If you’re an avid Anime fan and a part of its online community, you must’ve heard a lot about Anime games.
And I’m specifically talking about the Touhou games since they’re known for being the most iconic Anime Indie games from Japan.
Touhou is a pretty clever and tricky game that goes above and beyond graphics or gameplay. Sure, character design and gameplay is what makes it one of the best Indie games.
However, the concept itself is pretty wild. So let’s talk about the best Touhou Games for beginners. And spoiler alert, there isn’t one.
6. Touhou Kikeijuu – Wily Beast and Weakest Creature
| Developer | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Release Date | May 5, 2019 |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
The mechanics used in Wily Beast and Weakest Creature were a little out of ordinary. But that doesn’t mean that the game itself was hard to play.
It’s quite beginner’s friendly where our main characters go on an adventure to find out about the animal spirits that are trying to take over their world.
In Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, you have the option to choose between a total of three animal spirits, Eagle, Otter, or Wolf.
This way, you can take advantage of their abilities in actual gameplay, and overall, for a Touhou game, this might not be the easiest to adapt but it’s definitely not the most difficult Touhou game either.
5. Touhou Tenkuushou – Hidden Star in Four Seasons
| Developer | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Release Date | August 11, 2017 |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
Hidden Star is the sixteenth’s game of the Touhou series.
The story incorporates Reimu, Marisa, Aya, and Cirno. All of the characters are trying to investigate why the change in seasons is happening.
Overall, Hidden Star in Four Seasons is pretty beginner friendly when it comes to the gameplay. And the slow bullets coupled up with not-so-fatal hitboxes are the reasons why.
Even though there are high pressure moments, you can’t argue that this is not only one of the best Touhou games but also one of the most beginner’s friendly ones out there.
In Hidden Star, players use a system called “Sub-Season” that incorporates seasonal themed objects like snowflakes and cherry blossoms for the sake of boosting your progress.
Some of the items are also very important as you can literally bomb enemies and bosses to further make progress in the game.
4. Touhou Shinreibyou: Ten Desires
| Developer | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Release Date | August 13, 2011 |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
Ten Desires is the 12th game of the series that was launched in 2011.
This one makes an ideal beginner’s friendly Touhou game due to the fact that it’s one of the most simplified games out there.
With newer graphics and easier controls, you’re not going to miss a lot. However, defining mechanics is something new and unique, making it difficult for the new players to sustain for a long period of time.
On the other hand, for beginner’s who are willing to learn how this game works, Ten Desires is the ideal Touhou game you can play.
You’ll get to play a total of 17 tracks in Ten Desires. It’s a pretty cool Touhou game overall.
3. Touhou Fūjinroku: Mountain of Faith
| Developer | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Release Date | August 17, 2007 |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
Mountain of Faith is a simplified Touhou game with only two playable characters.
With MOF, you’ll see a lot of simple stuff that makes it very beginner’s friendly like the bombing mechanism that stores energy as you collect more and more items. You can see the energy stored in a meter.
On the other hand, players only have three lives which sort of makes this game difficult as you move on to the higher levels.
Moreover, as there’s no score systems, Mountain of Faith is ideal for beginners as they won’t have to deal with complexity right from the start. Everything is simple and fun.
2. Touhou Youyoumu : Perfect Cherry Blossom
| Developer | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Release Date | August 17, 2003 |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
Perfect Cherry Blossom is the sixth game of the Touhou series and as always, the story incorporates our MCs trying to identify an unknown force that is stealing spring from their land.
Instead of a Sci-Fi theme, Perfect Cherry Blossom has more of a fantasy theme that makes it very Anime-Centric.
You should try PCB first due to the fact that it feels less old and it’s not a lot more complex compared to Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
The difficulty threshold of both games is almost the same. On the other hand, Perfect Cherry Blossom can surely become a lot easier too.
1. Touhou Koumakyou: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
| Developer | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Release Date | August 11, 2002 |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is a great Touhou game for beginners. It follows our MC, Reimu Hakurei who is going on a mission to find out who is causing the Scarlet Mist and stop it.
You can also pick Marisa Kirisame whose main mission is to protect the land.
As a Bullet Hell game, you might need to take it slow and steady. If you think you can breeze through Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, you’re wrong.
This is the 6th version of the Touhou series and serves as a great starting point.
You need to shoot aesthetically pleasing bullets and focus on saving your life to complete the missions.
If you’re new to Touhou series, we’ll recommend you to play the easy version and then work your way up to the harder ones.
All in all, the music in Touhou: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is exquisite, the theme is colorful and vibrant, and the gameplay is something that’ll keep you hooked for hours.
Conclusion
These are the best Touhou games you can play if you’re a beginner and want to kickstart your Touhou series gaming journey with a mild and enjoyable experience.
If you end up playing all these games, you should definitely play other Touhou titles as they’ll cater to your hunger for more action.
You can even read manga and search online for more Touhou content since it’s a vast area yet to be explored by a lot of people out there. So, which Touhou game are you going to play next?