Touhou: The Shattered Sky - Stage 1

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳

For the stage, it's generally your pretty self explanatory Stage 1. However, if you're going into this on Normal mode, be aware that many of the small fairies will fire revenge bullets at you, which may catch you off guard considering. Aside from that, this is mainly just a good chance to get used to the resource system of this game.

Reisen similarly can really catch you off guard with her style of bullet patterns, it's definitely not what you'd expect from a Stage 1 boss. She won't be pulling off her bullet splitting abilities, but some of her attacks will curve about and/or be a bit hard to see at times. Not bad once you get some practice under your belt, but she is definitely a sudden difficulty spike.

Difficulty - Normal
Character - Ordinary Magician: Marisa Kirisame
Stage 1 - The Shrine in the Summer: Hakurei Shrine
BGM - Fairy Swarm ~ Endless Parade
Mid-boss: Mischievous Fairy of the Ice: Cirno
Boss - Moon Rabbit on Earth: Reisen Udongein Inaba
BGM - Lunatic Rabbit ~ Red Alert

0:00 - Intro
4:36 - Stage
5:24 - Non-spell
5:38 - Stage
6:04 - Pre-fight dialogue
6:56 - Non-spell
7:05 - Rabbit Sign "Illusionary Mind"
7:10 - Non-spell
7:37 - Shot Sign "Twisted Payback"
7:48 - Lunatic Eyes "Phantom Fovea"
8:07 - Post-fight dialogue
8:32 - Next Time

Link to my Patreon page here

You can download the game here

[Eredom]

Honestly, I would not do the resource system like this ever again. That's all I want to say about this. XD

[Talguy]

In regards to an art update, I've heard from Eredom that while an art update could be made, reworking the game would probably also be necessary or highly desirable in the process, and he's not really willing to put that much more work into the game right now or for the foreseeable future. The art you'd seen might be related to this game's sequel, Servants of Harvest Wish.

[foxxbaker]

This game is like border between msg paint and meh, yukari what have you done

[GenesisJames]

I CANNOT get over the art lmao
It's like, endearing, at least. It's not good but the fact that they wanted to draw every character's portrait themselves shows that they love the series and really wanted to make this game their own.

Wow though, this is not the best resource system. Maybe it could've worked if they made the vortexes way bigger and added a transparency onto them so you can kinda dodge bullets while you're in it, but as it stands it's way too small. I can see how this is nigh unusable after, like, stage 3. It really reminds me of UFO where the strat is basically max out your lives by stage 4 and never interact with the gimmick again, haha.

It seems pretty rough around the edges, but I'm interested in seeing where this game goes, especially with the weird difficulty and how we haven't really gotten much of a story yet!

[KyouTGD]

Oh wow, yeah. Team Dreamcatcher improved so much from their first to their second game.

[lunaticverlord]

7:46 Reisen *DID* start as a Stage 5 boss. And unlike Yuyuko in TD, she's not holding back.

[sigmundroamer]

Ah yes, this one. I've played the sequel, and it's much improved. Better art, better patterns, a less jank resource system, and a better plot.
Honestly, if I hadn't gone looking into the wiki of one of the characters, I likely wouldn't have known this even existed.

[popcioslav]

If you ever feel bored, come back to this playthrough and count each time MegamanOmega or his editor mentions art.
And if you want a challenge, keep a count of every time someone mentions TSS' art in the comments of each video.
Gambatte~! (And remember that I'm not responsible for whatever injuries you may acquire this way)

[hidingbox]

I remember this game, though it is a bit older now. The art is shoddy, though somehow there is a sort of charm to it.

[ricokurniawan]

Yesterday, Eredom just quit Team Dreamcatcher. Too much real life work apparently.

[truongthiven]

There's a fact about Reimu B's Bomb that you can damage extra bosses if the fantasy seal balls explode next to the bosses.

[incandescence]

I'm pretty sure the only reason most people voted for this game is because it's in the way of SoHW. That being said, I don't think it's actually that bad, although I admittedly have yet to actually play it for myself (should probably get on that).

[yokaipinata]

Revisiting this because it randomly crossed my mind. ❤

I remember not understanding your missile hate in MS and EoSD (in both games you called them bad or shoddy in the video description) until I saw your explanation here (while you probably could have fully explained yourself since back then, it was nice to finally know the why when looking here).

Personally, I like both types-- when done well (not a fan of how ZUN botched missile damage in UM or laser damage in MoF-- barring the glitch, which is less so the laser itself and more the base shot; I'm also with you on the removal of piercing, it was an integral part of Illusion Laser's identity).

Albeit I think my favorite Marisa shot ever has to be Cold Inferno (turrets are easily the most fun shot type gimmick imo), and it is my pipe dream to see it come back someday. ❤

[TurboGhast.]

The first stage gives me more Len'en vibes to me than any other. It's quite vulnerable to standard enemy quicks kills, like a Len'en stage, while all but one of the later main game stages have more countermeasures to enemy quick kills. Both of the gimmicks Reisen uses in her attacks resemble gimmicks used by Len'en characters: The bullets turning pitch black in Rabbit Sign "Illusionary Mind" resembles Kurohebi's ability to turn bullets pitch black, while the way the bullets in Lunatic Eyes "Phantom Fovea" fade out and back in reminds me of Suzumi.

[LushieTilde]

I do not believe it is statistically possible to 1cc TSS without TAS or cheating in some way.

[anonymousoff-brand]

... this is the "tails gets trolled" of bullet hell, isn't it? or, at least, something else with refrigerator drawing energy.

[Wizzard]

I think boss hitboxes are also wonky in this game, no? Like, in general Touhou games bosses have slightly bigger hitboxes than their models to make them easier to shoot, but this feels like waaay back in Perfect Cherry Blossom with Chen and Alice, where they had really small hitboxes compared to every other boss.

[jlever]

I'm really surprised people would rather see Bullet Heaven over Marine Benefit, which wasn't even on the poll at all for some reason

[alfredasleung]

This looks like a high quality scratch game which is still an insult to some scratch games

[DoctorNovakaine]

Straight away, I'm going to say that it's pretty respectable to make your first thing ever. May nothing I say detract from that, because most people don't ever finish their first thing.
That said...the presentation definitely feels like it could have used some freshening up. Art tends to be what most people center on, so I'll touch on the writing side. For an English-community game, the lines sure don't feel like they were written by a fluent English speaker - there's a lot of stiffness and it feels very cardboard, not a lot of character to it. The kind of feel I'd get from someone who had a decent grasp of the mechanics of the language but not the dynamics of it. I think it would have served them well to bring in someone who could take the essence of what they wanted to convey and both polish it and punch it up a little.

It's a far cry from something in-game, but I wanted to try to take my stab at it.

Marisa: Guess the fairies all thought it was perfect weather for an outing, too.
Ah, well, any excuse to get out and enjoy this weather.
I'll bet the folks at the mansion don't like it much, though.
Maybe I should check in on them...maybe borrow some books...
???: Oh! Is it...?
Reisen: Oh, it's only you. I was looking for the shrine maiden.
M: Well, you're in luck! You found someone even better!
R: That's a line I wouldn't take at face value...
M: You stopped lookin', didn't you?
R: Ah...well, uh, have you seen her?
M: What are you looking for Reimu for, anyway? Something interesting?
R: It's too delicate a matter to tell just anyone. I'd rather not say.
M: Don't worry, you've said enough already.
You wouldn't be looking for her if there wasn't an incident or somethin'!
So just tell me what it's about, and I'll shanghai myself into dealing with it!
R: Wait, I don't think you can 'shanghai' yourself into something.
M: Then I'll just have to shanghai you into shanghaiing me! Let's go!

Reisen: How am I manipulating you if you're forcing yourself into this?
Marisa: You used those funny powers of yours, didn't you?
Now I'm all illusioned into going after whatever it is I'm going after!
Right after you tell me what that is, you dastardly manipulator you.
R: I guess there's no helping it. At least someone's on the case...
All we know is that Eientei was suddenly shrouded in shadow.
We're not sure what's causing it, but it can't be anything good.
M: So they don't get to enjoy the weather? That's truly criminal!
Guess I'm headin' off to Eientei, then!