Sometimes I forget that beneath the colorful sceneries, flashy spell cards, and cute girls, Gensokyo is supposed to be a morbid world to exist in as a human. While I do like my Touhou cute and lovable, I also appreciate works that remind me of what it’s supposed to be - macabre and mysterious.

I never really cared about puzzle games, and my knowledge of all the "Hifuu Club" stuff was about as profound as the average Touhou fan's knowledge of the PC-98 era Touhou. For all intents and purposes, this was supposed to not appeal to me whatsoever, yet I found myself most invested in a game I picked up with no expectations at all.

The story is engaging - I found myself constantly hoping for our most iconic Touhou lesbians to succeed. Gameplay flows really well, with constant transitions between RPG Maker-style map exploration and VN elements. Combined with countless engaging mini-game-ish events, I can hardly say I was ever bored. Sound design is absolutely marvelous, with OSTs fitting incredibly well with the locations they play in. Visuals, while not groundbreaking per se, are still very pleasing to look at, especially in the VN sections. Puzzles are fairly balanced, and while I would have preferred some more hints in certain parts, it was nothing that couldn’t be overcome with a bit of backtracking or brainstorming. Granted, you will have to read a lot, which normally I wouln't exactly be too keen of, but this game somehow made even reading engaging enough to not bore me.

Overall, this game is absolutely amazing, captivating and incredible. Worth every cent it costs, which, for the quality and content it offers, is dirt-cheap.