Touhou Hisoutensoku


Touhou Hisoutensoku ~ Chōdokyū Ginyoru no Nazo wo Oe is a versus fighting game in the Touhou Project game series. The game, by Twilight Frontier and Team Shanghai Alice, can be played as a standalone game or as an expansion pack for the previous fighting game Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. In the Touhou Project overall, it is labeled as the 12.3rd Touhou game.

Gameplay

Touhou Hisoutensoku stayed true to its predecessors in that it retained most of the Immaterial's basic system and moves. Projectiles are still the main attack feature, grazing is still an effective way of evasion and the changing weather affects every match. In addition, Touhou Hisoutensoku added some new spellcards and weather system for the characters to turn the tide of battle. Touhou Hisoutensoku also provides built-in support for multiplayer games over the internet like its predecessor.
Characters from Scarlet Weather Rhapsody can be made playable in Touhou Hisoutensoku if the player also owns that game on the same computer. The imported characters have new moves and new winning dialog in the arcade and versus modes, though they do not have a storyline associated with Touhou Hisoutensoku.

Card deck system

Mostly identical to Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Touhou Hisoutensoku allows the player to assemble a "deck" of 20 cards. Cards become available for in-play use as the player deals or receives damage. New cards for can be obtained through various actions in gameplay.
Cards fall into three categories: System Cards, Skill Cards, and Spell Cards. System Cards include bombs, weather change, and other miscellaneous options. Skill Cards upgrade special attacks to do more damage, allow the player to gain alternate special attacks, or both. Spell Cards are powerful attacks that automatically work once activated. Proper assembly of card decks according to the player's style is key to mastering the game, since the decks limit what the characters can do during a match.
A departure from Scarlet Weather Rhapsody is the personalized System Cards, each associated with a character. These replace the System Cards of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.

Weather

The weather changes during a match, which subjects the two combatants to some handicap according to the weather, as listed below. There are no weather effects in the Story Mode, unlike in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. Five additional weathers are introduced in this game, along with modifications of some old ones.
WeatherAssociated withEffect
Temperament
気質
N/ANo effect until the timer reaches 100.
Sunny
快晴
Reimu HakureiBorder Escapes are free, flight cost is halved.
Drizzle
霧雨
Marisa KirisameSpell card damage increases.
Cloudy
曇天
Sakuya IzayoiDecreases spellcard cost by 1; increases rate at which the spell gauge fills. Weather effect ends if any card is used.
Azure Sky
蒼天
Youmu KonpakuSpecial attacks can be canceled into other special attacks. Every special attack canceled into only costs half a spirit orb
Hail
Alice MargatroidSpirit Orb Recovery speed is doubled, increases damage of bullet-type specials.
Spring Haze
花曇
Patchouli KnowledgeMelee attacks can be grazed, at cost of spirit.
Dense Fog
濃霧
Remilia ScarletInflicting damage on an opponent restores a small bit of health to the player.
Snow
Yuyuko SaigyoujiHitting an opponent will cause her to lose some of her card gauge. Cards lost this way are returned to the player's deck.
Sunshowers
天気雨
Yukari YakumoIncorrectly blocked melee attacks result in an instant guard crush.
Sprinkle
疎雨
Suika IbukiAll special moves and Skillcard moves are upgraded to Level 4.
Tempest
風雨
Aya SyameimaruWalking and dashing speed increased; maximum airdashes/flies allowed increased by one.
Mountain Vapor
晴嵐
Reisen Udongein InabaSpellcard hand is hidden and randomized. Weather effect ends if a card is used.
River Mist
川霧
Komachi OnodukaCauses the distance between players to oscillate.
Typhoon
台風
Iku NagaeCharacters gain superarmor and will not enter hitstun, and also lose the ability to block.
Aurora
極光
Tenshi HinanaiCause a random weather effect.
Calm
Sanae KotiyaHitting the opponent will cause a healing spotlight to fall on the player.
Diamond Dust
ダイヤモンド ダスト
CirnoGroundteching is disabled; knocked down characters take damage from standing up.
Dust Storm
黄砂
Hong MeirinAttacks induce counter hit state.
Scorching Sun
烈日
Utsuho ReiuziWhen high in the air, power increases, but health lowers gradually.
Monsoon
梅雨
Suwako MoriyaAttacks induce groundslam/wallslam.

Plot

A mysterious giant is seen wandering around Gensokyo. It can suddenly appear and can just as suddenly vanish seemingly without a trace. Everyone who sees it becomes curious and wonders about the truth behind this strange sight. Sanae Kotiya, Cirno, and Hong Meirin each have their own fears and dreams about the giant, and each sets out in pursuit of this roaming behemoth.
Exploring the Forest of Magic, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and the subterranea, the heroines face many challenges and obstacles in their pursuit of a mystery that's far deeper than it first appears.

Characters

As a standalone game, Touhou Hisoutensoku only features 9 characters total. Combined with the characters from Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, the game has a total of 20 characters.
Like with Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, ZUN of Team Shanghai Alice only did parts of the game while Twilight Frontier did most of the game-making. ZUN, besides overseeing the whole development, also provided the storyline, new character designs, spell card names, and three new music tracks for the game. The full version was released at Comiket 76 on August 15, 2009.
Unlike the main line of Touhou games where the character artwork is drawn by ZUN, the dialog character sprites and ending artwork in Touhou Hisoutensoku are drawn by alphes from the Twilight Frontier team, as is the case with Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the game was compiled into an album named Thermonuclear Deity Hisoutensoku ~ Touhou Hisoutensoku ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK, first sold in Comiket 77 on December 30, 2009.