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Touhou Ningyougeki
Touhou Ningyougeki (東方人形劇, lit. “Touhou Puppet Play”)1), also called Touhoumon, is a Japanese Pokémon ROM hack where the signature monsters have been replaced with puppets, resembling Touhou Project characters. Its final release was v1.812 on November 13, 2011.
It was a really popular hack that numerous variants in both Japanese and English emerged, and some are still being developed to this day. The original developers later made a standalone game called Gensou Ningyou Enbu, but there's still some charm to the old Touhou Ningyougeki.
History
On June 28, 2008, “Hemoglobin A1C” (へもぐろびんA1C) uploaded a video previewing their hack2) and the video borrowed music by “Shion” (紫苑) from the “a-TTTempo” doujin circle.3) The early prototypes were distributed in video descriptions, but fans later set up a bulletin board and official summary wiki for the hack. By August 28, 2008, polls deciding the hack's name and featured character concluded.4)5)
The hack eventually became more fleshed out with “v1.5X” with puppets having three-stage evolution lines, yet retained the original type system. This changed in “v1.8X” which introduced a new type system, but puppets can only evolve once with most possessing up to four forms they could evolve into. Unfortunately, we don't know the exact date these versions came out.
Again, the final version was “v1.812” which released on November 13, 2011 and the original developers had went on to make Gensou Ningyou Enbu which debut at Comiket 87 in late December 2014.
Official versions
- Touhou Puppet Play v1.5 (v1.53; 2008-12-18)
- Includes all characters up to Subterranean Animism.
- Three-stage evolution lines (“Chibi” → Normal → “EX”), with some having an “Advent” form.
- TL;DR: It keeps the old Pokémon typing system.
- Official patch is in the “【公式】(公式のみ)” folder, the rest are bonus patches.
- Touhou Puppet Play v1.8 (v1.812; 2011-11-13)
- Includes all characters up to Great Fairy Wars.
- Puppets can evolve once, either normally or via stone. Some puppets have up to four evolutions.
- TL;DR: It has a completely new typing system.
- Select main character patch in “東方人形劇ver1.812”, then apply bugfix in “1.812修正パッチ”.
Japanese hacks
There is a lot of unofficial patches in the Japanese ROM hacking scene, some of the patches are compatible with each other and others aren't. I'll mostly focus on the general patches (“full” hacks) since I don't want to describe all the combination patches, semi-official tournament patches, system patches, puppet patches, new map patches, music patches, image patches, text patches, etc.
Touhou Puppet Play v1.8x
| Hack name | Last update | Author | Description and remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touhou Ningyougeki: Zoku Gensokyo Scenario6) 東方人形劇 続・幻想郷シナリオ | v1.008; 2017-02-04 | てんちょー Tencho | [FireRed] A continuation of the v1.5 hack, “Gensokyo Scenario” by “Uda” (うだ), except it can now be considered a full game. As a warning, it gets really challenging in the end. By the way, the same author was previously known for their Pokémon Golden Sun hack.7) |
| Touhou Ningyougeki: Separation of Electricity from Wind Type8) 東方人形劇 風タイプから電気を分離 | v2.48; 2016-04-26 | 依姫 Yorihime | [FireRed] |
| Touhou Ningyougeki Sazanka 東方人形劇 山茶花 | v1.61; 2014-05-25 | Dsire_E | [FireRed] A hard mode hack with a reasonable level curve, so it says. Patch to v1.8 Renko. |
| Touhou Ningyougeki Reimufate 東方人形劇 reimufatever | 2022-12-22 | Reimufate | [FireRed] An odd, ambitious hack that feels clunky. Patch it to v1.8 Renko, but you need to transfer your save file over to play it. |
| Touhou Ningyougeki 東方人形劇『翡翠』 | v0.3; 2011-11-24 | ユグドラシル Yggdrasil | [Emerald] The only known Hoenn hack. |
| The 1.8 Compatible Johto Region Patch 1.8対応ジョウト地方追加パッチ | v1.26; 2011-10-02 | [FireRed] A patch that add the Johto region, though it has a rushed map design, a bad level curve, a final boss gauntlet, etc. |
English hacks
There are faithful ports of Touhou Puppet Play in English, but most of them got overshadowed by the naivety of the ROM hacking scene, which is how a number of bad hacks with bad level curves, broken features, compressed arranges, extra evolutions, non-Touhou puppets, etc. were so popular. Nowadays, the scene is a bit easier to sift through. Don't forget to pay your respects to Pooshlmer.
Touhou Puppet Play v1.5x
| Hack name | Last update | Author | Description and remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touhou Puppet Play 1.5 English Port | 20??-??-?? | LobsterHime | [FireRed] The ancient prototype port of base “Touhou Puppet Play 1.5”. |
| Touhoumon Blue | v1.3; 2017-05-09 | Zephyr | [FireRed] A fork of Blue's |
| Touhoumon Ordinary | v1.3; 2016-10-26 | GeminiRage | [Silver] Neat Gen 2 hack, though much harder due to balancing and a harder level curve. |
| Touhoumon Aqua + Yui | 2013-04-07 | Aquamentis | [FireRed] Formerly “Merry's Version”. It's good, but the catch is that you don't get as much exp points and prize money. You also see more bugs near the end of the game. |
| Touhoumon World Link | v1.42+; 2012-05-30 | Aichiya Sanae | [Emerald] A difficult hack by an Indonesian that adds new regions, but you will run into some infamously odd map design later on. It has bugs, and Vocaloid characters for whatever reason. |
| Touhoumon Another World | v1.51+; 2012-05-30 | [FireRed] The port of “Gensokyo Scenario” by “Uda” (うだ), but with different filler and bugs. | |
| Touhoumon Diamond | 2015-02-03 | PlayNChao | [Diamond] |
| Touhou Puppet Play Insane | v2.0; 2011-01-16 | Drakuaza9) | [FireRed] An unplayable mess with bad puzzles, bad level curve, ancient memes, stat inflation, stalling, a tryhard OC named Link, and it crashes often. Don't even play this as a joke. |
| | β2.2; 2010-??-?? | Anjirusensei | [Emerald] A hack with ancient memes, a challenging level curve, and tedious grinding? It's technically done, but still under evaluation. |
| | β2; 2009-??-?? | [FireRed] An unfinished hack with bad puzzles, an unfair level curve, horrible mapping, and ancient memes. This demo ended at the second gym and the project was discarded. | |
| Touhou Puppet Play Emerald AE | v1.1; 2010-09-15 | EXSariel | [Emerald] |
Touhou Puppet Play v1.8x
| Hack name | Last update | Author | Description and remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touhou Puppet Play 1.8 English Port | 2012-11-03 | Mille | [FireRed] The old port of base “Touhou Puppet Play 1.812”. Alternatively, a soft translation. |
| Touhoumon Purple | v1.5; 2023-03-19 | [Emerald] Goated. | |
| Touhoumon Unnamed | v1.3; 2015-02-25 | Doesnt | [FireRed] |
| Touhou Puppet Play 1.8 Enhanced | v1.11; 2012-08-24 | Aichiya Sanae | [FireRed] A combination hack with many bugs, the bad Johto postgame patch, and compressed arranges. If you want the old music, then get the Casual Music Patch… or see below. |
| Touhou Puppet Play Enhanced Reloaded | v6.8B; 2022-11-04 | Zeta Sukuna | [FireRed] A hack that brings improvements to that “Touhou Puppet Play 1.8 Enhanced” hack, such as rebalancing. Prefer this one. |
| Touhoumon Heartgold | v1.2b; 2023-02-28 | Bladeheart111x | [HeartGold] |
Notes
- The v1.5 starters: Chibi Reimu (Normal → Normal/Flying), Chibi Marisa (Electric → Fire/Electric), and Chibi Sakuya (Ice → Ice/Steel) are not balanced. Reimu starts off with an STAB move, while Marisa has type advantage over both starters when fully evolved.
- The v1.8 starters: Chibi Sanae (Faith), Chibi Alice (Reason), and Chibi Reisen (Heart) form a proper triangle. It should be warned that Chibi Sanae is weak to Tackle, so expect a difficult start if you picked Chibi Sanae in a hack that put Chibi Nazrin on the first route.
External links
- Touhou Ningyougeki Matome - A summary wiki for Touhou Ningyougeki that's still active.
- Official Patches - See this article for more information.
- Unofficial Patches - See this article for more information.
- Touhou Ningyougeki Bulletin Board on Shitaraba - A supplementary bulletin board that's still active.
- Touhou Ningyougeki on Niconico Encyclopedia
- Touhou Puppet Play Wiki - The English wiki for Touhou Puppet Play 1.8, Unnamed, and Purple.