''Touhou LostWord'' () is a free-to-play mobile ''Touhou''

fangame A fan game is a video game that is created by fans of a certain topic or IP. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fan games attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, game ...

developed in 2020 by NextNinja, and published by

Good Smile Company is a Japanese manufacturer of hobby products such as the Nendoroid and Figma (toy), Figma product lines, as well as scale figures. In addition to production and manufacturing, its business includes design, marketing and distribution. Its product ...

. The game is licensed by

Team Shanghai Alice , formerly known as ZUN Soft, is a Japanese ''dōjin'' game developer. Since 1995, the sole member of the group, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed and self-published the '' Touhou Project'', a bullet hell shoot 'em up series, as ...

, the publisher of the official ''Touhou'' games.

Gameplay

''Touhou LostWord'' is a

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

in which the player creates a

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, consisting of six characters. The player must defeat waves of enemies in

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battles, located within stages, in order to progress forwards and unlock new stages. Each of the characters have a total of six attributes that determine their combat effectiveness: HP, agility, yin attack, yin defense, yang attack, and yang defense. Additionally, each of the characters have multiple spell cards, which can be used multiple times per stage, and one

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– the last words are more powerful than the regular spell cards, but if they are used, regular spell cards can no longer be used that stage. Story cards are items that can be equipped to further empower spell cards, as well as improve the characters' attributes. Characters can also level up by engaging in services, such as attending a school or dojo. Completing these services will earn the player coins, which can be used to upgrade their characters, or acquire new ones. Services are also a primary source of ''spirit power –'' the game version of gacha stamina, which is required to perform any task in the game. As part of the game's gacha system, the player can purchase coins and spirit power through

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Plot

In ''Touhou LostWord,'' the "Lost Word Incident" occurs, causing words to go missing, which threatens the stability of Gensokyo, and leads the characters to investigate by travelling across multiple different universes to find the lost words.

Development

Pre-registration of the Japanese version of ''Touhou LostWord'' began in July 2019, and the game was released in Japan on April 30, 2020. In October, the game's international release was announced, which coincided with the launch of the game's website and social media accounts. ''Touhou LostWord'' opened for international pre-registration in November 2020, and was released on May 11, 2021. A Simplified Chinese version of the game has been released on September 30, 2021. The game's opening song, "Lost Word Chronicle", was performed by

Kanako Itō is a female Japanese singer from Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan. She has sung a large number of songs that have been used in a variety of video games, visual novels, and anime. Itō has sung songs for many visual novels, one song in particular bei ...

, and had been watched over 5 million times on

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by May 2021. Other musicians who have performed for ''Touhou LostWord'' include

Toshihiko Tahara is a Japanese idol singer, and solo vocalist, affiliated with Johnny & Associates. In the 1980s he had a number of number 1 singles in Japan. He was awarded a Japan Music Award in 1983 for the song . He was part of the Tanokin Trio. Biogra ...

, nano, and

Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets is a Japanese rock band currently signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. Beginning in 2004 as a one-man unit covering songs from different series, more members joined in 2007, and in 2010 the band made their major debut with the single "Hig ...

Reception

''Touhou LostWord'' was a runner-up in the 2020

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'Exciting' award, losing to ''

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''. On June 3, 2021, ''

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'' listed ''Touhou LostWord'' as one of the best

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games released the previous week.

References

External links

Official website
(in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

)
Global Official website
{{Touhou Project LostWord 2020 video games Video games developed in Japan Free-to-play video games Turn-based strategy video games Gacha games Android (operating system) games IOS games