If you’ve played any of the mainline Touhou Project games, they’re all great because they follow a strict design philosophy. But with thousands of fangames out there, not every creator, including myself, can capture that same magic. Some fangames manage to do things right, but others end up getting it wrong, with games often having cluttered hitboxes, unfair danmaku patterns, or broken assets. When the quality control slips, some games end up becoming not just too difficult but borderline unplayable.
This list will mostly focus on the recent trend of low-effort titles on Steam that use stock assets (making them asset flips) or flanderized characters just to bait clicks without any actual cohesive gameplay logic. Another problem is excessive nostalgia pandering by having games focus exclusively on the cast of Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil while ignoring over two decades of other lore, leading to repetitive, bland experiences instead of expressive love for various other aspects of the franchise.
10. Touhou Genso Rondo and Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle
This title did not wow me when it first came out, and it didn’t wow the millions of diehard Touhou Project players who were wanting an official game on consoles. Instead, we got this mediocre 3D fighter that has clunky, unresponsive controls and a camera system that seemingly fights you. Instead of the high-speed combat that the title promises, matches often devolve into a sluggish brawl. It feels like a tech demo that was accidentally shipped as a full-price product. The two titles mentioned are separate games, with the latter actually being the sequel to the former.
This product belongs to the “Severe Zone” category of the AVGN Scale because it was marketed as professional console releases but plays like amateur tech demos. They’re a slap in the face to anyone who paid full price.
9. Hakanai Cards
This title is a clear example of a game being left unfinished and abandoned, as of 2022 at least. It was an attempt to cash in on the auto-battling craze like in Teamfight Tactics, but the developers ended up going silent shortly after launch. The result is a fundamentally broken game where character balance is nonexistent. Some units end up being literal gods that cannot be touched, while others have broken AI that causes them to stand still and do nothing.
This product belongs to the “Very High” category of the AVGN Scale because the trauma comes from the abandonment. You start playing as an auto battler only to realize the AI is lobotomized and the devs went MIA years ago.
8. Touhou New World
While not a total asset flip of its predecessor Touhou Scarlet Curiosity, this game ended up becoming one of the soulless kind. It was panned for its tedious story and repetitive gameplay loop, and as a major step down from the aforementioned game. Not to mention, it relies heavily on the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil form of nostalgia pandering that I’ve already mentioned, offering zero new insights into the characters or world.
This product belongs to the “High Contamination” category of the AVGN Scale because while it is a functional game, it’s just soulless. It’s the Dick Tracy of Touhou Project – you can finish it, but why would you want to when better versions exist?
7. Touhou Azure Reflections
This is another game that does the same form of nostalgia pandering as the previous one. The game can be considered a remake of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil by having the Scarlet Mist Incident strike again. The only difference is the game is a horizontal shooter instead of a vertical one, and it essentially ignores over two decades of expanded lore and sticks with the cast of that game I’ve already mentioned a million times now, feeling like a generic imitation of the source material. Not to mention, it does not have the unique personality or weirdness that makes the official game stand out. If you want to experience the story of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, play the original game instead of running through this game’s scarlet fumes.
This product belongs to the “High Contamination” category of the AVGN Scale because like Top Gun, it’s a repetitive, generic imitation of the original source material which is better. It’s too bland to be in the Severe Zone category, but too uninspired to be in the Debatably Bad category.
6. Touhou Soujinran
Diving into the deeper recesses of the Steam storefront, you will find this title that represents the absolute bottom of the barrel. This game follows the definition of an asset flip, often using the same recycled 3D models and stock Unity effects with almost no original artistry. The gameplay is frequently a nightmare of cluttered hitboxes and stolen music tracks that haven’t been properly looped. This title isn’t made out of a love for Gensokyo; it was made to bait a few quick sales from unsuspecting players. They have no cohesive logic, often featuring bosses that are impossible to overcome or defeat. And that’s because the developer did not bother to playtest if they were actually dodgeable. Anyway, I couldn’t find any screenshots of this game because it got delisted on Steam, and there is nowhere else to search.
This product belongs to the “Severe Zone” category of the AVGN Scale because it is the Action 52 of the list. It’s an asset flip with cluttered hitboxes and stolen music. It’s playable only if you hate yourself and your time.
5. Red Empress Devil
On the surface, this game appears to have the potential, but it quickly reveals itself to be a clone of Enter the Gungeon. They executed the roguelike elements poorly with incredibly lazy floor generation and a total lack of gameplay depth. The developer seemed more interested in cramming in as many playable characters as possible to bait the waifu fanbases instead of making the game fun to play. After one or two runs, you will end up seeing everything the game has to offer, leaving you with a repetitive, hollow experience that feels more like a chore than a challenge.
This product belongs to the “Very High” category of the AVGN Scale because while it is safe, it is a soul-sucking clone. It won’t kill you, but the sheer boredom of the lazy floor generation will make you feel like your life is being wasted away.
4. Cirno Horror
This represents the trend of Slenderman clones, and it’s purely found at the bottom of the barrel. While the original version of the game was a harmless free meme, this low-effort clone is outright embarrassing. It features a single, giant Cirno Fumo chasing you through a pitch-black, barren map with zero environmental detail. There are no actual scares, just a loud, distorted audio clip that plays when the fumo catches you. This is the ultimate low-effort clickbait title. It relies entirely on the Funny Fumo meme to mask the fact that there is no game design here at all. Screenshots for this game were difficult to find but I was lucky to find it on itch.io
This product belongs to the “Major Code Red” category of the AVGN Scale because like Crazy Bus, there’s no game here – just a static asset chasing you in a void. It exists only for the Funny Fumo clickbait, making it a total non-game.
3. Touhou Cannonball
This was a high-budget project that tried to be the best it could, but it was a sheer disappointment and wasted potential. It was a bloated, tedious Mario Party clone that felt more like a job than a game. Since this was a mobile title, you know what this means – annoying microtransactions for gacha rolls. The gacha rates and soul-crushing grinds were designed to drain your wallets rather than provide a fun experience in Gensokyo. Anyway, the reason you can’t get this game anymore is because the servers for it were eventually shut down, and it served as a grim reminder that even with a high budget, it’s still possible to fail. It treated its players like ATM machines instead of fans.
This product belongs to the “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” category of the AVGN Scale because this high-budget project chose to be a predatory gacha grind-fest before dying and becoming literally unplayable. It was close to reaching the Major Code Red category for being a soul-crushing disappointment, but still.
2. Touhou Big Big Battle
While it attempted to be a massive strategy game, it is frequently cited for its extreme lack of polish and technical instability. It falls into the trap of having a cluttered, incomprehensible GUI and broken unit AI that often renders the game unplayable. The English translation is almost non-existent or translated through Google Translate at best, making it very difficult or impossible to understand the gameplay mechanics. It represents the amount of shovelware on Steam where a developer throws hundreds of poorly modeled assets into a game without ensuring that the core fun loop actually functions.
This product belongs to the “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” category of the AVGN Scale because it is a fundamentally broken, unpolished, and incomprehensible dialogue to the point that the developers may as well be cursed.
1. TuHou Remilia ~ Begin of Scarlet Family
Taking the top spot is perhaps the most egregious example of asset flipping. Someone intentionally misspelled Touhou as Tuhou to get around filters, and it’s a borderline scam that uses stock Unity assets and poorly rigged 3D models of the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s residents. The gameplay is practically nonexistent – you wander through empty, generic environments that have no relation to the lore of the franchise, accompanied by borrowed music that isn’t even properly looped. It exists solely to trick unsuspecting fans into a purchase. There is no danmaku or a cohesive story, and the boss fights consist of static models that subtract from your health bar if you get too close. It is the absolute nadir of quality control and a cynical insult to the creativity and art of Touhou Project fanworks.
This product belongs to the “Major Code Red” category of the AVGN Scale because this is the Big Rigs or Desert Bus of the world of Touhou Project fangames. It’s a borderline scam that barely qualifies as a game. It shouldn’t even exist, let alone be for sale.
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