Stage 1 music didn't have to go so hard, though. But seriously, I was really excited to finally get to the Windows games, and perhaps my expectations were a bit too high, because while I do really enjoy this game, a prettier coat of paint isn't gonna gaslight me into preferring this over something like LLS (my beloved). Plus, while I am not letting this issue affect my rating, I'd like to mention the headache this game brought on to me:

So, it was my first run, and I got about halfway through Stage 3, when suddenly, my left arrow key stopped working. Granted, this seems to be a common issue with a lot of Touhou games and I have experienced it a few times in the older games as well, but I could usually fix it relatively quickly. This time, nothing I did worked. I restarted the game, my PC, updated my drivers, cleaned the socket for the key, and still no dice. This is a problem that also persisted outside of the game, though. I was starting to think the switch died or something, but every once in a while, it would decide to work again for a bit, and then die again. After not touching it for a few hours, I came back. and everything was working normally. I got to the final boss aaaaaand... the key stopped working again.

I was able to brute force my way to victory with the harder to use num pad, but I guess my point is: If it turns out that I need to replace my keyboard, it'd be kind of funny to say it was because of Touhou.

I've seen hell... and it's not red... it's blue...

Seriously though, was ZUN going through something when he made this? Why are there so many goddamn blue projectiles that you can barely see against some of these backgrounds? Stage 2, while fairly easy, is bound to accelerate my already deteriorating vision on subsequent playthroughs. The game's overall quite a lot harder than the last one, and as such, despite coming off my recent high of 1cc-ing LLS, I have no desire to even attempt it here. I still had a fun time, as expected. Overall, this is a pleasant way to end the classic era on, even if it's not my favorite of this gen.

I finally did it. After enduring a little over 2 hours of trial and error, including a random game crash at some point, I have finally achieved my first 1cc in a Touhou game. I am still shaking as I type this, and while Eastern Wonderland was the first game to really pull me in, this one has for sure solidified me as a fan. Keep in mind, I rarely care about high scores, or perfect runs, or just trying to improve in general when it comes to arcade style games or danmakus. But I just couldn't resist letting myself get beat here. I wanted to succeed and see that good ending. I was not going to back down. I WOULD prove that I am NOT a failure of a person. You hear that ZUN? SUCK IT!