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New Touhou Spell Carnival Trailer Showcases Its Shared Universe and More

Artwork of Touhou Spell Carnival, one of the RPGs coming this week

Idea Factory and developers Sting and Compile Heart have released a new overview trailer for their upcoming strategy RPG Touhou Spell Carnival. The trailer gives players a brief primer into its setting, story, and mechanics, while also explaining its place within the Touhou Project — a franchise and shared universe that began in 1997. Check it out below.

Touhou Spell Carnival | An Introduction to Touhou Project 

Players will take on the role of Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, as she witnesses gargantuan spell pillars spring up throughout her world of Gensokyo. This phenomenon signals the eponymous Spell Carnival, a competition created by the yokai Yukari Yakumo.

Reimu and her allies must compete in a 30-day free-for-all using their Spell Cards—the source of their magical power. Players will choose a roster of allies to deploy in grid-based maps, then utilise their abilities to both unleash and weave through frenetic bullet-hell gameplay, a Touhou Project staple. For a deeper overview, check out a synopsis below.

Touhou Spell Carnival Overview

Gensokyo — A remote land isolated from the Outside World, where humans and youkai live side-by-side.

One day, the shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, Reimu Hakurei, spots mysterious pillars towering over various locations throughout Gensokyo.

These pillars signaled the start of the Spell Carnival, a festival hosted by Yukari Yakumo where one must put their Spell Cards on the line in battle.

In order to investigate the true intentions of Yukari Yakumo, who initiated the Spell Carnival so suddenly, Reimu Hakurei joins the fight for Spell Cards.

Key Features

Strategy RPG Meets Bullet Hell Mania — Battle in a grid system with a unique blend of real-time strategy elements and bullet hell madness! Hone your strategy skills by moving characters to grid-specific areas, grazing enemy bullets, and unleashing special skills in one simultaneous, action-packed battle!

Gotta Stay Prepped — Don’t just run into battle unprepared! Organize your party’s positioning on the grid, assign skills according to your enemies’ weaknesses, and choose wisely which Ace Spell Card you’ll use.

Need a Boost? — Players will occasionally see objects and Attributes during battle. Objects can block incoming bullets and provide additional effects once destroyed. Attributes can provide boosts and status effects. Use these boosts to your advantage, and maybe you’ll be able to collect extra loot from your victories!

Find Peace in the Hakurei Shrine — Explore the Hakurei Shrine through the lens of Reimu Hakurei! Keep tabs on any active missions, revisit sub-events, strike a pose with Photo Mode, and even talk to some of your favorite Touhou Project characters in Hakurei Shrine as you progress through the story!

Touhou Spell Carnival Screenshots

As an officially recognised fan game, it seems that Touhou Spell Carnival is set to live up to the legacy of the longstanding Touhou Project by adding even more variety to its universe. As someone who knows nothing about Touhou, I’m curious to dive into this world in the years to come!

Touhou Spell Carnival will be released physically and digitally on November 19th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in North America. It will be released digitally in Europe, with a physical release to follow on December 3rd. For more information, feel free to check out the game’s official website.

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Trent Argirov

Trent Argirov

Trent is a news editor for RPGFan. If not writing news or lending a voice to the odd podcast, he can be seen, in the Australian wild, drinking copious amounts of iced coffee, working on various manuscripts, and keeping the occasional wandering cat company. His video game backlog stretches far and wide, and sources swear he's slowly working on it, one day at a time.

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