Summary
What a massive game... "Touhou Genso Shoujo Taisen" is a fan game of Touhou Project.
Here, I write a summary and my impressions.
An Epic Game
It took 60 hours to complete one playthrough.
I started playing in December 2022 and, after intermittently playing for half a year, I finally completed the game. Even then, I only played on Normal difficulty and I still have post-clear scenarios left to tackle.
The game is a derivative work featuring stories from "Touhou Koumakyou", "Touhou Youyoumu", "Touhou Eiyashou", "Touhou Suimusou", "Touhou Kaeidzuka", "Touhou Fuujinroku", "Touhou Hisouten", "Touhou Chireiden", "Touhou Seirensen", and "Yousei Daisensou". It deconstructs and reassembles these stories, integrating original elements as well. Isn't that awesome? The scenarios were natural, each character was properly portrayed, and it truly felt like experiencing Super Robot Wars.
Yes, this game is also a derivative work combining Touhou and Super Robot Wars, which is another reason why it appealed to me. Sometimes, I just feel like playing SRPGs.
Great Story
The master-disciple relationship between Marisa and Meima was compelling... Being a master is joyful when your disciple is fond of you, but it also carries the risk of the disciple becoming dependent on you. It was gratifying to see Meima struggle to ensure Marisa could stand on her own.
- Meima: "You've lost your faith in magic because you're too focused on my eyes. If that's the case, it's better if you abandon such things and follow me."
The story of the Komeiji sisters was well-done... The tale of two individuals who, out of mutual consideration, ended up unable to touch each other was moving. In the end, they muster the courage to reach out to one another and come together. This doesn't always happen in reality; if each party has something they cannot give up, taking that step can lead to failure. I'm glad things worked out for the Komeiji sisters.
- Eiki: "...So you really can find Koishi-san who disappeared."
The dialogue of Ran advising the stars was excellent.
- Ran: "Moving forward after accepting one's sins requires more courage than ending the path through judgment."
Tenshi-chan is just cute.
- Eiki: "I hope you can find your own way that satisfies you."
The unwavering strength of Yuuka's character was too cool. No, this one is the final boss. An old character, right? I don't know much, but it was really cool.
- Toyohime: "Oh my, such intense impurity."
- Yuuka: "If you underestimate me, your journey ends here."
The evaluations of Yuuka by Elly and Kurumi were good.
- Elly: "Yuuka-chan is a person of freedom. She's okay with living or dying as is. She could even be destroyed in the flow of things, and she'd be okay with it."
- Kurumi: "That's why it's important to always remember that when you meet Yuuka-chan, it could be the last time!"
The original characters were great. The original characters were great! While having such a strong source material as Touhou, could you make the original characters stand out this much?
- Meeko: "Why can't I do anything? My dream is just one..."
The brave Meeko was cute too.
- Makura: "Um, is this the view of Gensokyo that Marisa was talking about? No, what I mean is... I thought there would be more activities to enhance dreams and bonds..."
- Marisa: "That's right, but what?"
I also liked the serious character, Makura.
Impressions
The bullet hell was powerful. Since it's important to take down the enemy's spell cards as quickly as possible, I was grateful for Marisa's power.
The pixel art is very cute. Both the face images in the dialogues and the full-body pixel art have too high a quality. It's on a different level from "Labyrinth of Touhou," which had fixed character portraits. "Labyrinth of Touhou" was also a "Touhou fan game for the Switch," wasn't it?
It's incredibly well-made, so I'd love to go for another round! ...But, each round is a bit too long... I wish I could play by chapters... Also, the preparation before battles is tedious. The preparation phase of SRPGs is fun, right? But every time, because of the forced deployment, the pairs are broken, which is troublesome. In terms of SRPG, the top pick for me is still "13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim."
