Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest

Media/distribution | Digital

***Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest*** (東方鳴神(とうほうめいじん)歌(か) ~ Song of Divine Tempest, **Tōhō Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest**?, lit. *Oriental Song of the Thunder God*) is a freeware manic shooter game developed and published by Drillimation Systems in collaboration with Studio Emiko, who wrote the game's plot and script, and E. Enthusiasm, who did most of the graphics. This game was released on December 8, 2023, and marks the directorial debut of Emiko Hosokawa as part of Studio Emiko's *Emiverse*, being the first game produced by Drillimation to not be directed by Susumu Takajima. The game is a *Touhou Project* fangame, featuring four playable characters with different attack styles and scenarios, and also includes the co-op mode as featured in the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy. It is the tenth installment of the *Drillimation Danmaku Universe*, and the second game of Phase Two.

*Song of Divine Tempest* centers on an endless mysterious thunderstorm draining most of Gensokyo's audience. The four player characters set out to find the source of the storm, battling various characters along the way.

## Gameplay

*Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest* retains the gameplay of the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy, with the main objective of defeating the stage boss in order to advance to the next stage.

### Changes from the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy

* All graphics are done in a 16-bit style reminiscent of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

### New features

* Players can now adjust the brightness of the border during gameplay to prevent screen burn-in.
* Spell card names vary by difficulty. Additionally, spell card history is now recorded and can be viewed in the options menu.

### Removed features

* The Boss Rush Mode feature from *Chuhou Joutai 3: Three Nights of Scarlet Abscess* was removed.

## Plot

The game opens in a thunderstorm, supposedly created by a mysterious concert that attracts many of Gensokyo's denizens. It impacts two of the land's local bands, the Prismriver Sisters and Choujuu Gigaku. The characters set out to find the mastermind behind the storm.

### Characters

While several characters from *Touhou Project* appear as playable characters and cameos, all bosses except for three are original.

#### Playable

* Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine
* Marisa Kirisame, a magician and the Queen of the Federal Kingdom of Gensokyo
* Sakuya Izayoi, the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion
* Youmu Konpaku, a half-youkai samurai living in the Netherworld

#### Bosses

* Tamako Hikawa, stage 1 midboss
* Kaori Hosokawa, stage 1 boss
* Ayaka Takajima, stage 2 midboss and boss
* Emiri Kanzaki, stage 3 midboss and boss
* Yumi Ochiai, stage 4 midboss (returning from the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy)
* Kagami Ochiai, stage 4 boss (returning from the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy)
* Jane, stage 5 midboss and boss, final stage midboss
* Raiko Horikawa, final stage boss and extra stage midboss
* Jeanne Horikawa, extra stage boss

#### Cameos

* Lyrica Prismriver, appears in intro
* Merlin Prismriver, appears in intro
* Lunasa Prismriver, appears in intro
* Kyouko Kasodani, appears in intro
* Mystia Lorelei, appears in intro
* Veronika Grieg, appears in multiple endings
* Susumu Takajima, appears in Marisa's ending (returning from the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy)
* Remilia Scarlet, appears in Sakuya's ending
* Yuyuko Saigyouji, appears in Youmu's ending

#### Mentioned

* Yukari Yakumo, mentioned by Reimu in the extra stage
* Sanae Kochiya, mentioned by Sakuya in the extra stage
* Seiga Kaku, mentioned by Youmu in the extra stage

## Development

Emiko Hosokawa conceived the concept for *Song of Divine Tempest* during the development of *Touhou Kourinden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria* in February 2023. After several failed prototypes and attempting to quit altogether to focus on a VTuber career, her opportunity to return to the game industry came when Drillimation Systems gave her the chance to direct her own title. The game's soundtrack was the first stage of preproduction, being composed by the Prophet Driller during the spring of 2023, and development formally began in the summer of that year after the Prophet took a two-week trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland for graphics research. The trip would form the basis for the church featured in the game. E. Enthusiasm, who discovered Drillimation through the *Touhou Project NES Demakes*, signed on to do the sprite work for the game, creating most of the character sprites and background tiles.

Development was difficult for Drillimation because of Hosokawa's busy schedule; late in development she began experimenting with creating ZUN-styled artworks, which was said to have slowed down the final and extra stages' production, and didn't finish until the first week of November.

### Marketing

Being a freeware game, Drillimation chose not to create a campaign for the game through Super Indie Games as the Prophet did for the *Chuhou Joutai* trilogy.

## Reception

 Steam
 Publication

*Song of Divine Tempest* was well-received upon release, receiving praise for the gameplay and difficulty, though the coin mechanic, player movement, and balancing choices were subject to criticism. The game holds a score of 72% based on 18 reviews.

## Media

### Characters

* Reimu Hakurei
* Marisa Kirisame
* Sakuya Izayoi
* Youmu Konpaku
* Tamako Hikawa
* Kaori Hosokawa
* Ayaka Takajima
* Emiri Kanzaki
* Yumi Ochiai
* Kagami Ochiai
* Jane
* Raiko Horikawa
* Jeanne Horikawa

## Behind the Scenes

* This is the first Drillimation game to:
	+ Not be directed by Susumu Takajima.
	+ Be developed by more than one person and internationally.
	+ Feature 16-bit graphics in the style of the Super Nintendo.
	+ Not have all of the graphics done by Susumu Takajima.
	+ Be released as an album before the game.
	+ Have Yumi Ochiai be featured as a boss.
	+ Have its Steam version not include any achievements.
	+ Have any male character from the *Chuhou Joutai* games appear.

## External links

* Homepage on Drillimation's website
* Game on itch.io
* Game on Steam
* Source code on GitHub
* Soundtrack album on Bandcamp