Drillimation May Completely Change Game Development Process After Critical Failure of Touhou Chouhatsuyou

In the past and even during the coronavirus pandemic, Drillimation used to create enjoyable and well-received experiences with the Chuhou Joutai trilogy, the Touhou Project NES Demakes, and Mythos of Phantasmagoria. But now, that streak has been lost.

With Touhou Chouhatsuyou ~ Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity landing in the “rotten” category along with Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest, the studio is taking a hard look at what they have been doing and is strongly considering drastic changes for their future titles.

Drillimation hoped that Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity would be a slam dunk, hoping to improve upon the flaws that Song of Divine Tempest had. Instead, it didn’t meet players’ expectations. This critical failure could become more influential following the Song of Divine Tempest disaster. The company had decided to hit the pause button on their development process.

After the disappointing reception of Song of Divine Tempest, Drillimation began to recalibrate with the development of Touhou Kichouden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria 2. The ten-month development of that game allowed the studio to slow down, reassess, and find gameplay that would actually work and be unique for Touhou Project fangames. The shakeup continued when the beta for Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity released last month.

Drillimation had plans to produce another Super Nintendo-style Touhou Project manic shooter after Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity, but the Prophet has already slammed on the brakes. He is starting to see what is going on with both titles – constant nostalgia pandering with the graphics and audio, weak dialogue and plot points, and character models being edited VRoid models. It’s not working well with the critics and fans. A game that should’ve been an easy hit for trying something unique ended up sending shockwaves throughout the entire Touhou Project playerbase.

What made Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity a disaster is the backlash wasn’t from the game – it was fueled by the plot. The game was originally going to be part of the Emiko Anthological Universe (Emiverse), but Emiko Hosokawa dropped out after she disapproved of the project during the second half of Mythos of Phantasmagoria 2‘s development. She found the plot “weird” and “ridiculous”, and it even alienated veteran Touhou Project players before the first single screenshot hit social media back in January.

Sure, if Hosokawa wasn’t spending all of that time working on her Ciel Chanelleur VTuber project, she could have turned the game’s plot in the right direction. When a director drastically changes the hairstyles of major characters by growing them to the ground, it’s no surprise that players passed on.

Reception percentages don’t lie. There isn’t anything to celebrate, and both these games were supposed to be different – they were not part of the Drillimation Danmaku Universe canon nor weighed down by franchise fatigue. It was the Prophet Driller’s fault for doing things incorrectly – trying to bring in some of their older characters, such as from the Chuhou Joutai series, who are unable to appear in newer canon entries to the franchise. When players don’t approve of it, things will double down or pivot. And it looks like Drillimation will choose the latter.

The company, along with Studio Emiko, is reassessing the creative direction for future Drillimation Danmaku Universe games, especially when it comes to characters, narratives, key events, and quotations that are rooted in classic fairy tales and moral lessons. A lot of Drillimation’s past titles, particularly the Chuhou Joutai and Mythos of Phantasmagoria games, often centered on themes of romance, family, bravery, and wonder. Both Song of Divine Tempest and Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity are what caused Drillimation to get lost in the middle of nowhere.

While the retro-inspired graphics that have been a mainstay since the first Chuhou Joutai game will remain, no game in this style is perfect. The only thing that players want is sincerity. The aim is to write an adventure for the player to embark on with characters that the villains will fear, and endings that feel earned once the protagonist emerges triumphant. Their good reputation could return once Drillimation creates a story that could resonate with fans.

If Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity taught Drillimation anything this year, it explains that a Touhou Project fangame with a unique incident can’t be safe from failure if you don’t understand what players want.