#6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (2002)

You saw this coming.

#6: Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2002
Genre: Vertical Side Shooter, Bullet Hell

It’s hard to say what’s awesome about Touhou, really. It’s another one of those things that you either get it or you don’t, a hit or miss. Many appreciate Touhou because of the characters. Some are in for the music, while others just want to be part of the fandom. I personally like Touhou because of what it is – an awesome game.

Contrary to popular belief, Touhou isn’t the hardest Vertical Side Shooter (VSS) out there, although the recent few games have been upping the difficulty level like crazy. I’ve played many side scrollers before, ranging from Star Force when I was a kid to the near impossible Mushihime Futari. While Touhou is pretty darned impossible on Lunatic, it is pretty forgiving on Normal mode, which is what most casual gamers attempt anyway.

What sets Touhou apart from other VSS then? In my opinion, while Touhou might not be the hardest, it’s the most beautifully designed. The music for each stage manages to somehow capture the emotion perfectly, whereas each character’s unique theme song gives them some life and personality. The various spellcards used by the end-stage bosses fit in well with the stage’s theme, and adds color to their character.

For example, Flandre’s theme song (U.N.Owen was her) gives one an impish and playful feel, and her movement, spellcards and bullet patterns are largely random, giving you the impression that she’s merely playing with you. As you evade more and more of her spellcards, her patterns become more focused (8th nonspell, Counter Clock, And Then There Will Be None?) and deadly, ultimately culminating in an adrenaline-packed spellcard that gets more complicated the more health you take off her.

Out of all the Touhou games, the one I really like the most is Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (EoSD). It’s challenging at the start (especially if you’ve been pampered with the visible hitbox in later games) but quickly gets fun and rewarding when you learn the position of your character’s hitbox, the time allocated for a death bomb, and the various tricks to beating certain spellcards. EoSD was the first Touhou game I managed to clear without continues, and the second Extra Stage I was able to clear. I still go back and revisit the game whenever I’m free though – there’s just something it has that the other games lack.

Despite only playing Touhou for 3 years+, it’s already grown to become one of the most influential games in my life. If anything, the looks people give you when you manage to clear Extra or capture a particularly difficult spellcard is simply priceless :3

Next up: Starting off my Top 5 list, the JRPG that started it all for me.