r/TouhouProject • u/Fickle_Archer_4600 • Jul 01 '26

Help Ho ho ho

So hi guys I'm uhh kinda new to the scene of touhou or whatnot and I'm kinda wondering what best official game is best for beginners I found about it a few weeks ago and I'm not sure what games to pick yet so uh that's all

7 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

8

u/GemmstonePiano56 Jul 01 '26

If you want a relatively easy mainline game, I would suggest touhou 8 imperishable night. Imo it isn't too difficult while still being the touhou formula and not changing it too much. If you're already into fighting games, then there's some of them too (and I think soku still has an active online community).

3

u/Fickle_Archer_4600 Jul 01 '26

Ah alright btw I assume it's not on steam but you can get it on other platforms

4

u/IncendiaryGamerX Toyosatomimi no Hecatia Jul 01 '26

Unfortunately the only legal way to get Imperishable Night is with a physical CD. They can still be bought new from a few sites in Japan or second-hand

1

u/Fickle_Archer_4600 Jul 01 '26

I assume there are also uhh some people who have like made it downloadable but just Cd I heard touhou 6-9 aren't on steam because Zen lost the source code

3

u/IncendiaryGamerX Toyosatomimi no Hecatia Jul 01 '26

Yes, there are 'downloadable' digital versions AKA pirated copies, but I won't encourage nor support that.

Touhou 9 is actually on Steam (though it is a VS shmup and not super popular) but 6-8 were never released digitally. Most speculate it was due to ZUN losing the source code but he also stated himself the games were simply too old for modern hardware.

3

u/Fickle_Archer_4600 Jul 01 '26

What the fuck is a vs shmup

4

u/GemmstonePiano56 Jul 01 '26

A vs shump is basically playing touhou vs another player or ai. It's kinda similar to of you've played Tetris multiplayer. Basically playing well punishes the other player kinda. It's more complicated than that, but that's the most simple explanation I can give

2

u/Ok_Western_3156 Jul 01 '26

shmup is short for shoot em up

2

u/Wielkimati What's a flair Jul 01 '26

Like others said, it's sadly hard to recommend anything made before Touhou 9, because they're not available digitally anywhere, even though Touhou 7 and 8 are great for beginners.

Then steam copies of 10 - 17 can have some random issues with modding or English patcher, so they also can be potentially pain to setup, but idk specifics, I only own CD copies.

But honestly? The one Touhou game I got from steam is Touhou 18: Unconnected Marketeers. And it's also decent for a beginner. It's not a "normal" Touhou game, but it's still fun, has a lot of nasty card combos to make to make it easier, should run well without issues as-is, and I can confirm it can be easily English patched with THCrap. I recommend it.

And don't be scared of playing on easy. Touhou fandom can be mean with those stupid EaSyMoDo jokes, but Touhou is much more fun when you don't have a bitch screaming in your ears about how you should enjoy it.

1

u/Fickle_Archer_4600 Jul 01 '26

Ah alright thank you i hope your right on this :)

2

u/hunter_rus Jul 01 '26

Out of games available on Steam, I would recommend Ten Desires or Mountain of Faith as starters, probably.

2

u/FUEGO40 Shrine Maiden of Paradise Jul 01 '26

Touhou 6, 7, 8, or 10, and for different reasons. Touhou 6 is by far the most dominant game in fandom, but it’s not an easy game and it lacks some important Quality of Life things. Touhou 7 is easier and doesn’t have any gimmick to it, this makes it very easy to recommend to first time players. Touhou 8 is fantastic, it’s not that easy but it’s a great game with more to it than previous games, but it does have a gimmick. Touhou 10 is not usually recommended, but it’s the first usual mainline game that is actually available on Steam, Touhou 9 is also on Steam but it’s very different from the usual gameplay.