Double Dealing Character

Developer:	ZUN (Team Shanghai Alice)
Release date:	2013

Touhou Kishinjou ~ Double Dealing Character (東方輝針城) is a Touhou Project game developed by ZUN in 2013.

It is the 14th official entry of Touhou Project.

For replay videos, visit the Video Index.

Gameplay overview

Your standard Touhou fare, 6 stages of bullet hell; unique bosses with dense and characteristic patterns through the game. New to Double Dealing Character is the PoC (Point of Collection) Resource system. Collecting a bunch of items at once through the PoC will grant the player a score bonus, and a resource bonus depending on the amount of items collected. Under 20 items results in no bonus whatsoever, 20-59 will award a Bomb Piece, and a score bonus ranging from 0.5 to 1.6, 60 or more items will award a Life piece, and a 2.0 score bonus.

Every 5th bomb piece awarded through the game will be replaced with a life piece.

Controls

Like the official games, uses the standard Touhou control scheme.

• Z: Shoot
• X: Bomb
• Shift: Focus

On keyboard, movement can be done using either the arrow keys or the number pad. The gamepad can also be configured inside the game.

Difficulties

The game has 4 difficulty modes, each one increasing in complexity and difficulty, as well as adding a few new spellcards in the later difficulties; they are as follows:

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Lunatic

After 1CC'ing the game on any difficulty, you will unlock the Extra Stage, which has it´s own difficulty. It is a single long stage with a long boss fight.

Scoring

Scoring revolves around the balancing act of increasing your PIV (Point Item Value) through bullet cancels; from either ending a pattern or from your bombs, or by every 10 graze increasing this value by 10. While also ensuring most of your PoC bonuses are 2.0's, this PoC bonus will be applied to the sum of all items collected in that point of time. That is to say, if all items collected total up to 20,000,000 points- a 2.0 Bonus will also give an extra 40,000,000 points.

Also important in DDC is Spell Card Bonuses; which is awarded to the player if they finish a spell card without timing it out, dying or bombing. These bonuses are quite large and make up a good amount of your score in the late game.

Lastly, your game clear bonus: 18,000,000 + (Lives x 10,000,000) + (Bombs x 3,000,000)

Playable Characters and Shot Types

Double Dealing Character has 3 characters with 2 different shot types that will alter the Stage 4 Mid-boss and Boss as well. The main shot is the same on both types.

Notable is Sakuya returning as a playable for the first time since Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

Hakurei Reimu

Hakurei Reimu			A	B
			Main shot: Homing amulet Focus shot: Greedy Oonusa Bomb: Bewitched Weapon "Merciless Purification Rod"	Main shot: Homing Amulet Focus shot: Persuasion Needle Bomb: Spirit Sign "Fantasy Seal"
			Description: Reimu A uses chaser rod that hunts down enemies by getting closer to them. Her bomb slows her down, but gives some brush swipes that also move her left and right automatically.	Description: Reimu B uses her typical persuation needles, dealing decent damage depending on how the position on attacking enemies, especially big ones. Her bomb has homing properties.
			Strengths: Great DPS and stage control By tapping shift rhythmically in such a way to spawn homing amulets while the large gohei is onscreen, you have one of the highest damaging shot types in the game. Small hitbox in a game that really needs it. Weaknesses: Slow movement during the bomb, might make it a bit harder for 2.0's	Strengths: ReimuB having the small hitbox and unfocused homing is about the best strength this shot has. The bomb does damage Weaknesses: Some of the lowest DPS in the game. Fights Yatsuhashi, this boss is brutal.
			General Information: Has a smaller hitbox. ReimuA is a great choice for any player regardless of goal, due to its' versatility and ease of use. ReimuB however, is one of the bottom 3 shots in the game.

Kirisame Marisa

Kirisame Marisa			A	B
			Main shot: Illusion Laser Focus shot: Eight Trigram Fire Bomb: Dark Spark	Main shot: Illusion Laser Focus shot: Magic Drain Missile Bomb: Magic Absorber
			Description: Marisa A uses a limited range flamethrower that is mostly used for short range attacking. Her bomb acts pretty the same as her Master Spark.	Description: Marisa B is a interesting shot type that uses her usual missiles, and has a magic absorber that turns bullets into P items.
			Strengths: The pointblank damage this shot has is very potent. Weaknesses: However, the amount of spells that let you pointblank is laughably small. Otherwise, this shot types damage is merely OK, couple it with worse stage performance and you have arguably the worst shot in the game. Fights Benben, which is brutal for a non-homing shot.	Strengths: Great forward focus damage. On Lunatic, this shot type is by far the easiest to 1CC the game with due to Magic Absorber turning bullets into Power items, allowing for multiple Life pieces to be gained from a single bomb on a number of attacks through the game. Weaknesses: Fights Yatsuhashi. The bomb lasts longer than your i-frames, making it a little problematic on specific spells.
			General Information: Slightly lower auto-collection line. Marisa is powerful but has a rather low spread. Her fat hitbox does not make things easier, either.

Izayoi Sakuya

Izayoi Sakuya			A	B
			Main shot: Throwing Knives Focus shot: Bewitched Sword 'Silver Blade' Bomb: Bewitched Weapon "Another Dimension of Silver"	Main shot: Throwing Knives Focus shot: Smart Robber Bomb: Time Sign "Dual Vanish"
			Description: Sakuya A uses targetting knives that go after enemies, and after sticking for some time, the knives blow up. Her bomb will for a shield that can last a hit. If the shield timer runs out without getting hit, 3 bomb parts are awarded.	Description: Sakuya B fully relies on direct attacking, with a shot width pretty small. Her bomb stops time briefly and erases bullets.
			Strengths: The best DPS in the game by shift tapping rhythmically The homing knives slow down boss patterns Spread shot is pretty good on stages Bomb allows for 2 screen clears in one bomb use Weaknesses: Non-Reimu Hitbox.	Strengths: None for survival Highest scoring shot in the game Weaknesses: Worst DPS in the game Terrible focused stage control Bomb does 0 damage Fights Yatsuhashi Non-Reimu Hitbox
			General Information: Slower item falling speed. Sakuya is either extremely strong, or extremely weak. A very polarizing player choice.

Items

	Point items: Increases score. The score gained from them depends on your current PIV, and their height on the screen.
	Power items: Increases your Power by 0.01, worth 10,000 points at 4.00 power.
	Big Power item: Increases Power by 1.00.
	Bomb parts: Every 8 of these collected awards a Bomb
	Life parts: Every 3 of these collected awards an Extend
	Value items: Increases the value of point items, spawned from bullet cancels.

External Links

1. Images and info provided byJSAV2006STG(ABC)
   
2. Some info taken from (Touhou Wiki):
3. Page was partially modified by Pearl