Drillimation’s New Game Touhou Chouhatsuyou ~ Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity is Making Players Mad, One Discord Server Says

Touhou Chouhatsuyou ~ Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity, the newest game in the Drillimation Danmaku Universe, apparently managed to tangle every player’s hair in a million knots, according to players on one Discord server who beta-tested the game. They spent no time hurling rotten tomatoes at it, and the initial reception was divided between newcomers and veteran Touhou Project players.

Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest also launched to a divided reception when it released in December 2023. The game was developed as a test for the Driller Engine System 2 and was intended for the arcade setting, but proved unpopular among players and Drillimation staff as time went on. Eventually, these games’ reception could be vindicated by history five years from now once players rediscover and reanalyze it, and eventually make it into a cult classic. Even the directors of both games, Emiko Hosokawa and Susumu Takajima, staked out opposing sides about the use of retro-inspired versus modern graphics.

Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity could likely sit at one or two stars when the game actually releases on April 18, 2025. Despite the concerns over its retro-inspired graphics and sound, the soundtracks for both games have been received more favorably. This is likely to change within the coming weeks.

While the Chuhou Joutai and Mythos of Phantasmagoria games, as well as the Touhou Project NES Demakes have been better received, Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity saw criticism over its premise. Hosokawa thought the concept was “ridiculous” while others called it “weird”. This aligns more closely with players who panned the story and graphics, while others praised the retro feel. “Players likely panned the story all because they simply do not understand the Drillimation Danmaku Universe canon,” CEO Susumu Takajima said in a statement.

Aside from the review bombers, others have given it fair reviews. Song of Divine Tempest may have proved to be exciting, but others have made it nothing more than an unnecessary port of an arcade game. Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity could likely suffer the same fate. Drillimation games are often put on incredibly tight deadlines which leaves little time to debug and playtest. It could be too soon to tell if a more positive reception from a remake or remaster would use the “modern Touhou style” that some critics call for.

Drillimation Will Develop a New Engine and Art Direction For Future Projects

In response to the continued criticism of Drillimation’s current art direction, the company has decided to revamp their art direction that could hopefully be more acceptable to audiences. Heavily inspired by Jun’ya Ohta’s current art direction, this direction may be used in the next Drillimation game project. This change could also revamp the engine, doing away with the arcade elements of inserting coins.