Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!

Some content in this article highlight important plot points from Chuhou Joutai and Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!. Like usual, spoilers will be present. Do not read ahead if you do not want to be spoiled!

General Information
Developer(s)	Drillimation Systems
Publisher(s)	Drillimation Systems
Engine	GameMaker Studio 2
Platform(s)	PC
Release date	March 5, 2021 (demo) July 2, 2021 (full)
Genre(s)	Shooter
Mode(s)	Single player and Co-op
Rating(s)	ESRB: E10+ CERO: A PEGI: 7 ACB: PG
Media/distribution	Digital

Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!, officially known in Japan as Chuhou Joutai 2: Take Revenge! Oriental Journey for the Hakkero (中(ちゅう)方(ほう)状(じょう)態(たい)２(ツー)：復(ふく)習(しゅう)され！八卦炉(はっけろ)の東洋(とうよう)の旅(たび), Chūhō Jōtai Tsū: Fukushū sare! Hakkero no Tōyō no Tabi) is a manic shooter developed and published by Drillimation Systems. The demo was released on March 5, 2021, with the beta released on April 30, 2021, and the full game on July 2, 2021. It is the second installment of and sequel to Chuhou Joutai. The first trailer for the game was released on YouTube on November 30, 2020. It is the fourth installment in the Drillimation Danmaku Universe, after the first two Touhou Project NES demakes.

Taking place a few months after the events of the first game, Paraided! has players taking on the roles of the humanoid Susumu Takajima and youkai-born Kagami Ochiai as they search Eastern Kozan to retrieve a mythical object owned by the Kozanese Royal Family after it was stolen by SPASDOT in a raid, hence the name. The game's English subtitle is a pun on the word paraded, and unlike its predecessor, the game's overall theme takes on a more oriental approach as evidenced in the soundtrack and character designs. Paraided! adds a greater level of difficulty, especially on Lunatic. New mechanics such as the ability to purchase items between stages and wind gusts that affect how the player's danmaku travels were introduced.

Critical reception was favorable; while the game received acclaim in Japan for the redesigned characters and overall theme, the game was less favorably received elsewhere. Critics viewed it as an extension of the first game, especially with its difficulty curve. Several players deemed it too difficult, while others praised the challenge. It is regarded as one of the most difficult danmaku games ever made.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

The game is played pretty much like its predecessor. The main objective would be shooting at anything that moves and dodging enemy projectiles, as well as defeating the stage boss in order to progress onto the next stage.

Changes from its predecessor

• The game utilizes a more realistic anime-inspired art direction. In addition, it utilizes a new color palette rather than the NES-inspired palette of its predecessor.
• The tutorial is expanded into a whole short stage with Megumi Wasai teaching the player how to operate the action commands and even dueling her at the end.
• All character sprites are much larger. To accommodate the larger sprites, the tile size is also larger. The color of their hitbox is yellow instead of red in its predecessor in order to avoid blending issues.
• All stages have three cutscenes as opposed to two from the previous game (stages 2 - 8).
• The maximum amount of HP and Bombs at the start of the stage has been capped to 100 HP and 10 bombs for balancing purposes.
• In co-op mode, both players can now have 100% power as opposed to 50% in its predecessor.

New features

• The game now includes an intermission segment between stages, allowing players to purchase incentives to get an advantage on the next stage.
• While both playable characters of Susumu Takajima and Kagami Ochiai return, this is also the first and only game where the duo dresses according to the theme of each stage.

Removed features

• The time and danmaku bonus text after depleting one of a boss's segments has been removed.
• The bonuses awarded for either not using bombs, getting KO'd, or even getting hit once have been removed and replaced with bonuses based on how many bombs the player is currently holding.

Plot

The game takes place a few months after the events of the first game. However, meanwhile at another SPASDOT stronghold, two Crimsonites, going by the names of Kazuo Ozawa and Kichiro Nakasone, are plotting to raid a bon festival and steal a "score." Hearthcliffe warns them if they encounter Susumu Takajima at the raid, he tells them not to attack him as he could possibly retaliate.

The game opens up at the Ochiai Clan's main facility, where Driller is overlooking Kozankyo and feels proud to live in a place where the eastern and western cultures meet. While gazing outside the window, Asuka Oguchi, Kagami Ochiai's grandmother, asks Driller to come downstairs for some "traditional American sushi." The main game begins with Driller eating rice for breakfast and while eating, Kagami Ochiai shows up and taps on his window, asking Driller to meet with Crown Princess Konata who is standing on his driveway. After he finishes eating, Driller becomes shocked about a mysterious youkai woman who had illegally trespassed onto the grounds of the Hakurei Shrine. The three go down to the Hakurei Shrine to meet up with the youkai woman, whom Hearthcliffe formally introduces to the duo as Maika Ohtake. Hearthcliffe falsely claims she is a Crimsonite and makes Maika challenge the duo to a duel, which she easily loses. After being defeated, Kumiko Uchida shows up and performs a sealing ritual on her while police are nearby. The three then head down to Kozankyo University's Dokutsu Commons to eat pizza for lunch.

The following week, Driller meets up with Crown Princess Konata in her Kozankyo University dorm room to talk about a bon festival she is hosting the next week and tells him about the youkai woman that the duo had previously defeated the week before appearing at the festival, which leaves Driller in shock. Driller then heads downtown to meet up with Kagami Ochiai who wants to take a bike ride around Kozankyo to find and snipe some Crimsonites who are coming by bullet train. The duo head down to Union Station and attack the Crimsonite that exits the station, who then becomes easily angered. The following day at the festival, Kagami shows off her brand new yukata she got for the occasion and while discussing their fashion, the same group of Crimsonites the duo had taken aim on appears and takes the festival attendees hostage, including the Crown Princess herself. At the start of the attack, Kazuo Ozawa says the hostages don't need to worry about anything and that they are going after the Mini-Hakkero, a mythical object owned by the Kozanese Royal Family. After Kazuo detonates an explosive to the door that holds the Mini-Hakkero, Maika pulls out a blaster and shoots Kazuo in an attempt to stop the raid but Maika in the end is killed by Kichiro Nakasone in retaliation.

With the Mini-Hakkero stolen, the duo, including the Crown Princess herself, begin a journey to search all of Eastern Kozan to find it. Their first stop is the Musou Island Amusement Park in the city of Kourindou which lies east of Kozankyo. When they arrive, they meet up with Kichirou Nakasone which they then duel and defeat, only to realize he doesn't have the Mini-Hakkero thanks to Hearthcliffe trolling them into thinking he had it. On the way back to Kozankyo, an angered Crown Princess Konata states going to Kourindou was a "lie," while a stranger by the name of Hinako Lina Mongrey approaches them and gives them a valuable tip to find the Mini-Hakkero, and they suggest going to Gairai to the west or Kinmyou to the south to find the Mini-Hakkero.

The trio travel to Gairai hoping to find the Mini Hakkero, where the Crown Princess spots him holding it during a kabuki performance. Driller intercepts, eventually dueling the Crimsonite whom Hearthcliffe reveals to be Takayuki Kuno. He then fools the trio into thinking they found the 'real' Mini Hakkero when it was just a prop. The trio then decide to spend the night in a hot spring at a nearby hotel. The next day, after Crown Princess Konata gets her toll tag to work, they travel to Kinmyou where they meet up with Naoko Shigematsu, a fully-trained geisha who is actually Ryuta Shigematsu's elder sister. Konata then tells Naoko after her defeat that somebody in Gairai suggested they get the guidance from a bhikku at a Buddhist temple within Kinmyou to find the Mini Hakkero. The trio then head down to the Seimori Grand Temple within the Risuoka ward of Kinmyou, eventually listening to the horror stories of Kinmyou involving youkai-borns from the area. Meanwhile, a tengu by the name of Risu Yokumaru overhears the conversation eventually duels them in an attempt to stop them from finding the stronghold that holds the Mini Hakkero, which the bhikku told them earlier.

Following Risu's defeat, The three head up to the stronghold located outside the town of Masa in Kozan province. When they reach the stronghold, they are stopped by Hearthcliffe who wants to try and stop them from entering. However, Crown Princess Konata jumps in by lashing her whip at Hearthcliffe, but in the end is kidnapped and taken hostage by fellow Crimsonite grunts. The remaining duo of Driller and Kagami defeat him, eventually getting access to the stronghold. Driller then proceeds to unhook Crown Princess Konata using a device that could essentially "grab it." The trio eventually enter the stronghold's main hall, leaving Fred Fawkes in shock. Eventually, Konata's father, who is revealed to be King Soujirou, enters and tells Driller that the king should be able to defeat Fawkes, but Driller denies the king from doing so with Driller and Kagami dueling Fawkes anyway. In the end, Fawkes is defeated with the Crown Princess taking back the Mini Hakkero, and King Soujirou kills Fawkes by impaling him in the chest with his sword.

In Kagami's endings, it is revealed that she wants to start training to become a geisha. In the post-credits scene that follows, Driller, Kagami, Crown Princess Konata, and Kagami's mother Kisumi Torisawa discuss how Kagami wants to be a geisha on their way to Kyoto, and that she would need to learn the Kansai dialect. The three travel to Kyoto and when they arrive, Kagami, alongside her mother and the Crown Princess, get made up as maiko and geisha respectively. Kagami, taking on the maiko appearance and alongside Driller, go to Kinkaku-ji. While there, they encounter Hinako Lina Mongrey again, this time taking on the appearance of a festival attendee. Hinako asks the duo for a danmaku duel, which they accept and go to an open space once they leave. Following Hinako's defeat, Driller and Kagami go to a dance theatre where Kagami, alongside her mother and the Crown Princess, partake in a performance. Once it concludes, Driller plots the Unforgettable's future operations.

Returning characters

• Damausagi, stage 3 midboss
• Fred Fawkes, final stage boss
• Jack Fawkes, stage 7 midboss and boss, stage 8 midboss
• Konata, Crown Princess of Kozan, non-playable character
• Kagami Ochiai, playable character
• Kisumi Torisawa, non-playable character
• Kumiko Uchida, non-playable character
• Megumi Wasai, non-playable character, mini-boss
• Ryuta Shigematsu, non-playable character, appears in ending
• Soujirou, King of Kozan, non-playable character
• Susumu Takajima, playable character
• Tatsuro Hozoshima, stage 4 midboss
• Yumi Ochiai, appears in secret

Mentioned characters

• Ayako Sugiwara, mentioned in stages 3 and 6
• Hikari Uchida, mentioned in stage 2

New characters

• Asuka Oguchi, non-playable character
• Kazuo Ozawa, stage 2 midboss and boss
• Hinako Lina Mongrey, extra stage boss
• Hiroki Takajima, non-playable character
• Kichirou Nakasone, stage 3 boss
• Maika Ohtake, stage 1 boss
• Meira Katsumoto, non-playable character
• Naoko Shigematsu, stage 5 midboss and boss, extra stage midboss
• Risu Yokumaru, stage 6 midboss and boss
• Shigeru Ochiai, non-playable character
• Takayuki Kuno, stage 4 boss

Development

Chuhou Joutai 2 was purportedly teased as a fourth-wall break after Fred Fawkes is defeated in Chuhou Joutai and as an April Fools' prank on Drillimation's website in 2020. The game was teased again in July 2020 when the Prophet Driller built a computer of his own as a "mystery game," alongside three musical tracks. In the demonstration video for the Touhou 2: The Story of Eastern Wonderland NES Demake, the Prophet Driller had confirmed the second game was indeed in development. The demake was designed to test the engine for the new Chuhou Joutai.

Even though pre-production began before Chuhou Joutai had even released, development on Paraided! began almost immediately after Touhou 2: The Story of Eastern Wonderland NES Demake was completed and released. The first trailer, under the name of Why is Chuhou Joutai Not the Only Danmaku Game For Us?, was released on November 30, 2020 and introduced two of the game's new characters, that being Kazuo Ozawa and Kichiro Nakasone. Two songs from the game were also present, being Sitting in the Ochiai Clan's Pagoda and Return to Kozan, although their names were unknown until the demo's release. On December 4, 2020, Drillimation uploaded another video that showed the Prophet Driller unboxing and setting up a new MIDI keyboard. The video included another new track, with it being Tune of the Retreating Crimsonite.

The official name for Chuhou Joutai 2 was officially unveiled on January 1, 2021 just half an hour after midnight Japan Standard Time in a tweet, along with the name in Japanese. One of the things Drillimation wanted to touch upon was to use a more realistic art direction rather than the cartoony one from the previous game. Upon the unveiling of the second trailer, the reactions to the new art direction turned out to be more positive and ended up sticking as a result. Another trailer was released on February 26, 2021 (officially listed as February 25, 2021 in some territories due to time zone differences), which showed some gameplay and gave more players a glimpse of the story. The demo was released on itch.io a week later.

In the official demonstration video, Drillimation announced that the game would be releasing in full on July 2, 2021 over the Independence Day weekend in the United States. On April 16, 2021, Drillimation Systems announced in a bilingual statement that all stages were complete with the endings and achievement all being left. The beta was officially released on April 30, 2021, and on May 11, 2021, Drillimation announced the game's completion.

Soundtrack

Like its predecessor, the game has a total of 30 songs, with three of them being jingles. In the demo version and if the player has not yet unlocked the extra stage, only 13 can be played in the music room. Three songs had their names shown in the video of the Prophet Driller building his workstation, that being Wrong Side of the Tokushima Line, Gatashima Provincial Thruway, and The Town of Gairai. Unlike the previous game, the soundtrack for this game takes a mostly oriental approach; many of the songs that have been unveiled so far appear to be inspired by Japanese folk music, as suggested by the use of pentatonic scales.

To connect the game to the Touhou Project universe, a few songs in the game's soundtrack include a few motifs from a few songs in ZUN's early works. For example, the stage 6 theme Kinmyou ~ Ancient Capital of Gensokyo borrows a motif from Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea from Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil while the ending theme Stronghold Destroyed in the Sunset, uses a motif from Spring Breeze from Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom and the credits theme is an arrangement of Sakura Sakura ~ Japanize Dream from the same game.

Reception

The game received generally favorable reviews from critics. From its demo release, Paraided! was very positively received by gamers, though it received average reviews from critics upon its release on Steam while reception among players remained positive. The inclusion of elements from the Touhou Project series drew mixed reactions from players and critics. Robert Allen of Tech-Gaming and Giulia Spataro of iCrewPlay.com both gave the game a mixed review, stating that players might not be completely satisfied with the retro-style graphics and danmaku gameplay. Japanese outlet 4Gamer.net praised the improved art direction over the original as well as the musical score. One player compared the game to a remaster of another game, likely the game's predecessor.

Some critics viewed the game as an extension of its predecessor and considered the graphics too similar to that of the first game. Paraided! was also noted for its much higher difficulty in the later stages which may have been a deliberate attempt to frustrate players. Some players recommended the game to players who mastered the first game, or to those wanting a stiff challenge. One YouTuber noted that casual players wouldn't find it enjoyable.

Legacy

Despite the criticism that Paraided! received, Kagami received a distinctive character trait that would later be used in the Japanese versions of later Drillimation games that featured her with spoken lines. This was the first game to feature her speaking the Kansai dialect, as during the Drillimation Danmaku Universe's timeline, Kagami begins her geisha training with her mother who is also a geisha, and learning the Kansai dialect is a requirement.

Media

Logos

• 

  Teased logo as seen on Drillimation's website.

Screenshots

• 

  Title screen.

• 

  Tutorial cutscene.

• 

  Stage 1 midboss

• 

  Stage 1

• 

  Kichiro Nakasone's boss fight.

References to previous games

• Chuhou Joutai: The Middle State of War - The game looks pretty much the same as it runs on the same engine. The only differences are a new coat of sprites and colors, alongside some new mechanics.
• Touhou 1: The Highly Responsive to Prayers NES Demake - The sprite for the yin-yang orb was reused for the save icon.

References in later games

• Touhou 3: The Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dreams NES Demake - Kagami's mermaid appearance makes an appearance in the game's ending.

Behind the Scenes

• This is the first Chuhou Joutai game to:
  • Use the current Drillimation art direction.
  • Use a new color palette.
    • This is also the only Drillimation game to do so.
  • Have the nationality and spirituality of Susumu Takajima revealed.
  • Have the tutorial in the form of a stage.
  • Have a stage take place outside Kozankyo.
  • Have a stage take place in the Outside World.
  • Have part of a stage take place at night.
  • Have different character sprites for each stage depending on its context.
  • Have a youkai-born as a boss.
  • Have the third and fourth stage bosses be male.
  • Have male bosses for three stages in a row.
  • Have the same character be the midboss and boss in a single stage for more than two stages.
    • Incidentally, this also happens for three stages in a row.
  • Have the fifth stage boss be female.
  • Not have every song composed by the Prophet Driller.
  • Be translated into Japanese kana. This language option is still the same as standard Japanese, but with only hiragana and katakana characters displayed and no kanji.
  • Have more than one character appear a total of three times throughout the game, including the extra stage. The character in question is Naoko Shigematsu.
  • Have Yumi Ochiai speak in the game, as she was silent in the first game.
• This is the last Drillimation game to use the old design for bullets; all future Drillimation games starting from its successor Touhou 3: The Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dreams NES Demake switched to a new design for bullets.

See also

• List of glitches in Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!
• Touhou 2: The Story of Eastern Wonderland NES Demake, the previous game that serves as the basis for this game

External links

• Game on Steam
• Game on itch.io
• Homepage on Drillimation's website