Touhou Kourinden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria

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***Touhou Kourinden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria***, known in Japan as ***Touhou Kourinden ~ Hero of Phantasm*** (東方香霖伝(とうほうこうりんでん)～幻想(げんそう)の勇者(ゆうしゃ), **Tōhō Kōrinden ~ Gensō no Yūsha**?, lit. *Oriental Legend of the Fragrant Lotus ~ Hero of Phantasm*), is an upcoming 2024 danmaku role-playing game being developed by Drillimation Systems. It is the first installment of a new franchise created by Drillimation titled *Mythos of Phantasmagoria*. The game is a prequel to the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy, set over 300 years before the events of the games. The beta was released on June 2, 2023, with the full game set to release in the spring of 2024. The game is designed to be an easy and intuitive "pick up and play" experience for beginners who have never played a role-playing game before. Much of the game takes heavy inspiration from *Chuhou Joutai 3: Three Nights of Scarlet Abscess*, which was previously developed before *Mythos of Phantasmagoria*, in terms of its graphics. This includes reusing assets from *Three Nights of Scarlet Abscess* and rearranging several songs from said game.

Players assume the role of Rinnosuke Morichika (called Kourin in-game) and control him from an overhead perspective, navigating him throughout the Land of Illusions that would eventually become Kozan in a quest to find and defeat Vladrouge Scarlet, who is the game's main villain. The game will be broken up into six distinct chapters in the form of acts set during a different time period, with the first four following the story of each of the playable characters. The last two acts unite the characters on a journey to defeat Vladrouge and establish the Federal Kingdom of Eastern Kozan.

## Gameplay

*Touhou Kourinden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria* is played from a top-down perspective. Players navigate Kourin in the overworld, fight enemies from a side-view perspective, and may configure their items, gear, magic, or gameplay settings.

The battles are the main mechanic of the game. When the player bumps into a monster in the field or is challenged by large monsters or outlaws, the game enters the battle mode. Battles are projected from a side-view perspective with the party members situated on the right and the enemies on the left. During battles, the player can have a party member attack using their weapon, special skills, or magic spells. Additionally, players can guard the active party member, use an item, or flee; though fleeing is not possible in event battles. Both party members and monsters' vitality is measured in Hit Points (HP); when a battler's HP is dropped to zero, they will faint and be unable to battle until they are revived. Once all of the enemies have fainted, all party members receive a number of experience points (EXP), which raises their level after a certain number of experience points have been accumulated. Leveling up raises a party member's statistics, which helps them grow stronger.

During enemy attack sequences, players must avoid attacks unleashed by enemies in a similar fashion to Drillimation's previous games.

### Battle System

#### Commands

Battles begin when bumping into an enemy in the overworld. In battle, party members have six possible options:

* **Fight**, which allows the character to perform a basic attack using the weapon they currently have equipped.
* **Skill**, which allows the character to use a special skill that they currently have equipped using Physical Points (PP).
* **Magic**, which allows the character to use a magic spell that they currently have equipped using Magic Points (MP).
* **Guard**, which temporarily raises the character's Defense and Special Defense, causing the character to receive less damage if they are hit by an enemy's attack.
* **Item**, which allows the character to use an item present in the player's inventory on themselves.
* **Flee**, which allows the party to flee the scene, which may or may not be possible depending on the type of enemy being fought.

The first three make use of action commands, such as timed hits which deal more damage if the button is pushed at the right time.

#### Stats

During battles, the player's party has stats that grow as they level up:

* **HP**, or hit points, which shows how much damage a character can take before fainting. When it falls to 0, the character faints and will be unable to fight unless revived. Having the entire party faint results in losing a battle where the player can continue or retry a battle, or give up altogether. Giving up will warp the player to the last town they visited.
* **MP**, or magic points, show how many magic spells a character can use.
* **Attack** is the physical strength of a character. It is also combined with the character's weapon, determining how much damage they deal to an enemy with physical attacks.
* **Defense** reduces the amount of damage dealt by an enemy's physical attack.
* **Special Attack** is the magical strength of a character. It is also combined with the character's weapon, determining how much damage they deal to an enemy with magical attacks.
* **Special Defense** reduces the amount of damage dealt by an enemy's magical attack.
* **Speed** determines the amount of time a character must wait before they can perform an action. Battlers with a high speed stat can attack before any other battlers, or in some cases attack multiple times before another battler attacks.
* **Luck** determines the odds of landing a critical hit and resistance to status problems.

Every time a character levels up, players have the choice to further upgrade one more stat.

#### Status Problems

The player and enemies can inflict status problems, depending on the type of attack. Some status effects wear off after enough time passes or after a battle, though some persist. Certain items can cure status problems.

* **Fainting** occurs when the character loses all of their HP and prevents them from battling until they are revived. If all party members faint, the player will lose a battle.
* **Poison** causes the character to steadily lose HP every time they perform an action, and can cause them to faint if this is not cured. The majority of moves that cause this are Poison-type.
* **Paralysis** reduces the speed of the character, requiring them to wait longer before they can perform an action. The majority of moves that cause this are Electric-type.
* **Burn** causes the character to steadily lose HP every time they perform an action, and also reduces their Attack stat. Burns can eventually cause a character to faint if this is not cured. The majority of moves that cause this are Fire-type.
* **Sleep** prevents the character from performing any actions for a certain number of turns.
* **Freeze** prevents the character from performing any actions for a certain number of turns. Unlike sleep, the number of turns is larger. The majority of moves that cause this are Ice-type.
* **Confusion** causes the character to occasionally attack themselves on accident. This status problem wears off after battle.

## Plot

### Setting

*Mythos of Phantasmagoria* takes place during the Edo Period, and in the continent that would eventually become Kozan. The region features human and youkai-populated towns and cities connected via a route system. Some areas are only accessible once certain tasks are completed.

### Story

#### Prologue

Prior to the start of the game, a young swordsman by the name of Master Kirisame walks out onto a beach. After hearing a voice out of nowhere, he turns and meets a siren named Mima, who tells Master that she has been cursed by an unknown being. Master carries Mima into his home, where their relationship eventually develops into marriage over the course of a year.

#### Act I

The game formally begins with a young Rinnosuke Morichika (called Kourin) waking up in a forest outside the Humanoid Village (present-day Kourindou). After walking into the village, he greets Master Kirisame, who gives the young Kourin shelter. While Master is helping Kourin get used to his new surroundings, one of Master's maids barges into Kourin's new home with news that Mima, Master's wife, had given birth to a baby girl. One of his maids suggests the name Marisa for his newborn daughter.

As Kourin tries to leave the Humanoid Village, he is stopped by Master, who explains to Kourin that monsters live in the wilderness and encountering them without a weapon would be very dangerous. A Pacoonba goes out and attacks them both, but Kourin quickly evades the Pacoonba's tackle. Master then orders Kourin to defeat the Pacoonba. After the battle, Master realizes Kourin's potential and furthermore sends Kourin to the Hakurei Shrine in the town of Kozan (present-day Kozankyo) to pick up something for Marisa.

When Kourin arrives at Kozan and the Hakurei Shrine, the shrine's priest gives him a bestiary and map of the continent to help him on his way. Additionally, he is given a scepter to give to Marisa. Upon returning to the Humanoid Village, he encounters a young boy named Myouren Hijiri, who wants the scepter for his sister Byakuren. After the battle with Myouren, he flees without the scepter. Master then sends Kourin on three more journeys, the first of which is going to the Forest of Magic to pick up ingredients so that Master can bake a cake. From there Kourin encounters a Pacoonba larger than its regular size. The second journey was taking a trip to the Kinmyou Caverns in Kinmyou to gather materials to make a new furnace after Master blew it out. From there, Kourin goes face-to-face with a few grunts of the Gensokyo Socialist Order, who are attempting to extract the caverns' ores for their own cause. The last journey is a trip to the Myouren Temple to get some incense sticks, where Kourin fights Myouren again.

A few years pass, and Vladrouge Scarlet, the leader of the Gensokyo Socialist Order, hears a prophecy that Marisa would have the power to defeat him. The Kirisame family packs up and moves to Gairai, and just as they are moving in, Vladrouge visits Gairai, hoping to find Marisa and erase her soul. Mima orders Master to defend Marisa while she teams up with Kourin to find and defeat Vladrouge. They then encounter him, and he challenges Kourin to fight. Kourin easily defeats Vladrouge, and in a fit of rage, orders Mima to open the door so that he can slaughter Marisa. Mima refuses, and after defying Vladrouge's orders a few times, he stabs Mima to death. A police officer, who saw him, paralyzes Vladrouge using the Thunder spell for his crime of murder against Mima and is formally arrested. When Master learns of the devastating news, he proclaims that both Kourin and Marisa will succeed where Mima failed. During Mima's funeral and cremation, Master expresses the hope of them defeating Vladrouge someday.

#### Act II

Taking place three years after Mima's death, Marisa moves to and begins her education in the Aetherworld. Because the young Marisa may be inexperienced, Master asks Kourin to accompany her. On the day they move in, Marisa meets a girl roughly her age, whose mother, Luna, introduces as Estelle. Marisa is surprised to learn that Estelle's mother is the Crown Princess of the Aetherworld. She explains how she fled the royal family to live on her own, eventually marrying her husband and producing Estelle as a result. Luna asks the duo to go to the Pandemonium Fortress to speak with her mother, Shinki about the Aetherworld's government. Prior to doing so, the duo is tasked with finding Luna's Greatsword which she lost while hiking in the Kouchi Trail. They go into the trail and find it, stopping a Boss Crimsonite Grunt from taking it.

The duo head to Pandemonium Fortress after retrieving the Greatsword, where they meet Shinki, the Goddess and ruler of the Aetherworld. They learn the story of how Shinki's husband was murdered by Order grunts, and how the Aetherworld was looking for somebody to swear their revenge over his death. They are commanded to head to a hotel that was abandoned after monsters began infesting the location. The two go to the hotel and encounter a couple, both of whom are Crimsonite grunts. They are given the choice to either join the Order or face death. The two refuse and defeat the grunts. As a result of the horseplay the two did, the hotel begins to collapse and they escape. Concerned that Shinki might grill them for the hotel's destruction, Marisa orders the hotel to be rebuilt after Shinki learns that Wererats were responsible for the destruction of the hotel, and that they enlist the help of the local craftsmen from the Goonhashi Forest to gather wood for its rebuilding.

Upon arriving, they learn about a "king" equivalent to a Wererat, where the two go in and defeat. After defeating the King Wererat, a cry of a girl is heard throughout the forest, for which Marisa immediately thinks as Estelle's. The two continue searching and eventually find her in a panic. Estelle tells the two that her mother went missing and that she had been searching the forest for her. A Dark Pix attempts to attack them but is defeated. They rush to Pandemonium Castle where they inform Shinki about Luna's disappearance. Shinki suspects that Luna may have ended up in a tower nearby, for which Kourin and Marisa go out to search. They reach the top of the tower and see a dragoon along with his dragon, who happens to have taken Luna there. They confront them both, defeating them in the process. Marisa bangs down the door to Luna's room, freeing her in the process. It is later confirmed that Luna was in Goonhashi Forest to gather wood but ended up falling asleep to a sleeping spell cast by the dragoon. Luna's husband arrives and takes them back to Pandemonium Fortress, where Shinki hosts a ball celebrating her liberation.

#### Act III

Between the events of acts II and III, a civil war breaks out, forcing them to flee back home to the Humanoid Village. Marisa briefly returns to the Aetherworld, meeting a girl who was Goddess Shinki's adopted daughter. This girl leaves the Aetherworld after Shinki dies and Luna becomes Goddess of the Aetherworld. Kourin and Marisa return home, only to see the girl sleeping on Kourin's bed. Marisa introduces the girl as Alice to Kourin, giving her one of her dolls as a way to wake her up. After waking up, Alice is questioned why she was there in the first place. Alice then requests help from Kourin and Marisa, wanting to start a doll manufacturing company. She explains that she doesn't have the funding to start, so they go to Master Kirisame for help. The three learn they are out of luck as Master doesn't have high income. Kourin and Marisa learn that Alice is a member of the youkai people and that her ethnicity was being persecuted by the humanoids who partook in the civil war. Marisa insists that the Hakurei Clan rebuild their relationship with the youkai people, and Master asks Alice to deliver a gift to the shrine.

The three travel to Kozan and deliver the gift, and after leaving the shrine, Master rushes to the Hakurei Shrine with an ad he received in the mail, advertising a contest that a casino in Kanjotaki is hosting, giving Alice the chance to make her dreams reality. The three head to Kanjotaki, passing through Gairai where the grave of Mima, Marisa's mother, lies before they are ambushed by Crimsonite grunts. The three defeat the grunts and continue the journey to Kanjotaki, but they end up encountering a boulder preventing them from reaching their destination. Kourin tries to move it but doesn't nudge a centimeter. Knowing that they are near the Lake of Acid and the mansion of Mugenkan, they go there and request the help of its owner Yuuka Kazami to see if she can intervene. She fires her Master Spark at the boulder to no luck. Marisa mentions about a town named Akuron that they could go to and see if its townsfolk could help. The three travel to Akuron and see that a bridge leading to Kanjotaki is out. They later discover the same airship that Marisa discovered during the civil war. Since only one person is allowed in the airship at a time, Kourin and Marisa hide behind two pillars and pretend that Alice is there. They encounter the airship's crew, Yumemi Okazaki and Chiyuri Kitashirakawa. They request that a boulder be cleared, and Yumemi clears the boulder to success, clearing the way for the three to get to Kanjotaki.

As they continue down the path, they reach Mayohiga and meet a girl named Yukari Yakumo, who has plans to become Gensokyo's most beautiful woman. However, Yukari's father tells the three of a problem blocking the way to Kanjotaki - torrential rainfall triggered a massive landslide, blocking access to Kanjotaki. They are unable to afford workers to clear the path, until a few Crimsonite grunts appear, celebrating their jackpot winnings at the Kanjotaki Casino. Giving them the opportunity, the three battle and defeat the grunts, causing them to inherit the ryo the grunts lost, clearing the way for the three to head to Kanjotaki. The three enter the contest at the Blancrouge Casino where they are tasked with defeating a series of opponents with danmaku, including Vladrouge Scarlet who makes a comeback. Eventually, the three win the contest and receive the prize money.

#### Act IV

Taking place nearly five years after act III, the act begins with the group sitting around. A magician, whom Marisa recognizes as Patchouli Knowledge (often shortened to Patchy) and a former boss grunt for the Gensokyo Socialist Order, walks into Marisa's home. Patchy is looking into the mystery behind Marisa's royal origins. The fifteenth birthday of Marisa is approaching, and they ultimately decide to have Marisa feel like a princess on that day in the form of a debutante ball. Master Kirisame suggests they go to Chikurin to meet with Empress Kaguya, the ruler of the People's Kingdom of Gensokyo. The group heads there, but when they arrive, they learn that Kaguya is missing. Reisen Udongein Inaba, one of Kaguya's courtiers who had been ruling in her name, explains she was removed as a result of a curse that Vladrouge Scarlet put on her.

This curse happened to transfigure Kaguya into a siren. Marisa cannot remember how her father undid the curse on her late mother. Reisen asks the group to seek out five royal treasures important to the Empress; these items include the Stone Bowl of Buddha, Jeweled Branch of Hourai, Robe of the King Flamerat, Jewel from the Dragon's Neck, and the egg shell from a swallow. The first four are guarded by monsters that they must defeat, and after obtaining the last one, Eirin runs to the group, saying that the town of Kedomachi, where Kaguya has been residing since she was cursed, is under siege by Crimsonite grunts. The group go in and defeat the grunts, before entering the amphitheatre where Kaguya had been using to host events. After defeating a Steel Hawk as a way to prove the player characters' resilience, she hosts one final show, where it is revealed that true love's kiss can only break the curse.

Returning to Chikurin, Kaguya is told about wanting Marisa's 15th birthday to be a debutante ball, which is then quickly organized. Marisa's birthday comes, leading to a huge celebration inside the Palace of Eternity.

#### Act V

The group decide to travel to the western end of the continent to meet with Queen Yukari. Worried that Marisa would be abducted by grunts of the Gensokyo Socialist Order, Master Kirisame realizes that love is the only way for Kourin and Marisa to stay together. He insists that Kourin marry Marisa, and in order to initiate it they must find two Rings of Luck, both of which are said to be located in Mount Komeiji. This confuses Marisa, making her unsure if Kourin would be a good husband for her. The group then travels to Western Gensokyo, walking until they reach Kyuuto, where they meet a girl being tortured by a Ender Grunt. That girl is revealed to be Satori Komeiji, who invites the group to the Palace of Earth Spirits for tea. Satori, still searching for a husband, reveals how she established her own monarchy so she could live on her own.

The following day, the group travels to the northern area of Mount Komeiji, finding the Gold Ring of Luck in the process. When they get to the southern area of the mountain, they encounter a Crimsonite grunt who tries to take the Silver Ring of Luck but is defeated by the group. Using the Silver Ring, Marisa proposes to Kourin, which he accepts. The group continues onto Yakumoshi, said to be the residence of Yukari. They stop by Saigyou, where the group is informed by Youmu Konpaku about Yukari's beauty. This rumor becomes true once they reach the area and enter a castle situated in Yakumoshi. Yukari confirms she has become the most beautiful woman in Gensokyo, which leaves Marisa concerned about Yukari taking Kourin as her groom. A battle which the group ultimately wins settles the conflict.

On the way back to the Humanoid Village, Marisa devises a plan to beat Yukari in terms of beauty. Patchouli suggests growing her hair out to the floor, but Marisa objects, stating that could take years and her beauty would wither at that point. They head to Chikurin, asking Empress Kaguya about ways to grow Marisa's hair. Eirin Yagokoro insists that her company's keratin vitamins are the key to fast hair growth. Marisa starts taking these vitamins, and her hair reaches the floor within a matter of months, leading to Kourin and Marisa's wedding ceremony being delayed. Eventually, their wedding comes, resulting in the couple being elevated to a king and queen.

## Development

### Conception

*Touhou Kourinden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria* is the first role-playing game project by Drillimation Systems, with the game as a whole developed in under a year. During the development of the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy and *Touhou Project NES Demakes*, the Prophet had been wanting to make a *Touhou Project* RPG for some time, and unlike other fanmade *Touhou Project* RPGs which have a target audience of mostly teens, Drillimation wanted to target a slightly younger audience with *Mythos of Phantasmagoria*.

The game was originally going to be made in RPG Maker, but that engine's limitations prevented him from implementing the mechanics he wanted. He switched to GameMaker, which gave him more creative freedom for the vision of the game. The Prophet had been using GameMaker for a couple of years during the development of Drillimation's other franchises. Wanting to work from a point of reference, Drillimation decided to combine elements from other RPGs such as *Pokémon*, *Final Fantasy*, and *Undertale*. He also implemented elements from the *Mario & Luigi* series, which had been dormant since 2019 after its developer AlphaDream went bankrupt. He intended *Mythos of Phantasmagoria* to be a spiritual successor to the *Mario & Luigi* series and an alternative to *Undertale* for players who aren't ready to take on that game yet.

### Design

Drillimation designed *Mythos of Phantasmagoria* with a graphical aesthetic similar to Sierra's Adventure Game Interpreter engine, mostly their Commodore Amiga ports so the text can be easily legible. The game makes use of the same color palette that was used in Drillimation's previous project, *Chuhou Joutai 3: Three Nights of Scarlet Abscess*, as the Prophet did not want to be constrained to a 16-color EGA palette the Sierra AGI games used. Recalling his experiences with the *Mario & Luigi* games, evadable danmaku attacks were added, alongside giving the player the opportunity to upgrade one more stat after leveling up.

All playable characters' attack sets are inspired by the *Pokémon* games, with each attack given a unique type. Additionally, *Mythos of Phantasmagoria* adopts the *Final Fantasy* spell-naming convention for magic attacks. Throughout the game's development, Drillimation relied on feedback from their own Discord server as well as the server run by Whitethorn Digital to ensure the gameplay was accessible to as many players as possible.

### Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack was composed on the AdLib/SoundBlaster card, which used the YM3812 (OPL2) chip, providing nine channels of FM synthesis, alongside a PCM channel, though only eight of the FM channels were used. When the Sierra AGI games were originally released, the AdLib/SoundBlaster card was the standard for Western PC games in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The score consists not only of original songs but remixed *Touhou Project* and *Chuhou Joutai* music are also part of the mix. Composition had remained a hobby of the Prophet, and he used it extensively for the games that Drillimation produced. A few songs from the game, which started off as PC-98 originals before being rewritten for the AdLib/SoundBlaster card, have also been shared on Drillimation's YouTube channel. Unlike other soundtracks, which are mostly inspired by Japanese popular music (J-Pop), the game takes on a more classical approach. The Prophet has confirmed the *Dragon Quest* series influenced the classical feel of the soundtrack, though some songs took inspiration from the *Final Fantasy* series.

### Release

Throughout the game's development, Drillimation extensively promoted the game on their Twitter and Instagram pages by sharing screenshots weekly. The Prophet also used his Discord server to collect feedback. Drillimation released the demo of the game on their itch.io page on June 2, 2023, with the full game available for Patrons who pledge $5 or more per month.

## Gallery

### Logos

* English logo
* Japanese logo

## Behind the Scenes

* This is the first Drillimation game to:
	+ Be a role-playing game.
	+ Have a soundtrack composed exclusively of sounds found on the YM3812 chip.
		- Earlier versions of the demo for the first *Chuhou Joutai* game were going to natively use the YM3812 chip for its soundtrack but was scrapped as the Prophet did not have a greater understanding of how the chip worked at the time.
	+ Not keep score in any form, though the game still keeps score in the form of experience points.
* This is also the first *Touhou Project* fangame developed by Drillimation to not be an adaptation of an existing *Touhou Project* game.
* This is the last Drillimation game to:
	+ Exclusively use sound effects generated by the NES APU. Starting in *Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest*, PCM-sampled sounds were used.
	+ Use the danmaku design first introduced in *Touhou 3: The Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dreams NES Demake*.

## External Links

* The game's website
* The game's itch.io page