the fuck is a touhou
- Thread starter beos
- Start date
- Admin
- #2
I personally would recommend starting either with Touhou 6 or 7. Touhou 6 is the first installment to the Windows era (the series underwent a soft-reboot), but Touhou 7 is easier. Sidenote: There are also official manga and the music CDs you could read for lore, and the Touhouwiki also exists (I think it should have all the CD lore too).
For tips, when you're installing a game or wanting to run it, you probably don't need to change the name of the executables, despite the .readme possibly saying that, since patching should already be taken care of (I think it might only say that for Touhou 6, but I'm not sure, though still not needed). You might also want to try rebooting your PC, using a locale emulator, or DXVK or d3d8to9 (mostly for Touhou 6-9) if you run into any issues with the games (plus I think DXVK and d3d8to9 should improve input delay). Another thing that should improve input delay is the Vsync patch, but the Moriya downloads should include it. You can get translations (and other mods) with Thcrap.
For things to avoid doing, sadly, I think Touhou 6 doesn't let you play stage 6 on easy mode, so if you want that lore, you would need to play on normal at least, or attain the lore a different way. Plus, I think the extra stages for the games also don't unlock unless you play on normal, but those are pretty hard too, so unless you're willing to become good enough to beat those and get the lore yourself, you would need to get it a different way (for example, through someone else's video).
For tips, when you're installing a game or wanting to run it, you probably don't need to change the name of the executables, despite the .readme possibly saying that, since patching should already be taken care of (I think it might only say that for Touhou 6, but I'm not sure, though still not needed). You might also want to try rebooting your PC, using a locale emulator, or DXVK or d3d8to9 (mostly for Touhou 6-9) if you run into any issues with the games (plus I think DXVK and d3d8to9 should improve input delay). Another thing that should improve input delay is the Vsync patch, but the Moriya downloads should include it. You can get translations (and other mods) with Thcrap.
For things to avoid doing, sadly, I think Touhou 6 doesn't let you play stage 6 on easy mode, so if you want that lore, you would need to play on normal at least, or attain the lore a different way. Plus, I think the extra stages for the games also don't unlock unless you play on normal, but those are pretty hard too, so unless you're willing to become good enough to beat those and get the lore yourself, you would need to get it a different way (for example, through someone else's video).
CirnoIsVerySmart>:(
BAKA, BAKA!
Most people in the community recommend starting with 6, as it's the beginning to what's considered "canon."
As for general tips??? You'll need a lot of endurance ig
As for general tips??? You'll need a lot of endurance ig
violet november
Onshi
my go-to recommendation is to start with 8, Imperishable Night, for anyone who isn't already experienced with these kinds of games, and it's worked out for most of the people I've recommended. 8 has the easiest easy mode with the most generous resources, so it's the best way I think to get into the hang of actually playing the games themselves, and it's early enough in the series (and the games are episodic enough in general) that I don't think you're going to be too lost. 8 also has four different choices for whom you play as, so there's some fun variety just within that one game alone.
if you'd prefer to start earlier, 7 is the first game made where the setting was fully taken into account, and also is my personal favourite. it also has an in-universe propaganda version of the setting's backstory, which is an interesting read to do early in learning about touhou
tips/things to avoid:
-start out on easy mode if you're not already experienced with bullet hell games, and crank up the lives counter. it's a lot less demoralising to end up in a state of "wait, this is a little too easy and boring. let me turn up the difficulty" than to go "this is too frustrating to be fun. I need to turn down the difficulty". if you want to start out focusing only on avoiding attacks, reimu almost always has some sort of homing attack, and in the early games she's best at dodging due to a smaller hitbox and longer window to bomb before dying
-each of the games should come with some text files. one of these is the 'prologue', where the baseline story premise of the game is. I don't know if anyone includes translated versions of these with the games, but all of them are on the wiki, such as that site's Imperishable_Night/Story/Prologue. you should read this before you play any of the games. it's not necessary to the enjoyment, but it really helps understand what's going on in the games because otherwise they feel very context-light, in media res kind of stories. there's also an equivalent prologue for every game's Extra stage to read before those, as well
-use your bombs. in most games, all the bombs you had on hand when you die disappear, and you get fresh bombs every time you come back. eventually it's important to learn how to dodge through patterns without relying on bombs, but having watched a lot of newcomers, a consistent tip I have to give everyone is "it's better to waste a bomb than die with it in your inventory"
-don't try to avoid bullets by any wider margins than you have to, which is easier said than done when you're starting out. a lot of attacks have some element that is aimed at or around you, so if you keep your dodging motions small when you can, it keeps the bullet patterns less jumbled up and safe corridors both easier to identify and safer to navigate. if you're not familiar with the technique, there's a tactic called 'streaming' that takes full advantage of this, where if attacks are aimed directly at you, continually dodging as lightly as possible in one direction keeps you perfectly safe, and the slower you dodge the longer you can keep it up before a risky crossup in what you're doing. this is often done by starting in one bottom corner and just very slowly inching towards the other bottom corner
-since you mentioned really wanting to learn the lore, if you want to really understand a touhou character, at some point you should fight her spellcards to get a feel for them and look up the real life inspiration it might have (based on the name, usually). for many of these gals, a not insignificant bit of their characterisation comes through their specific attacks, which personally I love and is one of the key elements of the setting to begin with
-don't be afraid to try both keyboard and controller to see what fits you best. for a lot of people, one or the other is a lot harder to use for these games. with controller, I'd recommend using the d-pad and not analogue stick, for tighter control. for the oldest windows games on controller, you might have to get a program that converts controller inputs to keyboard inputs, but all of the games are out-of-the-box set up for keyboard controls.
edit: one more tip:
-your hit box is way smaller than your sprite, and in 7 onward you can see something of an approximation of it whenever you focus/slow down. similarly, the hitboxes of most bullets are also in at least some capacity smaller than their sprites; there are exceptions, but usually the larger a bullet is, the higher proportion of it is safe. with some of the largest donut-shaped bullets, there will be times where most of your character's sprite is within the bullet's sprite and you'll come out fine. this can be a little hard to get a feel for, but it can both make dense bullet patterns less intimidating and also help keep your dodges as small as needed
[also, as a general aside, to be honest, I think the common recommendation to start with 6 is kind of self-defeating and wish people would do it less. 6 is rough around the edges and harder to get a hang of the controls due to the lack of visible hitbox, and the fact that you can't complete it on easy mode pushes people more easily into the mindset of having to start out playing these games on normal mode (despite even easy mode being initially difficult for most newcomers). I've known multiple people who wanted to get into touhou and immediately bounced off of it due to an unnecessary immediate difficulty wall.
I think 6 also isn't really that important to understanding the overall story and world, because while several characters from it are prominent in future stories, the game came out before the setting was really figured out. it feels a bit disconnected and is more than fine to play after you've tried some of the others, even from a story standpoint]
if you'd prefer to start earlier, 7 is the first game made where the setting was fully taken into account, and also is my personal favourite. it also has an in-universe propaganda version of the setting's backstory, which is an interesting read to do early in learning about touhou
tips/things to avoid:
-start out on easy mode if you're not already experienced with bullet hell games, and crank up the lives counter. it's a lot less demoralising to end up in a state of "wait, this is a little too easy and boring. let me turn up the difficulty" than to go "this is too frustrating to be fun. I need to turn down the difficulty". if you want to start out focusing only on avoiding attacks, reimu almost always has some sort of homing attack, and in the early games she's best at dodging due to a smaller hitbox and longer window to bomb before dying
-each of the games should come with some text files. one of these is the 'prologue', where the baseline story premise of the game is. I don't know if anyone includes translated versions of these with the games, but all of them are on the wiki, such as that site's Imperishable_Night/Story/Prologue. you should read this before you play any of the games. it's not necessary to the enjoyment, but it really helps understand what's going on in the games because otherwise they feel very context-light, in media res kind of stories. there's also an equivalent prologue for every game's Extra stage to read before those, as well
-use your bombs. in most games, all the bombs you had on hand when you die disappear, and you get fresh bombs every time you come back. eventually it's important to learn how to dodge through patterns without relying on bombs, but having watched a lot of newcomers, a consistent tip I have to give everyone is "it's better to waste a bomb than die with it in your inventory"
-don't try to avoid bullets by any wider margins than you have to, which is easier said than done when you're starting out. a lot of attacks have some element that is aimed at or around you, so if you keep your dodging motions small when you can, it keeps the bullet patterns less jumbled up and safe corridors both easier to identify and safer to navigate. if you're not familiar with the technique, there's a tactic called 'streaming' that takes full advantage of this, where if attacks are aimed directly at you, continually dodging as lightly as possible in one direction keeps you perfectly safe, and the slower you dodge the longer you can keep it up before a risky crossup in what you're doing. this is often done by starting in one bottom corner and just very slowly inching towards the other bottom corner
-since you mentioned really wanting to learn the lore, if you want to really understand a touhou character, at some point you should fight her spellcards to get a feel for them and look up the real life inspiration it might have (based on the name, usually). for many of these gals, a not insignificant bit of their characterisation comes through their specific attacks, which personally I love and is one of the key elements of the setting to begin with
-don't be afraid to try both keyboard and controller to see what fits you best. for a lot of people, one or the other is a lot harder to use for these games. with controller, I'd recommend using the d-pad and not analogue stick, for tighter control. for the oldest windows games on controller, you might have to get a program that converts controller inputs to keyboard inputs, but all of the games are out-of-the-box set up for keyboard controls.
edit: one more tip:
-your hit box is way smaller than your sprite, and in 7 onward you can see something of an approximation of it whenever you focus/slow down. similarly, the hitboxes of most bullets are also in at least some capacity smaller than their sprites; there are exceptions, but usually the larger a bullet is, the higher proportion of it is safe. with some of the largest donut-shaped bullets, there will be times where most of your character's sprite is within the bullet's sprite and you'll come out fine. this can be a little hard to get a feel for, but it can both make dense bullet patterns less intimidating and also help keep your dodges as small as needed
[also, as a general aside, to be honest, I think the common recommendation to start with 6 is kind of self-defeating and wish people would do it less. 6 is rough around the edges and harder to get a hang of the controls due to the lack of visible hitbox, and the fact that you can't complete it on easy mode pushes people more easily into the mindset of having to start out playing these games on normal mode (despite even easy mode being initially difficult for most newcomers). I've known multiple people who wanted to get into touhou and immediately bounced off of it due to an unnecessary immediate difficulty wall.
I think 6 also isn't really that important to understanding the overall story and world, because while several characters from it are prominent in future stories, the game came out before the setting was really figured out. it feels a bit disconnected and is more than fine to play after you've tried some of the others, even from a story standpoint]
Last edited:
John_Smith
Johnshi
I thought that this was looked down upon and according to ZUN's etiquette or something you're not supposed to upload videos of the ending scenes, kind of like the top of the mountain from getting over it with bennet foddy, was I wrong?
Patchy :3
independent reporter
there is also a mouse control method that requires third party programs too, just reminding of one specific control method that only 5 people in not touhou, but entire shmup community use
- Admin
- #8
No, I think you're correct. I was thinking of stages 1-6 and the extra stage. I forgot about the ending scenes.