Hey so sorry again for the long response time! Got my first weekend all month where I had a chance to relax and recharge a little. I definitely trust you when you say the Seihou games are worth my time. At some point on one of my weekends here I'll sit down and give it a shot. If you don't mind me asking how do you go about getting these games? Oh yes, I definitely am loving the thrill from the no bomb runs! Even if it's just in Normal things still start to get quite tense as you get to the later stages. There's just so little room for error which means no matter how well I'm doing at any point during the run I just can't afford to make mistakes. Ahhh it doesn't seem entirely rare in Touhou for the stage 4 boss to be arguably harder than the stage 5 boss, so no surprise that's sometimes true for Seihou as well. The stage practice really does help but it's a lot more tricky trying to get those 1CCs when you need to run it alongside everything else. Spell Card Practice in 8 and some of the other games is also incredibly useful and you really notice the difference it makes in learning more efficiently since you can focus solely on what you're struggling on most without having to waste the time on the easier things. My experience with 8s Extra Stage really made it evident just what a massive difference this can make.
Speaking of which I just got my Touhou 8 Extra stage 1CC 
Only took a day from start to finish to learn too so I'd say it was relatively speaking one of the easier ones I've done so far, but I really do feel the Spell Card practice was a huge factor in this. Still it was a lot of fun and even going into the final Spell Card with 2 remaining lives and a bomb I still just barely managed to beat it. I hadn't done the later bit of the final Spell Card yet though so I was essentially flying blind. My adrenaline was through the roof in the last few seconds of the attack after using my final remaining bomb XD I think this would be a good Extra Stage to attempt to no bomb since the stage portion/mid boss are pretty easy and most of Mokou's Spell Cards can be consistently beaten once you've had a bit of practice. It's really only the last 3/4 Cards that gave me any real hassle. Quite pleased though since this will make for the 3rd game I've completed the Extra Stage for. Unfortunately I didn't capture enough Spell Cards to get her bonus attack which I still need for two of the Last Word unlocks but I'll get that eventually.
I don't blame you for not entirely remembering the 2nd games ending with the orbs. Frankly with all the different characters/games it's hard for me to remember some things that I played even a few months ago let alone years ago. I like reading through things like the wiki and TVtropes page so you'll often find out little tidbits of random information like the orbs powers there. There's just so many little tidbits of lore in the story it can be hard to remember it all (heck, I sometimes struggle remembering all the character names still). I still need to get back to 2's Extra Stage. Main reason I got sidetracked was I wanted to record it when I did it but I noticed the recording software was struggling a slight bit more with the PC-98 games a bit more so I need to iron out the kinks with that first. I definitely got to agree it's awesome having your stuff recorded. Sometimes when I just want to unwind a bit I'll watch old replays and it can be exciting reliving some of those moments you experienced during a run.
I'll definitely give myself credit for having improved a lot. I feel 1000x more comfortable surrounded by bullets then when I first started and I can pull off moves that seemed unreal back when I started, even though at times I wish I wasn't as prone to some of the dumb mistakes I still tend to make. Those moments where I can really sit down and get a proper session going where I'm able to fully focus is where I really notice the difference in my skill level. I try not to let it go to my head too much since there's always more to learn but it is damned satisfying being able to step back and witness just how much you've grown
Ahhh I can see Marisa using her attacks in a random order in 4 potentially really messing me up. It makes it much tougher trying to deal with attacks when there's that RNG element since you can't ever be fully prepared for what's going to come next. Attacks that leave leftover bullets can be a bit awkward to deal with since it's sometimes easy to forget about them and become to focused on the new pattern coming out. And if by part of her charm you mean her being extremely frustrating to fight then yes I completely agree XD I could gush on quite a bit about 8, it just does everything right and so much more. I don't think any of the other games have anywhere near as much extra content as 8 does either which is a big plus in its book. I definitely think you'll enjoy it once you get to it yourself
I'd say that's pretty accurate about that zen state feeling almost like you're watching a replay rather than playing it in real time. It's almost as if there's a part of you that just knows you're not going to make a mistake. It's certainly something that a person needs to personally have experienced in order to really understand, but even among us hardcore players it does seem very rare and inconsistent to really enter this state. There's times where I can be playing amazingly well and crushing everything easily but even then it's not always the same as being in that zen state you know? One of the key defining things I've noticed about that state is just how ridiculously calm I feel. Ah yeah that's why I struggle to play games like the one you mentioned your friend showing you because they're more about the spectacle and at that point I'd almost rather be watching a movie. When it comes to a game I want to feel really engaged in what's going on and that just can't happen when the difficulty is putting me to sleep. It's even worse when I feel like I have to actively be handicapping myself in order to receive a challenge. Most games that do seem to require a degree of real patience are usually labeled as niche too so I don't think most games out would really be able to satisfy you. I think we're partially byproducts of the arcade style era though in which games were meant to eat up credits and thus were made to be hard and require lots of practice. I'm thankful there's still a market for those arcade style games even in our day and age
Ah yes Koishi has so many good covers for her theme. I'm not surprised since she's such a popular character. That one you linked is one of my favorites I've heard so far and I can tell you I added onto my phone right away and have already racked up quite a play count already 
Opps sorry I meant the Bad Apple cover done for the stop motion music video that was popular all those years back (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lNZ_Rnr7Jc). Even back when I knew next to nothing about Touhou I still had seen the Bad Apple stop motion video and thought it was awesome. I think you're right about Yuuhei Satellite doing the opening to the fanmade anime! I was recently listening to another arrange by them done for the stage 4 theme in SA I think is pretty entrancing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kND-UIXv1sc. I'm so glad you liked the Sakuya remix 
Agreed with how much better it gets after the 5 minute mark and I admit I often skip right away to the halfway portion of the song whenever I listen to it but from that point on it becomes pure heaven to listen to. It's one of those songs I can listen to repeatedly in a row and never seem to get sick of it. That A-One arrange is another good find! I didn't use to listen to tons of the techno/trancy/Eurobeat stuff in the past but there's just something about that with Touhou music that is so good for some reason
These figures do get pricey but damn they really are nice quality. The unfortunate bit about sites like TOM is that once a figure runs out of stock it's hard to say whether they'll get more in eventually, so sometimes you're forced to look on ebay or Amazon which can get a bit pricey 
The Forbidden Scrollery manga is super nice! There's something about holding them too that just feels satisfying as well XD And yes! Well, some of the books on the left are Miyuki Ruria, there's also the Touhou Art Tribute books I picked up at the anime con this year which is just a collection of various artists and whatnot. I absolutely love the Miyuki Ruria ones the most though and they even have a bunch of beautiful art I've never even seen posted online before Yes, I know what you mean where it's hard to divert funds away from Touhou stuff, I've been learning this over the last year or so. There's times where I think "gee, I'd love to buy that Hollow Knight physical Collectors Edition" but then I have to weigh that against just buying more Touhou merch and the Touhou merch usually wins out lol This is why I've been able to get such a decent collection over just the course of year because its become like 90% of my entertainment fund as well. Ah yes the Alice Ques Q isn't going to be cheap but I'll still eventually get it. It's the one I wanted most originally but I'm thinking I'll probably wait until the end of the year and buy it as a Christmas gift to myself once I get my bonus at work I definitely want to make sure to get the dolls with it since it just wouldn't feel right without them. Just over a month now until you get your Reimu figure in!!! You must be incredibly excited for that! The postal office better make damned sure to handle that package with care. And yes I don't doubt your dedication to Reimu seeing as how she's directly connected to your love for Touhou and this series has made it clear just how deep our levels of obsession can run Plus there's just something special about Reimu that is hard to place my finger on. Something that makes her a unique character in fiction imo. And yep, my sister actually went to Japan twice in a years time and I'm right there with you being jealous. I'm actually thinking of planning a trip to Japan next year if I'm able to save up the money. It's something I've wanted to do for ages now but I know it will require quite a bit of time and saving to get there.
I use to think since Yukari was the only Phantasm boss that she was probably the hardest in the series, I know that isn't exactly the case now (she seems to be ranked about mid tier difficulty as for as Extra Stage Bosses go and most people generally agree Koishi, Hecatia and Marisa are definitely tougher) but it's still definitely a milestone for me. I'm glad I can now add Mokou to the list of completed Extra Stage bosses too Working on unlocking on Yukari's Last word is the primary reason I decided to work on 8s extra stage this weekend since that's a requirement for unlocking some of the Last Words. Right now I have 12/17 of the cards unlocked so I'm getting closer though some of the remaining ones will be a little tougher to unlock. Out of the 12 I have unlocked so far I've managed to beat 10 of them (Just beat Remilia last night. She's always got really cool Spell Cards as well) though which I'm quite pleased about. You're definitely right, it wouldn't be Touhou if we didn't have to work and suffer for our achievements a bit XD The more we suffer the more satisfying those achievements are when you finally hit them though. Thank you again sooooooo much for all the info on OBS studio btw!!! A lot of the fine tuning with the settings I would have never figured out on my own so having your instructions was invaluable. I'm loving being able to record my content as I go and I've already gotten to archiving many of my older replays of 1CCs I have saved. In games like 8 it's way too easy to fill up all your replay slots and you don't want to get rid of stuff so not having to worry about slot space is incredibly nice, and plus now I can show some of my friends some of the stuff I've personally done I started throwing a few of my videos up on youtube. They're certainly not as impressive as many of the other people out there but there's something about knowing they're mine that's immensely satisfying. Yeah that adrenaline feeling is exactly what happened to me during the final Spell Card in my Mokou fight. It became a race against time during an attack I didn't know how to deal with so I knew it was going to come down to the wire. At that point you're just pouring your entire existence into the moment to get by. You're right, the sense of immersion is completely and totally unmatched for things like that. Nothing I've experienced in gaming outside this series has come anywhere close to that feeling. During those moments nothing in the world exists outside of the pattern and your brain is just 100% immersed.
Yes, that's absolutely good advice on testing out things like streaming and standing still in those absolute clusterfuck attacks. There's little tricks like that which you sort of pick up the more you play the series that help learn what is actually happening behind each Spell Card. I noticed sometimes you need to do something that is extremely counter intuitive in order to deal with a pattern so it helps to get a bit creative and try different techniques when struggling with a card because sometimes you stumble on a secret to dealing with it that trivializes the pattern. On top of what you mentioned I'll also experiment with starting positions and whereabouts I hang out on the screen since sometimes there's those sweet spots which you don't initially see. That's one thing I find kind of neat about Touhou, sometimes you don't even need to be paying attention to 99% of what's on the screen. Over time you stop trying to dodge everything and instead train your eyes in order to catch what the real threat is on the screen. Sometimes there's hundreds of bullets on the screen but realistically only several are actually a danger too you. Another trick I've picked up that helps a lot in the attacks that have multiple patterns you need to dodge at once is to find ways to break it up so you're only dodging one thing at a time. I commonly do this when you got like 3 different bullet types coming at you where you really only need to be paying attention to 1 bullet type at any given time as long as you're smart about it.
The non-Spellcards from the bosses will still take normal damage from the bombs but the main Spell Cards they'll become immune to damage when you use one, and it's not rare for them to only clear off a small portion of what's on the screen. I like it because it makes them still feel useful without making it feel like you can rely on them to cheese entire cards. You still really need to be smart and tactical about how you use them in the Extra Stage. Games like 10 and 11 you're power doubles as your bombs, and yes, it becomes brutal if you rely on them too much and drop your power low in the later stages. Even if you still technically have lots of lives you can sort of dig yourself into a hole if you drop your power down and can't effectively get caught up later. You know how long the final Spell Cards in a game can last so you can imagine trying to do that with 1 power. I think you're right where the dumb mistakes work in reverse too sometimes and you see yourself pulling off feats that seem far above when you should be capable of doing. It makes sense too with law of averages, when you run content thousands of times you're bound to see some things with stupidly low odds happen like that. That's part of what makes this so fun is you never know what will happen next.
It's a shame ZUN couldn't have brought back some of the PC-98 characters for the fighting games at least or else we could have gotten some of these face offs Usually my capability to snap back after a dumb mistake isn't too bad but the consecutive mistakes can really add up quickly if you don't have time to recover properly (and to be fair some Spell Cards are intentionally designed to be brutal to recover if you die in the middle of it). Consecutive early stage mistakes make me rage hard after a certain point when you feel you should have all of that on lockdown by that point. I personally find Reisen the easiest stage 5 boss in the series, I know opinions on difficulty can generally vary but I have also seen a few other people who share the opinion as well. She's more "tricky" then she is dangerous and as long as you're able to keep a cool head a lot of her attacks are pretty easy to deal with. She's the only stage 5 Touhou boss I can think of that has actually saved more 1CCs by allowing me to catch up on resources than she has ended 
I'm so glad you managed to get your TV back! I do hope you've been enjoying your time in the Scarlet Devil Mansion these last few weeks Even if the first few attempts back probably didn't last too long I'm sure they still felt magical after being gone for so long ^_^ This weekend was the first real proper sessions I've had in several weeks now myself and I can't even begin to describe what a relief it was. Compared to a couple days ago I feel as if all the stress from the last few weeks has just melted away and I just feel completely recharged and renewed. At least I can say work kept me pretty engaged the last few weeks. My supervisor was on vacation so I was left watching over several sections at once and there wasn't a single minute in a day where I wasn't doing multiple things at once. Thankfully Touhou has trained my brain to (somewhat) be able to handle keeping track of so much in a high stress situation so I was able to get through it From the sounds of it I might even possibly be getting a raise with how happy the boss is (Meaning I might be able to afford more Touhou merch hopefully). I'm glad work managed to keep me engaged but it still can't compare to losing yourself in Touhou and I'll take the magical girl over the work any day of the week XD
I feel as long as there's so much challenging content and as long as I'm being smart about how I practice and learn I probably won't even come close to hitting my skillcap for a number of years. Especially because I still have hardly done much in Lunatic Mode in this series outside 9 (which works differently from the other games anyways). I think as I push the Lunatic and No Bomb run stuff as well as maybe some of the more difficult Extra Stages I'll definitely still see an increase. I agree Hard Mode should be right up my current skill levels alley. I'm debating if I want to be working on the Extra Stages a bit more or try to keep some more Hard 1CCs under my belt currently. I got to admit I am having a blast working on the Extra Stages so much lately so I might try and get 1 or 2 more but I also sort of like to see what I'm in the mood for when I sit down to play for a session. I still need to get back to 15s Extra Stage X( I can be too easily sidetracked when I get working on too many things at once, especially when time is limited, which could make things difficult when I start working on some of the things that will require significant amounts of time and practice. You've no doubt noticed I can jump around between games a fair bit which can have its advantages and disadvantages. I do find certain games fit my mood way better at times compared others. I absolutely won't stop attempting the stage with Reimu just because she's harder, in fact I kind of like it this way because I feel like I'm getting more out of the stage then some people might. In general I attempt to do most content these days with Reimu first because it just feels right, like that's the way the game is built around playing in a way (not literally but just how it feels like to me). I'd like to eventually get a Lunatic as well as an Extra Stage 1CC on every game with Reimu at least once.
I could go on about Touhou for hours, days, weeks and probably months no problem XD Its literally consumed my life so you never need to worry about holding back or worry I'll lose interest I can promise you that. I'm sorry again it took so long to respond. This weekend was the first time since the start of the month I've had a chance to get in a proper session with how busy it was and I didn't want to sit down and try to write a response that was half ass or while I was struggling to stay awake. Let me know how things have been going in 6 for you since you've gotten back when you get a chance!
Oh and for OBS regarding what you said in the PM I'll grab a screenshot of the stats next time I try recording Touhou 2. I highly suspect I just need to tinker with the settings a bit to get that sweet spot but it might also have been something else my in my PC that was eating up memory at the time too. I ended up going with the Superfast option. The space isn't too bad since I can just throw the videos on an external easily and I only keep certain videos onhand. This is one of the Last Word (Wriggle's to be specific) videos I threw up on youtube if you want to see for yourself quickly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAuE7tPgHmc&feature=youtu.be I'll still tinker a bit with the settings to get it just right but in general I'm happy to set up recording now. I've been wanting to do so for a while so I can't thank you enough for your help
No worries about the posts turning out so large. It's unavoidable when discussing this series. There's just too much to discuss
Happy Touhouing!
As we said in the PMs, never worry about response time. I know how busy everyone is, and real life stuff just comes up, so it?s completely understandable
Well, for Seihou 1 and 2, you?re going to have to download them from Moriya Shrine or some other site that hosts Touhou games just like for the PC98 games. Unfortunately the first 2 games are out of print
Seihou 3 though could be purchased digitally (from here:
http://www.dlsite.com/home/work/=/product_id/RJ101418.html) to support the developers, I think only C74 which could be patched to version 3 though, so you?ll need to get C67 with some scrounging on the net. (If anyone else is reading this and I?m mistaken please let me know, I would love to own physical copies of these games). Note that there are 3 versions of Seihou 3 which is called Banshiryuu: the C67 version, C74 version, and the most recent version called Ver. 3. While not so clear, here?s some more information about the 3 different Seihou 3 versions:
https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/User_talk:Arcorann#About_Banshiryuu_versions As a note, only Seihou 1 and 2 have Touhou characters in them (Reimu and Marisa as Extra bosses in Seihou 1, and Yuuka as a playable character and opponent in Seihou 2), Seihou 3 doesn?t, but still worth a playthrough. Also don?t forget about Samidare (which has a cameo from Yuki and Mai from Touhou 5, and Gates and Vivit from Seihou as Extra bosses), and also Uwabami Breakers which is one of ZUN?s works. Torte Le Magic is another game you might want to check out, the music was made by ZUN for that one. It?s short and quite easy too so should be a quick playthrough. Ahh definitely about the No Bomb runs, as you?re saying, little room for error so can never let yourself get overconfident cause it could end up being your downfall! Really glad you?re enjoying these, and once you push yourself onto Hard, and especially Lunatic, that?s when it?ll start feeling heart-attack inducing haha xD Keep at it, you?ll get there!
Definitely agreed about certain cases (although rare) when the Stage 4 boss is tougher than the Stage 5 one. Honestly Patchouli is giving me a harder time than Sakuya in most of my runs in Touhou 6, although sometimes Sakuya could get nasty too, especially when she goes the opposite way of where she trapped me with her knives so I?m barely dealing any damage. Agreed also on the Stage Practice, it is very helpful, but yes, to run all the stages alongside each other is MUCH more tricky than doing them individually in Stage Practice, especially when the pressure starts building up when you see that you?ve got a good number of lives left and know that you might be able to pull off that 1cc! Yes Spell Card Practice is also a godsend from what I?ve seen, plus it?s mega fun too capturing each card (since you can?t bomb or lose a life in that mode!). I imagine you went in already half prepared for 8?s Extra from Spell Card Practice
That?s very good progress in just one day! Well done and keep it up! Really? It?s one of the easier ones? Mokou has a couple of attacks that look quite intimidating from what I saw of her. Really looking forward to a face off with her in the future!
Ouch that final spell card sounds tough, must be one of the intimidating ones I mentioned
Hahaha yeah I know what that feels like when you?re at the end and got no more resources left! It?s a wonderful feeling and soooo immersive. Definitely give that Extra a shot as a No Bombs if you?re confident about it, remember, you?ve got your lives to help you power through the final 3 ? 4 cards, so master the earlier cards to not waste resources on those, and use your lives on the remaining cards. This is how I tackled Flandre in 6, leaving my lives for her final 2 cards (QED is terrifying, starts off all slow and easy, but by the end it?s manic!). I imagine you managed to get Mokou?s bonus attack now since you unlocked Yukari?s Last Word as you said in the PM
Yeah, which is a real shame, cause I?d love to remember all this stuff
Well thankfully since I?m recording now, I could revisit previous achievements and stories
(I also record the endings, not just the gameplay) Oh yes definitely, while I never visited the TVTropes page, I use the wiki A LOT, and there is a plethora of information there that just breathes life into the whole series more! (both with more info on the characters, and also locations and simple things like objects). Hahaha once you face the bosses in Lunatic believe me you won?t be forgetting their names any time soon, especially the ones that make you curse like crazy xD Did you manage to get your recordings sorted for the PC-98 games? You said you were getting some sort of memory error if I recall correctly. Feel free to post a screenshot of it, while I never encountered it myself, maybe I?ll (or some other members) will know how to fix that. Really weird though that the Windows games record fine and you?re getting trouble on the PC98 ones :/ Yes indeed and agreed with watching your own replays. Its nice just chilling back and reliving your most prized achievements. We all know how much work goes into making them a reality
Agreed and definitely understandable about feeling more comfortable with several bullets around you now. You?re close to a year into bullet dodging now, so yes your confidence will definitely have shot up from way back when you would have started (and now you?re experimenting with No Bombs too, that will definitely help in growth), if anything we crave more bullets around us now xD (like Easy and Normal are too easy for me although Normal is still fun, Hard is my comfort zone, Lunatic I just adore then, it feels soooooo cool with all those bullets everywhere, but it?s very difficult to No Bomb then, and I love a challenge). Haha well we?re only human, so we tend to make mistakes, even after 5 years I still make a couple of mistakes I want to kick myself afterwards for, so I guess that never goes away lol. Yes never let it go to your head, you?ve still got Hard and Lunatic to discover properly, and believe me it?s quite a huge step. Although I hit Lunatics, I feel growth with every subsequent game I complete, so the growth just keeps on coming, and it shows that there never really is a limit to how much we could learn (unless we do Perfect Lunatics, there yes, you could let it go to your head and basically describe yourself as a walking god and not a human haha xD).
I believe she also uses her attacks in a random order in Touhou 2, so she?s quite fond of not being able to be read easily. Yep, left over bullets are annoying cause you?ll be in a mindset prepared for the next attack that?s coming, so you expect those bullets to have vanished off screen by that point. Let?s just consider it part of Marisa?s assholish charm haha
Hahaaha yeah agreed on her being frustrating, she?s a nightmare to face in every game I came across her except in Touhou 3, she?s one of the easiest characters to deal with there (her and Kana I feel are the easiest). While I didn?t face her in 8 yet, I saw the fight on Youtube, and it looks absolutely wonderful!! xD Ahhh another rematch with Marisa, with an arrange from her theme from Touhou 2 as well to boot! Ooooh btw, talking about Marisa, remember when I told you she uses duplication in Seihou 1, and we said she probably stole that from Flandre? Thinking more about this, I actually think she stole it from Yuuka in Touhou 4 actually. Yuuka duplicates herself too (not quadruples like Flan), and Marisa also stole Master Spark from Yuuka, so I wouldn?t be surprised that she actually picked up that ability from her. That, and the fact that Seihou 1 came out in 2000, when Touhou 6 came out in 2002 (so the devs + ZUN couldn?t have modelled her off of Flan since she had another 2 years till she came into existence). Oh yes definitely, 8 seems really well made and well thought out. The inclusion of Spell Card Practice, the Last Words, the bonus Last Spells, 2 final bosses, and the introduction of teams as well. . . sounds perfect just listing all that! Really looking forward to it too, that will keep me busy for quite a while with all it?s content!
Yes the zen state really is wonderful, VERY rare though, just too rare actually. Yes agreed, someone has to experience it to know what it feels like, someone won?t fully understand it till they actually experienced it themselves. I never got it in any other games I played, it?s like you?re in a trance or playing on auto-pilot so to speak. ?There?s times where I could be playing amazingly well and crushing everything easily but even then it?s not always the same as being in that zen state you know??, definitely understand and agree with this, the zen state is just too rare, what you?re describing now I consider a very good session when I?m purely in focus. Yes same here, ridiculously calm! In the zen state, it?s not the usual panic, claustrophobia, pressure, heart racing etc, it really is just like I?m a calm, tranquil, bullet dodging machine basically, till. . . I take that first hit, then that?s it, I?m f*cked. Just can?t get into the zen state again, and I know it?ll be a good couple of weeks till it happens again. Yeah agreed about modern games looking more like cinematic movies rather than games, I like my games looking like games, which is why I?m such a fan of retro, indie, and especially Touhou. Saying that though, there are some of these cinematic games which are nice. I just saw my sis playing through parts of Uncharted 4 recently, and it?s quite beautiful. Still no want to play it myself though
Yeah same here about not getting engaged in a game if ?the difficulty is putting me to sleep? as you referred to it. I need to feel like my life (i.e. in the game) is at threat for me to actually get that satisfying level of immersion, which yes unfortunately, most games these days really hold your hand, which is why I appreciate the retro era like certain NES games, there was literally no hand holding whatsoever back then, and it required your utmost effort to clear most of them! Yes I?m thankful that there?s still a market for these type of arcade style games too (although niche), especially with the way gaming has mostly become with lots of multiplayer and whatnot.
Haha really glad you liked the Koishi theme I linked, I know not everyone is a fan of Eurobeat/trance/whatever genre it fits under. Ahhh ok, that Bad Apple arrange, yeah it?s quite brilliant, especially the visuals are done in quite a unique style the way they warp into each other. Yeah can?t really go wrong with Yuuhei Satellite, most of their arranges are awesome! Thanks for the Stage 4 one from Touhou 11! It?s quite cool and captures the original nicely. Here?s one for you by Yuuhei Satellite called Fingertip Chocolate, sounds very Japanesey and reflects Stage 3 in Touhou 11 quite well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG_jXf6nzIo It has some slight hints of dubstep in the 2nd chorus also which surprisingly enough, really fits well
Ooooh yes, I love that Sakuya theme you linked from the 5 minute mark onwards, as you said, I mostly skip to that part instantly, it really is brilliant!! Same here about listening to it in a row! xD Yeah I love that A-One arrange, it?s perfect in every sense of the word in my opinion. Haha I listen to all genres, so it was quite easy for me to make the transition to Touhou music with Eurobeat/techno/trance/whatever mixed in.
Yeah definitely especially these figures like Ques Q, while they are pricey, the quality really is astounding. Prize figures like Sega and Furyu are nice too and easily affordable, but yeah, when compared to Ques Q?s stuff, you could easily see the difference in attention to detail. Certain Griffon figures are hit and miss, so really got to be weary of which Griffon figures you go for, although I have a couple. Yeah completely agreed, when you miss the pre-order period, it?s very rare for these online sites to restock them, which in turn, you?ll have to go for the second hand market like Ninoma and Mandarake, and the prices tend to shoot up quite a fair bit since the figure went rare then
There were countless times when I ended up paying more than double the figure?s original cost. You might get lucky and the company makes a re-release (I got lucky on my Ques Q Koishi). Be VERY weary of eBay and Amazon. I got slammed with a fake Yukari from eBay, and the figure definitely came from Japan, thankfully I managed to get a refund for that. MyFigureCollection will greatly help in finding discrepancies in fakes. Haha yeah I understand what you mean about that nice feeling of holding the mangas and stuff, it?s kind of like a pirate when he gets his hands on his loot lol xD Oh yes definitely, you?re going to have images in artbooks which the artist will not post online, his online page will be a sample, there will be exclusive art in the artbooks! Haha glad Touhou mostly became your entertainment fund xD Always nice having more Touhou merch, there?s just sooo much xD Yeah you?re quite an Alice fan by the look of it, so treat yourself to that beautiful figure this Christmas
I do that sometimes too where I buy a gift for myself, mostly when I would have completed the Touhou game I would be playing too as a reward for myself. Ooooh yes, I really can?t wait for that beautiful Reimu figure! Getting dead close now!! And yes, I REALLY hope the post office handles it with care. I never purchased from GoodSmile?s Online Store directly, so I?m hoping their service is good and they package it well. I use Amiami and Ninoma mostly (Ninoma to hunt down the rare, old, already released figures that I missed pre-ordering). Hahaha yeah, obsession is an understatement when it comes to Touhou lol, best description I?d say is literally life-controlling lol. Yeah totally agreed about Reimu, she really is one of a kind, and such a wonderful character, I?m glad she stands for what Touhou mostly represents
Ahhh twice in one year to Japan? Your sis has good taste xD Haha the problem with going to Japan wouldn?t be the funds to get there, it?s the money I?d need to buy all that merch in front of me xD I?d end up having to ship the stuff to my home, cause it sure as hell won?t fit in my luggage! xD I bet I?d spend more on merch than the whole holiday lol.
Yeah that?s a common misconception I imagine, I used to think that too about the Phantasm stage. Oh yes it?s definitely a milestone, after all, it?s the only Phantasm Stage so it?s something unique!
Well this post is about 14 days old and your PM was more recent, so glad you?ve got 15/17 Last Words done now
And definitely agreed, Remilia is uber-cool, such a dangerous boss! I could imagine how cool her Last Word would be! True that about the suffering, while it is stressful, the sense of accomplishment is one of the best feelings I?ve ever felt in life, so it?s worth enduring with the suffering and powering through something, cause the reward after that is super-satisfying! xD No worries about the OBS recordings, that took me months of research, tinkering and experimentation to figure out properly, so I?m happy I could avoid that hassle for you
Yeah, way too few replay slots, so that?s when recording comes in handy
Also useful/convenient just having everything as an mp4 to show your friends rather than having to install the game and put the replay files in it to show them, so recording definitely has it?s pluses. Plus, as far as I know the replays don?t store the endings, I want those recorded also just to chill back and watch through the whole story sometimes rather than just the gameplay. Well, do what you do in life, you?ll always find someone out there that?s better than you are, but don?t let that diminish your accomplishments you?re putting up on Youtube. They?re all the results of your hard work and determination, so be proud of them
Ahhhh that experience you had with Mokou?s final card sounds awesome, I love it when I get so immersed like that, and as you?re saying, you know it?s gonna come down to the wire! Yeah definitely, at that point, especially on the final card with no lives remaining, it?s literally a ?Goku vs Beerus in space moment?, and it truly does feel amazing and unmatched by anything else
Yeah you?d be amazed how some attacks/stage portions have such a simple gimmick which wouldn?t have occurred to you that it?s so simple to figure out. Yeah true that about having to do something counter intuitive to deal with certain attacks. Patchouli thought me that with her non-spells with lasers in Touhou 6 recently on Lunatic, you actually have to run INTO the laser exactly as it?s vanishing for best results, rather than away from it, especially due to the aimed red bullets at you. Annnd yes, definitely agree on starting positions, this will GREATLY help in trivializing certain cards and stage portions. Something that would become a clusterfuck becomes much easier if you?re at the correct position to start tackling it. Being higher up on the screen helps a lot too due to your damage output, some stuff you won?t manage to kill the enemies fast enough if you?re quite low (an example of this is the blue chain-bullet spewing fairies in Touhou 6 Stage 5 exactly before the Sakuya midboss, something so tough usually but gets easily trivialized if you?re around halfway up the screen to take out that first fairy in the middle), so it?s crucial to experiment and get creative as you stated
Well done, yes, that?s exactly it, most of the bullets on screen are just there to intimidate you, in truth, only a couple are there which are REALLY a threat to you. Learning how to determine which ones is part of the fun, especially with the other point you stated where on attacks with multiple bullet types you could tackle each individually at that moment till the next bullet type comes
Yeah I?ve seen other people?s runs where the bombs deal quite a good amount of damage to the non-spells (especially with Sanae, it just eats through a health bar), but never took notice for the Spell Cards. That?s a very cool feature, shows that the bosses really are at their best when using their Spell Cards
Yeah I actually prefer the bombs like in Touhou 10 or 11 where just a ring of power comes out from Reimu and it just clears off those bullets that touch with it, rather than the whole screen, makes those bombs feel more tactical and more thought has to go into where you use them. Ahh yeah, I?ve seen that where the bombs double as your power, so yes, you really need to be weary of when you use your bombs, cause if you can?t get back to full power, you?re going to have quite a hard time against the final Spell Card which already takes a while to wither down at full power, let alone at 1 power x_X. Yeah you should never give up on a run, you?d be amazed how much something could go in your favour sometimes, even if you?re just with 1 life at the final boss. That adrenaline and determination might see you through till the end of it!
Definitely agreed about ?part of the fun is you never know what will happen next?, it really could go both ways.
Yes it really is a damn shame that the PC98 characters got cut off, there were quite a few really cool characters which would have been amazing to see a comeback from in the Windows era
Chiyuri, Yumeko and Shinki are just a few which come to mind which are ridiculously cool. That?s quite a good mentality you?ve got that you could snap back into it quite easily even after getting hit, it really throws me off usually and could take around 30 seconds till I?m back into focus, especially yes, when you?re in the middle of a Spell Card, it could become quite a clusterfuck when you just respawned and are trying to pick up the Power items cause it could really throw off how you?re meant to play the pattern (i.e. for example if you had to stream it and you?re busy trying to collect the Power items, it?ll throw off the stream and the bullets that are aimed at you). Yeah same here, when I do half an hour of just cycling through Stage 1 ? 4 cause of dumb mistakes I really start getting pissed, but it?s part of Touhou I guess lol, and tomorrow will be a better day. I find that my overall state (i.e. how tired I am/if I slept well, busy day at work, my OCD f*cking me up constantly thinking of something I need to do while I?m trying to dodge bullets) really plays a factor in how well I play. You really need to have a focused mind to play at your best, so you could get that 100% immersion we talked about before where it?s literally just you and the game, and nothing else matters at that point. Haha good to know about Reisen, its not so common for Stage 5 bosses to be easy, especially since they?re meant to be the final boss? bodyguard so to speak. Although saying this, yes in Seihou 1, the Stage 5 boss is WAY WAYYY easier than the Stage 4 one. Same surely can?t be said about Yumeko in Touhou 5, she?s literally a relentless beast, you?ll find out when you come to play Touhou 5, it?s quite a wondrous addition to the series being one that I hold in very high regard
Some small touches make it really cool, like Makai (the place you?re in from Stage 3 onwards in Touhou 5) catching fire in the background while you?re fighting Shinki (the final boss). Makes sense lol, all those bullets that we dodge have to go somewhere haha, and guess they?re crashing into the buildings/city lol.
Ahh yes, almost a month without the TV REALLY wasn?t nice, apart from the constant worrying that it?s unfixable and I?ll have to dish out around 1,800 Euros to buy a new one. Thankfully that?s sorted and life is falling back into the usual routine. Unfortunately haven?t gotten nowhere near as much gaming time as I would like to since I?ve gotten the TV back, just that odd session here and there, but much better than a span of weeks not playing at all. Ahh yes, I understand that relief you feel once you?re back to dodging bullets, and you can easily relate seeing as you had quite a busy month yourself with work! Ouch, sounds like it really was quite a busy month, and also loaded with responsibility too with your supervisor being away :/ Look at the bright side though, you showed you could handle the pressure and that you?re reliable when sh*t hits the fan, so yeah, that should make your bosses happier with you, especially if they are considering giving you a raise!! As you said, more Touhou merch!! Woohoo!! xD Haha yeah glad it wasn?t boring at work, but yes, magical girl over work,
ANY DAY, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE!! Yeah we?ve still got quite a lot to learn mate. I?m currently trying to Perfect Stage Practice Stage 4 in Touhou 6 with all 4 characters, and I?m not gonna lie, it?s giving me quite a damn hard time, especially those books that shoot a sh*tload of green bullets early on in the stage warranting an instant restart. Then I see maulerfranco666 on Youtube do Stage 4 Perfect No Focus! Sweet Jesus, I?ve got a long way to go! Not only Perfect, but also the lack of precision in controls due to No Focus?
Yes you definitely will keep seeing your skills improve the more you focus on Lunatic, and the No Bombs also help you gain a greater mastery of most of the game since you have such little room for error
I?ve been playing for 5 years now (although I think I don?t get close to the hours you put in per week) and keep seeing an increase in skills with every game I complete, my sis even pointed that out to me too. Touhou 3 really helped me with my skills since it?s mostly reflex based, so you can?t memorize too much stuff, and Seihou since it?s the inverse of Touhou (i.e. Touhou is mostly slow and dense, Seihou is less dense but faster). Extras are really fun with their gimmicks to figure out most Spell Cards as well
Yeah with the Extras you?re completing, Hard should be right up your alley now, so just see what you feel like working on, I agree that it?s quite a tough choice picking between Extra and Hard, cause both are equally fun xD Yeah you seem to like jumping around a lot from one thing to another depending on mood. It has it?s advantages of keeping things fresh at least, but then yeah, things that require lots of practice will take longer that way. The more you practice the same thing, the quicker you?ll learn it and finally hit it. Well, the bright side with beating the Extra Stage with Reimu in Touhou 15 is that since it?s harder to do it with her, once you do beat it, you?ll just breeze through it with Sanae and Reisen then
I agree that the games do feel like they?re built around Reimu as you said. Glad we share the same goal and dedication to our beloved red and white shrine maiden
Haha yeah I noticed, I?ve been typing this out for around 4 hours now over the span of 2 days lol (glad I get the time to do most of it at work haha xD). Same here mate, will never lose interest in this series, there?s just sooooo much left for me to see and experience! xD As I said in the PM, never worry about the delay in response time, I understand that it takes a while to type a reply like this, and that you also need to get in good gaming sessions, so, just reply when you feel like some Touhou chat
Well in Touhou 6 so far I hit Extra No Bombs with all 4 characters (1 Reimu and 1 Marisa doing the Maze of Love at the bottom instead of running around in circles, and getting Perfect till that point since I wanted to face it at Max Rank (what?s the point of playing a Spell Card in a more challenging way if you?re not going to experience it at it?s full difficulty?)), and recently beat Lunatic No Bombs with continues to unlock Stage 6 in Stage Practice. Now I?m toiling away at Perfect Stage Practice with Reimu B (and Stage 4 with all 4 characters since Patchouli uses different Spell Cards depending on which character you?re using, so I want all those Perfect).
Yes definitely, while I never experienced the memory error myself, a screenshot might help me / other members determine what it is, always good having recording set up properly for PC98, especially since those games don?t store replays
As I told you in the PM, that?s quite a nice capture on Wriggle?s Last Word! Keep it up! Your dedication will carry you to your goals!
Recording quality looks nice too from your Youtube video, and Youtube usually introduces compression, so I imagine your actual recordings on your hard drive are slightly sharper. No worries about the help with recording, it really was my pleasure to help
Definitely true haha, so much to gush on on Touhou xD Happy Touhouing to yourself too my good friend. Take care and best wishes
