So you're telling me I was a trooper, and a fool, for somehow playing Embodiment of Scarlet Devil first, and after finally getting it to not run at 999 fps, I got my ass kicked in easy mode for one of the harder games?? No wonder why it scared me from ever downloading the other games😭
This is a really solid video I personally started with Ten Desires, which I don't think is a good entry point. While the patterns are on the easier side, the resources are difficult to obtain, and even when you know how to get them, they're still quite scarce. Generally more resources are what makes a good entrypoint imo, as it gives more leniancy for beginners when they screw up, and also lets them bruteforce harder sections with bombs. I think Touhou 17 could also make a good starting point, as the patterns (on easy mode) aren't that difficult, and the game has quite a few resources, plus the beast spirits Roaring Mode is similar to the Cherry border, allowing you to take a hit, which makes the game more leniant on misteaks. Although the Beast Spirits themselves can be a bit of a beginners trap and can encourage reckless play, so its understandable why it isn't here. Aside from that, I agree with the rest of this video, I do think 18 is the best starting point, with the ability card system being both fun and letting the player either become very powerful or gather a ton of resources (especially with the ability to buy lives at the end of a stage).
I completely agree on everything you commented. The number of resources in a game definitely is a major deciding factor on whether a game's beginner friendly or not. I did debate on putting WBaWC on here but I personally think the beast spirits would be more frustrating if you're not used to bullet hells. Now that might be more of my UFO trauma affecting my opinion, idk.
As someone who started with HRtP and went strictly chronologically (skipping fighting games) I am, in retrospect, surprised by how well it went. I don’t think I would actually recommend it, but I regt nothing and it made me experience/appreciate certain things in a way that I couldn’t have otherwise
If someone is already planning to dedicate a lot of time to playing all the Touhou games, then that's a fine way to go about it. I assume it's pretty cool to see the series' evolution.
@ It sure was! But when I started I only really knew „So many things on the internet are Touhou related, must be fun to be a part of the community“. That, coupled with my unwillingness to spoil myself (at the time) caused me to have a bit of a confusing time whenever I tried to interact with the windows dominated fandom🙃
Window size seems like an odd thing to note - don't most people (want to) play in fullscreen? (or am I just weird?) (If fullscreen is tiny with huge borders, too, (or super stretched or cut off or something) that's not the game's fault - need to change the scaling mode in your GPU settings ("preserve aspect" or "integer" is what you want). Not sure why some PCs default to dumb settings) As a scrub-tier player I can confirm the TH10 continue system really just kinda sucks. Not getting to practice the last couple spells much is one thing, but I think the combination of being able to replay the same stage over and over but loosing that "progress" if you quit the game just isn't very fun. It lacks that natural "that's it" moment where you have enough of the game and come back later. And to me that's really part of the appeal for this sort of game. I still love TH10 though, so idk.
I honestly didn't know integer full screen was a thing, that's useful information for most people, especially for people who're just getting into the series! Unfortunately I am a weirdo who likes playing in windowed 720 for all my PC games (mostly because I can look at obs and stream chat while playing) so I don't think I'll use that method. Thanks for telling me though! I'm definitely going to repeat this information to anyone I personally introduce to the older titles from now on!
As someone that started with EoSD as my 2nd game i regret it, that game is unbelievably hard in a weird way, though i never understood the fps issue people seem to mention since mine just runs like normal in 30fps
@Kanonical I must be misremembering then, it has been a few years since I played EoSD I guess it was at 60fps Maybe the reason mine runs just fine is probably the one I got is already pre-patched so it doesn't just go 999 fps
So you're telling me I was a trooper, and a fool, for somehow playing Embodiment of Scarlet Devil first, and after finally getting it to not run at 999 fps, I got my ass kicked in easy mode for one of the harder games?? No wonder why it scared me from ever downloading the other games😭
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is more middle of the road in terms of difficulty in this series but yes that is what I'm saying.
This is a really solid video
I personally started with Ten Desires, which I don't think is a good entry point. While the patterns are on the easier side, the resources are difficult to obtain, and even when you know how to get them, they're still quite scarce. Generally more resources are what makes a good entrypoint imo, as it gives more leniancy for beginners when they screw up, and also lets them bruteforce harder sections with bombs.
I think Touhou 17 could also make a good starting point, as the patterns (on easy mode) aren't that difficult, and the game has quite a few resources, plus the beast spirits Roaring Mode is similar to the Cherry border, allowing you to take a hit, which makes the game more leniant on misteaks. Although the Beast Spirits themselves can be a bit of a beginners trap and can encourage reckless play, so its understandable why it isn't here.
Aside from that, I agree with the rest of this video, I do think 18 is the best starting point, with the ability card system being both fun and letting the player either become very powerful or gather a ton of resources (especially with the ability to buy lives at the end of a stage).
I completely agree on everything you commented. The number of resources in a game definitely is a major deciding factor on whether a game's beginner friendly or not. I did debate on putting WBaWC on here but I personally think the beast spirits would be more frustrating if you're not used to bullet hells. Now that might be more of my UFO trauma affecting my opinion, idk.
As someone who started with HRtP and went strictly chronologically (skipping fighting games) I am, in retrospect, surprised by how well it went.
I don’t think I would actually recommend it, but I regt nothing and it made me experience/appreciate certain things in a way that I couldn’t have otherwise
If someone is already planning to dedicate a lot of time to playing all the Touhou games, then that's a fine way to go about it. I assume it's pretty cool to see the series' evolution.
@ It sure was!
But when I started I only really knew „So many things on the internet are Touhou related, must be fun to be a part of the community“.
That, coupled with my unwillingness to spoil myself (at the time) caused me to have a bit of a confusing time whenever I tried to interact with the windows dominated fandom🙃
Good thing my entryway was Touhouwiki because I know nowadays almost every franchise has their own wiki page, though most of them are on Fandom
The Touhouwiki used to be, but then there was a split and Fandom even tried to stop them leaving.
Window size seems like an odd thing to note - don't most people (want to) play in fullscreen? (or am I just weird?)
(If fullscreen is tiny with huge borders, too, (or super stretched or cut off or something) that's not the game's fault - need to change the scaling mode in your GPU settings ("preserve aspect" or "integer" is what you want). Not sure why some PCs default to dumb settings)
As a scrub-tier player I can confirm the TH10 continue system really just kinda sucks. Not getting to practice the last couple spells much is one thing, but I think the combination of being able to replay the same stage over and over but loosing that "progress" if you quit the game just isn't very fun. It lacks that natural "that's it" moment where you have enough of the game and come back later. And to me that's really part of the appeal for this sort of game. I still love TH10 though, so idk.
I honestly didn't know integer full screen was a thing, that's useful information for most people, especially for people who're just getting into the series! Unfortunately I am a weirdo who likes playing in windowed 720 for all my PC games (mostly because I can look at obs and stream chat while playing) so I don't think I'll use that method. Thanks for telling me though! I'm definitely going to repeat this information to anyone I personally introduce to the older titles from now on!
As someone that started with EoSD as my 2nd game i regret it, that game is unbelievably hard in a weird way, though i never understood the fps issue people seem to mention since mine just runs like normal in 30fps
Game usually on newer PCs runs way too fast as if there is no cap. 30fps is not normal either btw, the game is supposed to run at 60fps.
@Kanonical I must be misremembering then, it has been a few years since I played EoSD I guess it was at 60fps
Maybe the reason mine runs just fine is probably the one I got is already pre-patched so it doesn't just go 999 fps
@@blux_cross If you got it from Moriya Shrine that probably is the case.