Game:

Labyrinth of Touhou (2009)

Duration: 1:08

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Here it is: a playthrough of Labyrinth of Touhou 1 in the year 2023. I've actually played and fully completed this game once before. It was right before I got really into Labyrinth of Touhou 2. You won't find footage of that playthrough, though, because it was also before I was able to record footage for anything. I always wanted to revisit this game, since I used to play it as much as I now play LOT2, though fair warning: I am not as good at LOT1 as I am at LOT2.

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Chen is one of the first bosses (and one of the first recruitable characters) in Labyrinth of Touhou 1.

She has pretty much everything available to her when she's playable. So that means she has regular Attack, Flight of Idaten (a single target attack with low delay), Phoenix Spread Wings (a row attack with medium delay) and Kimontonkou (a self-buff that increases Chen's attack). Note that the boss versions of Chen's attacks have slight differences. For example, Kimontonkou when used by the player decreases Chen's defenses. But boss Chen's defenses do not drop.

Despite the Touhou Wiki recommending you to fight Meiling first, you can definitely go after Chen first (in fact, I've always fought her before fighting Meiling). In the best case scenario, Chen targets and takes down Remilia while everybody else (especially Patchouli) gangs up on and finishes her off. Note that I have seen Chen use Idaten to target Slots 3 and 4, but it's rare.

One other thing you can do differently from the Wiki is use Silent Selene instead of Princess Undine. It may not target Chen's CLD weakness like Undine, but Selene seems to consistently do more damage while having slightly less delay. The drawback is that you can only fire off Selene 2 times vs Undine 3 times. It's not really a problem if other characters are dealing damage to Chen too.

Since this is a fight designed with only the default characters in mind, it is not very difficult. Chen's boss drop is pretty mid, but the fight is so easy you might as well go for it.

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Level Up Bonuses / Character Builds:

One major difference between LOT1 and LOT2 is that LOT1 level up bonuses are permanent. You cannot put all of Reimu's bonuses into HP for one fight and then into MAG for another. It gives the game a very different feel. Certain characters have to permanently choose between being physical or magical attackers. It's an interesting decision, though permanent bonuses can also screw over newer players who don't know which stats to upgrade.

Every time I get a new character, there'll be a character build section. Here are my builds for the starter characters:

-MND-build Reimu: In past playthroughs, I did a lousy HP/SP/DEF build. It was not a very good build. My research tells me that MND-build Reimu is the way to go. Her MND growth is good and it's good to have a MND tank who is more stable than Patchy.

-HP/DEF build Remilia: She's one of the only early game tanks, so you don't have a choice to but to raise her HP and DEF. I recommend only leveling her every 2 levels (that way you can do HP/DEF equally). I've heard that ATK build Remilia is good, but I need other tanks first. She is identical to LOT2 except for Gungnir not having a damage type. Also, passives aren't a thing in this game, so no synergies.

-MAG build Patchouli: Your early game nuker. Very different from her LOT2 incarnation (whose specialty is MP regen and affinity piercing). I usually play her until the SPD difference between her and other nukers becomes more noticeable. MND build is bad, go for MAG.

-SP build Marisa: I always start off LOT1 by dumping into SP. This is to unlock Master Spark ASAP. Once I reach 160SP / Master Spark, I usually dump into MAG. Pretty similar to LOT2 but with an extra row attack skill.

-HP build Sakuya: She's mid in both games, but for different reasons. I usually just dump her bonuses into DEF, but I'm dumping into HP since that seems to work in LOT2. It might be a bad idea? But pure attacker Sakuya is underwhelming. At least LOT1 Sakuya has decent HP growth.

-SPD build Chen: I'm going with SPD build Chen which is VERY un-optimal. It's way better to dump into ATK (SPD bonuses are wasted this early in the game) but I'm already used to running this build. This is more of a QoL choice, allowing me to run away from encounters on certain annoying floors, though it takes a while (and some good equips) for Chen to start outspeeding everyone.

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Other Stuff:

-Sped up animations? I'm actually playing this on Mac via emulation. It's functional but the game seems to be sped up. It's most noticeable with the animations, though sometimes the game "double clicks" even when I only press up or down once. It's very annoying and I've definitely messed up a few boss attempts because I used Focus instead of a skill.

-CharaGraph pack: I made it myself. It uses art from Lost Word. I also did one for LOT Rebirth, but I can't emulate that unfortunately.

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