Touhou Discussion Thread

TH01  東方靈異伝   - Highly Responsive to Prayers (HRtP): The first game in the Touhou series, and the only game to not feature the distinctive Touhou “danmaku” style.  This game instead revolves around using Reimu Hakurei, the main heroine of the series, to defeat enemies by deflecting the magical Yin-Yang Orb at them, while dodging both enemy attacks and the flying Orb itself!

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Highly_Responsive_to_Prayers

TH02　東方封魔録　- Story of Eastern Wonderland (SoEW): The second game in the Touhou series, this game introduces the now-familar shooter element, as well as the second main heroine of the series, Marisa Kirisame.  Players must control Reimu (armed with one of three different attack types and some bombs) and advance through several stages, shooting down enemies that hamper her progress, collecting power-ups, and defeating the boss at the end of each stage.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Story_of_Eastern_Wonderland

TH03　東方夢時空　- Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream (PoDD): The third game in the Touhou series, as well as the first to incorporate the "Phantasmagoria" element of gameplay, in which two human players indirectly battle one another by separately navigating their own danmaku screens, releasing magical Spell Cards at each other in an effort to knock out the opponent before being defeated themselves.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Phantasmagoria_of_Dim.Dream

TH04　東方幻想郷　- Lotus Land Story (LLS): The fourth game in the Touhou series, this game returns to the classic danmaku style that Story of Eastern Wonderland used, as well as introducing many of the gameplay elements that are now standard in the series, such as bombs that collect items upon use, a "graze counter" that tallies the number of bullets that nearly hit the player's hitbox, and a revamped scoring system.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lotus_Land_Story

TH05　東方怪綺談　- Mystic Square (MS): The fifth game in the Touhou series, and the last of the PC-98 games.  Mystic Square's gameplay is most similar to the Windows games that most are familiar with, and is notable for further refining the scoring system, as well as being the first game to punish the player for using bombs.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Mystic_Square

TH06　東方紅魔郷　- the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (EoSD): The sixth game in the Touhou series, the first of the Windows games, and perhaps the most recognized Touhou game of all.  Considered one of the more difficult Windows games due to the lack of a visible hitbox and sheer bullet density, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil introduces a method of collecting items automatically (by moving to the top of the screen while at full power), the counter-bomb system (allowing players to avoid a fatal hit by bombing immediately), and many of the series' most recognizable characters.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Embodiment_of_Scarlet_Devil

TH07　東方妖々夢　- Perfect Cherry Blossom (PCB): The seventh game in the Touhou series, this introduces the unique "Cherry Point" score system, in which the player's Cherry Gauge is filled by shooting enemies; the higher the Gauge is, the higher one's score goes from point drops, and reaching a certain amount of Cherry Points grants a temporary shield.  Two mainstays of the series are also introduced: the player's visible hitbox, and a cursor at the bottom of the screen that indicates the position of the stage's boss.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Perfect_Cherry_Blossom

TH07.5　東方萃夢想 - Immaterial and Missing Power (IaMP): The first spinoff game of the Touhou series, and also the first of the games to follow the "fighter" format.  Instead of the traditional danmaku style, players now control their characters in a fixed-screen arena against their opponent (whether AI or human) in a contest of reflexes and strategy to deplete the opponent's health bar before the foe does the same to them.  Unlike most fighting games, Immaterial and Missing Power places a heavy focus on projectile combat.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Immaterial_and_Missing_Power

TH08　東方永夜抄　- Imperishable Night (IN): The eighth game in the Touhou series, and perhaps the easiest of the Windows games.  Unique to the game is the concept of dual character use: each character selection gives control of a human and a youkai, and the player can switch between characters for different attacks.  Also new to the series is the "Time Orb" system that affects the story and score, as well as the "Last Spell" mechanic for bosses; Last Spells are very difficult Spell Cards that are not required to be cleared to defeat the boss, but reward the player with enormous point values if cleared.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Imperishable_Night

TH09　東方花映塚　- Phantasmagoria of Flower View (PoFV): The ninth game in the Touhou series, and the second to incorporate the "Phantasmagoria" element of gameplay seen in Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream.  Boasting the widest playable cast of any official game, players again go head-to-head against their AI or human opponent in separate danmaku alleys, fighting to stay alive the longest.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Phantasmagoria_of_Flower_View

TH09.5　東方文花帖　- Shoot the Bullet (StB): The second spinoff game in the Touhou series, and the first of the "danmaku photography" games.  Players control the tengu newspaper reporter Aya Shameimaru, but instead of defeating enemies to advance to the next stage, the player must maneuver Aya close to various Touhou bosses in order to obtain a photograph of the boss.  Gameplay revolves around mobility and dexterity, rather than sheer power and defeating enemies.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Shoot_the_Bullet

TH10　東方風神録　- Mountain of Faith (MoF): The tenth game in the Touhou series, this brings about the Faith Meter mechanic; the Faith Gauge of the player is filled by defeating enemies or collecting point items, and decreases when not doing so.  The Gauge is also accompanied by a numerical Faith Value, which determines the points obtained from point items and Spell Card bonuses, and can be increased by collecting either point items or specialized Faith items.  The player has no set amount of bombs; instead, bombs are usable depending on the status of the Faith Gauge.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Mountain_of_Faith

TH10.5　東方緋想天　- Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (SWR): The third spinoff game in the Touhou series, and the second fighting game that matches the style of Immaterial and Missing Power.  While the basic mechanics remain the same, the battle system is drastically altered by the implementation of a weather system, an increased deck of Spell Cards for each player, and the ability to fly.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Scarlet_Weather_Rhapsody

TH11　東方地霊殿　- Subterranean Animism (SA): The eleventh game in the Touhou series, this game includes a multi-character system somewhat similar to Imperishable Night; rather than controlling two characters with different shot types, the player controls one of four characters with three different attack types.  Each attack type is granted to the character by a supporting youkai, thereby allowing the use of specific powers, such as high speed movement or being able to wrap around the screen to the other side.  The point system is based on grazing, encouraging the player to graze at every possible opportunity.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Subterranean_Animism

TH12　東方星蓮船　- Undefined Fantastic Object (UFO): The twelfth game in the Touhou series, and arguably the most difficult to date.  The game focuses around colored UFOs floating around the screen; destroying them in certain orders of color allows for the acquisition of extra bombs and lives.  The player is obligated to time the destruction of UFOs to maximize the points and powerups received.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Undefined_Fantastic_Object

TH12.3　東方非想天則 超弩級ギニョルの謎を追え - Lacking Perception of the Natural Laws of the East or Lacking Perception of the Rule of Heaven in the East (Referred to as Hisoutensoku): The fourth spinoff game in the Touhou series, the third fighting game, and also the game with the longest title.  The gameplay retains many elements from Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, but introduces more characters, spell cards, weather effects, and the like.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Hisoutensoku

TH12.5  ダブルスポイラ  - Double Spoiler (DS): The fifth spinoff game in the Touhou series, and the second to utilize the "photography" element present in Shoot the Bullet.  Players control Aya and a new character, Hatate Himekaidou, in order to take pictures of various Touhou series bosses.  Points are awarded depending on a variety of factors, including the addition of Aya or Hatate in the picture, certain bullet patterns from the bosses, and grazing bullets.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Double_Spoiler

TH12.8  妖精大戦争  - Great Fairy Wars (GFW): The sixth spinoff game in the Touhou series, this game is a continuation of the plot from the Touhou manga series "Strange and Bright Nature Deity", and is the only danmaku game whose artwork was not done by ZUN.  The player controls Cirno in one of seven "routes" of three stages through the game; depending on the route taken, the final boss must be handled differently.  The game also allows for the use of a "freezing" technique that permits the player to freeze bullets in Cirno's path; large chains of frozen bullets award points and bombs, but certain fire bullets will not be frozen, so it cannot be relied on all the time.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Fairy_Wars

TH13  東方神霊廟   - Ten Desires (TD): The thirteenth game in the Touhou series.  The difficulty level has been lessened from that of prior installments in the Touhou series, in order to suit a wider audience.  New mechanics in Ten Desires include the implementation of Divine Spirits (collectable objects that function similarly to the UFOs in Undefined Fantastic Object), as well as the Trance Gauge.  Players begin the game with a single flame of the three Trance Gauge flames filled, and can activate Trance upon either sustaining a lethal hit while a flame is lit, or by manually activating it when three flames are collected.  While under the effects of Trance, player shots deal more damage, gain increased benefits from Divine Spirits, and acquire invulnerability until Trance ends.  Ten Desires also marks the return of the Spell Practice mode, only seen before in Imperishable Night.

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Ten_Desires

Arrow keys - move
Z - shoot (generally want to hold down all the time if you are new)
X - bomb (screen-clear, limited supply)
shift - focus (movement slows and shot becomes narrow)