Should I give Subterranean Animism (Touhou 11) another chance?

[Bus Passenger]

Subterranean Animism is the worst experience I've had with a Touhou game and I'm still yet to play UFO & Lunatic Kingdom which is considered to be more difficult than this game. Now obviously what made Subterranean Animism one of the worst experiences for me was its overall difficultly even on Easy Mode which was very frustrating and its continue system along with how difficult it is to stockpile lives added more salt to the wound. The shot types the games offers you are questionable if there's one way I can describe it. Reimu A is very well rounded, Reimu B is mid and Reimu C is hard carried by its bomb but the shot itself is difficult to use and the ability is just unhelpful, I haven't tried out Marisa's shot types (I don't really play her anyways) but I heard that they are better with the exception of Marisa C.

That being said, when I did try out Subterranean Animism, I was still pretty new to the Touhou games. Despite my hate for the game I have this odd desire to comeback to it and the soundtrack is pretty amazing.

Right now, I'm currently trying to achieve a Normal 1cc on Mountain Faith. Previously I was going to Normal 1cc HSIFS but it was really difficult and I didn't feel like playing Perfect Cherry Blossom or Imperishable Night so Mountain of Faith it was I guess.

 

[YumeChud97]

If you dont care about chronology you can skip SA for now and come back when you get more experienced in Touhou

 

[YuyuFumo]

Subterranean Animism is certainly the most rewarding Touhou I've played up to this point once you learn the ins and outs of it. It's brutal, but I promise if you stick with it you'll find a truly fantastic game beneath the difficulty.

Pro Tip: Stick w/ Reimu until you get really good at the game's patterns. Marisa suffers from her MoF 'thiccbox' (which is x3 larger than Reimu's hitbox) and gets clipped by a lot of shit that normally would have been dodged. When the time comes, MarisaA can stockpile eight weak bombs instead of four normal ones, MarisaB is fantastic at stages but sucks on bosses, and MarisaC is a meme shot that only masochists use.

I'd also highly recommend you use thprac to practice later sections of the game, especially Okuu.