Gensou Ningyou Enbu (幻想人形演舞, lit. "Fantasy Puppet Dance Performance"), also known unofficially as Touhou Puppet Dance Performance, is a spiritual successor to the Pokémon FireRed hack Touhou Puppet Play, involving training and collecting puppets of various Touhou characters. The game was released at Comiket 87 on December 30th. The developer of the game is doujin circle FocasLens, which consists of HemoglobinA1C, the original developer of the Touhou Puppet Play ROM Hacks.
Touhou Puppet Dance Performance, unlike the Touhou Puppet Play ROM Hacks, is an entirely stand alone game, built with its own engine and mechanics, which draw heavy inspiration from the 6th Generation of the Pokemon franchise. The game puts the player in the sealed realm of Gensokyo, where they travel around trying to figure out how to get home and, in the process, deal with an incident of these newfound Puppets which showed up in Gensokyo out of the blue.
We're in a golden age of Kiwi Pokémon Let's Spergs, and here's one more hat in the pile. We'll be playing Touhou Puppet Dance Performance - Shard of Dreams, the standalone Touhou Pokéclone following a huge number of ROMhacks. I'll be going in blind, although I did play a decent bit of the ROMhacks a number of years back, particularly Touhoumon Purple.
This game has a number of divergences from your regular Pokeymans, starting with a set of different types. I don't remember the regular games well enough to say if it's just a bunch of renames.
Beyond that, you've got puppet versions of every 2hu from the first game through to the fifteenth and, instead of evolving, you get to pick between a number of styles once your puppet reaches level 30. There are also supposed to be a number of QoL changes, although we'll almost certainly not be seeing the ones related to the reincarnation system that replaces breeding.
It's a game of many words and questionable translation, but hopefully there won't be too many issues springing from either that or the game's stability in Wine.
Without further ado, let's get our salt, vinegar, lemon juice, copper coins and bleach and open up a portal to Gensokyo.
Hello, World!
The game informs me that it's possible to import save data from the base game to this expansion, but I'm new to this and don't have any.
With WORDSWORDSWORDS to make Rich Burlew blush, I'll join others in incompetently stealing @Polyboros2's gimmick where applicable
Hey. It's time to get up.
....
Let's start with "Hello," shall we?
This Kiwi Pokémon Extended Universe really is something. A few screens in and I've already run into our very own @Yukari Yakumo. Me? My name is Yukari Yakumo.
This is the first time we've met, yes?
This might be a weird question for you, but have you ever heard of Gensokyo?
...Not at all, eh?
Is the portal finally opening? I've been blowing into the straw for almost ten minutes. Gensokyo, a place that belongs to all that has been forgotten.
A world where the abandoned gather.
Including those who were only known through folklore...
Hmm, looks like you're hooked already.
Ufufu, what an interesting being you are.
Let me in, hag. I don't have all day.
No room for genderspecials in Gensokyo, even if certain 2hus are pretty sure they used to be men.
Regardless, while I'm not averse to either of these sprites, our identity is clear. What woman would make the sacrifices needed to get to Gensokyo? We can already see $WAIFU reaching out to us through the haze.
Ignore for a moment that we're collecting fumos and not the girls themselves. We at least fancy ourselves a harem protagonist. MC-kun, Such a pretty name
We're in, boys. Why would I ask these basic things, you ask?
Well, it doesn't hurt to ask, does it?
Your name is what defines you.
Keep it safe, all right?
Well, it's almost time.
Time always goes by so fast, doesn't it?
And with that, Yukari is gone and we're alone in a bus, which has ground to a halt.
We have a word with the driver, who reveals himself to be an ESL.
Regardless, he has nothing more to say, so we make our way outside.
The bus quickly departs. On a lark, MC-kun heads on after it.
He quickly changes his mind, realising just where he is.
The bus won't be back any time soon either, so it's up the stairs for now.
Passing through the torii feels momentous, a first step on the journey. It doesn't help that MC-kun has spent the last few years in his basement apartment and is hideously unfit, already out of breath as he climbs the stairs.
Soon, however, he reaches the top, only to find the area fairly dilapidated. There are a few other tourists about, so MC-kun, ever the lothario, decides to have a word with the girl near the well first.
She doesn't have much to say, so MC-kun takes a look around. The shrine has seen better days.
Curious that even the well is dry with a pond right beside it. With that said, MC-kun has a word with the other tourists about.
Ever-gallant, MC-kun looks around but fails to find even the slightest hint that we're in the late 21st century.
There's also some girl sleeping on a bench. MC-kun doesn't wake her, although he does briefly consider stealing her hat.
This boy might not be a girl, but he does have something useful to say. MC-kun is, after all, all about getting to Gensokyo.
There's only one visitor to the shrine remaining. This nerd.
We're then presented with this screen, which lets us choose any 2hu that appeared between Highly Responsive to Prayers and Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom.
This will determine our starter and can be literally anyone. I'll leave it to this thread to pick MC-kun's waifu.
If no-one has any preferences, I'll have a fallback of Mima. She'll be in Touhou 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18, I feel it in my bones.
We're in a golden age of Kiwi Pokémon Let's Spergs, and here's one more hat in the pile. We'll be playing Touhou Puppet Dance Performance - Shard of Dreams, the standalone Touhou Pokéclone following a huge number of ROMhacks. I'll be going in blind, although I did play a decent bit of the ROMhacks a number of years back, particularly Touhoumon Purple.
This game has a number of divergences from your regular Pokeymans, starting with a set of different types. I don't remember the regular games well enough to say if it's just a bunch of renames.
Beyond that, you've got puppet versions of every 2hu from the first game through to the fifteenth and, instead of evolving, you get to pick between a number of styles once your puppet reaches level 30. There are also supposed to be a number of QoL changes, although we'll almost certainly not be seeing the ones related to the reincarnation system that replaces breeding.
It's a game of many words and questionable translation, but hopefully there won't be too many issues springing from either that or the game's stability in Wine.
Without further ado, let's get our salt, vinegar, lemon juice, copper coins and bleach and open up a portal to Gensokyo.
Hello, World! View attachment 2036517
The game informs me that it's possible to import save data from the base game to this expansion, but I'm new to this and don't have any.
With WORDSWORDSWORDS to make Rich Burlew blush, I'll join others in incompetently stealing @Polyboros2's gimmick where applicable
This might be a weird question for you, but have you ever heard of Gensokyo?
...Not at all, eh?
Is the portal finally opening? I've been blowing into the straw for almost ten minutes. View attachment 2036625Gensokyo, a place that belongs to all that has been forgotten.
A world where the abandoned gather.
Including those who were only known through folklore...
Hmm, looks like you're hooked already.
Ufufu, what an interesting being you are.
Let me in, hag. I don't have all day. View attachment 2036639 View attachment 2036641View attachment 2036640
No room for genderspecials in Gensokyo, even if certain 2hus are pretty sure they used to be men.
Regardless, while I'm not averse to either of these sprites, our identity is clear. What woman would make the sacrifices needed to get to Gensokyo? We can already see $WAIFU reaching out to us through the haze. View attachment 2036659 View attachment 2036660 View attachment 2036668
Ignore for a moment that we're collecting fumos and not the girls themselves. We at least fancy ourselves a harem protagonist. View attachment 2036625MC-kun, Such a pretty name
We're in, boys. View attachment 2036625Why would I ask these basic things, you ask?
View attachment 2036680
And with that, Yukari is gone and we're alone in a bus, which has ground to a halt. View attachment 2036682
We have a word with the driver, who reveals himself to be an ESL. View attachment 2036683
Regardless, he has nothing more to say, so we make our way outside. View attachment 2036686
The bus quickly departs. On a lark, MC-kun heads on after it. View attachment 2036688
He quickly changes his mind, realising just where he is. View attachment 2036689
The bus won't be back any time soon either, so it's up the stairs for now. View attachment 2036702
Passing through the torii feels momentous, a first step on the journey. It doesn't help that MC-kun has spent the last few years in his basement apartment and is hideously unfit, already out of breath as he climbs the stairs. View attachment 2036709
Soon, however, he reaches the top, only to find the area fairly dilapidated. There are a few other tourists about, so MC-kun, ever the lothario, decides to have a word with the girl near the well first. View attachment 2036716View attachment 2036718
She doesn't have much to say, so MC-kun takes a look around. The shrine has seen better days. View attachment 2036722View attachment 2036723 View attachment 2036724View attachment 2036725
Curious that even the well is dry with a pond right beside it. With that said, MC-kun has a word with the other tourists about. View attachment 2036730
Ever-gallant, MC-kun looks around but fails to find even the slightest hint that we're in the late 21st century. View attachment 2036733
There's also some girl sleeping on a bench. MC-kun doesn't wake her, although he does briefly consider stealing her hat. View attachment 2036744View attachment 2036745
This boy might not be a girl, but he does have something useful to say. MC-kun is, after all, all about getting to Gensokyo.
There's only one visitor to the shrine remaining. This nerd. View attachment 2036753View attachment 2036754
We're then presented with this screen, which lets us choose any 2hu that appeared between Highly Responsive to Prayers and Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. View attachment 2036756
This will determine our starter and can be literally anyone. I'll leave it to this thread to pick MC-kun's waifu.
If no-one has any preferences, I'll have a fallback of Mima. She'll be in Touhou 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18, I feel it in my bones.
There's also the albums, the manga/book spinoffs like Wild and Horned Hermit, and that's barely scratching the surface. There's also several doujin circles dedicated to making Touhou music! Personally, my favorites include Akatsuki Records and Shinra Bansho. Touhou is really deep when it comes to in depth content such as this.
There's also the albums, the manga/book spinoffs like Wild and Horned Hermit, and that's barely scratching the surface. There's also several doujin circles dedicated to making Touhou music! Personally, my favorites include Akatsuki Records and Shinra Bansho. Touhou is really deep when it comes to in depth content such as this.
"Several" is an understatement. There's a torrent collection of .flac Touhou music that's currently at about 1.65 terabytes. There's a circle for pretty much every genre. My favorite circle is Demetori. Here's one of their best-known classic hits, their take on Yukari Yakumo's theme from Touhou 7:
The fan musicians are so good that a few were commissioned to do remixes for the latest official fighting games.
Tokyo Active Neets' jazz remix of the final boss theme from Touhou 10.5, used for the character's return in Touhou 15.5, is pretty good:
And it totally slipped my mind that Yukari is also in Touhou 15.5. Here's a fast-paced techno Russian harddunk remix of her other theme, courtesy of ELEMENTAS from A-ONE:
For MC-kun, only the strongest will do. While Cirno has won the vote, I'll do my best to add some of the other proposals to our team at a later date.
MC-kun wonders if this bespectacled sycophant wouldn't have agreed regardless of what he said.
Finishing up his chat with his fellow autist, MC-kun heads east down the path, then begins to climb a hill.
He's barely taken a few steps when he sees someone in the middle distance.
She quickly notices him staring and then responds as any woman would, running off into the tall grass.
MC-kun hurries after her, rushing through the grass without a thought. What could go wrong, after all?
She hasn't gone far before he catches sight of her once again. The moment he steps away from his hiding place behind the tree, however, she makes her escape. Wait, please!
What follows should not come as a surprise.
MC-kun pauses frequently to catch his breath as he runs, eventually climbing the mountain as far as he can and stumbling across a lake.
Seeing a chance to approach the woman, now with nowhere to run, he walks down, panting, to the lakeside where she stands, looking over the waters.
Before he can do anything, however, she turns to face him.
Her smile is at once smug, playful, knowing and hungry.
Before MC-kun understands what's happening, everything goes white.
Then colour returns to the world, seemingly brighter and more saturated than before. The gap hag, however, is gone. MC-kun looks around, bemused.
With nothing better to do, MC-kun decides to head back to the shrine.
He's barely made it up the stairs, however, when he hears rustling in the grass.
It's like something out of the dreams he doesn't usually mention to others. Cirno (or possibly not; she seems rather large for a fairy) rushing towards him.
His reverie is interrupted by a shout.
He's rushed down by someone else he never thought he'd meet. Wait a sec... You know about the puppets, right?
What are you talking about? Puppets? Where's the danmaku?
Hmm... You're from the Outside World, aren't you? These things just suddenly appeared and spread all over the place.
These things'll ambush you in tall grass, so you'd better have your own Puppets ready.
Why would I have any Puppets?
Oh... right.
I forgot that you're from the Outside World.
At this point, the Puppet jumps about, as if incensed about being ignored. It's time for the real deal!
MC-kun has been here for less than a minute and a girl is already letting him touch her puppet. What a win! He for a moment regrets not mentioning that Rinnosuke was his favourite; he could use a bro right now to share in the celebrations.
He doesn't have a moment to spare, however, as he's given the little yellow diamond as the Cirno charges him.
MC-kun knows exactly what to do.
He doesn't question for a moment why Marisa was holding a puppet of herself. It all makes perfect sense to him. He orders Marisa to attack.
This game is consistent in retheming Pokémon mechanics to more Touhou-appropriate names. Here we see the game's equivalent of the physical-special split.
Red attacks are Focus type, while blue are Spread, with Focus Attack taking the place of Attack while Sp.Atk remains Sp.Atk and likewise for defence.
Marisa's attributes in both are identical at the moment, so which attack we use is irrelevant.
Cirno swings back at us with some Yin Energy and also buffs herself.
That raises her Spread Defence, so the rest of the battle becomes pretty predictable.
However, it holds on after what should have been the winning attack.
After she let us touch her puppet and everything.
It seems that Cirno isn't done, though.
Marisa braces for trouble, but it isn't forthcoming.
Instead, it seems that Cirno likes MC-kun as much as he likes her. They're going to develop the strongest bond.
It's going to be a while before we'll get to Remilia, who according to the wiki serves as this game's Name-Rater, but asking for names is half the fun of these, so I'll keep any suggestions on file until then.
This also applies to things we haven't caught or even seen; if you've got any names you particularly want, I'll add them to the list and dig them out if and when it becomes relevant.
Fortunately, Cirno is easy to name.
Marisa seems pretty impressed with MC-kun's 1337 skillz. That's weird. Usually, you've gotta use a Seal Thread to do that.
They don't just... decide to follow you.
I'm an isekai protagonist. Of course I get a cheat power.
Is this puppet special or are you an exception...?
You'd better believe I'm special.
I have no idea what to make of this.
Well, there's no use just standing here and thinking about it.
Let's make our way to the Hakurei Shrine and see if the people there can help you!
Marisa leads us back to the shrine, with Cirno following along in procession, if only because we don't have a Pokéball Sealing Thread in which to keep her.
MC-kun immediately notices that the shrine has changed, however. It's not nearly as dilapidated as it was a moment ago.
No time to dawdle, though.
We're brought to a room within the shrine, where a miko is present, but not the one you'd expect. So that's why you brought MC-kun here.
If that's about it, then let me do the talking!
Welp. I ain't good at explaining stuff. I'd be very grateful if you'd help me with it!
...And make my life easier.
Ahem...!
My name is Sanae Kochiya.
This place is completely separated from where you lived by a great barrier.
It is called... Gensokyo.
I did it! The portal worked! I'm here.
And there I thought I didn't add enough bleach.
What? You knew that already?
We can get straight to the point then.
Currently, Gensokyo is being flooded by Puppets. We haven't figured out what has caused this yet.
It started during this spring if I remember correctly.
They suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and nobody understands why they did, either.
Their population grows so fast that I alone cannot suppress them any more.
I've been enhancing the barrier to prevent this incident from leaking into the outside world...
Doesn't look like you've done a very good job of that, does it now?
But the fact that MC-kun got lost here means that the barrier is far from perfect.
And MC-kun can't possibly return if the barrier stays at this power level.
The manager of this barrier, Reimu, is busy solving the incident, and...
Sanae was speaking too quickly for MC-kun to interject and ask why he'd possibly want to leave, but others are less polite. You are right on time!
This MC-kun guy just came across the barrier from the Ouside World!
Hmm...
It's getting more frequent these days.
Not to mention MC-kun has a talent for taming Puppets!
...
You don't seem related.
But I'm gonna keep my eye on you.
You are MC-kun, right.
The one and only.
Please don't get involved too much.
Just stay low until we clean up this mess.
You can't get back to your world at this moment regardless.
I'm getting pretty damn tired.
Now get the hell out of here!
Turns out that Reimu wasn't too pleased to find us in her bedroom. MC-kun, the lady you met earlier was the manager of the barrier, Reimu.
From what she said, it's very unlikely that she'll lower the barrier for you.
Don't you worry!
For me, it'll be a piece of cake!
You guys just enjoy the sunshine here and I'll get it done before you even put on your sunglasses.
But there's an incident! Things are happening. I've read doujins about this. I can't just stand here.
What? You wanna come with me?
This isn't me being cocky, but... what can you do, really?
Welp... You do have some potential.
Let's test this out.
Is your little friend still following ya?
Who are you calling little? I'm the strongest!
There she is. It's time for a Puppet duel.
Since you're such an amateur...
I'll lend you a few minutes to get yourself together.
Talk to me when you're ready.
There's no escape. You hear that?
MC-kun briefly wonders what Marisa would do with him. She's not a youkai, after all, and thus probably wouldn't eat him.
He knows that she's a thief, however, and so the first thing he does is check his pockets.
All that's left is his obligatory console that comes with every Pokémon game. Did Marisa steal everything else, or was it lost on the way to Gensokyo?
Next, MC-kun takes a look at Cirno's stats.
Emblems are the natures of this game, except that they're purely positive. I can't find which does which, but it's presumably why our SpAtk is blue.
The letters are our IV equivalents, ranging from E- (0) to S (15). Your starter always has perfect IVs.
Cirno is holding the Dream Shard. According to the wiki, your starter always begins with it and it raises all stats by 10%.
He then takes some time to look around the shrine. Things seem to be in a much better condition overall.
This hasn't changed, though.
MC-kun also decides that discretion is the better part of valour when he considers taking a look in Reimu's room.
The room next to it contains a facsimile of Hieda no Akyuu. MC-kun doesn't let its stare faze him as he takes a rest.
This doesn't seem to cause Marisa any consternation and fully heals our Cirno.
Trying to push our luck, we look further afield. There's a turtle in the pond now.
MC-kun immediately recognises it as Genji, the flying turtle Reimu used to ride before she learned to fly on her own power.
I've not made a note of it until now, but your lead Puppet follows you around like in Yellow and HG/SS. You can interact with it to get an emote.
In any event, this wasn't here in the real world; the whole area was wooded.
Finally, heading back towards the mountain, MC-kun goes too far.
There's one final chat to have before going into the fight, though.
Player B Reimu wonders why she's not the protagonist. MC-kun, meanwhile knows it's him.
With all of that done, it's time. Make the words stop. I want to fight.
Here I'll make a note of the music. It's all 2hu arrangements, so it's pretty good. We specifically get Marisa's theme from 2hu 8 for her fight, which is nice.
I also like the high-effort backgrounds for the zone. The clouds even scroll by in the distance. The art in general is nice in this game so far.
Cirno has the same abilities as when we fought her earlier, as, presumably, does Marisa. Cirno was the faster Puppet last time, so with any luck we'll still manage.
We outspeed Marisa and also crit, so the fight goes pretty well.
You get items after fights instead of money, with the loot depending on the Puppets you use, from what I can tell. It's mostly vendor trash anyway, so it serves the same purpose.
Alright. I should get going. Sanae should be taking care of the rest for now.
I have to get ahead of Reimu, y'know!
And with that, she's gone. I'm quite curious about your talent for taming Puppets.
I bet there is something special about you!
It's unimaginable how a normie would be able to cross the strengthened barrier.
Did you just say "normie"?
Oh, by the way!
Some people in the Human Village are investigating Puppets. Maybe you could start finding clues there.
Unfortunately, I have to stay here as a backup for when Reimu is out. You are on your own for now.
You should be fine with your Puppet.
I'm sure she'll be your best ally!
My strongest, certainly.
You might also learn more about our world in the Human Village.
How about paying it a visit first?
I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
With that, we seem to be free, although we do check on Sanae's further dialogue.
We get a sweat drop emote here that I didn't screencap. ... Oh, I almost forgot to tell you!
After you leave the shrine, head west. You should see the human village very soon!
Before we go, however, we head to the shed on the way to the mountain. It contains an item.
It's neat, but probably not useful and Cirno will do better with the Dream Shard in the Hold2 slot.
A digression - Hold1 is for consumables, which regenerate here after battles so that you can spam them as easily as NPC trainers in other fangames, while Hold2 is for general items. You can have one of each per Puppet.
The voices in MC-kun's head prevent him from returning to the mountain just yet.
We truly cannot escape from Sanae. Just one more thing...
She gives us some Seal Threads. These are our Pokéballs and presumably also come in stronger variants later. Let me read the manual for you.
"During a wild Puppet battle, you may use a Seal Thread from the battle menu. This will cause the Puppet to be 'sealed'.
A wild Puppet that is sealed will join you after it is defeated. However, you cannot use Seal Threads on Puppets that are owned by others."
Now you are an expert on sealing!
Take this with you too.
So that was the purpose of the weird Akyuu doll by the bed earlier. We've got our fantasy PC.
We're finally free and so, as the pair walk down the steps of the shrine, MC-kun asks Cirno what she thought of all those words.
He agrees fully and the two descend to where the bus delivered MC-kun not long before.
Equipped with the knowledge that he's an overpowered, cheating isekai protagonist, MC-kun is not surprised to learn that the road is gone.
"No wonder no-one ever shows up to leave donations at the Hakurei Shrine," MC-kun reasons, "the road is terrible. Missing a complete path and even overgrown in places."
We find an equivalent to the starting potion just lying on the road.
We then walk around in some tall grass until we find our first wild Puppet.
It's Daiyousei, Cirno's bestie.
We owe our strong friend this much and we're not going to miss our first catch, even if this isn't a Nuzlocke.
We hit Daiyousei a few times and then apply the seal. I think it wears off and thus want to ensure that I can get the kill as quickly as possible once it's applied.
Just like that, we have a second. I can't think of a good name for her, so here's a reminder that if you have names for any 2hu, I'll keep them on file until we find Remi and can apply them.
Someone lesser might not give their only healing item as an offering to a statue by the road. But MC-kun is confident and Cirno is the strongest, empowered further by friendship.
A little further down the road, we encounter our first trainer battle.
I'm impressed that even a nobody like this gets a pre-battle splash.
All he has is a Nazrin and we're ready to freeze a rat (or would be, if we had any attacks other than the a basic focused stream of bullets).
The post-battle screen isn't exactly as beautiful as the rest of the game, so I'll omit it for the most part in the future. I include it here to point out that we do have an intrinsic EXP-Share going on here; Daiyousei was not involved with that battle at all.
We thank the trainer for his sage advice and move along.
Before long, we pick up another senbei to replace the one we offered. The road giveth as it taketh.
We soon run into another trainer.
"How do you do, fellow noob?"
Turns out that she's actually as bad as she implied.
Cirno proves that she's the strongest fairy and makes short work of Lily White.
A little further, we find the promised rest spot, just after this.
I'm not sure how this game handles HMs, but we'll have to come back later.
In the meanwhile, we find some people wandering around outside the rest stop.
Imagine being this guy.
Although getting stuck tutorialising might be worse.
Still, it's time to rest.
Yukkuri shiteitte ne!
In short, we've come across the equivalent of a Pokémon Centre. You've got some chatty NPCs, the healer, who asks you to take a rest, and two merchants, as well as the Akyuu Puppet to access the box.
The other fairy at the desk sells food.
The travelling merchant, meanwhile, has Repel equivalents in addition to more Seal Threads.
We're broke and also fine on supplies, so we sell neither our after-battle pickings nor our console for now.
MC-kun stops for a quick chat with the others in the rest hut.
He's not too impressed with either and heads back out onto Route 1.
In the interest of having more bodies to throw around if something goes wrong, we catch a Nazrin, not giving her a name for now.
Those are some absolutely atrocious IVs. Never trust a rat.
Our first trainer with more than one Puppet soon appears.
He leads with CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN,
I swap out to Daiyousei to try get her some more XP, but it's to little avail.
Nazrin switches in to a hail of bullets and manages to make one attack before it's time for Cirno to show everyone who's boss.
Truly devoted to his waifu, the trainer sends out a second Chen.
Cirno makes short work of her.
Having seen what Chens do to his lesser Puppets, MC-kun picks one up for himself.
He also almost immediately finds a thread in the tall grass to make up for it.
With everything except Chen distressingly wounded, we heal quickly before heading across a bridge, where we are accosted by a farmer.
He throws Aki Shizuha and Aki Minoriko at us, puppets of a pair of goddesses of autumn and the harvest. Fitting.
Shizuha doesn't put up much of a fight.
Minoriko, meanwhile, seems to take less damage and gets to a point where, even though Cirno outspeeds her, MC-kun decides that it's best to let something else deal the finishing blow.
Dai-chan eats an opening volley and another due to being outsped, but still manages to land the finishing blow.
We're past what is probably our most challenging fight yet.
I'll post this tutorial sign in full, because it's a big divergence from regular Pokémon. PP are a side resource that are spent, essentially, on EVs and skills.
The Human Village is finally in sight.
When suddenly, someone rudely collides with us.
Is that a Puppet? Can we catch her?
Apparently not, despite her clear artificiality. We're dealing with a doll, not a Puppet.
It is with a palpable sense of relief that we reach the safety of the Human Village.
We arrive to a warm welcome.
And with that, we'll conclude the first episode. MC-kun has made his way to Gensoyko, found out that he has magical Puppet-taming powers and used them to bond with his waifu. Life is looking good for MC-kun; why did the people at the shrine think he'd want to go home?
A reminder that I'm looking for names for Daiyousei, Nazrin, Chen and, indeed, any other 2hus if you want to throw suggestions onto the pile.
Holy shit Perfect IV's and a Item that gives you 10% extra stats. You are a cheat Isekai protag.
What would the name of the Light Novel for you be? "I Got transported to Gensokyo, and ended up with a overpowered puppet of the best Baka." Or would that be too short of a title for a isekai for this day and age.
There's also the albums, the manga/book spinoffs like Wild and Horned Hermit, and that's barely scratching the surface. There's also several doujin circles dedicated to making Touhou music! Personally, my favorites include Akatsuki Records and Shinra Bansho. Touhou is really deep when it comes to in depth content such as this.
When it comes to doujin music, I prefer circles like Fox Laboratory and the NEETs, as a rule; ones that stick to instrumental works. That said, there's a lot of good vocal stuff too. I like Eurobeat, and this is a perennial favourite, only partially because Satori's theme is my favourite piece of Touhou music.
With that aside, let's get back to the primary attraction.
Having reached the Human Village and been told to behave himself, MC-kun takes a look around and chats to the locals.
This inspires him to take a look at the nearby pot.
It's not a Puppet, but it's something.
The cat is less helpful.
Sticking to the village probably isn't a bad idea. A good proportion of the characters we'll encounter do eat humans, after all, but are disallowed from doing so in the Human Village.
What did she mean by this?
MC-kun is already famous.
Unlike Arceus, we're not going to catch him.
Between this, that girl earlier and the cat, MC-kun is beginning to doubt the "human" part of the village.
Another likely human here, at least. MC-kun reassures her that nothing could possibly go wrong.
In his wanderings, MC-kun decides to take a look to the south of the village.
The locals are having none of it, though. Better them than the voices in his head, at least. He wanders elsewhere.
Shop's closed. Nearby, however, is perhaps the greatest threat to Gensokyo.
A Zoomer.
She rambles on.
MC-kun is pretty sure that he isn't dreaming and ignores the insane girl.
Youkai or weird human? MC-kun can't tell, so he beats his retreat.
MC-kun remembers school. He doesn't remember enjoying it. He also knows, however, that someone being mentioned by name is probably important, so he decided to take a look.
It's about what he expects. Despite being taught by a werewolf, the students don't seem particularly alarmed.
Some of the students are flush with information about Puppets, eagerly sharing deep secrets about type advantage and status moves. You're the only one talking sense here. Have a good nap, kid. We don't need no education.
Keine's glare follows MC-kun all the way to the door as he makes his escape and takes a look at the farms to the west of the village.
Here we learn a bit about the dangers of over-reliance on modern technology.
Sure enough, the Puppet is there, casually trampling the crops. Our own Baka is more considerate.
The Puppet shows no remorse for its actions.
MC-kun steals food from someone's garden while Baka fights off a cat.
Not a tremendous amount of the village left to explore. First, we head to the library.
There's someone strange lurking around the back.
As well as someone almost as tragically-deluded as the librarian herself.
It's closed, unfortunately. Of course. It was entirely safe for someone like me.
The western exit to the village is blocked by a cart. The father-son pair assure MC-kun that they're dealing with it and that the flow of over 10% of Gensokyo's trade should resume soon.
It's a somewhat large shop, run by Marisa's family. Not a place she'd ever be caught dead, but they've got plenty on sale.
What's sold, specifically, are held items that boost the power of $TYPE moves, one for each type, as well as Threads.
All that's left of the town proper is the rest spot. Here, MC-kun is informed of something very important. I see. Only a fool would take anything said here as fact.
He's the talk of the town, though. Everyone else within is speculating wildly about a new Puppeteer in town, apparently mentioned in the morning newspaper.
MC-kun isn't sure how the news spread so quickly, given that he's barely been in Gensokyo since the morning, until he thinks back to his 2hu knowledge and remembers all about the Tengu-controlled media.
Before moving on, MC-kun decides to make some preparations.
He sells some of what the wild Puppets he's faced have dropped and picks up some new Threads. Despite his every instinct telling him to buy ten, there's no bonus thrown into the deal.
Disappointed, he realises that there's one more thing to explore: some tall grass within the village proper.
The first encounter in the town is Akyuu, although it's a Puppet we've seen a number of times before as the link to the Box. Naturally, upon encountering one of the few puppets of actual humans, MC-kun decides to catch it.
The Puppet smugly and continuously buffs herself as Chen wears her down. I also see a Sealing Thread fail for the first time. I'm not sure what catch rates are or if they're calculated, but the second one takes and before long Akyuu is caught.
She's got some solid IVs that belie fairly poor stats overall.
After that, it's back into the grass.
Keine brings both decent stats and some new typings. We go after her too.
This time, I do get a screencap of a failed attempt at sealing.
Once again, second time's the charm and so we look at our first full party of the game.
It's almost time to go back to WORDS and plot, but first MC-kun decides to spend some PP. The puppets gain some alongside XP from every battle and can spend it in the "Edit" menu.
We start out with Baka, because it'd be a gross betrayal to go with anyone but MC-kun's perfect-IV waifu.
You can do all sorts of things with PP. Style changing unlocks at level 30 and replaces evolution, so it's not yet on the table. Ability Change lets you swap between your regular and hidden ability at the cost of 20 PP. Skill Cards are TMs; we don't yet have any. That just leaves stat reinforcement, the EVs of this game, and regular skills, acquired through level-up.
For just 5 PP, Cirno learns her first water-type move.
EVs look as you'd expect and seem to be distributed at a 1:1 ratio with PP, but I haven't planned ahead and don't know how I want to build Baka yet, so I don't spend any.
We check for skills on our other Puppets too, but only Daiyousei currently qualifies for one.
Regardless, we've finally left the Tackle zone.
We were told to go speak to Akyuu, so it looks like it's time to pay a visit to the big house overlooking the village.
This is the fanciest dwelling MC-kun has encountered in Gensokyo so far, if only by dint of being double-storey. He takes a look around inside.
There are even maids about the place. Soon enough, though, the time comes to chat up another girl. All good things, I hope. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Akyuu, the head of the Hieda family.
Charmed, I'm sure.
I've read about you in the Tengu's special issues.
It seems you are quite talented in manipulating Puppets.
I wouldn't put it that way. Baka just likes me.
Now, can we drop this and get onto whatever the blue miko wanted me to ask?
I see. Sanae told you to meet me here, yes?
That's exactly it.
Hmm... So you are investigating the Puppet incident so you could find your way home?
You've lost me. Why would I want to leave Gensokyo?
I've got a cheat power, more probably to come and maybe even a harem lined up in the near future.
To be honest with you, I have very little knowledge regarding the incident as well.
The only thing we know so far is that Puppets can only be dealt with by other Puppets.
We've been able to defend the Village since we discovered the Puppet Sealing methods...
But it doesn't solve the root of the problem.
Things seem pretty good for you in this situation.
I even saw some humans outside the village on the way from the shrine and no-one ate them.
Please enjoy your time here in the village while we continue to research the matter.
We will inform you when we make progress in our research.
We don't have anything remarkable, but I bet you will find something that is very special to you and your world.
That wasn't very helpful, but you have to make the best of what you've got.
MC-kun is interrupted on his way out, however. I have heard some rumours about suspicious individuals lurking around in the Village.
I am not certain if these rumours are true, but it is better to inform you for your own well-being.
Oh, they're definitely true. I saw weirdos all over the place.
MC-kun then leaves the house with the intent on checking on the potential impostors from earlier, when one finds him immediately outside.
Humans generally don't have antennae, at least in MC-kun's experience. Green is definitely sus.
MC-kun chases the fleeing bug, when his heart skips a beat.
It's Cirno.
He can practically feel the jealousy radiating from Baka in waves as he stares at the fairy herself.
There are also some others present, but he doesn't really care all that much. Compared to Cirno, Rumia, Wriggle and Mystia mean nothing to him.
However, for all his struggles, he can't descend the cliff and so hurries to find his way around.
On his way out of the tall grass, he gets to test out Baka's new skill.
Nothing too exciting , but she flings the icicles with great relish, and also a pointed look at MC-kun.
The fight also gets a new skill for our rat.
It's as unimpressive as she is, but more type coverage might be nice.
It turns out that none of the conspiring youkai are particularly bright and MC-kun quickly rushes them down, learning that the fifth member of their circle is Daiyousei.
Briefly, MC-kun wonders if the girl from earlier was right and he is actually dreaming.
MC-kun is in full agreement. ...By the way, is that the human Wriggle saw earlier?
We're caught, as the youkai suddenly notice our presence.
It's a harsh world for fairies.
Sure enough, the others flee. MC-kun sees his opportunity and approaches.
Startled, he stands his ground as Cirno walks up to him.
Cirno ahead of him and Cirno behind him, MC-kun decides that this definitely must be a dream.
Only the feeling of Baka's glare on his back keeps MC-kun from whooping with joy.
Both Cirno and Baka speak with a single voice.
Cirno is our best choice here and quickly takes out Rumia. This leads to the continuation of the best day of MC-kun's life so far.
Unfortunately, it doesn't last. We switch for type advantage.
Passing through the barrier is this game's terminology for a super-effective move. Parasite is also a draining move, as the name suggests, so the swing becomes even more severe.
Similarly, the enemy Cirno's Frost Edge is ineffectual and we quickly close out the battle.
It's a smorgasbord of new skills too, with all the levels. I owe it all to Baka. and forget about chasing my friends who are still on the run!
Just forget them! Understand?
Anything for you, Cirno-sama.
Unfortunately, MC-kun is not able to extract any information in further attempts at interrogation.
So he heads out to look into the other potential youkai he saw about town, first pausing to train his Puppets with new skills.
Nothing special here, but they are all low-level and it means that Cirno won't necessarily have to switch out against other water types. Doesn't bode well for Daiyousei.
Now at a bit of a loss, MC-kun takes a look around town. You're looking pretty suspicious there, ma'am. Are you sure you're human?
Unfortunately, she has no new dialogue for our fledgling youkai hunter.
He doesn't even intentionally break his promise to Cirno. Wandering around, he happens to stumble upon the others in one of the glades about town.
The other members of the PLF are just as surprised as before. This time, Daiyousei is left to fight us. We know from before that she has a serious type advantage against Cirno, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
It's time to go. In a display of friendship, she leads with Cirno.
Baka is prepared, however, and takes down her clone in a single volley of apples.
As you might expect, Daiyousei follows with herself. MC-kun decides to let Keine take care of her.
She survives the first hammer toss, but the second ends it.
Not a great day for Dai-chan.
She even leaks a little bit more information than Cirno when it comes to the nefarious goals of the PLF.
We don't want Baka to be liberated, so there's only one thing to do: track down the others.
Turns out that exploring town earlier was a good idea. MC-kun is barely short of breath as he locates the PLF once again.
You know the drill at this point.
Wriggle opens up with Daiyousei and we switch in Keine.
Wriggle then sends out herself. Not a wise move, as she has a 4x weakness to Keine's hammers, but she doesn't have much of a choice in the matter.
She hurts Keine a bit, but then is defeated in turn by a wholly unnecessary crit.
Thus is Wriggle Nightbug defeated.
She doesn't have much more to say beyond offering useful post-fight analysis.
Keine's been carrying us a bit and is looking fairly bruised and we're in town anyway, so we heal her up before chasing down the remaining youkai.
We also pick up a new skill on Daiyousei. Neat, but I'm still not sure that she's offering us that much at the moment.
It doesn't take long to track down the remaining two. Rumia flees once again, leaving us to face Mystia.
She leads with Wriggle. We switch into Keine and make short work of her.
Out then comes Mystia. We don't even have to switch; she's still weak to steel. Grabbing Keine has definitely worked out well for us.
With that, Mystia Lorelei is down.
She also catches MC-kun staring and sniffing.
She takes quite the incorrect interpretation of it, however. Not at all, I assure you.
Still, that leaves only Rumia. Defeat her, and Baka is probably safe.
It doesn't take long to track her down.
She has a lot to say, though.
Rumia senses our disbelief that anyone but Cirno could be the leader of the PLF.
Things are getting serious now.
Considering that we haven't faced anyone with more than two Puppets yet, Rumia having five means that there's definitely something to her words.
Unfortunately for her, we can guess that it's the same Puppets with which we've dealt easily up to now.
She opens with Cirno. A bold move; MC-kun does the same. Fortunately, Baka is both over-levelled and has the right type coverage and so one-hits the opposition.
Wriggle is next. We send out Keine.
We switch in to a lot of damage, but our response takes down the Wriggle immediately.
Rumia pivots to herself. I have to assume that this is her ace, with the extra levels and precise match.
She outspeeds Keine and hits our werewolf down to fairly low HP, but the crits don't stop coming.
Next up is Mystia. We've fought her before and know what to do.
It's at this point that MC-kun realises that nothing more can possibly go wrong. Rumia sends out her final Puppet.
She actually survives an attack, but the AI is retarded and decides to buff its SpDef. Keine knows only FoAtk moves.
Glorious victory, and levels to match.
We're just that good.
With that, Rumia is gone, leaving MC-kun a bit puzzled. To whom is she reporting?
In the meanwhile, he decides to check back with Akyuu. He's barely taken a few steps, however, when she finds him first.
Judging by her heavy breathing, she's almost as unfit as he is. He nods sympathetically at just how tiring a jog across the Human Village is. I finally found you.
I just heard that some of the Liberation Front members were hiding in the village...
That won't be a problem.
Oh, my. You already kicked them out?
Impressive! You are quite the talented Puppeteer.
If I do say so myself.
Ah! There is another thing I would like to add.
I just remembered that there is a place worth visiting.
I was looking for you just to inform you about it.
Well! What is it!
The place is nearby here, so please follow me. Yes, this way.
Akyuu leads us briefly through town. There are books from outside that end up here, so this place is a treasure trove of information.
Inside, there's a girl named Kosuzu Motoori. Please go and visit her.
From time to time, many mysterious books end up in here, so maybe the information you seek is here.
Puppets have only begun appearing around here very recently. However, they could still be of some use to you.
Well then, I too must continue my investigation.
If you find anything, please come to my residence. I shall lend whatever strength is necessary.
With that, Akyuu walks off, leaving MC-kun in the warm glow of having been invited by a girl to her own house for the first time in his life.
Before taking a look into Suzunaan, however, he has something more important to do. There are a number of new skills he can purchase.
Nazrin learns Hammer Throw. We've learned from Keine just how good that is.
Chen picks up some flinch tech. I'm not sure I'll get around to making much use of this.
Two new abilities for Akyuu. Maybe she can be of use.
Finally, Keine gets even more type coverage. She's been surprisingly useful.
With that done, MC-kun heads into Suzunaan. The only books he's ever read are Harry Potter, so he's not all that impressed at the relatively vast collection. If only his handheld console wasn't out of battery. Maybe it'd be another cheat item for him.
To his surprise, he finds a set of battered copies.
With nothing better to do and eager to escape the musty smell of books, he heads over to the girl behind the counter. Hieda no Akyuu told me to talk to you about the Puppet Incident. ...Eh? You heard about me from Akyuu?
I've also been researching the Puppets by checking old documents, but I haven't seen anything like them...
As a result, I haven't really been able to find anything.
But, there was one book that had something it it about Puppets!
It must be somewhat new as it just arrived recently.
It was called "Part One", so logically, there must be more.
An unprecedented Puppet outbreak...
Books written about them...
and, they're new...
That can't all just be a coincidence.
...I just don't know the source or the author.
From what I understand, this could be some sort of youma book...
Hmm... Don't joke about that.
MC-kun looks around, relieved that someone has finally interrupted the young librarian's incessant nattering.
A third party walks into the bookshop. Kosuzu seems to recognise her.
This is definitely a human and not a tanuki in disguise. There's no way this could be Touhou 13 extra stage boss Futatsuiwa Mamizou. I heard something interesting, so naturally, I couldn't help myself.
Did you say there's information about the Puppets written in that youma book?
If that's the case, I might know something too.
R-Really?!
Don't get too excited.
It's only a rumour, but a youma book like that seems to be appearing in various places around Gensokyo.
If you search, you might be able to find something else.
MC-kun briefly wonders why this ordinary human being winks as she says that. ...By the way.
Well, don't you seem to have some Puppeteer knowledge.
You're the rumoured outsider who repelled the Liberation Front, aren't you?
Yep. That's me. Are you going to pay me for my service to the town, lady? Akyuu didn't.
I see!
So, you say this person can collect those youma books!
...MC-kun, right?
Could you search for these youma books?
Are you going to pay me to do it?
You said you want more information about the Puppets. How about it?
If you bring them here to me, I'll decipher them all for you!
Ugh, fine. I met Cirno today, so I can probably be talked into anything.
Thank you! I'll be looking forward to it!
Well then, should I give you a little guidance?
Finding the books will be hard, after all.
I'll be waiting outside, so come out when you're ready.
With that, the mysterious woman departs.
MC-kun apparently hasn't read Forbidden Scrollery, so he doesn't know about either youma books or Kosuzu being constantly manipulated by funny-looking people she has no idea are youkai. He asks about the former, at least. Youma books? They're books written by youkai in characters that humans can't read. I can decipher them for you.
Would you like me to decipher one for you now?
Eh, sure. Go ahead.
MC-kun is polite and doesn't ask why Kosuzu can read youma books when she's just said that they're illegible to humans. She's young, after all.
Apparently I've entered Gensokyo somehow.
I also can't go home. That's just great.
Not until I resolve this "Puppet" incident, that is.
I've been told to go over to the Human Village. Seems like that's the only way to begin.
Seeing how a similar event's mentioned in it, I think it could be related to the Puppet Incident.
Even then, how does entering Gensokyo like that work?
Please ask me whenever you want to read them again!
It's genius-level insights like this that remind me that I'm dealing with a child, whatever your skills.
MC-kun is surprised. The book recounts similar things to what happened to him, but with an absolutely bizarre perspective with which he couldn't possibly empathise. He's done enough reading for the day, however, and leaves. He finds Akyuu waiting outside. The breeze seems to have caught a leaf in her hair. Why do you look so surprised?
It's me.
I was expecting that totally normal, bona fide lady who was in the shop earlier.
Right, I didn't introduce myself.
With a flash, Akyuu transforms. Disguises are my speciality.
Hey, you're heading to the Divine Spirit Mausoleum?
To do that, you'll have to deal with the guard at the south of the village.
Mamizou leads us through the town.
As before, we're stopped by the guard.
He recognises Akyuu, however.
Mamizou doesn't mince her words. What must the guard think?
Apparently the guard has also heard gossip about us. Very impressive, considering that we haven't actually done much, but this is Gensokyo and humans are generally pretty pathetic.
He lets us through without further fuss. I've got a lot to do, so I can't take you all the way there.
Instead, I can at least heal your Puppets before sending you off on your own.
True to her word, she does it. I'll say it one more time: the Divine Spirit Mausoleum is behind the Buddhist temple. Don't get lost.
With that, she runs off and leaves us to our own devices on a new route.
Having met Cirno, been invited to a girl's house and fought a Puppeteer with five whole puppets (in order of decreasing importance), MC-kun is feeling ready for anything.
Unaware of the intricacies of Gensokyo's religious wars, MC-kun never for a moment notices that Mamizou, aligned with the Buddhist faction, has sent him to go bother the Taoists without revealing her role to them.
Hey. It's time to get up.
Me? My name is Yukari Yakumo.
Hey. It's time to get up.
Me? My name is Yukari Yakumo.
