Touhou 13 - Ten Desires ~ Mamizou Futatsuiwa Extra Clear as Reimu Hakurei

I had set my sights on the tanuki in question ever since before I confronted Hecatia for the first time. She was one of those I really wanted to beat up.
Spellcard practice was an even better boon for such a trickster Extra boss. I like how ZUN provides it for some games but not for others :/
Replay file:
db.tt/9bHHr2HmJY
Replays of failed attempts:
db.tt/AXo8MdsLzl
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Ten Desires and the Touhou Project are copyright Team Shanghai Alice 2011, all rights reserved.

[@r543Blitzsonic]

Well Done
I didn't know much about TD so this was quite new to me.
Gotta say it has a interesting soundtrack(on second thought, it does seem a bit simple and something that would quickly get repetitive, however it fits with Mamizou's attacks) and I can see how it's linked with UFO(which makes the Modern Era 1/2 split a bit odd, but that one was probably done because Zun decided to continue once again? Or maybe it's simply done because classic ended with StB while Modern 1 ended with DS)
It does have a few odd sounds though, think that countdown like sound appeared from spritings spawning from bosses(a bit odd since I don't think you'll be able to collect them easily). Not sure what some of the sounds were during the Nue battle.
Nice that you were able to use the trance bar, did you activate after getting hit? Once read that it uses up a full flame if activated manually.
Huge Power Blocks that probably give a full level, wonder if they were really needed or if the power blocks could've been adjusted to give more than 0.01 power instead, same could be said about the bombs which were only 2 this time because of UFO.
12:16 there was a line in that spellcard but nothing changed after it got past that point?
Mamizou has some interesting Danmaku bullets, although I was hoping that we'd get 10 unique animals for all the transformations. Some look rather easy while others are challenging(possible with a good bit of practice, 6:59 is a good example even if that one probably looks harder than it is) while there are a few that look difficult, especially nonspells like the one at 6:39 but I can see the pattern in them.
The stage itself doesn't look too difficult, at least not until multiple fairies start sending those bullet circles out like at 0:23 or until later where fairies send out diamond and those big bullets.
So Life and Bomb pieces are given out at certain parts again and because of that the amount of life pieces needed for the next life gets increased every time, similar to how the old score and point system was, makes me wonder if it wouldn't have been simpler to switch back to that.

[@PookaMustard]

Yes, the soundtrack for Touhou 13 is a bit like that, though Mamizou's soundtrack is more Japanese like and fits with her attacks. I dunno how the split was done, but I'd rather instead of naming schemes like 'Modern' and 'Classic' to have 'Windows Generation 1', 2 and 3.
The divine spirits do make a lot of sounds. Some to announce their existence, some to tell that they were collected, etc. On the subject of Nue, let's say they are...'unknown' sounds :)
The Trance bar is activated when you have it full by hitting the C button. If you have any less than a full bar, then you use it on death, which grants you the ability to just move into your target to maximize the damage they receive. It also just so happens that you can pull off a deathtrance in the same way you can pull off a deathbomb, a nice feature to have since Trances don't activate the Extra Boss Spellcard Invulnerability System and they give you ten full seconds on user activation or depending on what you had before you died. The power level changes are probably because of UFO as you said, and these power blocks must've been if you messed up really horribly up until that point. I guess the attack got really fiercer at the time point you spoke of.
Mamizou's spellcards do have 'First Duel', 'Second Duel' signs and so on, so presumably she didn't show ten transformations but rather used a few to make an interesting battle. Tanuki's Monstrous School is one spellcard that I spent some time trying to figure out, since the streaming will always hurt me in one way or the other. Until I found the strategy you see in the video: hug the screen's sides below the tanuki rows to create a Misdirection and quickly slip in from the sides, effectively making there be less bullets to worry about while traversing the next section. It is difficult.
Think of her later non-spells as more like Utsuho's non-spells (down to the type of bullets used) but with 'mines' planted in the pathes.

[@r543Blitzsonic]

True, dunno how well the Generation split would be possible and having a naming scheme like Modern and Classic still works out.
I see UnKnown sounds, was wondering about the ones from 1:26 to 1:41 but I think that was just one of the white spirits.
While I don't know much about TD I did read about the Trance Bar. Didn't know that it was needed to be completely full to be activated(guess that's also true for deathtrances). Was wondering if one could use it during the extra and it's nice that you can.
Since you lose a full power level and only get 0.07 as collectable you don't really need to mess up that much to get an advantage of the power block.
Didn't notice a change in that attack.
Yeah, think it wasn't until later where this ability of 10 transformations was showed, when I first read about it I thought it would be perfectly fitting since there are 10 spellcards.
I see, at least it's a rather easy pattern to follow.

[@PookaMustard]

I saw your base comment has been updated, so I'll respond to that. Since you start at full power, I guess the stage slams you for that. One thing I noticed however, is how the Extra stage begins in a familiar way. Reminds me of LoLK's Extra and how it started. I wonder if DDC's starts with streaming bullets the same way? It's a bit difficult though, but still easier to get the hang of when compared to SA's.
Yes, the life and bomb pieces are given out like that. I have no idea if they are for performing well like in SA though. I still want the old score and life system along with full life pick ups.
It needs to be completely full to use it by hitting the C button, while you must fill at least one skull for it to be used automatically on death, and just like PCB's supernatural borders, they are perfectly usable anywhere. I'd rather lose half a power level rather than a full one, or get replenishments in some way like with SA. The attack went faster and the streaming were more synchronized with the gap dodging.
If there were ten unique danmaku, it would've been an even more difficult battle because memorization of these types of danmaku would be required, however she mixes and matches between them in an interesting way which also makes this battle interesting.

[@r543Blitzsonic]

The streaming section reminded me a bit of that as well but it's shorter, looks like almost all Extras start out with a streaming section.
Life and Bomb spirits are set to drop at certain points and apparently a few special stage enemies that drop them appear if you defeat certain stage enemies fast enough. Being in Trance also gives 2 instead of 1.
I hope the old system returns as well, lives could also be given at certain points of the game without needing to be directly collected(so that the item won't be missed) but if the player is given enough time that's no issue.
Was wondering if it really went faster, think I once noticed something but wasn't sure if that was it or just some kind of illusion.
I didn't mean that they'd all need to be bullets that act in unique way, just 10 spellcards with usual bullet shapes, but with having special acting bullets it's best to have it like here.

[@PookaMustard]

The particular type of bullet used and the way they were shot was more reminiscent of LoLK's extra. Yes, these enemies are a boon to gaining a life before Mamizou shows up. That's the first time I come up to the knowledge of Trance giving double the rewards. Yeah, much like LoLK's chapters but with nothing required to earn it. Yeah, it is better to have it the way it is now, with ten spellcards that mix and match these transformations.