Touhou Danmaku series! - And others

[Apolloncrash]

So it's just me then . I wonder why I suck at touhou so much. The specifics are different (such as the mechanic around your special attack in some of x.x's games) but fundamentally x.x's games are very similar to ZUN's. So why am I good at them but horrible at Touhou? I mean, I understand all about Counter-Bombing (and, in most of the games, can pull it of pretty consistently), I know when to bomb strategically and, even in Lunatic, most of the patterns in Touhou are pretty tame compared to some of the end game stuff in Twin Seed, but I always make stupid mistakes and run into stuff that in any other game would be a cinch to dodge...

[Sampson]

Which Touhou games are you the worst at?

[Maxine MagicFox]

Apollon, it's not just you. ^_^ I suck at Touhou games, too. Very badly. Personally I dislike the newer games because they just feel like they are set up for the more advance players (what happened to my 7 lives ToT)

Still, when I die... it's such a beautiful death. And when I do get far even if it's only on easy mode, I feel so accomplished.

:3 I made this siggy for myself to inspire me when I needed it.

[noodles]

apollon, I am pretty sure the vast majority of humans who play video games have a hard time with touhou

[Apolloncrash]

Well, since I refuse to pirate them I only have what I've been able to get my hands on legitamatly. They are: IN, PoFV, STB (was almost impossible to find, even by Touhou standards and cost an arm and a leg, but I really wanted it so...eh), SWR, SA and UFO.

I think PoFV is pretty easy (see my earlier posts for details), so no real problems there.

IN is the next easiest, and is the only one I can get to the final boss, I usually only lose one or two lives for most of the game, but Reisen rapes me (especially that spellcard where the whole screen fills with crap, and they phase to the left and right, but don't leave gaps big enough to fit through... (that spell is also where I usually Game Over on lunatic). Marisa (or as I call her, the bitch from hell) always screws me in any Touhou game, and this is no exception. I just get disoriented by those bloody, twirly stars ! And those lasers that come up from behind you screw me over really bad as well (they are actually one of the few things outside of Shikieki that ever hit me in PoFV).

I'm pretty good at STB, but as I previously mentioned I can't play that anymore .

I would own at SWR, because (I don't like to brag but... ah, who am I kidding, I love to brag) I am awesome at fighting games. I actually used to play Soul Calibur II at tourament level. However, I've barely touched SWR, because a fighting game with a keyboard... forget it. Although, this will be the first game I break out when the Razer Onza is released next month.

I find SA pretty hard, and can only usually get about halfway (also note that in all games, I won't tweak any settings to give me an advantage, except control layouts, so I'm always playing with default lives etc).

UFO is pretty stupid in my opinion, I find it much too difficult and I can only get up to the third (?) stage.

So tl;dr version - in descending order of difficulty for me: UFO, SA, STB (assuming that it gets keeps getting harder at about the same rate), IN, PoFV, PWR.

[Apolloncrash]

Whoops, sorry noodles & Maxine, I just saw your replies. It's not so much that Im annoyed that I suck at them, It's more that I suck at them compared to other games in the genre that are no easier.

[Sampson]

That's interesting. PoFV is seriously just dodging random shit thrown at you...but the other most random game is UFO (in that it constantly tests your reflexes). SA requires quite a bit of memorization, and took me forever to (painfully) 1cc. IN has some hard patterns but a system that's easy to work with.

So I guess you work best with spontaneity, or something.

Well, I'd conclude with some fat Touhou girls but I've never bothered saving them to my drive.

[noodles]

Razer Onza? I just use my PS3 controller.

[Apolloncrash]

Yeah, I avoid pracitce modes like the plague. I consider them borderline cheating. I want to win because of my skills, not because I know exactly where and when everything appears. Although, I will add that the obvious exception is fighting games, but that is less memorization and more about being able consign massive combos and what not to muscle memory to be able to pull then out a tenth of a second faster (doesn't sound like much, but believe me, it will make a big difference at high level play). Wait, does that make me a hypocrite?

@noodles - I've actually always hated Playstation controllers (well the PSX had a good control for it's day but it really needs a serious redesign), and with microsoft 360 controls it is completley random wether they will work on a PC or not (depends on the firmware on the specific control)

[noodles]

what don't you like about playstation controllers :o

[Sampson]

Part of succeeding at Touhou comes from taking each part and individually succeed. I wouldn't consider practice mode cheating. You do have to have a certain level of skill to unlock each stage for practice. And, besides, it just saves time. The only alternative is playing through the game and practicing each attack when it appears, abusing your continues along the way.

This only works for pre-MoF games, though. Although GFW seems to be bringing back the old continue system...

[Apolloncrash]

A few things. Firstly, they are way too small. Secondly, the thumbstick position does not allow for precise control (especially when using both at once), although I will concede that this is minor issue for me since I don't play many games that require that on my PSX (don't have a PS2 or PS3), but the position of the thumbsticks on the 360 control would have made Ape Escape more enjoyable (if that's even possible!). I also like my face buttons as sensitve as possible and I find that the Playstation controller pales in comparison to the 360 control in that regard (as well as most contollers for older systems). I also like having two triggers and two bumpers, instead of the four shoulder buttons, which is kind of weird since I very rarley play shooters... As an aside, they seem to break easier than other controls. I've gone through about 10 controls for my PSX in its life, but only 1 360 control of mine has ever broken, and I've never broken a contoller for any other system.

@Sampson - That's the thing though. I don't really want to get good at dodging every attack by memorising it. I just want to dodge with my skill. Anyway when I start playing a game with the goal to get better rather than to have fun, I get really, really into it. For example, when I used to play SCII, I probably got about 600-700 hours actual play time and about 1500+ hrs in practice mode, doing things like playing through the entire cast's move lists from memory, then ramping the AI to max, not allowing myself to do anything but Guard Impact and move, pull out a stop watch and not stop until I coud last a set time (usually 10 mins or so) without taking damage. And I was good at that game! I don't want to start that with a game I suck at, or I probably won't be able to stop myself... and I havn't done that for a while. I've tried to ignore my perfectionist side and just have fun. Which, in hind sight is probably why I suck so much at Blazblue.

[noodles]

you don't have a ps2? ;-;

Also, starting with the PS2, the buttons were pressure-sensitive. Double-also, the PS3 controller has triggers for R2 and L2

...but I really hate triggers >_>

[Apolloncrash]

No, I loved my PSX and was psyched for the PS2 launch, but that all changed one fateful day, when I happened to see an xbox display instore at my local Target. I was like, hey that FMV looks pretty good. Then I realised it wasn't an FMV.

Obviously, considering my age, I didn't factor in that in that day and age where every other game was a console exclusive, I probably should have gotten the system catering more to my taste of genres (RPGs, Fighters etc), but being an idiot, wowed by the shiny graphics, I got an xbox, the system of shooters. So when the PS3 launch came around, I decided I wouldn't make the same mistake, especially since both systems perfomed almost the same graphically and most games are multi-platform these days. Then I saw the price tags... there was no way I could afford $1000 for a gaming system, nor could I wait ages for the price drop. Combine that with the fact that I much prefer mircosoft's controllers to sony's and the choice seemed obvious.

There are still a few times where some obscure Japanese game comes out exclusivley on the PS3, and I would love to play the rest of the Metal Gear games, but overall I am happy with my descision.

I knew that the new controller has pressure-sensitive buttons, I just don't feel that they are sensitive enough. However, I have never played a PS3, so didn't know that it had triggers, so now that I know I will give it a bit more credit from now on. Still has nothing on a 360 control though.

[noodles]

D:

wait what

$1000?

that's ridiculous

why would they be so much more expensive in Australia than America