There isn't much going on until the release of Touhou 16 some few days later on the 11th of this August. And since the new Hecatia clear is in never-ending transmit, I present you some appetizer to prepare for the upcoming game starring the same character I'll play as on release: Cirno!
Lady Luck was on Cirno's side for this one. Otherwise, she would've been a roasted fairy, and yet Marisa wasn't using her full power!! I can, with confidence, say that this is the second hardest Extra Boss I've faced yet. If it wasn't for Cirno's freezing, Marisa would have dethroned Koishi Komeiji's status as the hardest Extra Boss.
This Extra Stage has been the longest thus far with about five minutes of going through the worst fairy mooks there could ever be in an Extra Stage, along with a tricky Daiyousei and Lily White mid-boss duo. However, that's a plus for the music as it feels the strongest in the "this is an Extra Stage" department, emphasizing the difficulty of everything in the Stage. Then Marisa's new theme keeps you on your toes as every single attack is lethal.
But nothing beats going after Marisa Kirisame herself. I swear she's that difficult.
Replay file:
db.tt/h8JzQDgSVw
Replays of failed attempts (9 replays):
db.tt/tzDDpayaZD
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A run down of the spellcards:
____/ Light Sign "Mysterious Beam"
This one gets you prepared for the rest of Marisa's spellcards which involve freezing at the right time. Freezing Marisa when she shoots the bullets can decrease her health quickly. This trick is a must for Daiyousei, Lily White and some of Marisa's spellcards.
____/ Light Blast "Shoot the Little Moon"
A denser variant of "Shoot the Moon" from Imperishable Night (which is the inspiration of most of her spellcards here), it doesn't have streaming stars, but relies on dodging shards coming from below as well as anti-motivation lasers. Like in IN, you could die from the stars which explode into lasers.
____/ Magic Bullet "Test Slave"
Unline in IN, Marisa's Test Slaves, can't be evaded. It's a difficult spellcard to get. The secret is getting as close as possible to Marisa and freezing when she shoots the blue stars. Don't rely on shooting as the Test Slave will follow you, unless you can 'distract' it elsewhere.
____/ Closure Sign "Big Crunch"
Now let's see you handle multiple Test Slaves, all leaving behind trails of star bullets, and purple star bullets that turn into fire, unfreezable by Cirno. I have no idea how to capture that properly, and expect a death or two if you try doing it.
____/ Love Sign "Master Spark-like Flashlight"
Luckily anti-motivation lasers are forgiving this time. It's all about when to freeze to block those lasers and dodging the fast stars, while also freezing the slower ones before dodging becomes difficult. An easier variant of her infamous Master Spark.
____/ Unsealed Magic "Open Universe"
Hated Big Crunch? TAKE OPEN UNIVERSE THEN. EVEN MORE TEST SLAVES! Luckily it's only Test Slaves, but now timing a full freeze is essential, as dodging the Slaves will be difficult with all the stars going on about. No idea how to capture it.
____/ Magic Cross "Grand Cross"
Now the Test Slaves will block the four-directional anti-motivation lasers while shooting fire bullets. This card is relatively easy to capture, but hard to get past without lost motivation.
____/ Shooting Star "Super Perseid"
Dodge stars from below while also dodging the Test Slaves from above coming at high speed, appearing from left to right then from right to left and so on, but it's easy to get cornered. Maybe dodging on the same level or higher as Marisa could make it easier? No idea how to capture it.
____/ "Blasing Star-like Tag"
It's her Imperishable Night Last Word, changed for Cirnos, and yet it's difficult. It's thanks to the transition between phases adding in a 'grid' of star bullets including four circular segments, limiting your movement area. If you clear the grid of bullets as well as the strays, if you can, the spellcard gets easier. However at this point, why risk it? Just drop a Perfect Freeze, you'll need all the motivation to tackle the last spellcard. Something I didn't notice before about the circular segments is that they close in as the spellcard goes on.
____/ "Fairy Destruction Ray"
The spellcard lives up to its name without fail. You must stay under the Test Slaves and dodge the stars which eventually will turn exclusively into fire bullets, at which point the only usage of freezing is to help expand the area you can escape to without losing your motivation. However, at the very last phase, since Marisa herself is shooting a lot of fire bullets, one Perfect Freeze is enough to freeze them and finish her off. Had it been not for that last Perfect Freeze, this run would've been one of those "so close, yet so far" runs.
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Great Fairy Wars and the Touhou Project are copyright Team Shanghai Alice, 2010, all rights reserved.