zenith-and-the-nadirs-deactivat:

The idea of a Soulslike Touhou fangame is very amusing to me because on the one hand, you could argue that the highly dynamic, wide-ranging, long-distance types of combat that characterize spellcard duels would be entirely incompatible with the pace of even the fastest Soulslikes. On the other,

a) laboriously trudging through various haunted locations where everyone is attacking you for obscure reasons

b) pausing repeatedly to chug warm drinks and look around for hidden items to alleviate your perennially precarious finances

c) desperately seeking out rests and naps to restore your faltering humanity and trying not to think about how all the annoying people you faced shall be back when your eyes next open

d) trying halfheartedly to decipher and discern the riddles that everyone seems to speak in to get the slightest clue about whatever the hell it is you have to do to save the world, complete with the risk of making things much worse because you were too hasty or unreceptive to environmental cues

e) forming attachments to certain patterns, fits and gear and sticking stubbornly to them because they give you the right kind of stimulation and routine in a horrifically unfamiliar world prone to hit you with sensory overload

f) occasionally breaking from these patterns to try out something new and cool that you’ve been saving up for ages to get, only for your new plans to fail completely because you underestimated some crucial aspect of balance, class and adaptability in your excitement

g) enduring all this so you can finally engage in gruelling combat with an eldritch mommy who is a shadow of what she used to be in her superstar phase, but does not let the loss in status or power render her the slightest bit less condescending or vicious; and

h) encountering so many nasty surprises and abrupt reversals that you start to look upon the whole affair with a sort of deranged, carefree humour that nonetheless does not insulate you from occasionally dropping everything and screaming in sheer angst

- are all things that basically make up Reimu Hakurei’s daily routine. Johnny Darksouls, c'est elle.