Dev Letter #11 Recap

Hi Friends! It’s only two days away until Touhou LostWord Global’s 1st Anniversary, and that means Phantasma and Caroline need to come in one more time to reveal what’s coming up! And…I know I said last time we had a lot to unpack, but this is another level. Unlike the previous recaps, we’ll mostly go in the order reveals occur in the Dev Letter, mainly because the order is rather convenient. So yes, you will have to wait a sec before the new Friends are revealed (or just click on their section above, cheater). 

We really have a lot to get into this time, so let’s stop wasting any more time!

After a full listen to Kasen’s new Music Video, PHANTOM PAIN, the speakers get into a quick overview of everything that has happened in the latest chapters of the Main Story and Hifuu LostWord. As with the previous recaps, I will avoid posting the Hifuu LostWord images for the sake of those who wish to go in blind. However, I am fine posting the cast of the latest events of the Main Story, or Chapter 3 Acts 1-3, as the wide range of the cast is rather interesting! If you would like to review the B3 or E9 cast of Hifuu LostWord, feel free to check the Dev Letter itself…or look at our article featuring the B3 cast!

(Chapter 3 Cast)

Now here are some rather unique stats, looking at how many battles were done, how many total Friends and Story Cards are in the game, and Friend-specific statistics! For instance, it seems like Sunny Milk has appeared over 300,000 times overall! Good….for her?

If you would like to thank the people who voiced all these Friends, look no further than the Voice Actor credits! A listing of all of the unique Story Card artists can be seen below as well.

Last but definitely not least, let’s take a look at the localization stat-9 full novels?! This only applies to the story translation itself, as considering the translated characters would bump it right to 10! Localization takes a lot of work, and I don’t think anything puts this into perspective more than this single stat.

Anyone who knows Touhou knows about the most important thing: Fumos! Yumemey has been providing us with LostWord-centered fumo content since the beginning of this game’s run, and I think we can all agree it gave this game some new life…for Fumo or Fumo. The Dev Letter watches over all 4 of the currently released videos. If you would like to see more from Yumemey, check out their Youtube and Twitter!

(Not) Halloween is about to end, so it’s time for another seasonal event! This time, it seems to be all about a five-man group of dancers, featuring all(?) of the dancers within Gensokyo! The event will last from May 11th to May 27th, with new event-related costumes for Benben Tsukumo, Yatsuhashi Tsukumo, Mai Teireida, Satono Nishida, and Hata no Kokoro available! These costumes will provide some bonus event points (and are pretty cute in general), so they are definitely work picking up!

We have some other new costumes for a limited time, specifically until June 10th! Pick up these nice outfits for Chen, Mamizou Futatsuiwa, or Kanako Yasaka while they’re around!

We’ve got a lot of new Fantasy Rebirth news coming in, both for the near and far futures! Firstly, Remilia Scarlet and Flandre Scarlet’s Mirror of Rebirths will be available for collection May 27th. However, we have a roadmap of who else will be coming up, along with a glimpse of their great costumes! We know for certain Ran Yakumo and Chen will be out June 10th, but the further characters are more of a mystery.

As for that 2.0 part, more branches will be added to the Fantasy Rebirth tree to dramatically increase your Friends’ strength! This will definitely be a way to make some of your weaker Friends more valuable, so look forward to this update! New branches of the Fantasy Rebirth will give mirrors greater purpose, so be sure to farm them more and pick them up during events!

Coming this 1st anniversary update will be a great amount of quality of life, from updating the UI to in-game functions! My favorite UI update has to be the Prayer UI, especially with how many special Prayers we’ve been getting recently…

The Full Auto update might seem confusing at first, but it’s basically a countermeasure so Friends don’t waste all of their Last Words on a boss with HP Gauges! Very helpful for stages with these stronger enemies.

Now this is a very important feature, you can now see the secondary effects of every attack in-game! This includes scaling percentages for Hard and Slice bullets, as well as chances for effects such as Yin ATK UP to activate! Now you don’t need to check Gamepress every time you want to see those effects…

Did you miss challenging content? Well, for the next month we’ll be seeing the reruns of Moon EX and Fire EX! Both will run for approximately 2 and a half weeks, with any Fantasy Rebirth costume allowing for some bonus points in the Exchange Shop! This is a good opportunity to get those rare story cards on these stages, or to just finally clear them once!

Additionally, the next Elemental EX stage will be the Star EX Battle Stage! There’s no image of the stage itself, but we know that the Witch of Scarlet Dreams herself will be the boss this time around! Up for grabs for this stage will be Myouren Temple Anniversary, a very good story card, especially in the field of Spirit Power restoration and Yang DEF debuffs! This might as well be one of the best cards in the game, serving as a grand reward for one of the most difficult challenges available (so far…).

Want even more challenging content? The Hakugyoku Arena will be obtaining a brand new difficulty: Phantasm! Clearing this new challenge will grant you Incense Burners to further increase your Friends’ strength. Not only that, but a new weekly mode will be added, in which multiple teams can be used to conquer 4 stages for even more rewards! Think of it like the Scarlet Devil Tower, except on a weekly basis.

It’s been a rather long time coming, but the final part of Main Story’s Chapter 3, Act 4, has been announced to be released May 27th! I hope you still remember what transpired in the story, otherwise you can always rewatch it via the Journal!

However, a story event coming much sooner is the Witch of Scarlet Dreams Challenge Event! For those unfamiliar, these were a set of short cutscenes and battles in which you could use the Ultra Festival Marisa Kirisame (Witch of Scarlet Dreams), both to learn her kit and just get more story in general. This event returns and will grace both new and old players on May 11th!

Below is a rather self-explanatory roadmap of all of the events going on throughout the next two months for 1st Anniversary, including some release dates for events previously mentioned above. Let’s go over a couple of new and current campaigns for this celebration!

May Special Login Bonus

Remember to keep logging in for the monthly login bonus, as not only are there Seal Crystals on the line, but a Divine Paper Doll as well! Hopefully you have been consistently logging in daily for a chance at the precious doll!

1st Anniversary Login Bonus

The Hakurei Shrine Anniversary 5* story card, many Character BGMs, and even a Paper Doll and Divine Paper Doll will be on the 1st Anniversary Login Bonus! Make sure to login to get them all!

The Everyone Wins Campaign returns once again, requesting players to consistently login over a set amount of time for a special bonus! This time the reward will be 600 God Crystals, 50 Seal Crystals, and a chance to win a special…Fumo?

We’ve got a lot of crazy deals and prayers to talk about over 1st Anniversary’s runtime!

Forever Prayer

Forever Prayer comes back once again, this time with a great, 1st Anni twist! A-Type Multiverse Friends will be available this time around! And only Part 1, at that! There isn’t a specific list of who will be obtainable yet, but this will definitely be a Forever Prayer to not underestimate!

1st Anniversary Story Card Collection Prayer

This is a first for LostWord Global: a special prayer focused on acquiring story cards! Instead of the usual Featured Friend, it’s all about the Featured Story Cards, specifically the super special and limited Youkai Mountain Anniversary! You can check the Should You Pull article below, but the Crystal prices are cut in half for 10-pulls, and each God Crystal 10-pull provides 3 guaranteed 5* story cards! This is a very special prayer that is rather worth it for some precious equipment!

Lucky Bag

The return of the Lucky Bag! Things are slightly different for this go-around, as you are given 3 chances to use 300 God Crystals for 10-pulls with 1 guaranteed Festival Friend! With a roster including A-Type Multiverse Friends, this is another great and rare deal for some Festival Friends you might have missed!

Lunar War Ultra Festival Collection

Going a bit out of order, one more special prayer was revealed, that being the Lunar War Ultra Festival Collection! It’s somewhat similar to the current Festival Collection running this anniversary, but made special for the Ultra Festival Friends. Instead of 3 rotations, there will only be 72-hour periods for each pair of Lunar War Combatants, as shown below. However, the Exchange Points are shared and usable on any Featured Friend, making this a somewhat risky but potentially rewarding Ultra Festival to pull on!

Phantasma Pack

The very limited but appealing Phantasma Pack is running once more! This time, from May 9th to May 11th, you can get the usual goodies of 150 God Crystals, 50 Seal Crystals, 15,000 Spirit Points, and the 5* story card How Irrational… for $4.99 USD!

Now it’s time for something everyone loves (...right?), the new prayers! First up is a bit of a rerun for the 1st Anniversary: Youmu Konpaku (Mysterious Sword Master)! This is actually her first rerun in…a very long, long time actually, not counting her chance in the Conflux of Worlds or Lucky Bag events. If you missed out on her before, perhaps try for her this time!

As for new Friends, we’ve got two of them coming from the same place: A7 (or Perfect Cherry Blossom, for you classic Touhou fans)! A tired (but very powerful!) Yukari Yakumo (Cherry Blossom) will be making her way first from May 13th to May 23rd! A bit afterwards is Alice Margatroid (Cherry Blossom), coming a bit later from May 16th to May 25th. 

Alice and Yukari will include Ascending Step-UP, while Youmu will be available with Descending Step-UP, making for an easier chance to get them all if you're willing to part with a bit of God Crystals.

Before we get into the Ultra Festival I’m sure everyone is waiting for, we have a few more, very important announcements! The previously mentioned DekaFumo Giveaway will be starting very soon with entries lasting until May 13th, so if you want a loving partner for the rest of your life, please don’t miss out!

A very special stream featuring the vtuber Pomu Rainpuff will be taking place May 12th at 6 PM PST! She is a very big fan of Touhou Project, so it will certainly be a fun stream! If you are unfamiliar with her, check out her own Youtube and Twitter here!

There will be a special LostWord-related announcement as well, so stay tuned!

The E9 Mistress’ younger sister, Flandre Scarlet (Vampire Pursuing the Hunter), will be making her rounds from May 11th to May 22nd to hunt for some vampire hunters! She is a very special Friend that synergizes well with her older sister(?) as well as many others, so she is a definite pick if you are searching for power! Her prayer will feature x2 Fortune Dust when using God Crystals, a natural inclusion for an anniversary prayer.

Waiting for LostWord Global’s 1st Anniversary all by yourself? Don’t! Join Phantasma and people from the Discord team, Gamepress team, and probably some other team at the Countdown With Phantasma event on the Touhou LostWord Official Discord! It will be important to stay tuned, as there will be a present-related announcement as well!

While this was the end of the unique images, Phantasma went a bit further at the end to announce some rather special updates in the future, including those surrounding the story! If you are curious, you can check the last few minutes of the stream! You might even get some Global-related news about the creator of Touhou himself…