東方夢終劇 ～ Concealed the Conclusion - Lunatic No Miss No Bomb No Hakurei Orb Full Spell (LNNNFS)

Описание: Replay: files.catbox.moe/0qqg3f.dat
• Rename to thC_replayXX.dat, with XX being a number between 00 and 09.
• Move into th_dnh/replay. Create the directory if it does not exist.
• In the graphics settings menu, set BG Effect to Off to avoid desyncing at stage 6.

Thumbnail art: danbooru.donmai.us/posts/852909
CtC download page: github.com/danmaq/touhou-ctc-danmakufu

Notes:
• I removed the DEMO PLAY text present during replays by commenting out line 236 in /script/thC/INCLUDE/STAGE/Information.dnh. I made no other edits to the script files and performed the run on a completely unmodified copy, with save data to access the alternate scenarios.
• Even though the game says it's revision 2.00, it's actually 2.01 - the developer seemingly forgot to update the version string.

. . .

My third LNN, and my proudest yet far! My normal title format went over the character limit, so I had to leave out my shot and scenario choices: Marisa C and Scenario D.

Shot type viability in CtC is decided by one thing: can it do the stage 6 spam? The only shot that ordinarily can is Marisa B, who comes with superb overall damage output and downright monstrous performance on stages.
But... honestly? I instantly wrote her off because she is beyond miserable to use. Somehow slower than Reimu, is a shotgun shot that can't even comfortably dash up to the boss, and whatever parts she trivializes become so mind-numbing that it just makes me question my life choices.

Fortunately, by using a PCB-style power cancel, every shot can do spam! Something nice is that this game's power-up intervals are quite spaced out—that is, 80 power and 127 power behave identically—so there's a ton of leeway as to how many items you can (accidentally) grab while still dealing reasonable damage. No autocollect shenanigans to worry about, either!
Of the shots that need a cancel to endure spam, Marisa C is easily the best, thanks to her high DPS that generally matches and at times even surpasses max power Marisa B. C has some bonus perks, too – compared to B, C is better at Reimu, most apparent on spell 1 and non 3, and better at a few key spells like Yukari's LS. Her (admittedly finicky) spread shot also provides handy utility during certain stage sections.
Marisa A and D are both unviable for the same reasons: at max power, they're utterly helpless against spam, and at 80 power, they're outclassed by C.

As for scenario - at first, I played C, the PoFV one, simply because I didn't know you can mix and match them. Once I found out you can, I messed around with every option and eventually settled on D, largely for aesthetic reasons. All three of its bosses play a role in my favorite Touhou character's backstory, Alice's presence daintily ties together the PC-98 and PCB elements, and the focus on early material (from more than just one game, too!) better complements the game's themes. I wanted to do as much justice as possible to this iconic piece of fandom history, so it was a natural fit.

However, as I played more, I came to believe that D is legitimately fantastic for LNN! It has three major pain points: the final red kunai section of 2D, the end of 3D, and the 5D midspell. Those take some practice. Although, other routes have sections of comparable-ish difficulty, such as the ends of 3B or 3C, so even this isn't a massive downside.
In return, you get three stages that are almost effortless to dodge power in and the most consistent set of early game bosses, full of safespots and routable patterns. Patterns have nice synergy with Marisa C, too, since you get ample shotgun opportunities (unlike with, say, Patchouli or Tewi) and 80 is juuust enough power to speedkill things before they get too crazy.

Youmu's midspell and Yuyuko's first and third spells also differ based on your scenario. D definitely gets the short end of the stick as you're met with the overall hardest variant of the stage, but I'd say the bump up isn't significant enough to be a dealbreaker. The midspell lasts an eon due to the familiar body blocking your fire and can be disgusting every once in a blue moon, but once you've sat down with it, it's surprisingly learnable.

...I have so much more I want to talk about and only 5,000 characters to work with, so I may finish my thoughts in subtitles or a comment. All I can say is, I've always had a soft spot for CtC, but now I adore it, way, way more than I ever expected to. It's flawed, but oh-so-lovably flawed. This game has given me far and away my most fun and satisfying journey yet, even in spite of the above-average length of three months, and I'm so happy to have given it the LNN it deserves!

. . .

Credit to...
• swmpLV/75E, for creating the 0.12m vpatch that enabled the game to run at a stable 60 FPS
• ATM, whose now-meta PCB power cancel strat inspired this run: www.bilibili.com/video/av85944064/
• ...and the usual person, for his perennial moral support. And, I'm sorry.