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Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

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Revision as of 16:39, 1 May 2011 by Deimos (talk | contribs) (interwiki)
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東方紅魔郷 (とうほうこうまきょう)
The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Developer

Team Shanghai Alice

Publisher

Team Shanghai Alice

Released

Trial: June 10, 2002 Full: August 11, 2002

Genre

Vertical Danmaku Shooting Game

Gameplay

Single-Player Story Mode

Platforms

Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP/VISTA

Requirements

Pentium 500MHz, 320MB hard disk, Direct3D, DirectX 8, 4MB VRAM, DirectSound, 32MB RAM

東方紅魔郷 ~ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (romanized: Touhou Koumakyou, lit. Eastern Lands of the Scarlet Devil) is a vertical-scrolling shooter, and is the sixth official game in the Touhou series. It is the first to be released specifically for the Windows OS.

Gameplay

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil features two playable characters to choose from, with two Spell Card types each. Reimu Hakurei can cover a wide area of the screen with weaker attacks, while Marisa Kirisame relies on her speed and power to make up for her thinner attack spread. The bombs show different behavior and damage depending on the character and type chosen.

Unlike its predecessor, Mystic Square, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil comes with an "automatic item collection" feature, which allows you to collect all items on the screen by moving to the top of the screen if you are at full power, as well as a counter-bomb system, which allows you to avoid a fatal hit by using a bomb immediately.

Concept

As the first Windows game, the engine was written from scratch, and would later be used in Perfect Cherry Blossom, Imperishable Night, and Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

If you do a text search of the EoSD data files, you can find the name "冴月麟" (Satsuki Rin) near the other playable characters. Associated with her are the attack types 花符 (Flower Sign) and 風符 (Wind Sign). Some theories have been invented about this mysterious character, including that she is a Kirin (due to the matching character in her name) and that she is a nurse, based on a remark of Marisa's in the Extra Stage. There has even been fanart drawn of her.

There is also an unused boss that was found in the data. It may have been a default Rumia, or Rin Satsuki sprite. It seems that it may have been used for stage 1. No one really knows more about it.

Story

During a peaceful summer in Gensokyo, an unnatural scarlet mist appears without warning and covers much of the land. It is strong enough to block out the sun, causing the affected areas to become dark and cold. Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden working at the Hakurei Shrine, and Marisa Kirisame, a magician, set out to find the source of the mist. Their search will lead them to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and to its eccentric owners...

Music

Seventeen tracks in total were included in the game. In addition, they were in .wav format, marking a significant step up from the FM synthesis ZUN used for the PC-98 games. However, the game itself included an option to play the music through a MIDI device, and later games would continue to do so until the trial version of Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

In the Afterword by ZUN, he states that Septette for the Dead Princess and U.N. Owen was her? were the songs he most thought of as representative of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. These two songs are among the most commonly arranged tunes by fan groups.

Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17 and U.N. Owen was her? would later be re-released in an arranged form on Dolls in Pseudo Paradise. Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea would also be arranged for Changeability of Strange Dream, and Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room for Retrospective 53 minutes. U.N. Owen was her? was also arranged for a CD extra that came with the first volume of Strange and Bright Nature Deity, where it was redone to carry a more suitable tone for the manga.

In addition, Lovestruck Tomboy would later be arranged in Phantasmagoria of Flower View as Adventure of the Lovestruck Tomboy.

Press

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil was first announced on ZUN's website on April 15, 2002, approximately three and a half years after the release of Mystic Square. Beginning with an early trial version on June 10, 2002, the trial versions went through a number of revisions until the game's final release at Comiket 62 on August 11, 2002. Patches would be released up until late that November, ending on version 1.02g.

The characters in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil continue to be some of the most popular ones in the Touhou Project.

External links

Official

Unofficial