Game:

Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend (2022)

Duration: 7:11

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Speaking of Slay the Spire, here is the obligatory Touhou themed parody / homage, Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend. This Chinese fangame is still in Early Access but it's pretty neat. Can't really talk about how similar / different it is since I'm not super into deckbuilders / card games in general, but I like the game's presentation over StS, and I like how much more "accessible" the game is. Lots of QoL additions, like being able to select difficulty, being able to restart encounters from the pause menu, easier character unlocks etc.

There are some other, fundamental differences that make Lost Branch of Legend different from Slay the Spire. The main one is the colored mana system, which is supposed to be inspired by Magic: The Gathering (I know even less about Magic TBH). The other difference is that each character has one of two variations. These variations determine the starting Relic, Deck and Spellcard that character uses. Like the title says, I used Reimu-A for this run.

You can think of Reimu as the Ironclad of Lost Branch of Legend, since both of them are red-colored starter characters and Reimu has a few Exhaust themed cards she can use. She's not just a clone of of the Ironclad though. While I cannot play the Ironclad at all in Slay the Spire, I have won with Reimu multiple times.

Reimu-A (which is the Reimu variation I used) is pretty bog standard. Her spellcard lets her do damage and she gets life and firepower (used for Spellcards) whenever she kills an enemy. Reimu-B on the other hand, is like playing Easy mode (which is funny because using Reimu is already like playing on Easy Mode). Reimu-B gets free Barrier for unspent Mana and her Spellcard gives her a Yin Yang Orb to play.

Yin Yang Orbs are the reason Reimu is so easy to play. They create Barrier (which is a defensive mechanic separate from Block, but better because Barrier is permanent while Block disappears after each turn). If you buy up every Card that lets you summon Yin Yang Orbs, you'll easily build up enough Barrier to tank most bosses and encounters. Seriously, the gap in difficulty between winning with Reimu and winning with the other three characters is HUGE. I can only assume Reimu is so good atm because the game is still in Early Access.

tl;dr Reimu is pretty strong. When you play her, I strongly recommending picking up any card that lets her summon Yin Yang Orbs. I would also prioritize her Draw cards. Ignore the Remilia one (which draws 4 but prevents you from picking up more). Would definitely recommend getting and upgrading Ascension Kick and Three Gods of Sumiyoshi. The Primsriver Draw cards are also good on every character that can get them.

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