Touhou Kinjoukyou ～ Fossilized Wonders.

Kind of funny but also tragic seeing the reviews complaining about AI backgrounds from the demo... Not realizing [spoiler]this entire game's story is about AI creating a world of no progress & poisoning information[/spoiler] [spoiler](and I mean [i]directly[/i] about, not even metaphorically)[/spoiler] Anyways, awesome game, easily my favorite since 15! Very nice music, very nice story/lore, decent enough danmaku, and overall more interesting than the last few (of course, it's more enjoyable with the English patch - google THCRAP!)

Overall it’s a very mixed game for me. Though I’ve chosen not to recommend it on the basis of what I’ve written below. For context: As of writing this review I've beaten the game on its standard difficulty multiple times by now with both characters and several combinations of different shot types. Firstly if you are new to Touhou Project I wouldn’t recommend this as your first entry. While not the most difficult game in the series, it’s still extremely difficult and riddled with other issues that impede the gameplay in ways I’m about to explain. I would recommend you go for Unconnected Marketeers, since it’s one of the more moderate games in the series that has a demo available to sample if you really want to start somewhere. Anyway, on with the review! Let’s start with the positives, because there are some. - The music is great as always. The tone of the music this time is much darker, akin to Wily Beast and the Weakest Creature and is more subdued as a result. ...

+Awesome visuals +Cool backgrounds +Good music -Hard (skill issue)

hesitant to give a thumbs up because of the ai backgrounds, but it's still a good game. way more quality than the last few. i will be a little pissed if zun uses ai in his next game tho. if you're turned off by ai but still want to play the game i'd just get it from the shrine (iykyk)

Touhou is awesome and I don't care about AI here. But I swear this is like the lamest touhou out there. I mean it. Like, the music is cool, backgrounds are more interactive and even have layers so it's all more immersive but the gameplay is ATROCIOUS. I guess I'm not good at these games but I swear this game's difficulty is insane. The stone system is like the most awesome thing ZUN has came up with for his games and yet he had to make ridiculously difficult and boring enemies to accompany them. I cannot for the love of anything play this game without bullet erasing stones. Please finish this game on easy or with continues with both yellow and both red stones and save yourself a headache at genuinely trying. Diamond red goes down, red spiky goes right, lunar goes up and cookie goes left and cheese the game if you also don't find it enjoyable. Stages are straight up incoherent mess of bullet spam, I swear 70% of stage bullets in this game are shot at random or straight up at you a...

For a game that is all about exploring the stagnation of creativity and resistance to change by delving into the primordial past, this newest entry in Gensokyo's saga really is a gift package of change and wonder neatly wrapped up with nostalgic patterns and an experimental feel. ZUN lied about the "back to the roots" approach with this game, as there's definitely nothing old-fashioned about Fossilised Wonders despite the themes. Featuring the new Wonder Stone summon mechanic, similarly to the UFO system from Undefined Fantastic Object it allows you to break up the normal game flow with special summonable enemies that siphon up items and reward you for killing them with more resources and kindly clear the screen for you a little. Unlike UFOs however, the process of summoning Wonder Stones is far less hazardous and their presence is usually more of a help rather than a detriment to you. Despite this Touhou 20 has exceedingly brutal difficulty, probably THE most difficult in the series ...

I really like the wonder stones gimmick, yellow moon is my favorite one even if it feels much harder than any other games, even on easy. I managed to do a single run and almost 1cc but got killed at the final boss, I think I like the stage music more than the bosses but maybe I just have to get used to them, final boss music was pretty neat. The surprise on stage 5 was really good. I grew to like the wonder stone enemies because they give out free resources, their patterns aren't really as annoying as many of the enemies after stage 4. AI content? Who cares, the game is great and I'm too distracted with dodging bullets to notice about backgrounds. Great gane, love it way more than 19 and I think it might be surpassing 18

I adored the trial of this game and genuinely thought the full game would keep up the pace. It did not. The music really is what makes or breaks a Touhou game for me, and none of the new tracks stuck with me. The bullet patterns are interesting, but visibility is ONCE AGAIN an issue. How could Zun play through stage 4 and think "this is good enough"? I really don't understand. I love the new enemies and was pleasantly surprised Zun decided to bring some new sprites in. The bosses look cool too, apart from the fact that so many characters in the newer games seem to have the exact same face... Which is a minor issue to me but I'll bring it up anyways. Not gonna talk too much about the AI backgrounds. I don't like em. I think it's a slippery slope for Zun to make shortcuts like this. The 20th game was supposed to be a celebration of the series. I don't see it as such. I feel the passion of the Touhou project is gone. There was so much he could have done with this. Brought back phantasm...

I have purchased and played all Touhou Project games except for the PC-98 version at Japanese doujin shops, but since I got a SteamDeck, I have been purchasing them on Steam from now on. I am very satisfied with how comfortable it is to play on the SteamDeck. This game requires a different approach than previous titles, which was a little confusing at first. First of all, the default Common Magic Stone equipment makes 1cc significantly more difficult than previous Touhou Project games. I recommend starting by collecting all types of magic stones. Once you reach the stage 4th with the main magic stone equipped, you will obtain that magic stone and be able to equip it with Wide Shot, Narrow Shot, and Assist. By forming an equipment with the types of magic stones you are good at, you can play at roughly the same difficulty level as the previous Touhou Project games. For reference, here is the formation I initially used for Normal 1cc: * Main: Yellow Subterranean (イエローサブタレ...

As always, it's programmed by a drunkard, but the gameplay and music are outstanding.