Phantasmagoria Trues

幻想浪漫紀行 ―Phantasmagoria Trues― (Gensou Rouman Kikou, "Fantasy Romance Travel Log") is a Touhou fan game made by Len in Danmakufu 0.12m. It is a remake of his earlier game Phantasm Romance containing an overhauled game system, three game modes, and an extra stage. Version 1.0 was released on 30 August 2011, with version 1.1 adding the Terminus stage. Version 1.2 was released on 1 April 2013 and introduced Simple mode, a system which is based on that of Phantasm Romance.

The gameplay is mechanics-heavy. Other than the trademark Touhou mechanics such as graze and point of collection. The gameplay revolves around a RED gauge similar to DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Label and a dynamic multiplier that can affect the gameplay. Additionally there is also a hyper system in most game modes.

For replay videos, visit the Video Index.

Controls

Phantasmagoria Trues runs on dnh 0.12m. So it is mainly played with keyboard.

• Arrow Keys: navigates the menu and moves the character.
• Z: Causes a short barrage of shots to be fired; hold it down for autofire.
• X: Releases a bomb.
• Shift: Dedicated focus button. Slows down player movement and concentrates shot.
• C: User key. Can be set to hyper release.

Other controls

• Backspace: Resets script. The fastest way to restart the game with the same shot type.
• Escape: Pauses the game. 1st option resumes, 2nd option returns to dnh main menu, 3rd option returns to script select.
• Space: Fast forward. Avoid it during gameplay. Additionally it doesn't work well with Vpatch. So run the dnh program in isolation to fast forward through replays.

Setup

Please check the following page in Moriya Shrine. It offers a premade package that contains dnh 0.12m, vpatch for less input lag and better resolution, and added sound effects + sprites. On the player's side. They need to run Vpatch.exe in japanese locale. This can be done by changing region settings in the control panel or using a program called Locale Emulator.

Tuning

Once the player runs the script. The main menu has an option called Tuning. It should open this menu:

Phantasmagoria Trues Tuning menu

• Trail Mode: Setting to true will make the game easier but disable alternate routes and the final stage. Always set it to false unless the player wants to familiarise themselves with the game mechanics.
• Zone: Setting it to Select gives the player an option to select zone before starting a run. Setting to Standard, Advanced or Unlimited will instantly start a run in the preferred Zone(For clarity, game modes are called Zones).
• Light Mode: Reduces effects for performance if set to true.
• Release: Sets the hyper release key to either shot(shot needs to be pressed twice), bomb(X key) or user(C key). Only applicable in Zones with a hyper system.
• Play Music: Self-explanatory.
• Simple Mode: Setting to true completely changes the game and removes most mechanics. Thus, making the game much more straight forward and simple.
• Data Reset: Hold the shot key to reset progress and scoreboard.

Gameplay

Phantasmagoria Trues plays like a run of the mill danmakufu script. It spans 6-7 stages and at the end of each stage the player fights a boss. Depending on the Zone selected. The enemy patterns and spellcards will be different. Additionally 2 out of 3 Zones have a hyper system.

HUD

HUD during gameplay

• 1: Player sprite. Hitbox is a red dot. It is considerably smaller than a typical Touhou hitbox. So the graze box is also smaller.
• 2: Current zone display. Shows Whether Trail Mode is on or not.
• 3: Item Border. Also known as Point of Collection. Going above the line collects all item on screen. The PoC line is always displayed even during gameplay.
• 4: Score, Lives, and bomb count. The player can build up to 15 lives and 8 bombs max. Extends are still gonna be rewarded when the player reaches max lives/bombs.
• 5: r.E.D Gauge. Each notch increases the density and speed of the bullets. It increases by collecting point items and decreases by collecting multiplier items.
• 6: Extend Gauges. Shows the player's progress until they receive an extend. The game uses quantity extends rather than score extends.
• 7: Graze Gauge. Shows progress towards a Graze Spiritual Strike. For the sake of simplicity. It will be called Graze Explosion or Graze Cancel.
• 8: BASE and Multiply values. BASE increases permanently by collecting point items. Multiply increases by collecting multiplier item and can increase or decrease, capping at 999.
• 9: Multiplier Gauge. It is retained by collecting items or shooting. If it's empty. The multiply value drops.
• 10: RATEx is a permanently increasing sub-multiplier. BASE and RATEx are exclusively related to score.
• 11: Item count. Blue number displays no. of point items while the yellow number displays no. of multiplier items collected.