Ten Desires

Ten Desires
Developer(s) Team Shanghai Alice
Publisher(s) Team Shanghai Alice
Series Touhou Project
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) May 8, 2011 (Reitaisai 8)
August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Genre(s) Scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Touhou Shinreibyou ~ Ten Desires (東方神霊廟　～ Ten Desires lit. "Eastern Divine Spirit Temple") is the thirteenth main game of the Touhou Project scrolling shooter series made by the dōjin game maker Team Shanghai Alice. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, the initial release of the demo was delayed. Instead, the demo was released for free download on April 16, 2011 with the physical copy being released on May 8, 2011 at Reitaisai 8, with all proceeds going to charity for disaster relief.[1] The full version of the game was released in the 80th Comiket in August 13, 2011.

Gameplay

The new game mechanics for Ten Desires features divine spirits. These divine spirits are released when enemies are killed, bosses are damaged, and at certain scripted events. The blue spirits add 10 to the player's "score value" (the number of points granted for collecting a point item at the top of the screen), in addition to slightly filling the player's trance gauge (see below). Gray spirits provide a larger increase to the trance gauge and act like additional Point items, giving you the current maximum Point value no matter where they are on the screen. Green spirits add 1 point to the bomb meter, and purple add 1 point to the life meter. Extra lives are awarded at 10 life points for the first life, 15 for the second, 20 for the third, and so on. Bombs are awarded at 10 bomb points regardless of how many are acquired.

Grazing adds to score value as well; every 10 bullets grazed increases score value by 10. Additionally, bosses can be "grazed" as they emit blue (and gray) spirits every few shots, and if one stays close enough to the boss they can absorb all the spirits that it emits. The rate at which spirits spawn is negatively correlated with the distance from the boss; The closer the character is, the faster spirits will spawn. This makes sitting on top of bosses while in trance a highly profitable score return.

At the end of every spell card (with the exception of the last spell card of a boss) the boss emits 1 green spirit, and 1 purple spirit (along with blues and grays).

The Trance gauge consists of zero to three flames that are built up by collecting blue and gray divine spirits. The player begins the game with one flame, and can collect up to a max stock of three. Pressing the 'C' button when all 3 gauges are full will trigger a powerful, 10 second long trance state, where the character gets an upgraded shot type and is not damaged by enemy bullets. While in a trance state, the divine spirits take on a new shape that not only makes them much easier to see, it also makes them worth more. Blue spirits get x10 effectiveness, while purple and green get x2 effectiveness. If a character is struck by an enemy bullet while there is at least one full trance gauge remaining, the trance-state will automatically trigger, with the loss of a life once the timer runs down. The duration of the death trance depends on the amount of gauge collected to that point. In addition, when a trance (whether activated manually or upon receiving damage) expires, the player's trance gauge is reset to 0.

Shooting unfocused yields a higher score rate than shooting while focused. Divine spirits hover in roughly the same place while shrinking in size for approximately ten seconds before disappearing. In addition, they cannot be auto-collected (except by Reimu in Trance Mode). When a "death-trance" is finishing it still deals damage to everything on the screen similar to the way when a character would die normally. It is not possible to deathbomb while at least one gauge of the trance meter is full (that is, when death-trance is possible).

Plot

One day in Gensokyo, a large amount of spirits are being found throughout the city. Reimu, Marisa, Sanae, and Youmu intend to see what is going on. Depending on who you choose, one of them goes out and investigates.

The first place the heroine heads of to is the Netherworld, where spirits often go. While investigating, the heroine encounters Yuyuko Saigyouji. Yuyuko states that she has no idea what the spirits are going around for. The heroine battles with Yuyuko, and Yuyuko is defeated. Yuyuko states that they are no ordinary spirits; they are 'divine spirits'. Yuyuko gives the heroine a hint: the graveyard behind the Myouren Temple. The heroine proceeds to the temple. While looking around, the heroine confronts Kyouko Kasodani, the temple's cleaner. Kyouko is easily defeated, and the heroine goes to the graveyard of the temple. Not too long after, the heroine meets Kogasa Tatara, who asks the heroine to defeat a girl who's guarding the place. Instead, the heroine attacks Kogasa and continues on. Eventually, they meet Yoshika Miyako, the Jiang Shi protecting the mausoleum. Yoshika is ultimately defeated and opens the door to the mausoleum.

Inside, there are way more divine spirits then there were before. The heroine tries to proceed, but encounters Seiga Kaku. Seiga resurrected Yoshika and used her as a guard of the mausoleum. Seiga, with the help of Yoshika, battles the heroine to prevent them from proceeding. However, they are defeated. Seiga states that this temple was built in order to prevent someone from being resurrected. As the heroine goes in further, the heroine finds Soga no Tojiko, who is quickly defeated. Eventually, the heroine encounters Mononobe no Futo. Futo battles the heroine and is defeated. After being defeated, Futo realises that the 'Crown Prince' is being resurrected and quickly goes to see what is going on. The heroine continues in the mausoleum and sees a ton of divine spirits. After a bit of wandering around, the heroine encounters Toyosatomimi no Miko, a Saint who had just been resurrected. The divine spirits were gathering here to see the resurrection of a holy person, the holy person being Miko. The heroine and Miko battle and Miko is defeated.

Some time later, the heroine investigates around the Myouren Temple. After going around, an angry Nue Houjuu comes out. Nue seems to be angry that Miko was resurrected. Nue attacks the heroine, but is easily defeated. After going through some danmaku, the heroine meets Mamizou Futatsuiwa, who claims that Nue sent her here. Mamizou heard that the heroine defeated Nue and Miko. Mamizou decided to have a battle with the heroine to see how powerful she was. In the end, Mamizou is defeated.

Characters

The playable characters in the series are: Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Sanae Kochiya, Youmu Konpaku.

Stage 1 boss. The ghostly princess of the Netherworld who has been one of the more important characters in the Touhou Project since her introduction in Perfect Cherry Blossom. Everyone thought she was the culprit for this incident, but Yuyuko claims to know nothing of the matter. She directs the heroines to search in the Myouren Temple instead.
Stage 2 boss. Kyouko Kasodani is a Yamabiko that embodies mountain echoes and is able to reflect sound waves. She appears to be a recent newcomer to Myouren Temple, though no reference is made to the characters already living there; with mountain echoes no longer being seen as strange, she decided to enter the Buddhist discipline. She seems to be responsible for cleaning duties and confronting trespassers.
Stage 3 and Stage 4 boss, alongside Seiga Kaku. Yoshika Miyako is a dimwitted but loyal jiangshi who guards the entrance to the Divine Spirit Mausoleum for Seiga Kaku. As she is just a zombie, she lacks the flexibility and dexterity of living humans and can hardly carry a conversation since most of her brain has rotted away.
Stage 4 boss, alongside Yoshika Miyako. Seiga Kaku is a hermit who once was in awe of the Tao. Usually guards the Divine Spirit Mausoleum from invaders, she can use her powers to pass through walls. She is very strict to her employee Yoshika.
Stage 5 midboss. One of Toyosatomimi no Miko's servants. Soga no Tojiko is a ghost who came from the powerful Soga clan. She served Miko alongside Futo, but she denied resurrection as a human due to her previous connections with Futo; instead, became a vengeful spirit who guards the Mausoleum. She has a powerful ability to control thunder and lightning.
Stage 5 boss. One of Toyosatomimi no Miko's servants. Mononobe no Futo is a human who came from the Mononobe clan, serving Toyosatomimi throughout the years alongside Soga no Tojiko. She has the power to control feng shui and summon a boat during some of her spellcards.
Stage 6 boss. A saint living inside the Hall of Dreams' Mausoleum. She is once born in a stable and was recognized as a genius at an early age before she became a saint. Very knowledgeable, she has the ability to listen to ten people speaking at the same time. She is based on Prince Shotoku. After the events of Ten Desires, she and her followers moved to a world named Senkai (仙界, the hermit realm) that is said to be suited for hermits.
Extra stage midboss. A nue returning from Undefined Fantastic Object, who has taken refuge under the Myouren Temple after the events of that game. Thinking Toyosamimi would be a threat to Byakuren, the master of the temple, she called for her friend Mamizou without first consulting with Byakuren.
Extra stage boss. A tanuki youkai who is making her home in the Myouren Temple. Usually she likes to pull tricks to people and has an ability to change appearances, making her similar to her friend Nue.

Music

Ten Desires contains different versions for each stage and boss theme: The normal version, heard during normal gameplay and in the Music Room, focuses primarily on the melody and harmony, and contains relatively few background noises compared to Zun's previous compositions. On entering trance mode, the music switches to the second ("Spirit world") version. It is recorded using a lower sampling rate (22050 Hz), and focuses primarily on the rhythm and accompanying voices. Since they complement each other and have exactly the same length, a "fuller" sound, can be achieved by mixing both versions of each theme together using audio editing software.

References

  1. ↑ ZUN. 東方神霊廟　～ Ten Desires. 体験版 2011-4-16.
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