For someone who doesn't know much about Touhou I was surprised when I saw that the first game in the series was very different in comparison to the more "shoot'em up"-like games that the series is known for. It still is in a way a danmaku/bullet hell game though.
I thought that the music was quite alright and the gameplay was pretty solid but I definitely think that the whole throwing that yin-yang orb around definitely wasn't the way to go, since it adds quite a bit of randomness into an already quite challenging game (since you can only interact with the playing field with this said orb). Nevertheless, I had quite a lot of fun both with bosses and normal stages. I even liked the (to be frank non-existent) story.

I think that for the first game in the franchise it's definitely an alright game, but we'll see how it holds up in comparison to what will come after it.

Novel experience, but wouldn't recommend it unless you're a Touhou completionist. Moreso, I would never suggest starting your dive into touhou with this game. I did that, and it wasn't the best first impression, especially considering this game is of a different genre than the rest of the series. [nor does it contain important lore you might want to know later on, as the pc-98 games as a whole are pretty much fully retconned by now] [also this game doesn't have dialogue to begin with]

But that aside, I did find the game pretty fun as a one-off experience. It's rather clunky, but that's to be expected with a game this old. I quite like the ost, and the gameplay is. Unique. I certainly can't think of any other break out games I've played where the ball can kill you. Makes for a funny time with friends.

Ah, yes. After almost 24 years on this earth, I have finally played a "Tou hou" video game. It's honestly hard to overstate the impact that this series has on the internet culture as a whole, and ZUN's choice of essentially putting his characters and IP into the true public domain has done wonders for the world. Honestly given my interest in older games and general weebshit, it's an honest to god wonder how it's taken me so long to actually play a game in this series.

It's a solid if not slightly frustrating time. I've heard this game be described as a breakout clone but it really doesn't play much like that all things considered. The main crux of the game comes from manipulating this yin-yang ball to either defeat enemies or overturn background tiles by either kicking or shooting it. The ball also has the potential to kill you if you touch it though, so make sure to time your inputs properly! The game is definitely simple to learn but hard to really master and get good at, which is something that I have a feeling will carry on to other games in the series. There are also a ton of secret techniques that can be done with certain key inputs when certain criteria are met, which honestly makes the game feel like it has a lot more depth than it initially lets on. That being said though I suck at the game so getting the ball to actually hit bosses was an absolute trial in frustration, ESPECIALLY with the makai final boss. Fighting that shit is like trying to play soccer while the entire US armed forces are on your ass. The fact that the game grades you upon completion and has the best endings locked behind 1CCs def gives me the impression that it's one of those games that is meant to be learned and mastered. I don't have that kind of time though, so bad endings and youtube it is!

Overall it def feels like an experimental one-man project, and I do mean that in a good way. The fact that this was all made by one dude as a doujin game is hella cool in its own right tbh. The mechanical complexity of something cool is here, even if the execution is a bit of a struggle to actually learn and overcome through. I'd imagine that ZUN would go on to hone his craft more with the sequels.

First title in ZUNSoft repertoire, HRTP is a great experiment, revisiting the Arkanoid formula with some punch, two routes and different endings. It can be frustrating and not having complete control over the orb can lead to very long standoffs between the player, the orb spinning, the timer, the bullets and the single tile in the corner, but I think it's only a minor gripe.

What takes the cake for me is the great polish in soundtrack, spritework and backgrounds: The Eastern Country (Gensokyo we know and love wink wink) is pure eye candy.
Aside from some issues that I can forgive knowing the context behind a Comiket project, I think it's a pretty well done game, a testament of things to come, a toast to how polished and charming ZUN's games will be.

Ya know what fuck it why not make my last review of the year the first Touhou game? I'm taking my sweet time with Final Fantasy 16.

So in my excitement to get more into Bullet Hell games I finally found ways to play the early Touhou Project stuff along with picking up and being gifted a lot of other stuff from rad people/friendos as well!

So when I heard this one wasn't really anything like the other Touhou games I was absolutely fascinated. I love seeing where series start and how they can possibly grow and change from that but especially when people say this game is far more like breakout than anything which is really fascinating. It feels like a basic concept that should be pretty cool!

Unfortunately after playing it it just really isn't in the full execution! It's not like the worst thing ever but it feels like breakout if your ball in breakout killed you for not being precise as hell with every hit with the paddle AND if the ball had more physics based momentum to it. As it goes around it loses its bounce and ya gotta kick and slide your way around which feels good sometimes actually!

But then ya gotta fight bosses that shoot back at ya, so not only do ya gotta worry about their projectiles but ya also gotta worry about not fucking up and accidentally killing yourself in the process which feels real bad at points, so bad that I honestly just kinda gave up. One day I may come back to this and really try harder to push through but honestly I just can't see myself enjoying much more of it.

It feels off in a way where like it's almost to something really interesting but something about it doesn't click and that's a shame. Still glad I at least tried it though!

I can appreciate that this was ZUN's first game, developed entirely in his free time, but man this game sucks. Playing this feels like the prototype for a concept you'd make before realizing that the concept isn't fun. The Ying-yang orb probably killed me at least 5 times more than any bullets did. The game is also a bit of an eyesore, there's a copious amount of dithering on almost everything, which I suspect is from bit-crushing images with higher color depth? Either way it doesn't look good. The only saving grace of this game is having unlimited continues and no content being locked behind 1CCing it besides the ending cutscene (though why you'd want to play more of this I have no idea). If you're getting into Touhou and want to see where the series started, just play like 5 minutes of this or watch a playthrough before skipping to Story of Eastern Wonderland.