Subterranean Animism
Encyclopedia
is the eleventh main game of the Touhou Project
scrolling shooter series. Made by the dōjin game maker Team Shanghai Alice
, the full version of the game was released in the 74th Comiket
which commenced in August 2008.
, collecting power items adds up to four "option" satellites around the character (or eight for the Marisa/Alice combination), which behave differently according to the character and weapon type, and can be sacrificed for a bomb effect. However, unlike Mountain of Faith, each bomb has a different behaviour, and some cause special gameplay effects to occur.
The scoring system is once again based on "grazing", the act of positioning the player as close as possible to the bullets without being hit, coupled with collection of two types of items dropped by enemies. Overall, the system resembles some of the core elements of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil fused together with the Tension Bonus System from the Shikigami no Shiro
series. As such, the player is urged to actively graze at every possible opportunity in order to increase the point item value and not let it drop. Grazing large amounts of bullets in little time, thus filling the "communication gauge" on the bottom left corner, is rewarded by the temporary effect of autocollecting all the freefalling items at their maximum value, letting the player concentrate entirely on the act of dodging bullets.
erupted near the Hakurei Shrine. Delighted at the resulting hot spring
, the shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei paid no heed to the earthly spirits that came along with the geyser. In the Scarlet Devil Mansion, however, the well-read librarian Patchouli Knowledge grew concerned at the situation and sought Yukari Yakumo for advice. Since there had been an agreement that the youkai of the worlds above and below the ground should not disturb each other, the youkai above ground sent the human Reimu Hakurei and her friend Marisa Kirisame to the subterranean world to investigate this breach, while the youkai stayed behind and communicated with the humans via magical artifacts.
Descending toward the lowest levels of what used to be Hell, the heroines discover the cause and purpose of the spirit geyser. Utsuho Reiuzi, a hell raven, received the power of nuclear fusion
from a mysterious god of the mountain. Fascinated at this newfound power, she plotted to fan the fiery flames of Hell and burn the world above into a furnace. Utsuho's feline friend, Orin, worried about Utsuho's sudden change of character, set off the geysers to alert the world above. In time, the nuclear threat is neutralized and the heroines turn their attention to the mysterious mastermind behind the incident.
In the Extra Mode, the heroines pay a visit to the Moriya Shrine atop the mountain, but the resident gods are not there. There is, however, a peculiar visitor to the shrine, Koishi Komeiji, who climbed all the way up to the shrine without being detected. They decide to have a spar. Afterwards, an inhabitant of the Moriya Shrine explains their motivation: the mountain god Kanako Yasaka wanted to introduce a new form of energy to vitalize the mountain, dubbing the plan the "Mountain Industrial Revolution Project". Seeing that the gods meant no harm, the heroines disengage and go back to their daily lives.
Enemy characters
Background characters
Touhou Project
The , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
scrolling shooter series. Made by the dōjin game maker Team Shanghai Alice
Team Shanghai Alice
is a one-man Japanese dojin game developer specializing in shoot 'em ups. The team's only releases thus far have been the Touhou Project games and related merchandise.-Games:*The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil...
, the full version of the game was released in the 74th Comiket
Comiket
, otherwise known as the , is the world's largest self-published comic book fair, held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people....
which commenced in August 2008.
Gameplay
Subterranean Animism features two playable characters, each with three weapon types representing a youkai assisting them from above ground. Like Mountain of FaithMountain of Faith
is the tenth game of the Touhou Project, according to the official numbering by its creator ZUN of Team Shanghai Alice. Like the majority of the Touhou Project games, Mountain of Faith is a doujin scrolling shooter, albeit with a major revamp from its predecessors...
, collecting power items adds up to four "option" satellites around the character (or eight for the Marisa/Alice combination), which behave differently according to the character and weapon type, and can be sacrificed for a bomb effect. However, unlike Mountain of Faith, each bomb has a different behaviour, and some cause special gameplay effects to occur.
The scoring system is once again based on "grazing", the act of positioning the player as close as possible to the bullets without being hit, coupled with collection of two types of items dropped by enemies. Overall, the system resembles some of the core elements of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil fused together with the Tension Bonus System from the Shikigami no Shiro
Shikigami no Shiro
Shikigami no Shiro , released as Mobile Light Force 2 in the US and Europe, is the first game in the Shikigami no Shiro series.-Story:...
series. As such, the player is urged to actively graze at every possible opportunity in order to increase the point item value and not let it drop. Grazing large amounts of bullets in little time, thus filling the "communication gauge" on the bottom left corner, is rewarded by the temporary effect of autocollecting all the freefalling items at their maximum value, letting the player concentrate entirely on the act of dodging bullets.
Plot
On one wintry day, a geyserGeyser
A geyser is a spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by a vapour phase . The word geyser comes from Geysir, the name of an erupting spring at Haukadalur, Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush", the verb...
erupted near the Hakurei Shrine. Delighted at the resulting hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
, the shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei paid no heed to the earthly spirits that came along with the geyser. In the Scarlet Devil Mansion, however, the well-read librarian Patchouli Knowledge grew concerned at the situation and sought Yukari Yakumo for advice. Since there had been an agreement that the youkai of the worlds above and below the ground should not disturb each other, the youkai above ground sent the human Reimu Hakurei and her friend Marisa Kirisame to the subterranean world to investigate this breach, while the youkai stayed behind and communicated with the humans via magical artifacts.
Descending toward the lowest levels of what used to be Hell, the heroines discover the cause and purpose of the spirit geyser. Utsuho Reiuzi, a hell raven, received the power of nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
from a mysterious god of the mountain. Fascinated at this newfound power, she plotted to fan the fiery flames of Hell and burn the world above into a furnace. Utsuho's feline friend, Orin, worried about Utsuho's sudden change of character, set off the geysers to alert the world above. In time, the nuclear threat is neutralized and the heroines turn their attention to the mysterious mastermind behind the incident.
In the Extra Mode, the heroines pay a visit to the Moriya Shrine atop the mountain, but the resident gods are not there. There is, however, a peculiar visitor to the shrine, Koishi Komeiji, who climbed all the way up to the shrine without being detected. They decide to have a spar. Afterwards, an inhabitant of the Moriya Shrine explains their motivation: the mountain god Kanako Yasaka wanted to introduce a new form of energy to vitalize the mountain, dubbing the plan the "Mountain Industrial Revolution Project". Seeing that the gods meant no harm, the heroines disengage and go back to their daily lives.
Characters
Playable characters- Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢)
- Yukari Yakumo (八雲 紫) - attacks using high speed needles
- Suika Ibuki (伊吹 萃香) - attacks with penetrating bullets that home a little
- Aya Shameimaru (射命丸 文) - fires missiles in the same and opposite direction of movement.
- Marisa Kirisame (霧雨 魔理沙)
- Alice Margatroid (アリス・マーガトロイド) - shoots streams of bullets with her dolls and able to store up to 8 dolls.
- Patchouli Knowledge (パチュリー・ノーレッジ) - shoots different patterns of shots when switching between the 5 different elements; fire-being super concentrated, water-being wide spread shot, Wood-three way shot, metal-shots fire left and right from options, Earth-shots fire behind you.
- Nitori Kawashiro (河城 にとり) - attacks with high powered missiles
Enemy characters
- Kisume (キスメ) - stage 1 midboss who attacks the heroines out of nowhere.
- Yamame Kurodani (黒谷ヤマメ) - stage 1 boss who is able to inflict diseases on her target.
- Parsee Mizuhashi (水橋パルスィ) - stage 2 boss, she is a jealousy driven person who tries to drive the heroines away from the ancient city.
- Yugi Hoshiguma (星熊 勇儀) - stage 3 boss and friend of Suika, she is also an oni who leads the heroes to the palace of the earth spirits.
- Satori Komeiji (古明地 さとり) - stage 4 boss who has the ability to read minds, making her feared among all living creatures other than animals who cannot speak.
- Orin (火焔猫 燐) - stage 4,5 and 6 midboss and stage 5 boss, she is a pet of Satori who is left in charge of the Hell of Blazing Fires.
- Utsuho Reiuzi (霊烏路 空) - stage 6 boss, she is also a pet of Satori with the power of nuclear fusion who attempts to revive hell's downscaled fire.
- Sanae Kotiya (東風谷 早苗) - extra stage midboss whom the heroines meet once again in the Moriya Shrine
- Koishi Komeiji (古明地 こいし) - extra stage boss, she is Satori's sister but does not have the power of mind reading after she sealed off her third eye, sealing her heart to others in the process. She goes up to the shrine to find the god that gave Utsuho her power
Background characters
- Suwako Moriya (洩矢 諏訪子)
- Kanako Yasaka (八坂 神奈子)