Touhou 7 Perfect Cherry Blossom

[Epicuro Kishore]

Thefull game was first released on August 17, 2003, at Comiket 64. The game introduces many gameplay changes over its predecessor Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, many of which would become standard in subsequent Touhou games, including the ability to see the player's own hitbox.

Perfect Cherry Blossom introduces the "Cherry" scoring system, unique to the game. Shooting enemies, and grazing (having enemy bullets reach the edge of the player hitbox) increases the "Cherry Meter", and bombing or dying decreases it. A higher cherry meter allows the player to gain more points from Point Items, and when a total of 50,000 Cherry Points are collected, the player will be given a Supernatural Border, a shield that lasts for seven seconds. While active, Point Items are collected instantly, and the player can be protected from one enemy attack, which will remove all onscreen bullets but end the shield prematurely. If the player is able to survive for the entirety of the shield's duration without being hit, an additional point bonus is granted.[3] Other important gameplay changes introduced in Perfect Cherry Blossom include the player's shot having different properties if they are focused, a cursor on the bottom margin of the screen during a boss battle which tells the player where the boss is currently located, and a consistent time in which to perform a deathbomb.[4]

Perfect Cherry Blossom consists of six regular stages with four levels of difficulty, and also offers a practice mode, allowing the player to play through a single stage at any time, provided they have completed it already. Depending on difficulty, a positive or negative multiplier bonus is applied and also given at the end of each stage. If the player completes the game without using a continue, they are shown the "good ending" of their particular shot type, and unlock an additional "Extra Stage".[5] However, if the Extra Stage is completed, an additional "Phantasm Stage" is unlocked, which contains the conclusion to the game's story. As a result, in terms of the number of unique stages, Perfect Cherry Blossom is the longest game in the series, with eight.

In the spring of the 119th season of Gensokyo, the Spring Snow Incident (春雪異変) occurs. Gensokyo is stuck in an eternal winter, with snowstorms happening in May. The three heroines, each for their own reasons, set out to do something about the winter, and return Gensokyo's spring. As the Hakurei Shrine is old, the winter caused Reimu to be perpetually stuck in the cold, which motivates Reimu to resolve the incident. Upon finding a cherry blossom petal in her home in the Forest of Magic, Marisa is intrigued as to whether the eternal winter is affecting places outside of Gensokyo, and like Reimu, Sakuya has to end the winter, as otherwise she would run out of supplies to keep the Scarlet Devil Mansion warm.[6] Canonically, Reimu is the one that resolves this incident.

After passing a barrier located above the clouds, the heroine enters the gate of the Netherworld (冥界). There she is confronted by half-ghost gardener Youmu Konpaku. Youmu explains that she had been stealing the essence of spring throughout Gensokyo in order to make the Saigyō Ayakashi (西行妖), a youkai cherry blossom tree, bloom perfectly under orders from her mistress, Yuyuko Saigyouji. The heroine defeats Youmu and proceeds to Hakugyokurō (白玉楼) to get Gensokyo's spring back. There the ghost princess of Hakugyokurō, Yuyuko, reveals that she had an interest in a corpse sleeping beneath the Saigyou Ayakashi from before her existence. In order to break the seal, the youkai cherry blossom tree needed to bloom fully. Yuyuko and the heroine fight to get the last "spring" contained in the heroine needed for the Perfect Cherry Blossom, and to reclaim Gensokyo's spring. After the heroine defeats Yuyuko, the Saigyou Ayakashi starts to lose its health. However, the seal has been weakened from the near-complete bloom, and the sealed soul is temporarily unleashed. The soul is revealed to be Yuyuko's, and the heroine fights her a second time, until Yuyuko's soul is finally sealed. As a result of the Spring Snow Incident, since the arrival of spring was late, the hanami season became short, and was also the trigger for the incident orchestrated by Suika Ibuki in Immaterial and Missing Power, the next Touhou game.

A few days later, Yuyuko asks the heroine for a favour. The magic boundary between Gensokyo and the Netherworld was weakened by Yukari Yakumo, one of Yuyuko's friends, to make stealing Gensokyo's spring easier, which resulted in many yuurei being seen in Gensokyo. Yuyuko asks the heroine to find her friend, who would be preparing for the flower-viewing event during this time, and remind her to repair the boundary.

In the Extra Stage, the heroine searches for Yukari. Instead, the heroine meets Chen. It is revealed that Chen was the shikigami of Ran Yakumo, and Ran comes to fight the heroine after Chen is defeated again. Ran reveals that she is also a shikigami, and that she will not does not want anyone to disturb her master. The heroine fights Ran, knowing it will get her master's attention, and is victorious in battle.

Ran's master, Yukari, does not appear, and Ran tells the heroine that she should try coming back at night, since her master sleeps less often during the night. In the Phantasm Stage, the heroine returns that night and defeats a weakened Ran again, after which Yukari emerges to greet the heroine. Yukari is quite surprised at the heroine's ability and decides to continue where Ran left off. Yukari is defeated, and uses her abilities to fulfill the heroine's request. However, as this was not resolved and continues for a time, Youmu went to Gensokyo and gathered back the yuurei with a hitodama light.

ZUN stated that Perfect Cherry Blossom is "not a very smart game", saying that since many new people are playing his games, it would be nice to have more fan service, but it is just more of the same. He says that this is on purpose, since doujin games give him the freedom to create what he likes as opposed to game companies where the main goal is to attract new customers.[8]

British comedian and journalist Charlie Brooker, in his video game review show Gameswipe, presented Perfect Cherry Blossom as an example of the shoot 'em up genre that "masochistic maniacs actively enjoy dipping into". He said the game "sort of resembles a firework display being sick".[13]

The game takes place in the mystic oriental land of Gensokyo, as usual. In the game's scenario, May has already begun, yet the winter storms show no signs of stopping just yet. Playing as either Reimu Hakurei (a shrine maiden), Marisa Kirisame (a playful magician) or Sakuya Izayoi (the head maid from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil), you must battle your way through 6 difficult stages and 2 unlockable extra stages into the depths of the Netherworld to uncover the truth behind the stolen spring.

Perfect Cherry Blossom features three different playable characters to choose from, with two different Spell Card types each. Reimu Hakurei can weave through the smallest gaps with ease, and her attacks deal low to decent damage, depending on which type you use. Marisa Kirisame relies on her speed and power to compensate for her thin attack area, but the amount of power she wields is very considerable. Sakuya Izayoi has even wider and more versatile attacks than Reimu, but can be quite tricky to use and maneuver.

The largest change Perfect Cherry Blossom introduces over its predecessor Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is the addition of the "Cherry" scoring system. Almost every part of the game is linked with the "Cherry Meter": shooting enemies increases your Cherry points, bombing or dying decreases your Cherry points, reaching 50,000 Cherry+ points gives you a temporary shield. The higher the Cherry Gauge becomes, the more points you gain from Point Items.

Other important gameplay changes introduced in Perfect Cherry Blossom are the appearance of your character's hitbox while you are focused, a change in the properties of your attacks depending on whether you are normal or focused, and a helpful cursor on the bottom margin during a boss battle which tells you where the boss is currently located.

"Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees! You have to believe it. Otherwise, you couldn't possibly explain the beauty of the cherry blossoms. I was restless, lately, because I couldn't believe in this beauty. But I have now finally understood: dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees! You have to believe it." -- Motojirō Kajii, opening of "Under the Cherry Trees"

In Gensokyo, people relax and bask in the calm of a winter without end. Spring has shown no sign of arriving even though it's already May, and in fact the snowstorms are continually getting worse. Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, is tired of being cold day in and day out and wants to find the source of this unnatural weather. Marisa Kirisame, a black-clothed magician, sees a cherry blossom petal float down outside her warm house and wonders if spring is happening somewhere else. Sakuya Izayoi, the chief maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, knows that their winter supplies are diminishing quickly, and wants to end this prolonged winter before they run out completely. Depending on who you choose, only one of these three heroines actually goes out and investigates.

The heroine starts off her journey by heading off into the snow-covered forests in search of clues. She battles the ice fairy Cirno and the winter spirit Letty Whiterock in the forest, and the nekomata Chen in the village of Mayohiga, without any progress in her search. Finally, after defeating Alice Margatroid and her dolls, the heroine finds a lead when she notices several cherry blossoms blowing around in the sky. The heroine follows the trail of cherry blossoms high above Gensokyo, breaking through the greetings of Lily White, eventually reaching a great magical boundary and the poltergeist musicians Prismriver Sisters (Lunasa, Merlin, and Lyrica). After silencing the Prismriver Sisters, the heroine crosses the boundary into the Netherworld.

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