Touhou II: Story of an Eastern Thread

[Anarion]

Hey Touhou thread,

I've just started playing Perfect Cherry Blossom and I'm having a weird problem that I was hoping someone might be able to help me with. Basically, while I'm in focus mode, my left arrow key (and only the left arrow key) stops working.

I can't figure out if this is some kind of game error or something wrong with my keyboard, but my left arrow key simply does not work while shift is pressed down. Any ideas?

[Volatar]

Originally Posted by Anarion

Hey Touhou thread,

I've just started playing Perfect Cherry Blossom and I'm having a weird problem that I was hoping someone might be able to help me with. Basically, while I'm in focus mode, my left arrow key (and only the left arrow key) stops working.

I can't figure out if this is some kind of game error or something wrong with my keyboard, but my left arrow key simply does not work while shift is pressed down. Any ideas?

That might just be the strangest computer problem I have ever heard of in my life.

[Tono]

That is wierd. Find out if you can do it in other places. Open up notepad, put some spaces and see if you can shift over. (Should Highlight) Lets you find out if it is a game problem or not, if nothing else.

[Anarion]

Edit:
Spoke with an engineer from Microsoft. Apparently, the keyboard's electrical wiring is set up in a certain way such that if it gets multiple signals at once it doesn't actually process them all. This is a design feature and it's supposed to be for letters that are next to each other (thus, when you mash the keyboard only 1 or 2 letters actually pop up).

However, apparently on Microsoft Sidewinder keyboards, the left arrow key is on the same signal as shift and Z, so if you press all three of them, the left arrow stops working.

Remapping keys fixed the problem, as would programming a macro key.

Originally Posted by Tono

That is wierd. Find out if you can do it in other places. Open up notepad, put some spaces and see if you can shift over. (Should Highlight) Lets you find out if it is a game problem or not, if nothing else.

Well, it's not Touhou, I'll have to go do some tech supporting I guess. Anywho, I tried that on notepad and it works when shift is pressed down, but if I hold Z and shift (resulting in a long line of cap Zs) then the left arrow key doesn't work, although again all other arrow keys work fine. Holding just Z or just shift allows the arrow key to work fine.

[memnarch]

Semi-related; while in focus-mode and shooting, I can't bomb. Work-around with a key-remapper sorta fixed my problem.

[Terraoblivion]

That certainly does sound like an interesting problem.

So how do you like it so far? Also, remember, there is a whole world about the characters out there. Be careful, though, you'll most likely run into tons of Failice and Meiling getting stabbed in the head while you find your way around. Though it might just be because I'm a big fan of both those characters.

Which reminds me, Maiden Illusionary Funeral is one of the best doujins out there. Epic Yukari/Yuyuko romance is awesome!

[Prime32]

Originally Posted by Terraoblivion

Which reminds me, Maiden Illusionary Funeral is one of the best doujins out there. Epic Yukari/Yuyuko romance is awesome!

Indeed. I recommend it. To avoid confusion - it's set in the past; there's also a sequel set in PCB (I think it's subtitled Phantasm) and a short thing with Chen.

Spoiler

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Terraoblivion

That certainly does sound like an interesting problem.

So how do you like it so far? Also, remember, there is a whole world about the characters out there. Be careful, though, you'll most likely run into tons of Failice and Meiling getting stabbed in the head while you find your way around. Though it might just be because I'm a big fan of both those characters.

Which reminds me, Maiden Illusionary Funeral is one of the best doujins out there. Epic Yukari/Yuyuko romance is awesome!

I finished the game on normal last night. I had to use a couple continues though. I hate Youmu Kanpaku so much. So much hate. Burning, burning hatred. Yuyuko, on the other hand, is the best character ever, even if I did lose the first time during her final post-mortem attack.

Not being able to move left while focused is...challenging.

[Cogwheel]

Originally Posted by Anarion

I finished the game on normal last night. I had to use a couple continues though. I hate Youmu Kanpaku so much. So much hate. Burning, burning hatred. Yuyuko, on the other hand, is the best character ever, even if I did lose the first time during her final post-mortem attack.

Not being able to move left while focused is...challenging.

Again, try remapping, as suggested earlier.


And yes, Yuyuko is the best boss. Well, except maybe the fighting game bosses and Futo from TD. Only a stage 5 boss, I know, but some of those spell cards are just far too much fun.

Edit: I should probably mention that a fiery loathing for Youmu and the Prismrivers is perfectly normal. The only cure is fighting Shou (or failing that, Rin) over and over. To give you some perspective.

[EifieFlare]

Originally Posted by Anarion

I hate Youmu Kanpaku so much. So much hate. Burning, burning hatred.

Originally Posted by Cogwheel

Edit: I should probably mention that a fiery loathing for Youmu and the Prismrivers is perfectly normal.

That frown emote over there isn't enough to express my sadness. Although I do suppose that anything from any game's stage 4 and onwards can be pretty annoying...

[Cogwheel]

Originally Posted by EifieFlare

That frown emote over there isn't enough to express my sadness. Although I do suppose that anything from any game's stage 4 and onwards can be pretty annoying...

I have nothing against the character, just her appearance as a boss fight.


Her sheer lethality when played by you does not help one bit

[Terraoblivion]

I dunno, I always found Youmu to be one of the easier stage 5 bosses I've run into. Certainly a whole lot easier than Yuyuko or the Prismrivers to name those immediately around her in her own game.

[Cogwheel]

Originally Posted by Terraoblivion

I dunno, I always found Youmu to be one of the easier stage 5 bosses I've run into. Certainly a whole lot easier than Yuyuko or the Prismrivers to name those immediately around her in her own game.

She is one of the easier stage 5 bosses. Probably tied for second easiest with Futo, though Reisen is the easiest of them by far.

This does nothing to change the fact that she will sword you to death repeatedly.

With a sword.

[Drascin]

Personally, I always found Youmu the hardest 5th stage boss, ranking far higher than most 6th stage bosses as well. Certainly much harder than her own boss (Yuyu has a total of two cards that are hard), or Kaguya, or Byakuren (who is even easier than Yuyu), or Miko (who somehow manages to have cards that are easier than Meiling's), or...

She is the one reason I cannot 1CC PCB Lunatic. I can reach her with six or so lives, and by the time she's over I'll have maybe one if at all. It seems I may have a secret weakness towards sharp chunks of metal being lodged into my skull. Who'd have thought .

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by EifieFlare

That frown emote over there isn't enough to express my sadness. Although I do suppose that anything from any game's stage 4 and onwards can be pretty annoying...

Actually, I do think the character design is really good. But I have a lot of trouble dodging her attacks. The only spell card I can do without bombing/dying is the one where she shoots the large red shots while the small shots come at you from the back of the stage.

Originally Posted by Terraoblivion

I dunno, I always found Youmu to be one of the easier stage 5 bosses I've run into. Certainly a whole lot easier than Yuyuko or the Prismrivers to name those immediately around her in her own game.

Prismrivers weird me out. I always die on their early attacks, but I can ace their last two spell cards with at least some consistency. In particular, that opening attack that creates lines of purple shots that slowly enclose you gets me every time. It's not even a spell card!

[EifieFlare]

Originally Posted by Cogwheel

She is one of the easier stage 5 bosses. Probably tied for second easiest with Futo, though Reisen is the easiest of them by far.

Wait really? I personally thought that Youmu was easier than Reisen, and that Reisen was a pretty challenging boss. Those moving rings of bullets confounded me more than time shenanigans I guess.

And yet I still think Marisa's harder than Reisen in IN. Not sure whether I had more trouble against her than Eirin/Kaguya, but those stars.

[Terraoblivion]

So not playing as Sakuya, I take it. At least I don't recognize that opening attack and it varies depending on whether you're the hobo miko, the kleptomaniac witch or the ninja maid.

[Prime32]

Originally Posted by EifieFlare

Wait really? I personally thought that Youmu was easier than Reisen, and that Reisen was a pretty challenging boss. Those moving rings of bullets confounded me more than time shenanigans I guess.

The way to dodge them is to stand still.

How Zen.

[Volatar]

Originally Posted by EifieFlare

Wait really? I personally thought that Youmu was easier than Reisen, and that Reisen was a pretty challenging boss. Those moving rings of bullets confounded me more than time shenanigans I guess.

And yet I still think Marisa's harder than Reisen in IN. Not sure whether I had more trouble against her than Eirin/Kaguya, but those stars.

Wow? Really?

Whenever I face Marissa in IN the percieved chaos sends me into this weird trance state where I can actually perceive the whole screen full of bullets and react properly. I wish I could maintain that state, but I always lose it by the next stage and lose a ton of lives/bombs before the finale.

[EifieFlare]

Originally Posted by Volatar

Wow? Really?

Whenever I face Marissa in IN the percieved chaos sends me into this weird trance state where I can actually perceive the whole screen full of bullets and react properly. I wish I could maintain that state, but I always lose it by the next stage and lose a ton of lives/bombs before the finale.

It's a shame really, since I can do a complete 1LC up until her, and I have nowhere near as much trouble facing Reimu. Once I get to Marisa, my reserves are usually decimated to the point where a slip-up or two in the next stage will cost me a continue, if she doesn't take one herself. I have less trouble in stage 5, although Reisen's still no walk in the park for me. So much for IN being considered the easiest in the series.

Of course, doing 1LCs until stage 4 is pretty much standard procedure for me for most of the games (UFO's the usual exception). Anything from then on though, I usually get murdered.

[Volatar]

Originally Posted by Cogwheel

Oh, and while we're linking incredibly long medleys...

50 minute medley by ALTERNATIVE, who are the bestest at percussion.

Just got around to listening to this. Was excellent. Thanks Cog.

[Prime32]

Anyone watched Koishi Komeiji's Heart-Throbbing Adventure? (10 episodes out so far) Your nightmares will have nightmares. Which will then eat you.

Reposts from BG:

Ten Desires: Phantasm Stage (fanmade)
Go Mokou

Youkai Girl at the Gate vocal
Legend of the Great Gods vocal
True Administrator vocal

Remixes from that fangame I can't remember the name of:
Nuclear Fusion
Lunatic Blue

[The_Final_Stand]

Hello Touhou thread.
I appear to have fallen down the rabbit hole that is Touhou after reading about how awesome it is on TvTropes, and went and got Imperishable Night.

On the one hand, on anything above Easy, I get crushed by stage 2. On the other hand, when actually playing Easy, I manage to get up to stage 4 without losing a life.

For someone who has been playing some shooters (Frantic 2, Bullet Heaven), and generally done okish, how is this?

[memnarch]

Originally Posted by The_Final_Stand

Hello Touhou thread.
I appear to have fallen down the rabbit hole that is Touhou after reading about how awesome it is on TvTropes, and went and got Imperishable Night.

On the one hand, on anything above Easy, I get crushed by stage 2. On the other hand, when actually playing Easy, I manage to get up to stage 4 without losing a life.

For someone who has been playing some shooters (Frantic 2, Bullet Heaven), and generally done okish, how is this?

Joking answer for you.

Spoiler

This is like, the the sterotypical/meme answer :|

Serious answer, I think it's just okay. What's giving you trouble in the first two stages on IN? (normal level I'm assuming) We could probably give you some tips on what to try if you like.

[Terraoblivion]

It sounds perfectly fine to me and don't listen to the meme, it's one of my least favorite Touhou memes. After Sakuya being a sadist to Meiling and Alice being completely pathetic and utterly insane.

Anyway, Touhou is not only hard, it generally focuses on a different playstyle than most shooters with memorization and habit being more important than reflexes all told. So it's pretty much to be expected to do pretty poorly for the first few attempts, unless you're really good at the genre already.

As for the disparity, IN just has a huge gap between the difficulty of easy mode and normal. Far wider than any other game in the series.

[Bad Situation]

Originally Posted by The_Final_Stand

Hello Touhou thread.
I appear to have fallen down the rabbit hole that is Touhou after reading about how awesome it is on TvTropes, and went and got Imperishable Night.

On the one hand, on anything above Easy, I get crushed by stage 2. On the other hand, when actually playing Easy, I manage to get up to stage 4 without losing a life.

For someone who has been playing some shooters (Frantic 2, Bullet Heaven), and generally done okish, how is this?

With the types of patterns/spellcards in Touhou, having great reflexes will sometimes just force you into a corner if you react too quickly. Memorization is important in the game, so just keep at it until you can recognize the patterns. Easy is easy, precisely because the attacks are so staggered that you have a lot of time to fly out of the way, even if you aren't remembering the patterns.

And graze.

[memnarch]

Originally Posted by Bad Situation

...
And graze.

That's probably the hardest thing I had when i first started; I always tried moving as far from the bullets as possible. First playing EotSD didn't help with that either... >.>

[The_Final_Stand]

Originally Posted by memnarch

Serious answer, I think it's just okay. What's giving you trouble in the first two stages on IN? (normal level I'm assuming) We could probably give you some tips on what to try if you like.

It's mostly that I'm being worn down, there's a lot going on, and that I keep getting hit, which makes me use a Last Spell if a spellcard, which wears down my bomb stocks, or just die otherwise. I suppose Last Spells are better than being hit and wearing down my life stocks, but still.

I'm also very good at being forced into a corner, where I get hit rather than bombing.

[EifieFlare]

Try moving a bit less. The shot patterns tend to aim for where you are, so moving even the slightest bit (just a quick tap on the arrow key) will make bullets miss. You see it used a lot in replays, commonly called "streaming". While it's nice to see that you have a lot of free space around you, you don't actually need that much to dodge; this way you can maximize the amount of time you have available to slowly crawl over to the edge.

It's also ok to use bombs if you have them. If you know there's no way for you to escape, just bomb to give yourself some breathing room. It's better than using 2 stocks or even a life because you wanted to take a chance. Also, you're playing Imperishable Night, so make use of the Spell Practice mode.

[ninja_penguin]

Yeah, in Imperishable night, I've found that learning when you're totally doomed and need to bomb is a good thing, as it effectively doubles your bomb capacity compared to using last spells all the time.

Also, as somebody who recently finally beat Kaguya on Normal mode, anybody have any suggestions for the next game to find?