appears to be a fannish remake of the PC-98-only versus STG Touhou Yumeijikū ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, for modern computer systems, released around 2017, though it’s a bit jank on the gameplay side of things. Caught wind of it from a couple Jaimers vids on this a while back.

Angelstar by lexycat, from her 2024 album “Dark Blossom”, which in itself is far more sincere yet experimental enough for most mainstream tastes.

Having that song on the last-ever story update for vivid/stasis last weekend is quite the liberating, this-really-is-the-end-of-all rhythm gaming experience.

Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia. Sort of a recent fangame title, by today’s standards, but if you’re looking for some cool mid-to-late-1990s-inspired PC dungeoneering action (Shin Megami Tensei being a heavy inspiration), it’s currently at ninety-two percent off.

Touhou 8: Imperishable Night.

I earned my first-ever 1CC there three days ago, on the Easy difficulty (ignoring the perennial “easy modo” memes within the games’ fandom), and slowly but surely, I’m learning both the fundamentals and the strategies towards passing various stages and spellcard patterns; hopefully, with enough practice, patience, and a bit of foresight, I can move up and do another 1CC on Mormal (both Finales), either with the Border or Netherworld team.

As for everything else, I found myself enthralled with the lore, story, and the music in this game, as if it were timeless, in a way. I’d say I like Eirin’s boss theme the most, befitting for someone who’s lived through time and knows everything diligently.

Still on Touhou 8 (Imperishable Night), and then, vivid/statis, of which its latest tournament quarterfinals tiebreaker just came out and I was far no less impressed with how I managed to almost teeter on gaining any Fails on the Middle Chart, just a few Goods, due to my laptop sometimes overloading on RAM while the application’s running.

As for the former, I’ve been taking small steps on figuring out routes for Keine’s second spell card attack on Normal Difficulty; on Easy, my new run-ender’s on Reisen’s second spell card attack, where shotgun bullets fade in and out whenever those blood red eyes periodically flash.

Now that sort of piques my exploration juice, especially with roguelikes/roguelites that have extensive, deep-enough systems and lands to dive into, and the bit about resolving fights and incidents with practical real-life measures and techniques common to the usual adventurer, instead of the usual HP- and MP-decreasing system seen in most other games… alright, into my wishlist it goes.

I first encountered this rather soothing ambient-esque theme through, of all things, a particular mashup with “Beach, 7AM” from OXENFREE (the latter composed by scntfc), years ago. Might take a deep listen through its entirety some time.

You again? You have activated my flamin’ spellcard attack, Greg!

For the record, I did reply with something akin to interconnected bamboo rafts in the middle of the ocean, with some tethered to seashore docks and cliffs.