Touhou Juuouen: Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost.

94%
Game Brain Score Based on 436 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
Touhou Juuouen: Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost. Game Cover
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Touhou Juuouen: Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is a bullet hell shooting game, the 19th installment in the Touhou Project series. It features a familiar screen layout from Touhou 9, with improved controls and bullet patterns that cater to fans of the series. The game offers a variety of story modes for single-player and the option to play as COM for battles, ensuring enjoyment even without friends. The story revolves around the impact of the market opening, resulting in the loss of land ownership, leaving it to nature and spirits to reclaim, if not for the greedy beasts lurking.

Play Modes

Reviews

94%
Audience ScoreBased on 436 reviews
story29 positive mentions
replayability3 negative mentions
  • The game features a large roster of characters, including many fan favorites, which adds to its replayability and enjoyment.
  • The music is excellent, with both new tracks and arrangements of classic themes that resonate well with fans.
  • The gameplay is fun and accessible, making it a good entry point for newcomers to the Touhou series.
  • The game suffers from significant balance issues, with some characters being overwhelmingly powerful while others feel nearly useless.
  • The online multiplayer is poorly implemented, often resulting in lag and desynchronization, making it nearly unplayable.
  • Key features from previous Touhou games, such as scoring systems and replay options, are missing, which detracts from the overall experience.
  • story118 mentions

    The story in this game is praised for its depth and character interactions, effectively expanding on the lore of the Touhou universe while allowing every character to have their own playable narrative. However, the execution in story mode has been criticized for its unbalanced gameplay mechanics, where AI opponents are invulnerable until specific conditions are met, leading to a less engaging experience. Additionally, the reliance on Japanese dialogue and the lack of character-specific music during story segments detracts from the overall immersion for non-Japanese speakers.

    • “The story and character writing in particular are some of the best the series has seen.”
    • “The story is fantastic and one of, if not the best one that ZUN has written so far, the way the characters interact with each other, how their personalities get to be explored, and the role of everyone in this incident is so fantastic to see displayed.”
    • “There is a wealth of story and character interactions to explore, with every character having their spot in the limelight.”
    • “The worst case of storytelling was Biten's, having multiple endings telling, not showing that this character would be an incident resolver was bad storytelling.”
    • “Sadly, this is one of the main aspects as to why I wouldn't recommend this to a newcomer, is because the story is strongly connected to the incidents that happened before, and the characters themselves. Unless you have some basic knowledge about these characters, chances are you are going to be so confused and might find the story bad.”
    • “In story mode, most of the time you just get a generic 'early story' and 'middle story themes' for the early stages. They're good, but I would rather hear character-specific themes; even the different final bosses all just use Zenmu's theme.”
  • gameplay69 mentions

    The gameplay of this title has received mixed reviews, with some praising its fun mechanics and unique character abilities, while others criticize the lack of clarity in instructions and the absence of staple features like scoring and replays. Although it offers a more accessible entry point for beginners and introduces enjoyable new mechanics, many players feel that character balance is lacking and that the overall experience is hindered by unintuitive mechanics and design choices. Despite these shortcomings, fans of the series may still find value in its improvements over previous entries.

    • “I really love how they brought back the vs mechanic for the first time since Touhou 9 all the way back in 2005.”
    • “The gameplay is very fun and no characters feel exactly alike.”
    • “This game is great, like I love it, it's so much fun to play and the mechanics mesh together well enough to create a pretty good experience.”
    • “However, the game does have many issues; firstly, it lacks many important features previous games had, like scoring and replays, both of which were core mechanics that are a staple in the series, which is really disappointing to see.”
    • “The gameplay mechanics were very unintuitive and took a long time to grasp.”
    • “The game balance is wack, and there are several basically random mechanics which can (and do!) lead to impossible situations.”
  • music66 mentions

    The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many praising its innovative arrangements and the incorporation of new instruments, maintaining the series' signature charm. While some tracks are considered standout "bangers," there are criticisms regarding the limited exposure of character themes in the main story mode, often relegating them to versus mode. Overall, the soundtrack is described as phenomenal, with a mix of nostalgic and fresh compositions that enhance the gameplay experience.

    • “The music is absolutely fantastic (as usual), the character roster is perfect, there's some new lore, and the new characters have awesome designs.”
    • “Zun really experimented a lot with the new music here, using different instruments and having a different feel, but it still fits well into the series as a whole.”
    • “The music here is really catchy, especially the arrangements.”
    • “The music isn't as good; of course, this game definitely has some bangers in it, but a lot of tracks just didn't quite hit the mark with me here.”
    • “My only complaint is that the main campaign reuses the stage themes a lot, and leaves most of the OST limited to a few instances or directly unheard unless you play vs mode or go directly to the music room.”
    • “You can't select the stage/music in vs mode, which is a real bummer (you could do this in previous vs entries).”
  • humor13 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by its whimsical characters and amusing scenarios, such as a fire-spawning chupacabra and the antics of various "funny" animal characters like a mouse girl and a dancing hellcat. Players find joy in the quirky interactions and the lighthearted nature of the gameplay, which adds an entertaining layer to the challenge of 1cc runs. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making it both enjoyable and memorable.

    • “Even getting killed due to a funny chupacabra deciding to spawn fire inside me was still fun to experience.”
    • “I really like going for 1cc runs since it offers a challenge to me, and my stubborn brain will not let me go if I don't at least try to 1cc a Touhou game, so when I 1cced both Reimu and Marisa, I decided to go for 1cc on Nazrin because who doesn't like the funny little rat?”
    • “It has great music and Touhou character sprites are always hilarious to look at.”
  • replayability9 mentions

    The game boasts immense replayability due to its extensive roster of both new and returning characters, allowing players to explore various playstyles and challenges. Players can engage with higher difficulty levels and self-imposed challenges, enhancing the experience beyond mere completion. Overall, the combination of beloved characters and diverse gameplay options ensures that players find significant value in replaying the game.

    • “Replay value is immense and you're really getting your money's worth here.”
    • “The replay value comes from higher difficulties and self-imposed challenges to improve one's skill rather than leaderboards.”
    • “The wide roster of characters offers a lot of replayability.”
    • “I loved the music, the different shot types, the characters, etc. This was so fun to play and I can't stop replaying it.”
  • stability5 mentions

    The game's stability is a mixed bag, with users noting significant bugs and character imbalances that detract from the overall experience. While some players find it enjoyable despite these issues, others highlight the need for improvements, particularly in online functionality and graphical performance on high-resolution displays. Overall, the game is seen as needing attention to its stability and balance.

    • “Touhou Juuouen ~ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is a perfectly balanced game with no glitches.”
    • “Buggy, very unbalanced characters, and unusable online mode.”
    • “-zun was never good at handling high res and widescreen games, so you have to enable GPU scaling to avoid fullscreen glitches (it looks funny on a 49" ultrawide).”
    • “Game is unbalanced and sort of buggy, but still fairly fun, all things considered.”
  • grinding3 mentions

    Reviews indicate that while the game introduces helpful features that reduce the grind compared to previous titles, it may not satisfy fans of traditional, challenging shmups due to its less demanding nature. Additionally, the absence of replay functionality makes it cumbersome to record and share gameplay experiences.

    • “If you're a big fan of traditional, teeth-grindingly difficult, memorization-rewarding shmups, this may not be for you.”
    • “The new features like the barrier are really nice and make the story feel a lot less hard and grindy than POFV.”
    • “There's also no replays, which makes recording and sharing your runs very tedious.”
  • character development3 mentions

    Reviewers praise the character development for its unique and wacky designs, as well as the strong spritework and character portraits. The integration of lore and emotional music enhances the storytelling experience, although some players express challenges in fully appreciating the narrative due to language barriers. Overall, the character designs, both new and returning, are highlighted as a standout feature.

    • “I love the new wacky character designs, and piecing together the story was pretty cool. I was honestly surprised by some of the lore I discovered, but omg that bullet density was insane near the end; I was screaming for my life.”
    • “The sprite work is very well done (was outsourced this time around), and character portraits are pretty great. The new character designs are strong.”
    • “The music made me tear up in some places. The new character designs are gorgeous, as are the returning ones. The story is probably awesome, but I can't read Japanese.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by an unexpectedly wholesome moment, despite criticisms regarding gameplay polish and balance. This contrast adds depth to the player's experience, evoking genuine feelings amidst the challenges.

    • “An unexpectedly wholesome moment.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The game is praised for its fair pricing model, as it features no downloadable content (DLC) or microtransactions, providing a straightforward purchasing experience without additional costs.

    • “The game is fairly priced, with no DLC, no microtransactions, and nothing hidden.”
    • “I appreciate that the game offers a complete experience without any additional costs.”
    • “It's refreshing to see a game that doesn't rely on monetization tactics to enhance gameplay.”
  • graphics1 mentions

    Players are highly enthusiastic about the game's graphics, particularly praising the unique Zun art style and the appealing design of the new characters, referred to as "scrimblos." Overall, the visuals are a standout feature that enhances the gaming experience.

    • “This game is so good! The Suika in Zun art style is everything to me, and all the new scrimblos are so awesome. I love it!”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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