, it's all those youkai friends you brought along that're the weak ones!"

Mystia: "Ah, how could you say that!?"

Wriggle: "So what～!?"

In the end, the Youkai Army was a hastily-assembled mish-mash, and a single obstacle was enough to send them into collapse. But they had not lost the game yet.

Got to say, I've been disappointed at what you sent me so far. I don't know what could possibly help out your situation.

Wriggle: "...Let's stop this, it's not over yet. We still have a chance."

Mystia: "Then like I said, what are we gonna do!?"

Wriggle: "Uh..."

No matter how long they tried to think, the situation remained the same. As the possibilities swirled in her mind, her eyes happened to catch a ball of darkness lazing around.

Wriggle: "Hey Rumia, you try to think of something too."

She reached her hand towards the ball of darkness, and it slipped inside soundlessly, but there was still no reaction. ...Right at that moment, she had a flash of inspiration.

Hmm?



Wriggle: "Hm... Yeah, that's right!　We can use that!"

Mystia: "Ehh? What?"

Wriggle: "Rumia, how far can you spread your darkness?"

Rumia: "Uhh, if I try really hard, I can cover this whole area, I think. It makes me really tired though."

Wriggle: "Okay, then can you use your darkness to cover this area in battle from now on?"

Thinking of dulling our senses?
...That's actually kind of brilliant.



Rumia: "Ehh? That'll be so tiring..."

Still creepy.

Wriggle: "You can take it though, right?"

Rumia: "Hmm～... If it's that wide though, I can't make it all dark. It'll be about as dark as the night without any moonlight."

Wriggle: "That's fine. We won't be able to see if it's too dark either. But that would be enough to throw off humans."

Mystia: "Huh, you're using your head for once."

Wriggle: "This is what decides battles!"

Indeed it does.

Wriggle pointed towards her head, expecting praise for her smarts. Their plan to use their superior senses to beat the humans was a relatively sound one... But just how well will it work?

I wonder. That ends Turn 6, but another cutscene starts. What else could possibly be happening?

The Forest of Magic. A place where the sun did not shine, covered in darkness even at noon. And with the spores from monster mushrooms and miasma everywhere, it became a place which most human and youkai avoided.

However, the forest was an excellent environment for magicians, and there was nowhere that Marisa Kirisame wouldn't live in. There was one other resident; the magician and dollmaster, Alice Margatroid.

Oh right, Alice. She's still at her place. I wonder how she's been holding up.



Alice's mansion stood in one of the few places in the forest where the sunlight could get through somewhat. It was there that Alice and her handmade dolls were spending yet another fine day.

Alice: "Hourai, could you bring a bit of that cloth to me? ...Yes, the light blue one."

The doll called Hourai tottered back with the cloth in hand, just as Alice had ordered. The beautiful folded-up cloth was quite big for a doll to carry, and Hourai struggled to bring it over without wrinkling it.

Hourai: "........."

Alice : "Thank you... Was it too big for you? I'm sorry."

Hourai: ".........*shake shake*"

Oh, don't work the poor doll too hard.

Hourai shook her head at Alice's apology. Perhaps she was trying to say that Alice did not need to apologize.

Alice's residence was home to several of her hand-made dolls that could move of their own will. Among those dolls were two special ones who were practically alive, and were given the cute names "Shanghai" and "Hourai".

Not necessarily canon, but I'll go with it.

Though rather than being given life, they perhaps should be called quasi-living-beings. They took Alice's orders still, after all. Alice's dream of a fully autonomous doll was still far off in the distance.

The ability to think and act based on one's own will... That day, Alice was once again working her way towards that goal of giving life to inorganic substances.

There's one already in existence. Her name's Medicine Melancholy. You should meet her. Or not, considering what happened in Do the Right Thing when you met her...

Alice: "Hmm... Doing that will make it move at least, but... A living doll... I wonder if it's really possible...?"



She had aimed to create a doll which acted on its own will for a long time. But even now, she wasn't able to make one as she liked. Turning dreams into reality would certainly take more than a human's lifetime.

Well, good thing you are a youkai magician, huh?


: ".........*flit flit*"

As thoughts of the unpredictable future were swirling around Alice's mind, a doll different from Hourai suddenly flew towards her.

Alice: "Mm? What's wrong, Shanghai? What's the rush?"

The doll known as Shanghai was holding a letter as big as she was. She placed it right in front of Alice.

Shanghai: ".........*patter patter*"

Alice: "My, a letter...? Who is it from?"

Hmm, I wonder...

She looked all over the letter, but there was no sender marked. Alice suspiciously tore open the letter, removed the piece of stationery paper inside, and began to read.



Alice: "Let's see... 'Gensokyo's War Battle 1 Participation Information'? Who's the author... Yukari Yakumo. So it's her."

Of course.

The things written within the form were extremely different from the one that Wriggle had received.

Alice: "That youkai must be really bored to think of such a trivial game... How silly."

Not interested, huh? Well, neither was I, really. I was kind of forced to, I guess. Yukari is a pretty good convincer.

She continued scanning through the instructions. She got the gist of the contents, but had no plans to actually join in, and was about to throw the piece of paper away... Until she read the last line.

Alice: "As if I have the time to join such a... such, a...."

Alice's eyes fell squarely on that one point. Her eyes soon started to burn with anger.

Alice: "What... What is the meaning of this? Why would she put this kind of rule there...?"

Wait a minute, what rule? What rule? This is new.


Shanghai and Hourai looked worriedly at their master, whose mood was worsening by the second. Alice eventually noticed their concern, and put on a calm smile... which didn't look very genuine at all.

Alice: "...Well, whatever... This feels like I'm being placed between a rock and a hard place... But if she's going to play like that, then I'll do the same!"

Alice then abruptly stopped talking, and shut herself into her study, leaving Shanghai and Hourai behind. The two poor dolls could only look at each other in surprise...

Wait a minute, what's going on?
Well, she hasn't officially formed an army yet, but I doubt that'll last for long. I wonder why she's so mad...
I guess we'll have to wait on that one. Let's deal with the Youkai Army first.

Turn 7:
Action 1: Developed Night-Blind Road with Reimu
Action 2: Attacked Faintly Dark Path with Marisa, Toujin, and Tsubame, 61% Victory, Toujin Withdrawn
Other: Full Heal, Activated Auto Heal

Wait a minute, withdrawn!? Withdrawn!? No, no no no no no no. Let's try that one again, shall we?

Turn 7 (Try 2):
Action 1: Developed Night-Blind Road with Reimu
Action 2: Attacked Faintly Dark Path with Marisa, Yumeta, and Tsubame, 87% Victory, Received Short Sword
Other: Full Heal, Activated Auto Heal

Much better. Now for the pre-battle cutscene...

Marisa: "...? Hey Reimu, doncha find this kinda weird?"

A new song again, this time Secret "25:00" Midnight. Funny, I didn't think the Dark Hour existed in Gensokyo.



Reimu: "Just 'kinda'? It's like night time now. And it was so bright just a little while ago."

Marisa: "It ain't cuz of the time... Look!"

Marisa took about ten steps back, and her body was suddenly shining from the rays of the sun. Yet with ten more steps forward, all traces of the sunlight disappeared.

Well, that's a downer.

Reimu: "Right, they did say that they recruited some darkness-manipulating youkai."

Marisa: "Yeah, it's gotta be Rumia. This has'ta be her power at work."

Reimu: "This'll be tough, humans won't be able to see far in this darkness. Ranged attacks are going to be pretty badly affected."

Marisa: "Melee combat ain't my forte, but it looks like I ain't gonna have a choice."

Reimu: "At least these little tricks they're pulling is proof that we've driven them to a corner. Let's go and pressure them some more!"

Yeah! Rumia will start joining the battles. She's a little tougher than the other characters, but she isn't too bad.
Also, we get a Short Sword from the retry fight! When equipped, it boosts MEL by 1. I'm amazing, because item drops are very, very rare in this game. Any one you get is one less you have to buy later on. This'll go on Tsubame for sure.
Turn 7 has no end of turn cutscene. Alice hasn't made her move yet, thankfully. So, let's finish this!

Reimu: "Now now... There's nowhere left to run."

Wriggle: "Ugh... We know already!"

Technically, you could run into the Forest of Magic.



Reimu: "Heh heh heh... I'll make you regret ever picking a fight with me."

Mystia: "...You didn't need to say so, I'm already starting to regret it."

Wriggle: "What are you saying!? This'll be a decisive battle! We'll show them the fighting spirit of the youkai! Mystia, Rumia! Let's go!"

Mystia: "We're doomed, why bother trying!?"

Rumia: "Doo-med!"

Pretty much.



Marisa: "...Man, it's hard to tell who're the good guys here."

You're telling me, Marisa.



I think we've got this, guys.




Yeah, we've got this.

The country was lost, as youkai corpses littered the landscape... Actually, no one died... But the Reimu-led army emerged victorious, and the Youkai Army soldiers scattered and ran, leaving their leader behind.

Game, don't play tricks on me. Please.

Reimu: "...Now then～, how do you like that?"

Wriggle: "Uuuugh... I-I still haven't lost yet!"

I beg to differ.



Reimu: "You've definitely lost."

Marisa: "Utterly."

Wriggle: "..... Wahhhhh!"

Don't cry about it. You're fine. Just give up, though.

Reimu: "What happened to all your allies?"

Wriggle: "I don't know, they probably ran away in all the confusion."



Reimu: "They're youkai after all. And in the first place, this is the fate that awaits all who try to start a fight with me."

Pretty much. Regardless of the enemy, Reimu will put her down, as she's shown on multiple occasions.

Marisa: "So, whatcha gonna do with her?"

Reimu: "Fried or steamed?"

Marisa: "I don't think she'd taste all that good..."

Wriggle: "Eeek, every insect will have her daaay!"

Reimu: "It's a joke, we're not that hard-up for ingredients."

Marisa: "If we let her go, she'll probably try'ta regroup and fight us again. Since we already beat her, let's take her as a prisoner."

Reimu: "That sounds good. And if she keeps resisting, we'll just have to eat her."

Do you even eat bugs normally? I don't really want to think about it too much.



Wriggle: "I-I'll do as you say, so don't eat meeee!"

...And so, the Wriggle-led Youkai Army that held such desire for revenge against the Hakurei shrine maiden disappeared from the stage.

With that, the Youkai Army is done and Wriggle is now a prisoner, who I'll probably recruit. Validon need troops badly.
As to Mystia and Rumia, they are now "freelancers." They'll join other armies to try to fight against us, but we have the opportunity to capture them in combat. Getting every single freelancer is pretty much impossible, however, so don't rely on getting them.
But now that the Youkai Army is finished, what now? Is Alice really going to join the war? What in the letter caused her to get so angry? I guess we'll find out next time!

Turn 8:
Action 1: Talked with Tsubame
Action 2: Attacked Faintly Dark Path with Reimu, Marisa, Yumeta, Tsubame, and Toujin, 100% Victory
Other: Gave Short Sword to Tsubame, Leveled Tsubame once and gave him Cautious Strike, Leveled Yumeta once and gave her Charge

[Ikari]

I swear when I first played the game and saw ''Corpses of youkais'', I went all ''WAIT, WHAT!? THAT'S NOT CANON, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT-''

''...Oh. Heh, silly game.''

[Validon98]

I swear when I first played the game and saw ''Corpses of youkais'', I went all ''WAIT, WHAT!? THAT'S NOT CANON, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT-''

''...Oh. Heh, silly game.''

This game does a surprisingly good job of sticking with canon.
Also, no update tonight. However, if I have time, I might just start the expansion of Devil of Decline. The fact that I've been doing a little more of the Genius of Sappheiros expansion has compelled me to go back to Devil of Decline. So I'll probably do the prologue for that, and then I'll come back to Sengoku Gensokyo. I'll probably alternate every time I beat an army in Sengoku Gensokyo.

[Validon98]

Day 9 to Beginning of Day 10: Escalation

So, how are things going now that the Youkai Army is done?

Reimu: "......"

Marisa: "........."



It was another day to relax at the Hakurei Shrine, with teacup in hand. At least, it should be, but there was something uncomfortable in the air. And the matter providing the discomfort was obvious...

Hmm?

Reimu: "......Hey."

Marisa: "What?"

Reimu: "How long are we going to let this be?"

Marisa: "It's not like I can do anything even if ya ask me... It's just... a bit of a bother."

They could feel the glare aimed at them from behind a tree. She was probably trying to hide, but it wasn't very successful. Calling out to her didn't seem like it would make anything better either.

I doubt a tree would provide much cover, mystery girl.

Reimu: "She's looking at you, she must have some business with you."

Marisa: "No no, she's definitely lookin' at ya."

Reimu: "Ahh, geez! Okay, I know you're behind that tree! Just come out already!"

Her endurance for the facade had reached its limit, and she stood up and called out to the tree. After a short period of silence, the girl emerged from behind the tree.

: "Hehe, very observant of you to notice me hiding there."

Reimu: "Observant? It was so obvious... Anyway, what are you here for, Alice?"

Alice? Oh crap, she was angry for whatever reason.

A smile started to form on the lips of the girl known as Alice. Her entire body was overflowing with a murderous, pressurizing aura.

Murderous? Okay, I have absolutely no idea why you're so pissed, but knock it off.



Alice: "What I'm here for? That's very simple..."

Marisa: "Whoa!"

Alice took one deathly glance at Marisa, then turned back to Reimu and thrust her hand out at her. A single piece of paper laid on the palm of her hand.

Alice: "Reimu! Marisa! The 'Forest of Magic Team' hereby declares war on you!"

Marisa: "W-whaaaa!?"

Damn it! I just finished off one army, and now I have to deal with another one?

Marisa yelped out in shock, earning yet another stare of ire from Alice. Alice's anger seemed to be aimed more towards Marisa than Reimu.

Marisa: "H-Hey, whaddaya so mad about?"

Alice: "...Are you seriously asking?"

Marisa: "Ah... Uh, well..."

I honestly doubt Marisa knows, Alice. Maybe you should enlighten us?



Alice: "If that's how you're going to be, then that's even less reason for me to hold back. Prepare to be completely wiped out!"

With those parting words, Alice turned on her heels and left the shrine. The other two were left dumbfounded at the cyclone that had just entered and left the area.

Well screw you, Alice! What the hell is wrong with you?!

Reimu: "...So it was you she was looking at, huh? Just what did you do?"

Marisa: "I didn't do anything..."

Reimu: "You have to have done SOMETHING for her to get that angry. ...Anyway, I guess we'll be fighting Alice now."

Honestly, what the hell did Marisa do?

Marisa: "At least we don't hafta go through the trouble of declarin' war ourselves."

Reimu: "This whole thing is basically your fault, so make sure you take full responsibility for it."

Marisa: "............"

Reimu said a little more than she needed as usual, but Marisa took it with her usual optimism, seemingly thinking that everything would work out in the end.

I'm not so sure Marisa was entirely responsible. For one, we have Yukari to blame for the whole thing. And what was it that angered Alice? Whatever it is, I don't care. I hate her attitude, and I'm seriously going to thrash her for this.



Figures.

The Human Village. The area in Gensokyo with the highest concentration of humans, and the area where most of them reside. Youkai also enter like anyone else, but they usually do not cause a fuss inside.

The village sells many basic necessities, and is given protection by an elder youkai. All these qualities makes it especially safe for those without any special powers to live in.

I'm starting to get tired of having to watch a bunch of cutscenes before I even get the chance to take my turn.



Keine: "Mm... *stretch* A desk job doesn't do the shoulders much good..."

However, not all of the villagers are powerless. Such as the human...or rather, half-human, Keine Kamishirasawa. On that day, she was buried again under a mountain of paperwork for the school she managed.

She compiled the history of Gensokyo as her everyday work, while giving lectures to the humans of the village about history. She was normally very serious and strict, but she became less uptight when alone.

I doubt everyone could be strict 100% of the time.

...But on that day, at a time where usually no one was around, an unexpected visitor came calling, and shew as quickly on full alert.

: "Hehe... A dignified scholar should not be yawning quite like that."

Keine: "...Oh, it's you, Lady Akyu... Don't scare me like that."

Keine answered as she wiped away a tiny tear from her eye. Keine would normally not let herself be seen even slightly off the pace in the public eye, but it was nothing new to her and her visitor.

Oh, hey Akyu. How's them Gensokyo Records going?

Akyu: "Hello. Am I interrupting anything?"



Keine: "I was just planning to take a break, so not at all."

You look so happy there, Keine. At least Devil of Decline hasn't happened. I don't think being forcibly kidnapped does good for your emotions.

Akyu: "That is good to hear. Please excuse me, then."

The girl known as Akyu went to sit beside Keine after her greeting. She was holding a sealed letter in her hands.

Keine: "If you're here to see me at this time of the day, I presume something of importance has occurred."

Akyu opened the letter in response to Keine's obvious inquiry.

Akyu: "You would be correct, actually... I encountered Lady Yukari just a while ago."

Keine: "What...?"

Oh crap.

The Eternal Night incident flashed into Keine's mind. That period was when Yukari and the Hakurei shrine maiden caused havoc everywhere, so it was natural for Keine to stiffen at a reminder of the incident.

I think the proper term is "resolving the incident," not "causing havoc."

Akyu: "She left this sealed envelope with me, but the contents within are not something I can decide alone..."



Keine took the sheets of paper from the envelope from Akyu, and started to scan through them. The phrasing was different, but it was generally the same thing that Wriggle found... Information to join in the game.

Keine: "Gensokyo War Battle 1, the winner will have any wish they have granted... What's this all about?"

Akyu: "That question is not one I can answer, unfortunately..."

Keine turned to face Akyu, wearing a worried frown on her face. It seemed Akyu wasn't able to figure out what Yukari was plotting either...

Keine: "Large groups can participate... and the approach is different from the spellcard rules. Is that youkai trying to involve all of Gensokyo in her whims again?"

Wrinkles started to appear on Keine's forehead. Letting a youkai get her way with every thought of hers was bad enough, but when it becomes an incident too... As the village's protector, she could not let this slide.

Akyu: "What shall we do?"

Keine: "We won't do anything. There's no reason for us to get involved in a game like this."

Hurray! That's one less group I have to deal with.

Akyu fully expected Keine's reply, but she still had a very worried expression on her face.

Keine: "Hm? If you're making that kind of face, I suppose there's something more to the issue?"

Akyu: "Yes, earlier, you mentioned... that she would get all of Gensokyo involved. Knowing Lady Yukari, she has probably distributed this letter everywhere already."

Keine: "...So you think she'd get us involved whether we want to or not? We could just ignore it all."

Please ignore it all.



Akyu: "We could, but there is one detail that would not allow that course of action."

: "Ms. Keine, may I have a bit of your time?"

A voice emerged from the entrance, interrupting Akyu. The two of them turned their eyes towards the door, to find several men standing there. Keine called out to the familiar-looking man amongst the group.

Keine: "...How do you do, sir? Is something the matter? It's unusual to see you traveling with such a large escort."

Village Head: "My apologies for interrupting your work, Ms. Keine. Ohh, Lady Akyu is here too, I see."

The village head? What could he want?



Akyu: "Shall I make myself scarce? It appears you two have important things to discuss."

Daww, cute Akyu is cute.

Village Head: "No, do stay. I would like you to hear this as well, Lady Akyu."

The man, who was apparently the head of the village, produced a familiar-looking sealed envelope. So familiar, that the two could've sworn that they saw it just moments ago.

Akyu: "...That would be..."

Village Head: "Yes, you see, this was given to me quite a while ago. I didn't recognize the person who gave this to me, but the contents were certainly surprising."

Village Head: "...Hm? You're holding something that looks awfully like this, Lady Akyu."

Keine: "...Don't tell me the contents of that letter is..."

Village Head: "Ohh, I see. You received the letter as well, Lady Akyu? Yes, whoever this person is, she must be planning something very strange indeed."

No kidding. We still don't know what exactly she wants.

Village Head: "I had decided to come here to discuss what to tell the young villagers... What do you think of the situation, Ms. Keine?"

Keine: "Couldn't we just not play her game? We should not put the village in danger just for nonsensical games like these."

Village Head: "Yes, that may be true... But I don't think inaction alone will work. Have the two of you inspected the map that came with the letter?"

Akyu: "...Yes."

Keine: "Map?"

Keine looked down at the sheets of paper she was holding, and her eyes locked on to the map among them. It showed all the designated bases in Gensokyo. Keine's face quickly darkened as she surveyed it.

Keine: "This means..."

Akyu: "...That was the other detail I had wanted to elaborate on."

Village Head: "Ms. Keine, as I'm sure you've figured out... We will be in the middle of the whole thing."

Oh. Right. That's sort of bad for you guys, isn't it?



The map was large, and split into east and west sections. The base right at the center of the map, with the most amount of other territories next to it, was the Human Village. Which meant...

Keine: "So anyone who participates in this game will have to attack the village sooner or later..."

Keine felt a slight spell of dizziness, but quickly regained her composure. She had finally accepted that even staying out of the game would not let the village escape from it, and could only let off a sigh.

Village Head: "Well, on the bright side, it seems that no real harm will come to the village, so we need not participate... But I believe there is a reason to do so..."

Village Head: "It has been something bothering me for a while, you see... This would be a good opportunity, if I do say so myself."

Oppurtunity? For what?

Keine: "Opportunity?"

Village Head: "To display the power of humans. There are many specialists in youkai extermination in this village, and the youkai are sure to pick a fight with us quickly."

Village Head: "With the shrine in the state it is now, we can't count on it for protection. We must defend ourselves well, or those youkai are sure to look down on us."

The shrine he referred to was Hakurei Shrine. Due to the shrine maiden's knack of befriending the youkai she's supposed to exterminate, rumours of youkai occupying the shrine spread quickly around the village.

You people sure are stupid. She's kind of busy with the game herself, and she's perfectly in control of the shrine, thank you very much.

Keine: "Hmm... It's true that we have a lot of people who exterminate youkai just like how they attack humans..."

Village Head: "Because of that, I was thinking that we should form a self-defence force and proactively join the game, so I came here to hear your opinion on this matter."

The many men behind the village head linked their arms and nodded as the head finished what he wanted to say. At the very least, they certainly seemed full of willingness and motivation.



Akyu: "...I believe that Lady Yukari predicted our way of thinking, and sent a letter to the village head in advance to facilitate the proceedings."

Keine: "So it's all going according to her plan..."

Damn it, Yukari! I'm really starting to wonder what the hell your deal is.

Keine was still hesitant, but she was starting to realize how the other villagers felt. She didn't want to have things go as Yukari wanted them to, but it was going to be too difficult to change their minds now.

Keine: "...Alright, let's participate in this game. We'll be involved in the game anyway, so we might as well join it first. I will help to the best of my ability."

Village Head: "Ohh, your reply is heartening to hear. You don't have to be worried about us, we will be able to protect ourselves from any unwanted pressure from our enemies."

Village Head: "Now then, there will be a lot of preparations to handle, so I shall take my leave now. Have a good night."

Keine's agreement was indeed heartening, if the men's even more enthusiastic reactions were anything to go by as they left. Once the surroundings turned silent once again, Keine let off a loud sigh.

Akyu: "...Is this acceptable to you?"

Keine: "I wouldn't be able to dissuade them even if I tried. I don't know what that youkai is planning, but I hope it won't harm the village too badly."

Well, no one will be killed, at least. Though your village might get occupied.



Akyu: "I must apologize. If I had managed to stop Lady Yukari when she went to see me..."

Keine: "She was meticulous enough to make sure the village head got a copy, I doubt you could've done anything. ...It's late. I'll take you back to your mansion."

Akyu: "Please do not worry, I can travel back by myself. Thank you for your time today. Farewell for now."

Akyu bowed politely, just as she did when she first arrived, then left back to her mansion. Keine watched her figure disappear into the darkness, then looked up towards the sky.

Nothing they could have done would stop Yukari from getting her plan made. Damn.

Keine: "Good grief... But perhaps this shows the flow of time. Long ago, youkai and humans were such enemies, that a game like this would be out of the question."

That was something that no one knew better than Keine or Akyu. What Gensokyo had become meant that this form of frolicking was actually possible, compared to the past.

...Keine almost thought she saw Yukari's all-knowing grin in the starry sky, and quickly averted her gaze away from the sky and walked back to the school.

Hmm, maybe this was something Yukari predicted?

The Youkai Army had been conquered, and the "Night-Blind Road" and "Faintly Dark Path" was under the control of the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu and Marisa then had to decide what to do next.

Marisa: "...So, there're two ways to go from here. The 'Forest of Magic' or the 'Human Village'."

Reimu: "We're already at war with Alice, so maybe we should handle that first?"



Marisa: "Whichever one we go for, we should concentrate on that one methinks. Though I've got no problems with a war on two fronts."

I do. Do you realize how thin our troops would be stretched?

Reimu: "According to the map, the forest has three bases that we have to take care of. The village will probably be much quicker."

Marisa: "Well, I gotta say, I can't recommend goin' after the village right now."

Reimu: "Why?"

Marisa pointed to the map to answer Reimu's inquiry.

Marisa: "Take a good look at the areas 'round the village. The lake that leads to SDM, the thick Lost Bamboo Forest, the sunflower garden, and the border to the Netherworld."

Marisa: "Once we take control of the village, we're gonna hafta fend all of 'em off."

Reimu: "Ah... Yeah, I get it now. They'll all probably come to pay us a visit eventually."

Marisa: "Yep. I'll leave the decision to you, though."

I agree with Marisa. It's best to completely occupy the entire eastern portion of Gensokyo before heading against the Human Village Corps.




With that, Marisa put her hands behind her head and leaned back until she laid on the floor, as if she had totally lost interest. Reimu soon put the map away and followed suit.

Reimu: "Whew... There's still a long way to go, huh?"

Marisa: "Are ya getting sick of it already?"

Reimu: "I've been sick of it from the start."

Marisa: "Then what ya need is a hot bath. Go and prepare one for us."

Reimu: "You... You have a hot springs at your house, don't you? Use that instead."

Marisa: "I'm extremely sorry to say that ain't a hot springs, it's just a pulse."

Reimu: "...Oh really."

Pulses run all through the ground, through the bodies of living beings, and even through hot springs. That feeling of heat is proof of life, but to a philosophical Reimu, it was all starting to boil over.

Yeah, things are about to go crazy.



So, we need to take out Alice. Let's do that, shall we?

Turn 9:
Action 1: Talked with Elceles
Action 2: Attacked Magic Forest Entrance with Reimu, Marisa, Yumeta, and Tsubame, 100% Victory
Other: Persuaded Elceles with Kira and Toujin



First battle against the Forest of Magic Team!



As you can tell, we have to deal with dolls. They have no racial weakness, so they are neutral to every other race.
Nevertheless, I gain a 100% victory without losing anyone.



Alice: "Hmph... That attitude of Marisa's really irks me. Maybe I should pound some nails in..."

What attitude? You're the one with the anger issues, not her!

Alice sat in a chair, reading a book and grumbling to herself. The grumbling was apparently more important, as nothing she was reading was actually registering in her head. The two dolls looked at her worriedly.

Shanghai: "........*tremble tremble*"



Shanghai: "........*nod nod*"

They look pretty cute too.

After their mysterious "conversation", the Shanghai Doll placed a teapot and cup onto a tray, and headed towards Alice. The dolls were worried about their master, but Alice was too busy being mad to notice.

Alice: "Bah... She's pretty much never liked me from the start either... Maybe she's trying to insinuate something..."

The problems with being intelligent is that you overthink everything. Alice, stop it. She's not insinuating anything and she doesn't hate you. Stop. It.

Shanghai: ".........*sweat sweat*"

The tiny hands holding the tray were starting to tremble, but Alice was still unaware. The Hourai Doll, seeing the Shanghai Doll looking so pitiful, decided to help and flew straight into the back of Alice's head.

Alice: "Ow! What the... What was that for, Hourai!?"

Hourai: "........*point*"

Shanghai: "........*tremble tremble*"

Alice: "Ah... I'm sorry Shanghai, I didn't know you were here... Thank you for the tea."

Alice took the tray from Shanghai, releasing the heavy load on her. Alice then poured the contents of the teapot into the cup, and took a sip, clearing her mind up a little.

Alice: "Whew... This won't do, I must be calmer. Now, how should I do this? The forest is large, so I will have to delegate duties..."

You aren't going to win if you're angry.

Alice: "Alright, Shanghai, take care of the entrance. Hourai, please guard the boundary."

Shanghai and Hourai: "*nod nod*"

Shanghai and Hourai accepted Alice's orders with a nod. Although they looked meek and helpless, they were the best of the dolls that accompanied Alice, and were capable of action even while away from their master.

Alice: "I'll definitely win... Just you watch."

Thus, she had one more reason to win at all costs. Her fight was just about to begin.

...Right.



Damn, I have no one left to defend.



If you do not defend an area, the other team gains an automatic 80% victory. I didn't lose all of my progress (the territory still has 20 points of defense less than it originally did), but it means I cannot take the territory next turn. This is going to take a while. Thankfully, I think I'll probably take down the Forest of Magic Team in the next update. Hopefully I will.

Marisa: "...It's probably cuz of me."

Reimu: "Hmm? Are you finally regretting all the evil deeds you've done in your life?"

Marisa: "Do ya have short-term memory loss or somethin'? I'm talking 'bout why she got so mad."

Maybe it is, but all we have to prove it is Alice's anger at you. We still don't have a definite reason.

Reimu: "Ahh, yes yes. Go clean it up already?"

Marisa: "What are ya talkin' 'bout now?"

Reimu: "Hm, was I off the mark again? I was thinking how pitiful she must be, having to deal with a mountain of mushrooms at her entrance hallway."

Marisa: "Who would do that kinda thing?"

Reimu: "Then just say it already, geez."

Marisa: "I'm guessin' that she doesn't like me bein' here."

Reimu: "Which means?"

Marisa: "I live in the forest after all. If we go with the map, I oughta team up with Alice. But in reality, I'm her enemy right now. That's probably why she's angry."

That might be the reason, but that still isn't certain. It could be for something else.

Reimu: "I can see the logic in that. I never actually asked, why are you here anyway?"

Marisa: "Yukari said herself that we could team up with anyone we wanted."

Reimu: "Then I'm sure there were other people you could team up with besides Alice and myself."



Marisa: "...I just went with the one who had the best chance of winnin' this thing, accordin' to my calculations."

Reimu: "...Ahh, that's how it is. That's rather cunning of you."

Marisa: "Only the smart survive, doncha think?"

Reimu: "I said cunning, not smart."

Reimu and Marisa had known each other for a long time. But there were differences in their points of view that both of them had yet to notice.

I guess that is sort of cunning, but whatever. Next time we continue on with the war against the Forest of Magic Team and hopefully find out why Alice is angry with Marisa.