History YMMV / TouhouReiidenHighlyResponsiveToPrayers

* NintendoHard: This game can be found incredibly hard even by experienced ''Touhou'' players, mainly because it's an entirely different genre from the rest of the series, but also due to difficult elements within the game itself. You can only damage enemies with the yin-yang orb, or with bombs when you're on your last life. Said orb is tricky to control, and you also have to deal with BulletHell from bosses while continuing to knock the orb around and avoiding [[HoistByHisOwnPetard getting hit by it yourself]]. Furthermore, there is no vertical movement in this game, so enemy danmaku needs to be dodged entirely through horizontal movement (albeit this is mitigated by the fact that most bullets can be [[DestructibleProjectiles cleared]] or [[ParryingBullets deflected]] by the yin-yang orb and by some of the player's moves).

* CommonKnowledge: Some fans mistakenly think that ''Theme of Eastern Story'', the series's main theme, originated as an [[CutSong unused track]] from this game. The misconception comes from the fact ''Theme of Eastern Story'' is included as a bonus track in ''Akyu's Untouched Score'', a re-release collection of the PC-98 soundtracks, in Volume 5, the one containing this game's soundtrack. In reality, the track was specially made for the ''Untouched Score''. The actual earliest recognizable form of ''Theme of Eastern Story'' is ''Init'', the boot up jingle of ''Lotus Land Story'' and ''Mystic Square''.

* ScrappyMechanic: The fact that one of the two inputs for bombing is to simultaneously press Z, left and right. It's possible to misinput a bomb while trying to shoot amulets while perform slides and flip kicks all in quick succession, which has ruined many an attempt to [[SelfImposedChallenge do a No Bomb clear]] of the game, or simply wasted resources, with players wishing bombing only had its other input (pressing Z and X simultaneously twice in rapid succession).

* MemeticTroll: The yin-yang orb. Among fans of this game, the orb has gained a notorious reputation for repeatedly [[HoistByHisOwnPetard hitting Reimu]], getting stuck in weird places due to the game's rough around the edges physics and just generally never going where the player wants it to.
* ScrappyMechanic: The fact that one of the two inputs for bombing is to simultaneously press Z, left and right. It's possible to misinput a bomb while trying to slide left and right in quick succession or perform a flip kick, which has ruined many an attempt to [[SelfImposedChallenge do a No Bomb clear]] of the game, or simply wasted resources, with players wishing bombing only had its other input (pressing Z and X simultaneously twice in rapid succession).

** Most fans believe Konngara is an oni, but a few think Konngara might be a ghost or other kind of spirit due to the boss's sprite diffusing below the torso, with the horn actually being a bloody spike indicating how Konngara died. [[TakeAThirdOption A few others think Konngara might be a hybrid of both]].

** The lightning connecting YuugenMagan's eyes draws an anthropomorphic figure in the center. Opinions differ as to whether the humanoid is just an illusion, or the real YuugenMagan, who is controlling the eyes.
** Most fans believe Konngara is an oni, but a few think Konngara might be a ghost or other kind of spirit due to the boss's sprite diffusing below the torso, with the horn actually being a bloody spike indicating how Konngara died. [[TakeAThirdOption Yet others think Konngara might be a hybrid of both]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: What exactly ''is'' Shingyoku? The most common interpretations are that it's either a manifestation of the Hakurei god, or the spirits of Reimu's parents, making sure she is ready to wield the yin-yang orb and take on whatever lies in Hell or Makai.

* ThatOneBoss: [[ThatOneBoss/TouhouProject Shares a page]] with the rest of the series.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Although the [[VideoGame game]] considers it a good ending, [[spoiler:one ending has a Ying-Yang orb turn into some ArmlessBiped. Which proceeds to wreck Reimu's shrine, with the illustration stating it appears to be enjoying it]]. [[SincerityMode Yes]], [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext that really happens in that ending]].

* AnticlimaxBoss: Konngara's attacks don't fill the screen as heavily as you would expect for a final boss - even on Lunatic, some of the attacks have clear gaps in them. This is in comparison to the previous Hell boss, who has many attacks that are more in line with the later games and thus are harder to read (and whose hitbox is notoriously tiny), or the other final boss - Sariel, who starts with one of the few truly random attacks in the game, on top of the many attacks that require you to keep moving around (as well as faking you out by having phase two unlike Konngara).

* AnticlimaxBoss: Compared to Kikuri's frantic patterns reminiscent of later games, which are complemented by the tiny hitbox, Konngara is easy to hit and most of her attacks are much easier to read. In fact, some of them have blind spots ''even on [[HarderThanHard Lunatic]]''.

* GameBreaker: The "spirit strike" in this game are incredibly broken; proper use of them makes the game noticeably easier. This is due to three things: '''a)''' they do not damage bosses unless you're on your last life '''b)''' the targets in main stages are worth the more, the more you hit without the orb hitting the ground. Since they hit the entire screen, using them at the beginning of a stage racks up points fast '''c)''' you get one for each death, meaning dying at bosses doesn't hinder much as you get more of them to rack up lives back in the main stages.

* GameBreaker: The "spirit strike" in this game are incredibly broken; proper use of them makes the game noticeably easier. This is due to three things: '''a)''' they do not damage bosses unless you're on your last life '''b)''' the targets in main stages are worth the more, the more you hit without the orb hitting the ground. Since they hit the entire screen, using them at the beginning of a stage racks up points fast '''c)''' you get one for each death, meaning dying at bosses doesn't hinder much as you get more of them to rack up lives back in the main stages.

* GameBreaker: The "bombs" in this game are incredibly broken; proper use of them makes the game noticeably easier. This is due to three things: '''a)''' bombs do not damage bosses unless you're on your last life '''b)''' the targets in main stages are worth the more, the more you hit without the orb hitting the ground. Since "bombs" hit the entire screen, using them at the beginning of a stage racks up points fast '''c)''' you get one for each death, meaning dying at bosses doesn't hinder much as you get more of the "bombs" to rack up lives back in the main stages.

* GameBreaker: The "bombs" in this game are incredibly broken; proper use of them makes the game noticeably easier. This is due to three things: a) bombs do not damage bosses unless you're on your last life b) the targets in main stages are worth the more, the more you hit without the orb hitting the ground. Since "bombs" hit the entire screen, using them at the beginning of a stage racks up points fast c) you get one for each death, meaning dying at bosses doesn't hinder much as you get more of the "bombs" to rack up lives back in the main stages.