Touhou Luna Nights

'' series of bullet hell shooter video games. Sakuya later gains access to secondary armaments, including chainsaws, shields, and weapons that stun her foes. Also dispersed throughout the map are save points and magical doorways that, when unlocked using keys obtained from bosses, instantaneously transport the player to a region of their choosing. ==Synopsis==

Setting The Touhou Project series takes place largely within the realm of Gensokyo, which houses numerous occult creatures that regularly cause supernatural "incidents." One of the series' main protagonists is Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden whose partial responsibility it is to resolve incidents. In Gensokyo lies the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It is the residence of Remilia Scarlet, a vampire who serves as the mistress to the mansion's head maid Sakuya Izayoi. Other Touhou cast members that make appearances as both non-player characters and bosses are the martial artist Hong Meiling, the witch Marisa Kirisame, the magic librarian Patchouli Knowledge, and the kappa Nitori Kawashiro. Plot Sakuya Izayoi, the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion in Gensokyo, is unwillingly transported to a parallel universe named Luna Nights that resembles the mansion by her mistress, Remilia Scarlet. Sakuya loses her abilities in the process. After exploring the entirety of Luna Nights and recovering her powers, Sakuya confronts Remilia, who alleges that displacing Sakuya from Gensokyo was done for her own amusement. Her younger sister Flandre Scarlet, who previously disguised herself as engineer Nitori Kawashiro, arrives and hijacks the universe to exact revenge for Remilia using her magical gems to create Luna Nights without permission. After Sakuya defeats Flandre, Remilia apologizes and undoes Luna Nights. In the game's alternate ending, the real Nitori discovers that the parallel universe is collapsing and sends Sakuya to investigate. Sakuya finds that Reimu Hakurei, the guardian shrine maiden, had infiltrated Luna Nights, as its contents are beginning to affect the real Gensokyo. After Sakuya and Reimu conclude fighting, Remilia, Nitori, and Flandre arrive, disclosing to everyone that the true purpose of Luna Nights was to create a fictional realm where Flandre could freely use her powers to avoid creating a supernatural "incident" in Gensokyo. However, they were unsuccessful in containing Flandre's magic, gaining Reimu's ire. The spiritual energy built up during the fight causes the universe to disintegrate, with Sakuya barely escaping in Nitori's mech. == Development and release ==

Touhou Luna Nights was developed by indie studio Team Ladybug. It was launched through Steam Early Access on August 20, 2018. In an interview with Gamers Zone, the studio's producer Daichi Saito stated that Team Ladybug chose to develop a game based on the Touhou Project both out of respect for the series as a "senior indie game developer" and for its wide audience base. An early access release model was implemented to streamline communication between developers and players, as well as to provide a platform for user feedback. Grazing, particularly its ability to artificially replenish weapons' MP, served as a "risk-reward system" to elevate the tension of combat. Saito partially attributed the game's later commercial success to the popularity of the Touhou intellectual property (IP), saying, "The great thing about IPs is that they can be played by these thousands of people. If it's a high-quality game with substance, word of mouth from those who play it will spread its reputation." The contest concluded with illustrator Yutaro's artwork as the victor. Touhou Luna Nights saw its full release on Steam on February 26, 2019. Touhou Luna Nights' commercial release was personally approved by series creator Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, one of the first such cases for a Touhou fan work. The game was released on Microsoft Store for the Xbox One and Windows 10 on September 3, 2020; this version features an additional boss battle against Touhou character Cirno. In December 2020, Team Ladybug announced that the Cirno boss fight would be included in the original Steam version. This update was released on January 18, 2021. Touhou Luna Nights was made available on Xbox Game Pass for a limited time, starting from September 3, 2020. It was removed on February 28, 2022. A Nintendo Switch port was announced in October 2020. This version was originally published by Phoenixx, who also assisted with porting, on December 17, 2020. On July 1, 2023, Nintendo Switch publishing duties were transferred back to Playism to streamline customer support. Ports for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were released on January 25, 2024 alongside physical editions. In commemoration of Touhou Luna Nights' five-year anniversary, a physical, limited-time collector's edition was made available for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 on July 11, 2025. == Reception ==

Critical response Reviewers commended the game's movement mechanics, many citing Sakuya's time manipulation as a standout inclusion. Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 wrote that the interplay between time manipulation and Sakuya's knife-based combat felt engaging. Jeuxvideo.com called the game's overall difficulty well-balanced. The player and enemy animations in particular were lauded for their expressiveness and detail. Further praise was offered to the soundtrack, which largely consists of remixed music from the mainline Touhou game Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (2002). The songs were deemed well-orchestrated and memorable. Its story was seen as simple, yet overall satisfactory. According to Team Ladybug, sales reached 100,000 copies after the game's final update was launched in June 2019. In April 2021, Team Ladybug announced that the game reached 250,000 copies sold across all platforms. Automaton reported on June 11, 2024 that the game surpassed 500,000 copies sold. ==Notes ==