Date of Completion: July 5, 2020
My Difficulty Estimate: 7.5/10
Like Mokou, I overestimated this stage, even I know its just a harder version of the extra stage. This is also the first time I used thprac so I was able to beat this in a few hours after unlocking it, although the spell history is a bit messed up because of it. Unlocking it is quite fun. I managed to capture Resurrection Butterfly on both Easy and Normal on the process as well.
The stage is definitely a faster version of the extra stage. Everything is faster, there are more bullets, but you can still use some of the strategies in the extra stage. Its a bit longer by adding extra waves at the end.
Ran is now the midboss of the stage. She has similar spells to Chen, just a bit harder. She is also immune to bombs now, which isn't usual in extra stages.
Yukari is definitely tough, but not as hard as the extra bosses I faced before (Raiko, Mamizou, and Koishi). Her nonspells almost has the same tricks in Ran's version. This time it now requires pure skill rather than tricks. Her spells looks like Ran's spells, but it works a lot more different.
1. Barrier "Curse of Dreams and Reality" (4/10)
- Streaming the blue bullets while dodging the green bullets. It is possible to get trapped if you're not careful.
2. Barrier "Balance of Motion and Stillness" (4/10)
- This is all about moving in a rectangular motion. The big bullets are aimed but the also leave a bullet spawner that activates after a short while.
3. Barrier "Mesh of Light and Darkness" (6/10)
- Getting to a gap in the lasers is nearly luck based because you can't move that much to the new gap after the wave is done. There are also too many bullets in the screen that prevents you from moving.
4. Evil Spirits "Xanadu of Straight and Curve" (5/10)
- For some reason, I find this easier than Ran's version. In this spell, the bullets are faster. You also need to be below Yukari to not get hit by the laser.
5. Evil Spirits "Yukari Yakumo's Spiriting Away" (5/10)
- I got a lot more used to this spell, but its still hard to do because of the lasers. It still uses the same strategy though.
6. Evil Spirits "Bewitching Butterfly Living in the Zen Temple" (4/10)
- I am now more used to this spell than before. Its literally the same spell, but there are more bullets at the blue phase. For some reason, I didn't see the laser while dodging this. Could've capture this one.
7. Sinister Spirits "Double Black Death Butterfly" (5/10)
- What makes this hard is not dodging it normally, but getting lucky that the next phase will not instantly snipe you. Luckily, I have a border at the time so I just timed its release just before it runs out to clear some bullets.
8. Shikigami "Ran Yakumo" (4/10)
There's a pattern to this, but the bullets can be random except the one that Yukari shoots, which is aimed. Ran's bullets are the real deal here.
9. "Boundary of Humans and Youkai" (7/10)
- I mean its pretty static, its the same with Ran's survival spell. The path is changed but there are more bullets.
10. Barrier "Boundary of Life and Death" (9/10)
- Well, dodging this spell is as difficult as Ran's last spell, but with an extra layer of bullets at the end. This time, I actually managed to get the safespot. I still don't know how but good thing I did. Its the only time I got it and its the first time I got here in this spell on a full run.
11. Yukari's Arcanum "Danmaku Barrier" (2/10)
- This spell is so easy once you know where the safespots are. I failed capturing this because I got confused on the second wave, remembering the safespot at the last second.