User:LazyPeaster/Return of Haunted Spirit

東方怨霊の城(とうほうおんりょうのしろ) the Return of Haunted Spirit GilvaSunner - The SilvaGunner Spooktacular Halloween H - MtH - Touhou 16 ~ the Return of Haunted Spirit.png Touhou Onryounoshiro ( Vengeful Spirit Castle )  ~ the Return of Haunted Spirit (東方怨霊の城　～ the Return of Haunted Spirit) was the sixteenth official installment of the Touhou Project. It was announced by ZUN on his personal blog on October 31, 2016. A playable demo was released on November 6, 2016, at Reitaisai 13.

Gameplay
The cards from Highly Responsive to Prayers were first reintroduced to the series as the main gimmick of the Return of Haunted Spirit. Enemies would release cards in different patterns, which the player had to make disappear by passing over. Penalties would be applied when time ran out or cards filled up the screen, effectively requiring the player to move constantly to clear the target.

You started as Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, or Cirno (with green hair), each with one shot type.

Concept
ZUN was aiming to give the Return of Haunted Spirit a "nostalgic blow" by bringing back elements from the PC-98 era of the Project, especially the first entry. It was to pay homage to the origin of Touhou Project as the series was celebrating its 20th anniversary at the time. According to his personal blog, this game also took inspiration from multi-genre games with puzzle elements such as Undertale with its "XOXO Puzzles".

Name
This was the first main series title to not follow the naming scheme "東方〇〇〇". The name "Return of Haunted Spirit" directly referred to the return of Mima, a vengeful spirit who has been absent since PC-98. Notably, the definite article "the" hadn't been used in the subtitle since the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil until then.

Story
''It's the eve of late autumn when Gensokyo's sky is unnaturally blue. While Reimu is away dealing with youkai, a mysterious haunted castle suddenly appears and takes over the Hakurei Shrine. Rumors of a festival held there rapidly spread around and eventually fall on the ears of our heroin, and she is furious. The main characters head to the castle to investigate while encountering various ghosts, youkai, and a familiar spirit waiting for them at the top of the tower...''

Music

 * Deceiving Charm ~ Evil Spirit Maiden

Press
the Return of Haunted Spirit was originally announced on October 31, 2016. The demo was soon released at Reitaisai 13 a week after that. The full game was never publicly released, the reason for this is unknown.

Additional information

 * There existed an arrangement of "The Rabbit Has Landed" from Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom in the demo files, however it is seemingly unused in-game.
 * Fans speculate that Mima would become playable after beating the game.
 * This is a fake game, and should not be confused with the actual  which came out a year later.