Let's Play Super Touhou Wars
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Rather than continue, I will now start another new game!
This time on Marisa's route.
After the same Tengu cutscene as in the Reimu route, our secondary hero wakes up after a long night of magic study!
Marisa Kirisame
Species: Human
Ability: Magic
Disposition: Ordinary
This seems to be taking place a day or two after Reimu's stage did. The mist is already spreading, and she seems more interested in it than Reimu was.
Elsewhere in the forest, it's Nitori! She's hungry after coming all the way down from Youkai Mountain.
Why is her name ???, it was revealed in a previous cutscene anyway.
Making the mistake of trying to harvest mushrooms in the same forest as Marisa, Nitori gets a solid whack on the head for her troubles!
Turns out it was for a good cause, though - the mushrooms Nitori picked out were actually poisonous.
Nitori flips out after realizing that she's talking to a human! Stealth camo: Broken. Escape river: None nearby.
After Marisa points out that running away and evading questions is making her look more suspicious, Nitori properly introduces herself.
After some plothooks for future MoF plot mysterious warnings about not setting foot on Youkai Mountain, Nitori admits that she is lost and looking for the mysterious shop Kourindou. Marisa knows the place, and offers to take her there!
Elsewhere in the same forest, Momiji follows another Tengu!
Aya Shameimaru
Species: Crow Tengu
Ability: Manipulation of wind, enhanced hearing
Disposition: Paparazzi
Aya seems to be dragging Momiji along in search of a certain shrine maiden, so that she can write an article. Even though they were sent down from Youkai Mountain to do reconnaisance.
Aya counters that for the mighty Tengu, second only to the Oni, even a God wouldn't be out of their league! And since the target is a lowly shrine maiden, it shouldn't be a problem either way.
...Also, this way she can win the annual journalism competition.
Momiji's spotted something!
It's not a shrine maiden, but the sight of a human and a Kappa together is still pretty suspicious. Aya decides it warrants further investigation...
Marisa Path Chapter 1: Departure
Marisa and Nitori are on their way to Kourindou when they encounter two unusual characters down the road!
Nitori and Momiji seem to recognize each other! Both are wondering what the other is doing here.
Aya at least recognizes Marisa as "the magician living in the Forest of Magic." She's happy to have a reputation even reaching the ears of youkai!
Demonstrating her lightning-quick journalism skills, Aya zips by, taking half a dozen photos before flying back. Marisa insists that she really isn't the most interesting thing to be writing articles about right now!
Aya ultimately decides that she's going to head off to find Reimu, and that Momiji should stay here to deal with this situation. Even though her orders were to find the shrine maiden!
But wait! Apparently the shrine maiden Momiji and Aya have been talking about isn't Reimu at all! There's a second shrine maiden in Gensokyo.
Momiji just wants Nitori to come back to Youkai Mountain with her, but Marisa's more interested in this second shrine maiden! She won't let this end so simply.
Seeing that negotiations have broken down, Momiji calls in reinforcements, and the battle begins!
Marisa is something of an all-rounder - not as agile as Reimu, not as sturdy as Keine, but striking a nice middle ground between the two. Her only spirit ability is Cooperation, which doubles the experience she gets in the next battle.
Nitori is farther on the tank-like end of the spectrum, with impressive defense and a number of solid artillery-style attacks.
She has two spirit abilities! The first is Scan, which lets you learn the stats of an enemy before fighting them (and only costs 1 of her 66 SP to boot), and Guard, which reduces received damage to 1/4th for an entire turn. Let's go ahead and use the former!
I find it amusing that the Scan animation is Aya taking pictures, no matter who's using it.
Momiji is our first non-fairy enemy in the game! With 5400 HP, she might take a few hits to go down, but overall she isn't that much more impressive than normal enemies.
ENOUGH FAFFING let's get down to business.
Marisa's bread-and-butter is Magic Missile, a decently ranged attack with average damage that she can use even after moving. Having a long-range attack that can be used post-movement gives any character a nice and wide threatening area!
This time it's Nitori who gives the danmaku field / fast/slow movement tutorial! Marisa figures it's too much of a hassle - just defeat the originating fairy, and the danmaku field will vanish.
Even if she isn't as nimble as Reimu, the fairies are still only scoring about 25% chances to hit against her, and she can take them down in two hits.
Nitori's basic attack is Extending Arm, which fires a pair of robot arms out of her backpack! She's a gadgeteer, after all.
When it comes to dealing with danmaku zones, Nitori and Marisa both have something Reimu didn't - attacks with a range of 6 or greater, allowing them to attack from outside the danmaku field! This is Narrow Spark, Marisa's current most powerful attack - it does enough damage to wipe out a fairy in a single hit.
On the downside, it costs 30 MP to use, and Marisa only has 120 total, so it should be used sparingly...
Nitori has the ability Defensive Support - if an adjacent ally is attacked, she can take the hit for them, taking half damage in the process! Only one use per turn, though. For this stage, keeping her by Marisa's side is pretty crucial.
In interest of conserving power, Marisa has Illusion Laser - only costs 5 MP, but it's weaker than Magic Missile and can't be used post-movement. The range is one longer, though!
Nitori's ultimate attack, Monster Cucumber, has the advantage that it costs no MP at all - instead, it has an ammunition pool of 8. Easy to use and powerful!
Momiji has raised her own danmaku field now, creating a nasty double field between her and the last fairy! Fortunately, that won't last long.
Normally, I'd be nervous about moving into a danmaku field while in fast mode, but the fairiy is already injured - if I can take it out in one shot, the field will go away, and Nitori won't have been exposed to any real danger.
Success!
Now all that remains is to deal with Momiji.
Despite being a midboss character, Momiji sports a paltry 30% chance to land a hit on Marisa. Which is good, since she doesn't have any defensive spirit abilities.
Our first clash goes pretty damn well! Momiji loses half her health in one hit, and Marisa dodges the counterattack.
I was going to finish the battle with a Narrow Spark, but Momiji closed into swording range, bringing her inside of the attack's minimum range! I'll have to do this a little differently!
Sometimes when certain characters engage each other for the first time on a map, they have special dialogue! Momiji asks Nitori to return to Youkai Mountain one more time, and Nitori refuses.
Then she blows the crap out of Momiji with cucumber missiles.
With the battle over, Momiji retreats before Marisa can get any answers out of her. Curses!
Looks like it's back on the road to Kourindou, this time with an extra stock of questions...
STAGE 1 CLEAR
Some time later, Marisa and Nitori arrive at Kourindou! It is a store that stocks a wide variety of weird stuff.
And here's the shopkeeper!
Rinnsouke Morichika
Species: Half-youkai
Ability: Object identification
Disposition: Long-suffering
Marisa surprises Nitori by using the 'friend' label for her, which Nitori justifies as "because humans and Kappa are allies." Rinnosuke is busy reflecting that this is the first time he's met a Kappa face to face. Also that she's notably cuter than the traditional depictions.
Back to business! Turns out that Nitori is here in search of something.
Meanwhile, Marisa asks Rinnosuke about a certain item that she requested a few days ago, which she now thinks she'll need for dealing with this incident. Rinnosuke says that it's going to take a week to prepare, and she only asked for it three days ago, so fat chance.
Fantasy tech nut that she is, Nitori spazzes for a bit over the cellphone in Rinnosuke's inventory. You see, his merchandise is mostly items that have drifted in from the outside world, where it's currently the modern day.
After much time spent checking out all of Rinnosuke's awesome shit, it's getting late and Nitori still hasn't found her thingy.
When Marisa suggests that Nitori crash at Kourindou, Rinnosuke counters that Marisa's house is full of interesting and strange things, too, so maybe Nitori should go there, instead.
Marisa finally drags Nitori away from Rinnosuke's gizmo collection, and the day comes to a close...
To be continued
<< | ^^ | >>
Rather than continue, I will now start another new game!
This time on Marisa's route.
After the same Tengu cutscene as in the Reimu route, our secondary hero wakes up after a long night of magic study!
Marisa Kirisame
Species: Human
Ability: Magic
Disposition: Ordinary
This seems to be taking place a day or two after Reimu's stage did. The mist is already spreading, and she seems more interested in it than Reimu was.
Elsewhere in the forest, it's Nitori! She's hungry after coming all the way down from Youkai Mountain.
Why is her name ???, it was revealed in a previous cutscene anyway.
Making the mistake of trying to harvest mushrooms in the same forest as Marisa, Nitori gets a solid whack on the head for her troubles!
Turns out it was for a good cause, though - the mushrooms Nitori picked out were actually poisonous.
Nitori flips out after realizing that she's talking to a human! Stealth camo: Broken. Escape river: None nearby.
After Marisa points out that running away and evading questions is making her look more suspicious, Nitori properly introduces herself.
After some plothooks for future MoF plot mysterious warnings about not setting foot on Youkai Mountain, Nitori admits that she is lost and looking for the mysterious shop Kourindou. Marisa knows the place, and offers to take her there!
Elsewhere in the same forest, Momiji follows another Tengu!
Aya Shameimaru
Species: Crow Tengu
Ability: Manipulation of wind, enhanced hearing
Disposition: Paparazzi
Aya seems to be dragging Momiji along in search of a certain shrine maiden, so that she can write an article. Even though they were sent down from Youkai Mountain to do reconnaisance.
Aya counters that for the mighty Tengu, second only to the Oni, even a God wouldn't be out of their league! And since the target is a lowly shrine maiden, it shouldn't be a problem either way.
...Also, this way she can win the annual journalism competition.
Momiji's spotted something!
It's not a shrine maiden, but the sight of a human and a Kappa together is still pretty suspicious. Aya decides it warrants further investigation...
Marisa Path Chapter 1: Departure
Marisa and Nitori are on their way to Kourindou when they encounter two unusual characters down the road!
Nitori and Momiji seem to recognize each other! Both are wondering what the other is doing here.
Aya at least recognizes Marisa as "the magician living in the Forest of Magic." She's happy to have a reputation even reaching the ears of youkai!
Demonstrating her lightning-quick journalism skills, Aya zips by, taking half a dozen photos before flying back. Marisa insists that she really isn't the most interesting thing to be writing articles about right now!
Aya ultimately decides that she's going to head off to find Reimu, and that Momiji should stay here to deal with this situation. Even though her orders were to find the shrine maiden!
But wait! Apparently the shrine maiden Momiji and Aya have been talking about isn't Reimu at all! There's a second shrine maiden in Gensokyo.
Momiji just wants Nitori to come back to Youkai Mountain with her, but Marisa's more interested in this second shrine maiden! She won't let this end so simply.
Seeing that negotiations have broken down, Momiji calls in reinforcements, and the battle begins!
Marisa is something of an all-rounder - not as agile as Reimu, not as sturdy as Keine, but striking a nice middle ground between the two. Her only spirit ability is Cooperation, which doubles the experience she gets in the next battle.
Nitori is farther on the tank-like end of the spectrum, with impressive defense and a number of solid artillery-style attacks.
She has two spirit abilities! The first is Scan, which lets you learn the stats of an enemy before fighting them (and only costs 1 of her 66 SP to boot), and Guard, which reduces received damage to 1/4th for an entire turn. Let's go ahead and use the former!
I find it amusing that the Scan animation is Aya taking pictures, no matter who's using it.
Momiji is our first non-fairy enemy in the game! With 5400 HP, she might take a few hits to go down, but overall she isn't that much more impressive than normal enemies.
ENOUGH FAFFING let's get down to business.
Marisa's bread-and-butter is Magic Missile, a decently ranged attack with average damage that she can use even after moving. Having a long-range attack that can be used post-movement gives any character a nice and wide threatening area!
This time it's Nitori who gives the danmaku field / fast/slow movement tutorial! Marisa figures it's too much of a hassle - just defeat the originating fairy, and the danmaku field will vanish.
Even if she isn't as nimble as Reimu, the fairies are still only scoring about 25% chances to hit against her, and she can take them down in two hits.
Nitori's basic attack is Extending Arm, which fires a pair of robot arms out of her backpack! She's a gadgeteer, after all.
When it comes to dealing with danmaku zones, Nitori and Marisa both have something Reimu didn't - attacks with a range of 6 or greater, allowing them to attack from outside the danmaku field! This is Narrow Spark, Marisa's current most powerful attack - it does enough damage to wipe out a fairy in a single hit.
On the downside, it costs 30 MP to use, and Marisa only has 120 total, so it should be used sparingly...
Nitori has the ability Defensive Support - if an adjacent ally is attacked, she can take the hit for them, taking half damage in the process! Only one use per turn, though. For this stage, keeping her by Marisa's side is pretty crucial.
In interest of conserving power, Marisa has Illusion Laser - only costs 5 MP, but it's weaker than Magic Missile and can't be used post-movement. The range is one longer, though!
Nitori's ultimate attack, Monster Cucumber, has the advantage that it costs no MP at all - instead, it has an ammunition pool of 8. Easy to use and powerful!
Momiji has raised her own danmaku field now, creating a nasty double field between her and the last fairy! Fortunately, that won't last long.
Normally, I'd be nervous about moving into a danmaku field while in fast mode, but the fairiy is already injured - if I can take it out in one shot, the field will go away, and Nitori won't have been exposed to any real danger.
Success!
Now all that remains is to deal with Momiji.
Despite being a midboss character, Momiji sports a paltry 30% chance to land a hit on Marisa. Which is good, since she doesn't have any defensive spirit abilities.
Our first clash goes pretty damn well! Momiji loses half her health in one hit, and Marisa dodges the counterattack.
I was going to finish the battle with a Narrow Spark, but Momiji closed into swording range, bringing her inside of the attack's minimum range! I'll have to do this a little differently!
Sometimes when certain characters engage each other for the first time on a map, they have special dialogue! Momiji asks Nitori to return to Youkai Mountain one more time, and Nitori refuses.
Then she blows the crap out of Momiji with cucumber missiles.
With the battle over, Momiji retreats before Marisa can get any answers out of her. Curses!
Looks like it's back on the road to Kourindou, this time with an extra stock of questions...
STAGE 1 CLEAR
Some time later, Marisa and Nitori arrive at Kourindou! It is a store that stocks a wide variety of weird stuff.
And here's the shopkeeper!
Rinnsouke Morichika
Species: Half-youkai
Ability: Object identification
Disposition: Long-suffering
Marisa surprises Nitori by using the 'friend' label for her, which Nitori justifies as "because humans and Kappa are allies." Rinnosuke is busy reflecting that this is the first time he's met a Kappa face to face. Also that she's notably cuter than the traditional depictions.
Back to business! Turns out that Nitori is here in search of something.
Meanwhile, Marisa asks Rinnosuke about a certain item that she requested a few days ago, which she now thinks she'll need for dealing with this incident. Rinnosuke says that it's going to take a week to prepare, and she only asked for it three days ago, so fat chance.
Fantasy tech nut that she is, Nitori spazzes for a bit over the cellphone in Rinnosuke's inventory. You see, his merchandise is mostly items that have drifted in from the outside world, where it's currently the modern day.
After much time spent checking out all of Rinnosuke's awesome shit, it's getting late and Nitori still hasn't found her thingy.
When Marisa suggests that Nitori crash at Kourindou, Rinnosuke counters that Marisa's house is full of interesting and strange things, too, so maybe Nitori should go there, instead.
Marisa finally drags Nitori away from Rinnosuke's gizmo collection, and the day comes to a close...
To be continued
<< | ^^ | >>