Break out the CRT PCs and AppLocale! (Doujin Games)

[miyabi95_]

Confused? Here: "video games created by Japanese hobbyists or hobbyist groups (referred to as "circles"), more for fun than for profit; essentially, the Japanese equivalent of independent video games." That's doujin games.

Anyway, I'm curious as to what experience you've had with doujin. I've only played a few freeware games because I'm very limited as I use a Mac OS X machine (I use Wine for anyone wondering).

I'm sure most of us know about Touhou. What started out as an idea from one person for a doujin game spanned a worldwide fanbase of gamers, cosplayers, artists, animators, etc. I've played many of the games at anime conventions and am not surprised that it has such a cult but still huge following.

But what other doujin games are out there for us to play? There are many sites that contain information about these games and may even provide download links to them. While it's a long and difficult process to allow PC's outside of Japan to play them, people somehow manage to be able to play them anyway.

Here's a fighting game that I discovered recently called Akatsuki BK. It plays a lot like a traditional fighter, but has some aspects similar to KOF-style fighting.

[Kosheh]

Here's a fighting game that I discovered recently called Akatsuki BK. It plays a lot like a traditional fighter, but has some aspects similar to KOF-style fighting.

This is ooooold but I LOVE this game. Try to find Auf Achse if you can (I've actually seen it in arcades!!) It introduces balance changes and adds a new character, Perfecti.
I'd actually say that Akatsuki Blitzkampf plays more like a cross between SF3 and KOF though...but that doesn't take away from it still being great.
I used to like playing Marilyn too. She's SORTA like Karin if you've played Alpha 3 ;P

(Also, I HOPE YOU KNOW, JAZZ that Akatsuki is an unlockable character in Under Night in Birth - the fighting game that French Bread started working on after Melty Blood and finally released on consoles last year, which if you liked Melty you'll love the absolute shit out of)


As a personal suggestion though (and despite the fact you said "WELL yeah you all know Touhou") if you haven't already I'd suggest you look into the Touhou fighters, Jazz. (Touhou Shinhiroku?)
The newer ones have rebooted the mechanics and artstyle somewhat, but it's half fighting game, half bullet hell. It's a lot easier for friends who play Smash to pick it up than actual fighting-game heads due to the way projectiles are handled, though, so if you find yourself without a lot of Fighting Game Friends it's not a bad idea to suggest this instead.

[psychospacecow]

I always wondered what a Touhou was...

I don't believe I'd ever heard of Doujin Games actually.

[Skyla Doragono]

You might have actually; Fate/Stay Night was considered a doujin game before it went commercial.

Also, I vaguely remember a fighting game... Melty Blood?

EDIT: Whoops, I missed Kosheh's reply. Hurp.

[Gors]

I always wondered what a Touhou was...

Basically, Touhou is a series of one-man-made indie games. They're originally bullet hell games, but fans have spun it into other genres (not only game genres, but also comics and videos).

It's well known for using magical/folklore elements in a genre that mechanical/spaceships would be more common, and has a cast of 130 original characters all with their backstories and stuff.

I don't like it a lot however due to genre and the fact that the cast is entirely comprised of moe girls

[Koh]

Yup, the bullet hell genre is one hell of a genre. So if you ever got curious about Touhou, I'd say play Undertale first. Undertale will ease you into that type of gameplay, with its bullet hell battles, and then Touhou will kick your ass with it C:

[Kriven]

Can somebody define "doujin" exactly? In the past I thought it referred to large-scale fanworks (like Bleedman's Powerpuff Girls comic), but the past half-decade or so I've seen it used to refer to unique IPs created by small teams?

[Gors]

Doujin is literally, "Independent" in japanese. So, it can be applied to anything that is made independently - be it fan works, or completely original works, no matter the size and scale of said project.

A similar word, "Doujinshi", means "Indepentent(ly made) Book" and is applied to comics/manga/text made independently.

[Kosheh]

what the hell. i wrote a good post and it's gone


anyway, being a certain someone here likes dojin fighters, that person might like BigBang Beat 1st Impression.

It, like most other dojin fighters, is based on an eroge but it's got a fairly bright aesthetic (as opposed to the brooding, moody ones of Melty or Akatsuki Blitzkampf) and plays like a mashup between a Capcom fighter and an Arc System Works one. Also, there's a cactus as a joke character. Cactus alone should convince you to pick up this title, and if not that, then that gigantic yanki brute grappler should.

I picked up the game at an anime convention where it was being sold a few years back, and I'm extremely happy I did!

Another fighter that's pretty good that I picked up the year after (and I'd be surprised if a bunch of you didn't know about it) is "Ougon Musou Kyoku"...which is a fighter based on the Umineko visual novels (which is...not eroge. lol) I've had it installed on my laptop for years but I haven't gotten a chance to really get a good grasp of its mechanics. Maybe sometime soon...maybe soon enough to post about it this weekend :V

[miyabi95_]

Here's a fighting game that I discovered recently called Akatsuki BK. It plays a lot like a traditional fighter, but has some aspects similar to KOF-style fighting.

This is ooooold but I LOVE this game. Try to find Auf Achse if you can (I've actually seen it in arcades!!) It introduces balance changes and adds a new character, Perfecti.
I'd actually say that Akatsuki Blitzkampf plays more like a cross between SF3 and KOF though...but that doesn't take away from it still being great.
I used to like playing Marilyn too. She's SORTA like Karin if you've played Alpha 3 ;P

(Also, I HOPE YOU KNOW, JAZZ that Akatsuki is an unlockable character in Under Night in Birth - the fighting game that French Bread started working on after Melty Blood and finally released on consoles last year, which if you liked Melty you'll love the absolute shit out of)


As a personal suggestion though (and despite the fact you said "WELL yeah you all know Touhou") if you haven't already I'd suggest you look into the Touhou fighters, Jazz. (Touhou Shinhiroku?)
The newer ones have rebooted the mechanics and artstyle somewhat, but it's half fighting game, half bullet hell. It's a lot easier for friends who play Smash to pick it up than actual fighting-game heads due to the way projectiles are handled, though, so if you find yourself without a lot of Fighting Game Friends it's not a bad idea to suggest this instead.

The only version I have right now of Akatsuki is Blitzkampf, but I'll check out the others whenever I have time.

I have played some Touhou games, actually. I tried the early fighting games, but the recent two fighters (Hopeless Masquerade and Urban Legend in Limbo) have really great art styles. The gameplay's pretty cool too - Dragon Ball Z with moe girls. I wish my MacBook was powerful enough to run them at a framerate greater than 5 fps .

I always wondered what a Touhou was...

Basically, Touhou is a series of one-man-made indie games. They're originally bullet hell games, but fans have spun it into other genres (not only game genres, but also comics and videos).

It's well known for using magical/folklore elements in a genre that mechanical/spaceships would be more common, and has a cast of 130 original characters all with their backstories and stuff.

I don't like it a lot however due to genre and the fact that the cast is entirely comprised of moe girls

Yeah, that's my only gripe with Touhou in general. I don't mind all-female casts at all, but there should be some balance and diversity. Even Arcana Heart and Toukidenshou: Angel Eyes have diverse rosters. But geez, 130 characters...

Yup, the bullet hell genre is one hell of a genre. So if you ever got curious about Touhou, I'd say play Undertale first. Undertale will ease you into that type of gameplay, with its bullet hell battles, and then Touhou will kick your ass with it C:

I'm watching the Steam Train playthrough of Undertale. I can't believe I never saw the similarity to danmaku in the battles ! I do play some more casual scrolling shooters like Deathsmiles and Cotton.

what the hell. i wrote a good post and it's gone


anyway, being a certain someone here likes dojin fighters, that person might like BigBang Beat 1st Impression.

It, like most other dojin fighters, is based on an eroge but it's got a fairly bright aesthetic (as opposed to the brooding, moody ones of Melty or Akatsuki Blitzkampf) and plays like a mashup between a Capcom fighter and an Arc System Works one. Also, there's a cactus as a joke character. Cactus alone should convince you to pick up this title, and if not that, then that gigantic yanki brute grappler should.

I picked up the game at an anime convention where it was being sold a few years back, and I'm extremely happy I did!

Another fighter that's pretty good that I picked up the year after (and I'd be surprised if a bunch of you didn't know about it) is "Ougon Musou Kyoku"...which is a fighter based on the Umineko visual novels (which is...not eroge. lol) I've had it installed on my laptop for years but I haven't gotten a chance to really get a good grasp of its mechanics. Maybe sometime soon...maybe soon enough to post about it this weekend :V

I have BigBang Beat Revolve. There's something about the physics that doesn't comply with my taste, but the graphics are pretty cool and Garou/Last Blade-esque.

[miyabi95_]

       
       
Here's a good one: Eternal Fighter Zero. Made by the same people who made those Marisa Kirisame platformers. I know there's an updated version of EFZ, but I couldn't get my hands on it.

Um, the sprite art is superb. That is all.

[Dolphman]

(like Bleedman's Powerpuff Girls comic)

I don't know how that comic got popular. His art has some pedophilia overtones in it, and he seems to be a real douche from what I've read. 
Not to mention his Deviantart ID has a caricature of himself drooling while creeping behind a little girl.

I haven't checked Doujin games, other than one years ago called Holdover. Some platform game that's like one big water level.
But it Kinda bugs me though, because I think it was made by some weirdo who gets aroused by girls drowning, and unnecessary nudity.

One guy I chat to at a convention years ago has a YouTube channel that specializes on playing and reviewing these type of games.
I mentioned a spritesheet to him ripped from one that's a Run 'n Gun featuring cowgirls (Girls with cow ears, horns, and tails) with big boobs.
Shame I forgot the name of it (Saa Ushida, it was called) But I did describe what it had in it. Hope he managed to find it.
But now I can't remember what his show and channel was called.

Did find one that was a DOS port of a NEC computer game. It was a strategy game with women piloting flying war machines, I think.
One feature it had was after beating a mission, you unlocked a sexy pinup that also downloads a Bitmap of it into the game's folder.
Forgot it's name too, but there's a review at Hardcore Gaming 101

[Vlad Ⅲ]

Women fighting... when I was still a living human, no lady would stain her hands with cruel War.

...Unless if she was a Turk.

I did not earn the epithet of Impaler for nothing!