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Gameplay

Controls

The game is played using the keyboard or gamepad.

Default keyboard controls are as follows:

  • Arrow keys: Movement and aiming
  • Z: Attack
  • X: Jump
  • A: Spellcard
  • C: Switch master and slave

Basic Gameplay

Mystical_Chain is a fighter game set in Gensokyo. Every stage has five levels. The first four levels of any stage feature a growing number of small opponents that need to be defeated for the level to clear. The final level is a boss fight, featuring two characters with many spellcards that need to be defeated before moving on.

There are three main characters. You may choose any two of them. The two characters have to work together to defeat some enemies that would be difficult if not impossible to defeat alone. Ways of using the two characters effectively will be discussed in the strategy section below.

There are four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard and Lunatic. The harder difficulties' opponents do more damage, and their attacks feature more danmaku. Additionally, the harder difficulties have fewer glowy things (what are those?) which represent the ability to use strong attacks repeatedly.

As you advance through the stages, you are awarded additional glowy things. Otherwise there is no difference between your characters in the advanced levels.

Characters share glowy things as well as magic charge. When one character uses a strong attack, the other character has one fewer glowy thing to work with. However, they regenerate when not in use rather quickly.

Spell cards use magic charge to fire. Under the player's health bar is his magic charge meter. It is divided into three sections. When casting a spell card, at least one of the three sections needs to be filled in. Spell cards consume one of the thirds. Magic charge regenerates over time, at a pace of about one third every regular level, and one or two every spell card in boss levels.

Screen layout

Mysticalchain-notes

  • A Master character's health bar. The slave character's health bar is behind it.
  • B Boss health bar.
  • C Magic charge meter.
  • D Chaining indicator (appears when landing hits)
  • E Boss spellcards remaining.
  • F Master character. Note the orange spell circle.
  • G Slave character in ambush mode. Note the blue spell circle.
  • H Gems.
  • I Glowy thing. (Really need to figure out what those are called.)
  • J The joy of victory.
  • K NEET.

Scoring

Scoring is based on four factors:

  • The time it takes to beat the level/spellcard
  • Health when the level is completed
  • The number of gems collected in this level
  • The maximum chain achieved this level

There is also a "coupling points" level which isn't entirely understood yet. If and how it relates to scoring is unknown.

Strategy

Ambushing

Pressing down and swap at the same time will cause the slave character to stay where she is. The master character can move about freely. Pressing down and swap together again makes the slave character return to following mode.

While in ambush mode, the slave character will slowly regenerate health. This is terribly useful in situations where the characters take a lot of damage.

Ambushing is mostly useful in dealing with opponents who block. Using the master character to distract an opponent who blocks frontal attacks, you can quickly switch to the slave character and attack from behind. A very useful strategy.

It's also useful in dodging spellcards, since the slave character is invincible.

Interference

While an opponent is the target of one character, if the other character strikes it, the game calls it "interference". Doing many of this type of paired attack seems to increase the coupling point level faster, but it's just a speculation at this point.

Spellcard use

Spellcards can be used against bosses even when they are not vulnerable (i.e. when their spell circles turn red). They can be used to easily bring boss health down to the point where one normal attack can finish them off when vulnerable.

Additionally, using a spellcard can be used to cancel an attack against a character. If your current character is attacked, pressing the spellcard button quickly results in the other character saving her life. The spellcard is not cast as normal, but your character won't take any damage.

Specific strategies

Remilia + Flandre's last spellcard

This spellcard is very difficult to deal with, since the characters can't be struck while attacking, the window of vulnerability is short and the characters are hard to approach.

If you have Patchouli as one of your characters, it's a good idea to leave her in ambush mode in the very center of the screen where Remilia and Flandre strike and become vulnerable. The other character has to dodge the normal attacks. As soon as Flandre and Remilia strike the center, switch to Pathouli and activate her spell card. It will deal enough damage to them to bring them below half health.

Marisa's spellcard doesn't work well at close range, and Alice's only attacks one of the two enemies, so neither of them work well this way.

Character attacks

Alice

Attack Fires a Shanghai directly forward
Up or Down, Attack Fires a Shanghai diagonally up or down
Attack, repeatedly Once a target is acquired, attacks eight times with Shanghais, then smashes the target away
Forward + Attack Fires a smashing Shanghai forward
Up + Attack Uses a barrel to trap an enemy and smash it to the ground
Down, forward + Attack Leave a trap doll forward and above Alice
Up, forward + Attack Leave a trap doll forward and below Alice
In the air, down + Attack Smash an enemy directly below Alice
Down, up + Attack Don't know what this does, but it costs a glowy thing so it must do something. Alice reaches out with her hand.
Down + Attack? Running doll. Attacks smashes every enemy it hits. This combo is not confirmed.
Back, forward + Attack? Alice freaks out and hammers a voodoo doll into the face of enemy. Extracts gems. This combo is not confirmed.

Marisa

Patchouli

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