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ZUN, the original creator of Touhou Project who also runs Team Shanghai Alice, revealed the series' 20th mainline entry. The new game will appear under the title Touhou Kinjoukyou: Fossilized Wonders, and it will be available in mid-August 2025 at Comic Market 106 in Japan. A release outside of Comiket hasn't been announced yet.

To mark the major milestone of reaching the 20th mainline entry, ZUN will release Fossilized Wonders as an orthodox shoot 'em up game with linear stage progressions and multiple difficulty levels. The new game will also feature Wonder Stones that can provide additional kinds of attacks.

Here's an initial screenshot showing how it will look:

Fossilized Wonders will also return to the series' roots by having only Reimu and Marisa as the two available player characters. However, ZUN will still offer a decent amount of gameplay variations by adding eight Main Story Stones that the player can choose from at the beginning of a playthrough.

The preceding 19th mainline entry in 2023, Touhou Juuouen: Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost, primarily featured a versus mode with numerous playable characters. The gameplay system transition between the 19th and 20th entries is thus reminiscent of that between the 2005 9th entry—Touhou Kaeizuka: Phantasmagoria of Flower View—and the 2007 10th entry—Touhou Fujinroku: Mountain of Faith.

Touhou Kinjoukyou: Fossilized Wonders will appear first via a demo version release at the 22nd Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai event at Tokyo Big Sight on May 5, 2025. The full PC release will follow later at Comic Market 106, which will take place at the same venue on August 16-17, 2025. Team Shanghai Alice will also release the game digitally worldwide on Steam after that, as the company has done with past entries in the shoot'em up series.

The post 20th Mainline Touhou Game Fossilized Wonders Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

McDonald’s Japan has launched a new advertising campaign that parodies the popular Touhou Project song Marisa Stole The Precious Thing by IOSYS. The campaign promotes the Samurai Mac Triple Thick Beef Burger, with a reimagined version of the 2006 song, complete with new lyrics and visuals inspired by McDonald’s.

You can view the original announcement post below:

The song parody, shared on McDonald’s Japan’s official Twitter, credits IOSYS and Touhou Project’s ZUN for their collaboration. Miko, known for her work on Touhou Project songs, performs the parody. The commercial's style combines the original Marisa Stole The Precious Thing aesthetics with McDonald’s imagery, altering the lyrics to focus on the Samurai Mac Triple Thick Beef Burger. This mirrors previous campaigns and showcases a continued effort by McDonald’s Japan to draw inspiration from Japanese pop culture.

You can view the original music video below:

In related news, Touhou Project recently collaborated with Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage, introducing three tracks arranged by beatMARIO in May 2024. Additionally, McDonald’s Japan previously worked with Studio Pierrot on anime shorts to promote their Savory Chili WcDonald’s Sauce, showcasing their continued engagement with anime culture. Meanwhile, in the UK, McDonald’s recently released Yu-Gi-Oh-themed Hello Kitty Happy Meal plush toys.

The post McDonald’s Japan Parodies Touhou Project Song  appeared first on Siliconera.

A Touhou Project doujin game that is both a farming and life sim is now on the Nintendo Switch. However, it is only available in Japanese with no English localization. People can now pick up Harvest Yuuka, which originally appeared on PCs under the name Gensou Garden Monogatari. It is $25, and there is no demo.

As the name suggests, the star of Harvest Yuuka is Yuuka Kazami. While a minor character in the Touhou Project games, she’s in charge of her own garden in this farming and life sim. The youkai is known for her love of flowers, and your goal in the game is to create and maintain a garden and farm. As you grow plants and crops, then you can cook and sell items to get better equipment and more to do.

There are also some relationship-building elements to the game. As Yuuka goes about her day, she’ll get chances to interact with other Touhou Project characters in Gensokyo. Some of the eShop page screenshots show people like Nitori Kawashiro the kappa and Aya Shameimaru the tengu, for example.

Here's a closer look at this Touhou Project doujin game.
[gallery columns="6" size="full" ids="950377,950378,950379,950380,950381,950382" link="file"]

Harvest Yuuka is available digitally on the Nintendo Switch.

The post Harvest Yuuka Touhou Project Farming Life Game Comes to the Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

A new Touhou Project-inspired game has launched onto Steam's Early Access program. Valkyrie of Phantasm is billed as a "high-speed aerial versus fighting game" involving characters from the Touhou Project games.

Check out the game's Early Access launch trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV--vcQYKV0

Touhou characters like Patchouli Knowledge, Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, and Youmu Konpaku all appear in the Valkyrie of Phantasm trailer. The premise of the game sees the residents of Gensokyo acquiring special weapons called "Valkyrie Arms" - powerful sets of mecha gear that enable intense aerial attacks. Brought to Gensokyo on a mysterious meteor, the Valkyrie Arms attach themselves to the area's most powerful inhabitants, including shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei.

Each character has a unique set of Valkyrie Arms suiting her abilities. Gameplay involves two players flying and boosting around an arena, firing projectiles and beams at each other. Similar to games like Gundam VS and Virtual On, players can lock on to each other to make it easier to aim weapons. Online play is ed, and four-player battles are planned for addition.

Developers Areazero expect Valkyrie of Phantasm to remain in Steam Early access for about another year, as testing, , and adjustments are needed to ensure that all planned playable characters are correctly balanced and tuned. The Early Access version of the game offers about half of the planned story content. When complete, the full story mode will include multiple endings over more than 30 stages. The initial roster is limited to four playable characters, but via updates, the roster will be expanded to eight total.

Valkyrie of Phantasm is available on PC via Steam Early Access. 100th Black Market, the latest official Touhou Project title, recently released on Steam in Japanese.

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Touhou Project creator ZUN will release a new game at the milestone-reaching Comic Market 100. The game will be titled Touhou 18.5: 100th Black Market. Both its storyline and gameplay system will take inspiration from ZUN's previous game, Touhou 18: Unconnected Marketeers.

The story of 100th Black Market will take place shortly after the events of Unconnected Marketeers. A black market that greatly increases the value of Ability Cards outside of the creator's control has appeared in Gensokyo. While the prequel had four playable characters, this game will solely focus on Marisa Kirisame as she investigates the black market while trying to collect the cards for herself.

100th Black Market will focus on the card collection aspect. In a similar fashion to Unconnected Marketeers, players will be able to purchase and equip Ability Cards that give various buffs to Marisa, which range from ive buffs to additional attacks. Players will aim to complete the card collection while trying out different combinations. A market stage in Touhou 18.5 will consist of several short waves generated randomly.

Touhou 18.5: 100th Black Market will be available for PCs. ZUN's Team Shanghai Alice will sell physical copies of the game at Comiket 100 in Tokyo Big Sight on August 14, 2022. The developer has also confirmed plans to bring the new game to digital platforms, including Steam.

The post Touhou 18.5: 100th Black Market Will Appear at Comiket 100 appeared first on Siliconera.

exA-Arcadia has announced the release date for Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica. The shoot 'em up game will appear in Japanese arcades on July 28, 2022. The arcade port will also have new features that did not exist in the original PC release.

Perfect Sakura Fantastica will be the first Touhou arcade game to be officially released and approved by series creator Jun'ya "ZUN" Oota. This title will also be an arcade port of the PC game Touhou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part II, which in turn is loosely based on ZUN's Touhou Youyoumu ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom.

The arcade shoot 'em up game will have new audio features not present in the PC version. It will have a newly arranged soundtrack from veteran composer Keishi Yonao. Sakura Fantastica will also have full Japanese voiceovers. Prominent voice actresses such as Ayaka Suwa and Kanae Ito will voice all four playable characters and eight bosses that appear in this entry.

• Reimu: Ayaka Suwa
• Marisa: Naomi Ohzora
• Sanae: Kanae Ito
• Youmu: Hibiku Yamamura
• Hyp: Asami Hanase
• Chen: Sayumi Suzushiro
• Alice: Yuki Dosaka
• Lily: Seika Hirose
• Ran: Rie Suegara
• Yuyuko: Haruka Terui
• Yukari: Shizuka Ito
• Suika: Aki Toyosaki

Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica will be available in Japanese arcades on July 28, 2022.

The post Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica Release Date and Voice Cast Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

CFK released a launch trailer for Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony, showing off some gameplay. The launch trailer also outlines some of the bonus materials included in the game's limited edition box set. The set will include a CD of the game's original soundtrack, as well as a 34-page illustration and design booklet. It will cost ¥7,000 (about $53). [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony is an HD remaster of the 2009 Japanese fan-made doujin game Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony. It is a side-scrolling Castlevania-style Touhou game, and follows protagonist Reimu Hakurei in her fight against the residents of the Scarlet Devil Castle. CFK initially announced it would release the game for Nintendo Switch and PC in 2021, before pushing the release to 2022.

Notably, the HD remaster will include full voice acting. The launch trailer showcases some snippets of each character's voice lines. Furthermore, the game will include bonus content that did not appear in the original release. The game will include subtitles in six languages.

The limited edition will only be available for the Nintendo Switch version. The set will include a physical version of the game, a 34-page illustration and design booklet, a special illustrated acrylic plate, and two CDs including 27 songs from the game's original soundtrack. Both the box art and acrylic plate will feature illustrations by artist Banpai Akira. The set can be purchased through various Japanese online retailers such as Amazon and Animate, each with its own unique bonuses.

You can check out the Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony launch trailer below.

https://youtu.be/V-qQwTXR6Vo

Here are the items included in the limited edition:

Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony will release for the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on July 28, 2022. The limited edition will cost ¥7,000 (about $53).

The post Koumajou Remilia Scarlet Symphony Launch Trailer Released appeared first on Siliconera.

CFK has announced the release date for Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony. The Castlevania-like side-scrolling action Touhou game will appear on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on July 28, 2022. The publisher also revealed that its story dialogues will have full voice acting by professional Japanese voice actresses.

This game originally appeared as Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony, a Japanese fanmade doujin title for PCs in 2009. CFK initially announced the Koumajou Remilia remaster in June 2021, with a release window slated within the same year. In December 2021, its Twitter posted a tweet that moved the game's release window to 2022.

The remaster will not only update the graphics. It will add more new content that did not exist in the original doujin game. CFK will add new story episodes and subtitles in six languages, including Japanese and English. It will also add full voiceovers from Japanese voice actresses.

Here is the list of voice actresses who will provide voices for characters in Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony:

• Reimu: Rina Satoh
• Marisa: Ryoko Shintani
• Remilia: Eri Kitamura
• Sakuya: Miyuki Sawashiro
• Cirno: Aoi Yuuki
• Meiling: Satomi Sato
• Patchouli: Noriko Rikimaru
• Alice: Haruka Tomatsu
• Suika: Miho Okasaki

Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony will be available on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on July 28, 2022.

The post Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony Will Have Full Voice Acting appeared first on Siliconera.

Phoenixx Inc announced the Touhou Project visual novel Hifuu Fragment will come to Steam. The title is already available on other PC storefronts, such as Booth. Phoenixx created a Steam store page and ed a promotional video for the reveal. The game will release on Steam in 2021. [Thanks, Gematsu!]

Developed by Shikaku Games, Hifuu Fragment is a visual novel based on the music CD series created by Shanghai Alice. Phoenixx described the title as a fan game or derivative work that feels like a puzzle or escape room game. This title takes place before the first Hifuu Club game, Rendai no Yakou ~ Ghostly Field Club. As for gameplay, the main characters of the Touhou Project visual novel will obtain memories called "fragments" from their conversations with each other. The story will then branch off from there. Phoenixx warned fans that, unlike other games in the visual novel genre, the player cannot aimlessly read the story and select all the dialogue options freely.

[embed]https://youtu.be/0AXrJMMWHMM[/embed]

[gallery ids="879316,879317,879318" link="file"]

The Touhou brand is going strong with releases lately. The 2D tag-team fighting game Touhou Hyouibana ~ Antinomy of Common Flowers will launch worldwide on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Additionally, ZUN announced that the 18th mainline game Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers will release in May 2021.

Hifuu Fragment will launch on Steam in 2021. The game is also available on Booth, which s PayPal as a payment method.

The post Touhou Project Visual Novel Fan Game Hifuu Fragment Hitting Steam appeared first on Siliconera.

Phoenixx announced that Touhou Hyouibana Antinomy of Common Flowers is coming to Switch and PS4. This is the 15.5th official title in the Touhou Project series. The 2D tag-team fighting game will release in Japan on April 22, 2021, priced at 4,180 yen. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Developed by Twilight Frontier and Team Shanghai Alice, Touhou Hyouibana Antinomy of Common Flowers originally released on PC in December 2017. However, it will make the jump to consoles very soon. The fighting game allows players to tag characters in and out of fast-paced, 2v2 battles on the ground and in the air. The title will have a story mode, versus mode, online play, practice mode, and a music gallery. In addition, the creator of Touhou Project, ZUN, penned the story.

Check out the trailer below to see the battles in action.

[embed]https://youtu.be/264YujfJDEc[/embed]

In related Touhou news, ZUN announced the 18th official game in the series, Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers. The latest entry will release on PC in May 2021. You can check out our recent review of the fan game Touhou Spell Bubble.

Touhou Hyouibana Antinomy of Common Flowers will launch on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on April 22, 2021. At the time of this article, the title is Japan-only and will cost 4,180 yen (including tax).

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ZUN announced Touhou Project game number 18, Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers at the end of February 2021. Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers will be a mainline entry in the long-running Touhou Project series of bullet hell shooters. The game will be released in May 2021.

The plot for Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers will follow protagonist Reimu Hakurei as she investigates mysterious magical cards that started appearing around town. The cards contain the secrets of both people and youkai, but aside from that, the who’s, why’s, and how’s of the cards are a complete mystery.

While only Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Sakuya Izayoi, and Sanae Kochiya will be playable, the four of them can collect abilities from numerous other characters as they solve the mystery behind the cards. Aside from collecting powers through the story, players can purchase them from an in-game shop. According to ZUN, Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers will be a rather challenging bullet hell game, just like previous games in the Touhou series.

ZUN also showed off early screenshots of Touhou Project game number 18:

[gallery columns="4" ids="874109,874110,874111,874112" link="file"]

There will be a playable demo at the Reitaisai convention, which will be held at Twin Messe Shizuoka on March 21, 2021. Though not a mainline game, the other latest addition to the Touhou Project series is a Puzzle Bubble mash-up rhythm game titled Touhou Spell Bubble. It is currently available on the Nintendo Switch.

Touhou: Rainbow Dragon Cave ~ Unconnected Marketeers will be the 18th official entry in the Touhou Project series. The finished game will be available for purchase in May 2021.

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Three more mainline Touhou games are set to be released on Steam. Soon, people will be able to play Mountain of Faith (10), Subterranean Animism (11), and Undefined Fantastic Object (12). The three games will all be released on June 6, 2020. [Thanks, @SarahSSowertty!]

Touhou: Mountain of Faith was originally released in 2007, and it is something of a soft Touhou game series reboot that stars only Reimu and Marisa as playable characters. The Hakurei Shrine is on the verge of shutting down due to a lack of faith, and the two heroines go out to investigate just what's going on.

You can find the game's Steam page here.

Subterranean Animism is set after Mountain of Faith and once again only features Reimu and Marisa. One day, a geyser erupts near the Hakurei Shrine, creating a hot spring where both humans and yokai are able to rest and relax. However, the geyser also released many earth spirits, and Reimu heads to the Underworld to find out just what's going on.

The game features a "grazing" mechanic, which is essential for survival, similar to ones found in other shoot'em up series like the Psyvariar games. By grazing bullets, you can automatically collect items and focus on dodging the next oncoming bullets\.

You can find the game's Steam page here.

Undefined Fantastic Object released in 2009 originally and features Sanae as a playable character alongside Reimu and Marisa. One day, a UFO is spotted in the sky during early spring, and the player character goes off to investigate it. The main mechanic of this game revolves around UFO pieces that drop from defeated enemies, which can have different effects depending on the color.

You can find the game's Steam page here.

Touhou: Mountain of Faith, Subterranean Animism, and Undefined Fantastic Object will all be released on PC via Steam on June 6, 2020. Two other Touhou games, Double Spoiler and Fairy Wars, were released onto Steam in July 2019.

The post Touhou Mountain of Faith, Subterranean Animism, and Undefined Fantastic Object Will Steam in June appeared first on Siliconera.

This week’s Famitsu had a special feature on shmups of all sorts, and apart from Ikaruga superfan Yoko Taro, Touhou series creator ZUN was also invited by the Famitsu team for a chill discussion over beer.

Here are the highlights:

On Touhou having curved enemy bullets and such:

Iona, Famitsu staff: “Using the shapes and curves of the enemy bullets to ‘appeal’ to the players has become used a lot as game sequences. Isn’t that exactly one of the characteristics of the Touhou series?”

ZUN, Touhou creator: “It’s embarrassing to say so myself, but I was the first one to do something like that. I started Touhou Project around the time I started playing Battle Garegga. I love shmup games where bullets scatter around easily, and I wanted to make one like that myself, so I did so.”

Dedeo, Famitsu staff: “In Touhou, I saw bullets I’d never seen before, as well as many danmaku shapes I’d never seen before, so I was really surprised.”

ZUN: “I put in things like curving bullets and bullets that would change speed. Those sorts of enemy bullets actually aren’t something you see in other games. I believe it’s because bosses are ‘fighters’ or ‘tanks’.”

Fujikawa, Famitsu staff: “That’s right! Most shoot ‘em ups had a mechanical aesthetic to them.”

Nishikawa, Famitsu staff: “If anything but straight bullets were to come out of a tank, I’d definitely feel confused.”

ZUN: “So I thought, “If humans were to shoot out magic, then anything goes”, and thus the Touhou bosses became humanoid characters.”

On whether ZUN prefers restarting from a checkpoint:

ZUN: Speaking of difficult shmups, Gradius III was seriously hard. I heard from pre-release info that there were going to be 3D stages, and excitedly went to play the game, but I couldn’t even reach the stage. (laughs)

Iona: “Stage 4, I see. If you were able to reach the Moai in Stage 5, people would already call you an expert.”

Hanzomon, Famitsu staff: “That bubble stage was hard…”

ZUN: “Really, they didn’t pull any punches even in Stage 1. Once you were shot down, it would be hard to recover after reviving, and a lot of the time you’d just give up.”

Nishikawa: “If I correctly, there were so few powerups that even if you got everything in Stage 2, you couldn’t reach full power…”

Fujikawa: “Speaking of reviving, shmups are usually divided into those that let you restart from the point you died, and those that send you back to a checkpoint. Which type do you like better, ZUN?”

ZUN: “I can say for sure that I like the ones where you revive immediately. The Touhou games basically all use this method. I have never found the appeal in restarting from a checkpoint and preparing yourself for a rematch. (Laughs) I want to continue onwards, so I’ll accept it and go on, but for me, it’s one of the factors that reduces my motivation.”

Touhou Tenkuushou ~Hidden Star in Four Seasons~ is the latest Touhou game, and is currently available on Steam.

The post Touhou Creator ZUN Talks About How Other Shoot ‘Em Ups Have Influenced The Series appeared first on Siliconera.

Polygon has shared the latest and final episode in their “Devs Make Mario” series of videos. This time, Touhou creator Jun’ya Ota, better known as Zun, gives a shot at creating his own level in Super Mario Maker.

In regards to his design process, Zun said took the opportunity to make a level that he believes is unique and one you wouldn’t normally find in a Mario game. To hear more on how he approached creating his level, and to see a full playthrough of the completed stage, you can watch the video below.

Super Mario Maker is available for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS.

The post Watch Touhou Creator Zun Make A Little Bullet Hell Level In Super Mario Maker appeared first on Siliconera.