Antimony of Common Flowers First Impressions

[crypticprophet]

Since the translation isn’t out yet, I can’t go too deep into most of the nuances of the game, so I’ll mostly talk about the things I can talk about, the music, the fighting and the new characters.

Most of the track is copied from its predecessors with the new added characters getting remixes of their previous themes. And like all its predecessors the remixes are outshined by whatever new score ZUN composes for the new characters. Don’t get me wrong, the remixes are great. They range in quality from a weaker rendition of Marisa’s theme to a superb rendition of Doremy’s Eternal Spring Dream. But as usual, the star of the show is ZUN’s Happy-Go-Lucky Egoist for Tonight ~ Egoistic Flowers. The theme of the new final boss, 

Spoiler

Shion and Jo’on Yorigami.

 From the gorgeous intro to the powerful end, the theme does its best and more to encapsulate the core of which the sisters were founded. Like how the softer portions are eclipsed by heavy guitars and grand zunpets   trumpets represent how the meek goddess of poverty is eclipsed by the egotistical, larger than life goddess of Pestilence. The smart beat of the percussions, the grandeur of the trumpets, the smooth transitions from piano to forte and back, the score deserves its own analysis which I might make in the near future.

 Now onto the new playable characters.

 First off, this must be said. The new sprite art is superb. Tenshi, Doremy, Yukari, the final bosses look spectacular. Twilight Frontier did an excellent job creating the sprites of Tenshi and Yukari in particular. Their action frames just ooze the character we know and love them for. Each of Tenshi’s frames does a great job expressing her self-assurance and zeal while Yukari’s frames exudes her laziness, lack of care and uncanniness.

 Yukari’s sprite is noteworthy due to how grand and fluent it is. She moves from one animation to another with elegance and character. She barely ever moves anything besides her hands as that’s exactly how she’s supposed to be. An eldritch pseudo-deity who’s too powerful for her own good, knows it, and relishes every second of it. And the sprite does a great job at encapsulating this more so than her IaMP/SWR/UNL sprite.

 For a fighting game, the fighting is paramount to its quality. In terms of fighting, Antimony of Common Flowers is great. Although it lack the many nuances present in its predecessor Hisoutensoku, it still hold its own as a good fighting game with its own unique mechanics. The characters are generally well balanced (unlike a certain other fighting game I know) like fighting games should be. A new mechanic has been introduced that I haven’t explored much yet (first impressions and all). But unfortunately, one character remains unbalanced. The final Boss' third spellcard might be easy to stop, but it does way too much damage and I hope Twilight Frontier nerfs it before the game officially comes out on steam.

 All in all, there is a lot to love about the game. It’s a must play for a Touhou project fan (much like all the other games) but even if you’re new to the franchise, Antimony of Common Flowers is definitely worth playing.

So what were your first impressions of the game?

P.S

Spoiler

There is something inherently wrong with Jo'on shaking the literal gold out of Reimu.

 

 

[GasterMaster70]

Honestly, I think the game is really fun. I'd play it more, but I don't because every few rounds, the game crashes. I don't know why. It just does, especially if I'm on the second-to-last scenario. The final boss has a certain spell card. And, when playing Reimu and Yukari's story path, that one spell will crash the game every time.

Still, this game is a must-play.

[Consarn]

Oh, yeah. I tried playing it. Couldn't go over 20 FPS though. Does anyone here know how to fix it?

AND I SWEAR TO GOD, IF ANYONE EVEN DARES TO THINK ABOUT FRAMESKIPPING I WILL HAVE A THERAPIST BUST INTO YOUR HOUSE

[GasterMaster70]

59 minutes ago, Consarn said:

Does anyone here know how to fix it?

I had the same problem with NieR:Automata. All I can say is lower the screen resolution.

[Consarn]

14 hours ago, GasterMaster70 said:

I had the same problem with NieR:Automata. All I can say is lower the screen resolution.

Well, there goes the high quality dead Marisa sprite.

[GundamFan15]

I really like the gameplay and look of everything in it from animation to designs to move set. I would like to see a future in which more noted and mainstream cast a playable like Remilia, Meiling, Aya, Flandre, Patchouli, Utsuho Reiuji, Satori and more. no saying the current cast is bad, they are great and play differently and all have an fantastic move set (I played as all more than 5 times each to get the most out of them.) but it would be fun to see these iconic cast members get the same treatment with these fantastic sprites and move set. Overall, great game would recommend.

PS. funny how the current roster is nearly bigger if not the same size as Street fighter 5 on lunch day