I like the part when the future said "it's fragmentin' time" and fragmented all over the place

Gensokyo Dreaming is a massive update to Touhou: New World, introducing a new playable character and a new story scenario that'll provide at least 10 hours of playtime if you complete all of the main and side quests. Please note that this DLC scenario differs WILDLY from the two previous scenarios. Naturally, there is also new character art and there are new music remixes too, and they are all fantastic as ever!

Oh, did I say a new character? I meant 8 new characters. All 10 characters are now playable in each of the three story scenarios (just a bonus feature in the two original scenarios) and your chosen character even occasionally gives you unique monologue/dialogue for some of the quests in the DLC scenario.

The most surprising to me was the introduction of a new antagonist, several brand new areas and a couple new silly side quest objectives. Not to mention multiple new callbacks to the developer's previous games in addition to a super cool reference to one of the official Touhou spin-offs: The Secret Sealing Club/Hifuu Club.

This DLC expansion quickly surpassed all of my expectations and continued blowing my mind until the end.

Thank you, Ankake Spa.

eat fibsh and become chonk

Basically, this game is kind of like Scarlet Curiosity but bigger and better.

The music is absolutely incredible, props to Hachimitsu-Lemon. There are countless new arrangements as well as tracks brought over from Scarlet Curiosity.

The art is gorgeous. The cutscenes are now much more lively with the addition of emote bubbles and many new special animations. The 3D character models are adorable.

The combat is greatly expanded upon. The skill cooldown system incentivizes using more than just one skill over and over. The perfect guard mechanic grants you a safe way unload all your skills at once without risking a counter-attack, as you are now more vulnerable while attacking.

The main story is much longer than Scarlet Curiosity's, and the addition of optional side quests is nice. Reimu and Marisa's routes differ enough, with regard to both the main story and the side quests, that I recommend you play through both.

Expanded ramblings:
Touhou: New World is team Ankake Spa's third 3D action game and the second game with RPG elements. Somewhat of a sequel to Scarlet Curiosity, this game follows a similar formula of making your way through a combat and/or platforming level and fighting a boss at the end. The story occasionally branches and lets you choose which level to tackle first. The game features numerous side quests that range from simple fetch quests to unique boss battles. There is also a 3D overworld with miniature set-pieces to run around and enjoy. It's nice.

Having played through both character routes, I'm pleasantly surprised at how differently the two stories play out. Both routes make use of the same boss characters, but the context surrounding them is completely different. A few main story bosses in Reimu's route are instead side quest bosses in Marisa's route, and vice versa. Most side quests are unique per character, with only about one-third of the side quests being more or less the same. One thing that stood out to me is how Reimu had no side quests in the village proper, while Marisa had three.

This game fixes the main issues at the core of Scarlet Curiosity's combat: stunlockable bosses, spammable invincible skills, and the lack of healing in some boss fights. Stunlocks are simply gone. Fully invicible skills have been replaced by the perfect guard mechanic that only works against melee attacks. Healing orbs from breakable pots are replaced by a recharging self-healing ability.

The game starts out relatively easy, but the endgame and postgame bosses can really kick your butt. The recharging healing ability makes it so you can make more smaller mistakes in the long run and still come out of top. The higher damage numbers and attack density in the endgame and postgame means having maxed out healing charges isn't enough to simply tank all the attacks.

There are fewer combat skills to choose from, but the skill level system still gives you something to look forward to as you progress.

The levels generally follow a simple formula of running around, getting locked in a room and having to fight through 1-3 waves of enemies before being allowed to move on, and interacting with an object to open the way forward. This may feel repetitive in the long run, but exploring is optional and the boss fights more than make up for it. Some levels re-use music and assets from Scarlet Curiosity, but the level compositions are mostly unique.

The lack of a manual save is odd. It would have been nice to be able to talk to Kosuzu or even Akyuu to manually save, and at the same time have the characters comment on the adventure so far, as Patchouli would do in Scarlet Curiosity.

The reforging mechanic is introduced rather late in the game, and isn't of much use if you already got lucky with near-perfect stat rolls. The shop really only serves as a way to clear your inventory of unwanted equipment and get some more cash for reforging, which you may not even need. The power amplifier, however, is a nice way to gradually get stronger while also letting you choose what stat to prioritize.

The only thing I feel this game is missing is some kind of postgame extra stage with unique bosses, or maybe some kind of epilogue with, I don't know, a secret third playable character?

Anyway, this game is cool.

it's like okay i guess