Ciph’s Cabinet: New Classic ~ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
Bi-Weekly Game Reviews
This is it. My ultimate study-break franchise, although it is so, SO much more. With its latest entry bringing the series officially out of Japan for the first time, and releasing on consoles as well, I am beyond excited to finally recommend Touhou Project to a wider audience with New Classic ~ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
New Classic is a fantastic entry point into Touhou Project as a remake of the sixth entry in the series—the first entry in the ongoing canon. It’s a relatively straightforward arcade-style shooter where you pick your character and shot type and tackle six progressively more difficult stages (five on easy mode) as you seek to solve the mystery of the scarlet mist blocking out the sun. The story is light-hearted and the writing is whimsical, downright silly sometimes, but so is the whole world of Gensokyo, the characters and interactions between them endearing me to even the smallest of characters. In order to see that story through however, you’ll have to get through waves of colourful projectiles of all shapes and sizes flying across the screen. This subgenre of shoot-em-up is commonly called ‘bullet hell’ in English, but some of these patterns—particularly the bosses spellcards—are so visually stunning, so well-choreographed that the Japanese name ‘danmaku’ meaning ‘curtain fire’ sounds much more accurate. Only further adding to this is the legendary soundtrack EoSD possesses. If you know ANYTHING about Touhou, it’s that each one is a masterpiece album attached to a great game. I have to cut myself off because otherwise the rest of this review is just going to be about the music. Go listen to Touhou, now.
What do I mean by this being my ‘ultimate study-break’ game? Well, I struggle with ‘endless’ style games: Think Minecraft, Tetris, other popular pick-up-and-play games where you keep going until you die or chip away at an infinite amount of tasks. I love being able to really sink into worlds; create my own goals, sure, but nevertheless be working towards something definitive. Touhou demands that you pay attention to patterns, navigating the bullet barrage while taking out foes or whittling down a boss’ HP bar, but it’s not so technically demanding that I need to be fully dextrous and warmed up. It’s muscle memory, more than anything, and as you get better at EoSD, or most Touhou games, you’ll realise it’s not nearly as random as at first glance. The average time to complete a single run is about 30-40 minutes too, giving me a substantial break and time to refresh. Even if you’re not at the level of completing a run—especially at first these games are BRUTAL—you can get a couple good attempts at earlier stages, building muscle memory for your eventual victory.
New Classic also includes a couple features to help new players. Spell practice became a staple in later entries, allowing you to replay spellcards from each boss once you’ve successfully cleared them once. There’s also challenge mode, which gives you infinite lives, letting you experience the story even if you’re struggling to clear easy mode. As you get better though, conquering each difficulty, going for a higher score, or trying your hand at the extra stage, there will always be something new to keep you occupied, and if you like this game, well, there’s a whole 30 years of history waiting for you to explore.
Best of luck for the future, gamers.
Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic ~ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is available on PC, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Gameplay: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Aesthetic: 10/10
