Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Embodiment of Scarlet Devil" in English language version.
ZUN: The premise of the game was that I wanted to try to release something as a doujin again. I was planning to specialize in music, and when I applied as a music circle, I was not selected in the Comiket lottery. I thought, "I've already made a music CD. ......" I thought, "There's still time until summer," "Maybe I'll make a game next time," "Let's make a game," and I accidentally made Touhou Koumakyou.
The Steam release of Touhou Koumakyou: the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, a Touhou Project title created by ZUN of Team Shanghai Alice, seems to be impossible due to the loss of source code.
ZUN: This is "Dream Express" from Mystic Square. This song is full of all kinds of memories. I had planned on making Lotus Land Story the final game when I released it, and making it my farewell to my doujin activities after that Summer Comiket, but it sold a lot better than I expected.
We had a fascinating conversation about how Toby, who lives in the U.S., learned about the Japanese doujin game "Touhou" and how it influenced him.
What I felt when I played Touhou Koumakyou after Touhou Chireiden was the nostalgia of the atmosphere of Touhou Koumakyou, which is hard to describe.
I think you need to be really brave to be able to present such a lighthearted job. I know a lot of people will get mad at me for saying this. But a good example are the character pictures, they are not good at all. Also, the story, if a real scenario writer were in charge, those dialogues would never turn out the way they did. In general, everything is so casual and full of loose ends, and I think that's what moves people to do so much fanwork about it. You might want to draw the characters yourself and think "Aren't those much better?" and publish them, you know?
[Touhou] is a franchise that is easily talked about due to the spread of secondary works and its cultural characteristics, but in fact, I feel that it has not received a fair evaluation as an STG (...) The mechanics themselves are mediocre, as you have to avoid the harsh barrage of bullets and sometimes use bombs to survive. However, this game is a masterpiece in terms of its level design, and the music and direction that go along with it, which determined how the series became one of the most popular of all time in the future. In particular, the beautiful barrage of bullets, music, and "spell cards" used in the boss battles became the seed for subsequent secondary works (...) the act of naming a particular mechanic from the side of the worldview is itself a part of video game design. When viewed from this perspective, "Touhou Koumakyou" is not just a well-made bullet-hell STG, but a work of innovative design.
[New] Touhou Koumakyou ~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil / Shanghai Alice Genraku Dan
Our regular price: 1,650 yen (tax included)
ZUN: I generally have no comment regarding the PC-98 games. Please ignore them just as one can ignore derivative works. :-)
ZUN: This is "Dream Express" from Mystic Square. This song is full of all kinds of memories. I had planned on making Lotus Land Story the final game when I released it, and making it my farewell to my doujin activities after that Summer Comiket, but it sold a lot better than I expected.
ZUN: The premise of the game was that I wanted to try to release something as a doujin again. I was planning to specialize in music, and when I applied as a music circle, I was not selected in the Comiket lottery. I thought, "I've already made a music CD. ......" I thought, "There's still time until summer," "Maybe I'll make a game next time," "Let's make a game," and I accidentally made Touhou Koumakyou.
ZUN: I generally have no comment regarding the PC-98 games. Please ignore them just as one can ignore derivative works. :-)
Q: I don't know the old Touhou, but what happened to Reimu and Alice in the past?
ZUN: Basically, all the characters related to the story are starting from Touhou Koumakyou. I've wiped out the whole setting starting from Touhou Koumakyou, so it's like a new series. I hope you can think of it as a new series.
ZUN: Touhou Koumakyou itself was created in order to include the Spell Card system. I thought that naming the attacks would make the boss character more unique, and that it would change the way bullets are conveyed in the text (...) This time [in Perfect Cherry Blossom], the WAV versions are going to be the original - in Touhou Koumakyou, I re-recorded [the soundtrack with the SD-90] after I made it with the SC-88Pro.
The Steam release of Touhou Koumakyou: the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, a Touhou Project title created by ZUN of Team Shanghai Alice, seems to be impossible due to the loss of source code.
What I felt when I played Touhou Koumakyou after Touhou Chireiden was the nostalgia of the atmosphere of Touhou Koumakyou, which is hard to describe.
[Touhou] is a franchise that is easily talked about due to the spread of secondary works and its cultural characteristics, but in fact, I feel that it has not received a fair evaluation as an STG (...) The mechanics themselves are mediocre, as you have to avoid the harsh barrage of bullets and sometimes use bombs to survive. However, this game is a masterpiece in terms of its level design, and the music and direction that go along with it, which determined how the series became one of the most popular of all time in the future. In particular, the beautiful barrage of bullets, music, and "spell cards" used in the boss battles became the seed for subsequent secondary works (...) the act of naming a particular mechanic from the side of the worldview is itself a part of video game design. When viewed from this perspective, "Touhou Koumakyou" is not just a well-made bullet-hell STG, but a work of innovative design.
[New] Touhou Koumakyou ~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil / Shanghai Alice Genraku Dan
Our regular price: 1,650 yen (tax included)
We had a fascinating conversation about how Toby, who lives in the U.S., learned about the Japanese doujin game "Touhou" and how it influenced him.
I think you need to be really brave to be able to present such a lighthearted job. I know a lot of people will get mad at me for saying this. But a good example are the character pictures, they are not good at all. Also, the story, if a real scenario writer were in charge, those dialogues would never turn out the way they did. In general, everything is so casual and full of loose ends, and I think that's what moves people to do so much fanwork about it. You might want to draw the characters yourself and think "Aren't those much better?" and publish them, you know?
Q: I don't know the old Touhou, but what happened to Reimu and Alice in the past?
ZUN: Basically, all the characters related to the story are starting from Touhou Koumakyou. I've wiped out the whole setting starting from Touhou Koumakyou, so it's like a new series. I hope you can think of it as a new series.
ZUN: Touhou Koumakyou itself was created in order to include the Spell Card system. I thought that naming the attacks would make the boss character more unique, and that it would change the way bullets are conveyed in the text (...) This time [in Perfect Cherry Blossom], the WAV versions are going to be the original - in Touhou Koumakyou, I re-recorded [the soundtrack with the SD-90] after I made it with the SC-88Pro.
I think you need to be really brave to be able to present such a lighthearted job. I know a lot of people will get mad at me for saying this. But a good example are the character pictures, they are not good at all. Also, the story, if a real scenario writer were in charge, those dialogues would never turn out the way they did. In general, everything is so casual and full of loose ends, and I think that's what moves people to do so much fanwork about it. You might want to draw the characters yourself and think "Aren't those much better?" and publish them, you know?