Touhou Juuouen Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is the latest entry of the Touhou franchise.

The Touhou series began by creator ZUN in 1997 on PC-98 systems. The games largely take place in the fictional world of Gensokyo, where myth and magic linger in the face of rejection by the real world.

The series has sustained itself in terms of popularity thanks to ZUN’s openness with allowing others to use the IP for doujin works and other fanmade projects. At the center of it all, is the mainline series created by ZUN.

Traditionally, Touhou games are vertical bullet hell (danmaku) games where you dodge enemy bullets while fighting foes on the screen, almost like a rail shooter. However some games in the mainline series have deviated from the formula such as fighting games like Immaterial and Missing Power. Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is still a bullet hell but shakes things up by being competitive.

In Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost players fight in a split screen field and fight enemies and use powers to both clear their own side and create hazards on the enemy side. Think of it like Tetris or Puyo Puyo but with bullets and enemies instead of blocks and blobs.

The last time there was a game like this was 2005’s Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

Touhou 19 Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost is available now on Windows PC (via Steam). There’s no official English translation, but with a vibrant and active global fanbase, translation patches come out in short order for Touhou games.

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