Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost
| Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost | |
|---|---|
 Game cover, featuring silhouettes of Chiyari Tenkajin (left), Son Biten (center), and Enoko Mitsugashira (right) | |
| Developer(s) | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Publisher(s) | Team Shanghai Alice |
| Series | Touhou Project |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | August 13, 2023 |
| Genre(s) | Bullet hell (danmaku), versus |
| Mode(s) | Single-player Multiplayer |
Touhou Juuouen ~ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost (東方獣王園 ~ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost., lit. "Eastern Beast King Garden") is a vertical-scrolling, split-screen, bullet hell type shoot em’ up video game developed by ZUN, serving as the 19th official and 32nd overall game of the Touhou Project series. The game was first announced on April 14, 2023, with its demo released on May 7, 2023 at Reitaisai 20,[1] and the game fully released at Comiket 102 on August 13, 2023, with a Steam release the same day.[2][3][4][5] Notably, Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost features the split-screen feature similarly found in Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream and Phantasmagoria of Flower View unlike any of the other Touhou Project games.
Gameplay
[edit]Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost has modes including a single-player story mode and multiplayer player-versus-player mode including LAN play, online play, player versus computer, and computer versus computer which the player does not interact with. Story mode, unlike its similar Phantasmagoria of Flower View but like most other Touhou Project games, requires the player to complete a series of six stages each featuring an enemy character as their opponent gameplay-wise with, on a side note to gameplay, dialogue included with separate stories for each character. Likewise to the other games, Easy, Normal, Hard, and “Lunatic” are offered as the game difficulty which the game can be played at. Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost differs by not featuring an Extra stage (which features a further difficult stage than the rest of the stages before it) even after beating the game with a 1CC.
Similar to earlier iterations in the series, Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream and Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is a vertical-scrolling split-screen shoot 'em up where two characters play simultaneously on two separate screens and fire bullet projectiles at enemies, such as fairies, which fire projectiles back at the player, requiring the player to dodge and fire projectiles that destroy enemies to survive. The game also features a health bar system allowing characters to survive multiple hits from enemy projectiles before becoming defeated.[6] A character wins when their opponent’s health bar contains zero hearts left, which, in story mode, causes the player either to move to the next stage (unless it is stage 6, where they instead receive an ending) or require the player to use a continue or start over. In any other mode, it simply means the character’s defeat and no continue option is available. It also features a bomb system, where players can accumulate bombs that, when used, release attacks that deal powerful damage to enemies; however, like other Touhou Project games, the number of bombs available are limited. When a player has accumulated enough points in their gauge, they can attack with another mechanic called EX special attacks or boss attacks.[7]
Returning from Unconnected Marketeers is the ability card game mechanic which grants the character a specified buff (i.e., summoning more projectiles or affecting the projectiles, such as with slowness, fired by enemies). Defeating an opponent will grant the player their corresponding card in the story mode.
Plot
[edit]Taking place after Unconnected Marketeers, Gensokyo’s land has lost ownership due to the opening of the markets.[3] Without any ownership, spirits are able to invade the land and take over.[7]
Characters
[edit]Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost features the second largest playable roster in the series’ history at 19 characters, which is tied with the 19 playable in Antinomy of Common Flowers and goes behind Touhou Hisoutensoku with its 20 playable characters. Only Reimu Hakurei is playable from the start,[7] as the rest are unlocked by beating another character's story.
Returning characters
[edit]- Reimu Hakurei
- Marisa Kirisame
- Sanae Kochiya
- Ran Yakumo
- Aunn Komano
- Nazrin
- Seiran
- Rin Kaenbyou
- Tsukasa Kudamaki
- Mamizou Futatsuiwa
- Yachie Kicchou
- Saki Kurokoma
- Yuuma Toutetsu
- Suika Ibuki
Newcomers
[edit]- Son Biten
- Enoko Mitsugashira
- Chiyari Tenkajin
- Hisami Yomotsu
- Zanmu Nippaku
Development
[edit]ZUN developed this game to feel like the previous entries in the series, putting a heavy emphasis on speed and tight dodging.[8]
Reception
[edit]On Steam, as of March 17, 2025, Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost has a 93% positive review rate.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ "東方Project第19弾「東方獣王園 ～ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost.」，Steamでデモ版を公開". 4gamer (in Japanese). May 13, 2023.
- ^ "ZUN Announces Touhou Project's 19th Game". Anime News Network. February 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "《東方Project》系列新作《東方獸王園》正式版發售，賭上幻想鄉土地的彈幕大戰開打！". Gamebase (in Chinese (Taiwan)). August 14, 2023.
- ^ a b "Touhou Juuouen ~ Unfinished Dream of Living Ghost". Steam. Archived from the original on March 14, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ "東方Project第19弾「東方獣王園 ～ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost.」，Steamで配信開始". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2023-08-14. Retrieved 2025-03-24.
- ^ Palmer, Lauren (August 14, 2023). "Touhou 19 Now Available on Steam". Siliconera.
- ^ a b c Keiichi Yokoyama (August 13, 2023). "東方Project新作『東方獣王園 〜 Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost.』Steam版配信開始。『東方花映塚』よりいつもの東方に近い、スピーディーな対戦型STG". Automaton (in Japanese).
- ^ "Touhou Jyuuouen ~ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is Available Now on Steam in Japanese - QooApp News". August 14, 2023.