Labyrinth of Touhou Tri (live playthrough)

intentionally pre-excluded from bingo, completed 2026/3/8
Game completed, 100% achievements, see you in Plus Disk later!

I'm careening towards 'being out of college for half my life', but on the plus side, that means I'm also approaching 'being into Labyrinth of Touhou for half my life'.

Despite my half-assed (100% ass 50% of the time) attention to detail, a quarter of my blood is DRPGs, and another quarter is Touhou (as someone who was doing Spell Practice in computer class) - as such, really any Touhou DRPG would certainly rule, but fortunately for me, Labyrinth of Touhou Tri leans exceptionally well into targeting me specifically.

I've already known this since 3peso's last Steam release, but Tri takes their expertise in snappy, risk-and-reward-filled grinding loops and puzzle-like boss fights, and drizzles an incredible amount of Yearning Story on it, leaving me utterly fulfilled.

To tip its hand a little, a lot of dungeons involve exploring the unsaid anxieties of many Touhous (in the sense of a P5 Palace), and really, you haven't lived until you've seen Reimu and Marisa pine for, in the game's words, 'the infinitely distant false images they've conjured'.

RPG-wise, Tri delights in its skill trees and intricate stat/debuff/ATB interactions, letting you explore with an in-game encylopedia and mechanical encouragment to respec and retry. I did find that the sense of attrition and dungeon complexity is a little less than I remember from the last game (and certainly less than, say, an Etrian) - I could have done with more spice, personally, but I wouldn't call this meal anything less than 50 hours of satisfaction.

Tri also satisfies my personal 'is Akyuu here, and moreover, is Akyuu great' condition.

Click here to return to the main post for my games played in 2026.

Following below is a summary of my microblogging about this game, synced over from Bluesky. It's like over 250 posts!

A fun personal note to start, but qazmlpok graciously accepted my clumsy image editing back in the early days of fanpatches of Touhou Unreal Mahjong and Labyrinth of Touhou. I'm happy to see that they're still around the scene!

For all the people named canon who own the physical of this game and want to play with controller, just leaving a tip that you need to add the game through Steam in order to get your controller working. Apparently the game only handles Steam Input.

The new game experience for LoT Tri is quite cinematic and I'm a big fan of it. It's the same as the demo, but I wanted to warm myself up by starting from scratch!

Also, I'm proud to announce the completion of Akyuu%.

I just thought of it now, but with how much they're stressing Akyuu is not fit for going out there on the DRPG frontlines, I really hope she gets a moment in late game.

I forgot that this game is patient enough to lovingly explain both everything about DRPGs and Touhou to you. I really love that.

I like to think I know an okay amount of Touhou but also I'm someone who literally just said 'oh wait is Mary's general design supposed to evoke Yukari'

Mary and Renko notably don't have 'gameplay utility' overviews compared to Reimu. I actually wonder if this will be an intentional choice...?

Meanwhile, I'm vowing to break with RPG tradition and invest my resources fast and often, because I recall that the faster I invest, the faster I can reap profits. The incremental game way!

It's funny now when I press the 'instantly fight an enemy' button, but it'll be like twice as funny later when every random encounter threatens to wipe me.

Oh hey my first interesting Enemy Mechanic. This squirrel is Vince with Slap Chop.

I forGOT this game has real-time equipment duplication that happens in the background (with restrictions based on your progress). Everyone say thank you, Alice.

Canon you are broke. Stop farming on 1F before the tutorial boss.

oHHHHHHHHH. My first reaction is to go with Hard difficulty, not because it's the 'normal' (heh) difficulty, but because I like the idea of farming the heck out of cool stat things.

Akyuu... Akyuu...

(crying more, somehow) Akyuu...!!!

I am also like this.

I just love that this game tells you so much about itself.

I learned today after 10000 years playing this game that Break Items aren't consumed.

The Labyrinth of Touhou experience is resetting Alice's crafting timer, going to fiddle with your party, then having the crafting timer pop again before you finish fiddling.

I took my dang time getting here and I'm going to savor it.

Deluxe Akyuuposting.

Nitori and Alice are incredibly displeased at this.

Bookmarking this one.

I gotta get used to sitting up in the middle of grinding due to a rare enemy fight.

They got everything in this game.

Ahhhhh, it's another list of items.

I befriended Aya so it's time for some classic zutto Aya no turn gaming.

Reading Comprehension has finally taught me that it's very profitable to kick an enemy's elemental weakness in (wryyyyyyyy).

Thinking of the contradiction between 'achievement called Level Cap for reaching level 100' and the Skill Points section here and smiling.

One thing I really like doing is farming up a big ol' chain before a boss fight.

Yooooo pancakes.

Here's where you unlock a good like 20% stat boost in your favorite stat, I'm sure it won't be necessary any time soon.

I can never decide if High Keine Synergy or High Akyuu Synergy is the bigger canon secret.

I'm thinking how you could probably math out exactly how much damage an attack does ahead of time, and the choice to not display this? It's a Balatro choice.

Dodgebot is one of my favorite character archetypes. Real 'let's go gambling' sorta archetype.

Going for a walk and checking out the scenery.

Ohhhh that number was picked on purpose.

I also love how this game gives you the real 'we're going to beat the game' vibes from like, the end of Act 1. That's just good video games.

Do I like Granblue (and Granblue wiki) because of this, or do I like this because of Granblue Wiki.

I love lines like this.

Tutorial's done, now I have to deal with 10000 member party composition.

I spent like this entire cutscene not realizing that Marisa wasn't in my party. I mean she's Marisa, of course she is.

Now investing resources in the overleveled and highly useful party members that just joined.

Are things healthy over there in Gensokyo.

Would anyone like to act superior because they've had a ball before.

Posting on the internet like this.

It's me, I'm the one targeted by this one.

It's important to hold down autobattle and make as many notifications pop up on screen as possible.

There's a few plot things I'm holding in my mind for later (in particular 'it can't be so easy to beat yourself when you would use the same damn tricks') but just posting this screenshot because I would not get along with a copy of myself.

Ah, this plotline is so strong.

Oh YEAH I forgot about the Pattern Recognition part of the game.

It really does get me thinking about builds, yes.

Back again in the void, and thinking how I haven't even left the demo yet.

Oh! That's more MND than I am capable of dealing with right now.

I really wonder about a lot of these games!

Fighting a sleep paralysis demon lookin' guy.

Having a little 'seeing the percentage of the debuff you whiffed' as a treat.

I love running Remilia as this omni-DPS-tank because she is just stretchy as heck. She's always stretching.

Fighting Sumireko's sleep paralysis demon and having the first real chewy boss fight. Feels good to develop countermeasures and strategies. Stay tuned for when I get instawiped on the same turn anyway.

Remilia is here because she likes to stretch.

The debuff was unremovable. Post slightly different stretchy Remilia.

Remilia, champion of stretching.

It's the good stuff!!!!!

Usable reaction image.

So you all love when games are like 'Objective: Survive', right.

This is true in real life too.

Oh now I can see the entire skill tree AAAAAAAAAAAA

Usable reaction image 2.

Oh this is the Interesting Zone.

Thanks! This showed up right on time.

Lap 2 of 'wow! I just got a big power increase! I'm sure this will not be reflected in the enemies I fight'.

(dropping in for just like 50 battles in a row before work) Oh wait the battle music has just permanently changed now? That's so cool.

In my efforts to make A Big Number For No Reason, I appear to have farmed a ton of an item that used to be finite. I like that.

(voice of someone who accidentally just turned a Rare Item common through grinding for fun) This is so true.

This is also true!

That's where I am.

Oh, I love this game's sentences.

I was saying 'ah well it's not Dungeon Encounters' and then a rat stole my money.

Well I'm now officially in the stratum where I can just walk into boss battles without meaning to (no I can't retreat).

Oh it's because the developer is wonderful. I'm glad.

Share this cat to sparkle and increase your fortune

There are so many games I wonder about.

Oh, this floor was much bigger than I thought.

The game is going to hit me with this for like every character I don't expect, like 20 times, isn't it.

The scale is tipping in a weird, fucked-up way where suddenly instead of enjoying the suffering in the DRPG I'm enjoying the DRPG in the suffering.

Are you sure about that, Marisa.

'Something happens at 0 HP.'

Oh god DAMN of COURSE it's a Last Word.

Ohhh, ohhhhhh, Reimu's in this stratum too.

Welcome to downtown Reimuland, we have ice intersections.

Honestly it's pretty interesting how the texture of this Ice Puzzle Land is very different than a traditional dungeon ice puzzler, since they're just intersection blockers that force you to Google Maps your way around efficiently.

Note for myself: cats appear by this tower, it seems. (Update: Maybe not.)

1) I was spending this whole time being like 'damn I sure hope I get Alice again soon' and then I realized I just never re-opened this menu

2) More puzzles!!!!! Yeah!!!!!

This game just keeps hitting more and more.

Yes, I am screaming a lot.

Filling in checkboxes on a form furiously. 'Normal person who is envious of people who know what they want.' Every sicko chara archetype is here.

This is Mahoako to me.

Chen then promptly says 'well if Marisa gets depressed too then maybe I'll be alright', lol.

Postable meme #92.

Is that something secretly quite important at the bottom...

99%?????

Obligatory 'they got every game in this game' post.

Finally convinced the character select screen to expand!

The game tells you 'Rumia's stats are kind of stinky but she has some useful spells' but doesn't tell you the useful spell is 'totally ignores enemy defense'.

Mahoako posting... like I said.

It's good!!!!

Much like how it's important to understand when to use physical vs magical attacks, I'm mentally collecting folders of 'LoT Tri pictures for people who want words' and 'LoT Tri pictures for people who want numbers'.

Running up to 20 levels above the boss recommended level (not that it matters) because I'm trying out some new things on the skill tree.

I'm almost concerned I'm levelling too fast? Like why am I getting so many dang levels.

Huge Renko secret sauce unlocked.

The crowd cheered, for they knew there was something older than strategy, and it was numbers, and there was something truer than teambuilding, and it was lasers. The one and only.

I will enjoy this exact inflection point in the game where glass-cannoning a boss down works. The next one will be back with the anti-OTK shield.

Useful image post #982.

Incredibly, I have obtained Another Cool-Ass Mechanic in this game.

Oh, that UI is so bold and thick. I love it.

That's true.

Would like to note that everyone has shown up, by the way.

Same.

Oh they got Vikala Kogasa in this game.

Sweating because I put half my lifetime earnings in Marisa because I want to enjoy this part of the game where I can glass cannon things with her.

Also I finally figured out the strategy for mobs is 'stay alive on turn 1, then swap in everyone who you want to do damage and go sicko mode'.

Wait, can Chen's double-attack proc multiple times?? (pic unrelated)

The fairytale has come back for vengeance.

Me when I figure out the sokoban needed to find Orin.

Hell is where the :3's are.

Ah, the screen expanded again. From the achievements I think this should be the last.

I love how dense Sorrow Labyrinth 2F is by the way. Such an interestingly textured maze.

Yeah. Yeahhhhhh.

Of course Kogasa is a highly defensive boss who doesn't want to let anyone through.

I'm in the Twitter Stratum.

The real sokoban begins here.

The moon is full of posters.

Damn. Boss refights really feel like cheating.

I kinda feel like Boss Refights should limit your skill points somehow. I'm still using Master Spark until it stops working.

I've grinded for like 5 hours on random stuff this afternoon and suddenly I am powerful enough to wing the shortcut boss in this stratum. Oops.

This ice dungeon is so pretty.

Marisa has a way with phrasing.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh. Also every Touhou can be a nihilist now.

I've been searching for poison, to be honest.

Grinded up a 200 chain just to show that I could.

I will not Magic Iceball #4 Nitori's ass.

This is true. Thanks Mary for preserving the sanity of indoors people.

It's true!

Her name is Firefly.

You're telling me every Touhou has personality traits in this game.

Lost 60,000 touhoubucks because I accidentally held the wrong button when attempting to feed Wriggle her vitamins, haha. Pic unrelated.

Ah!!! She's got stacks.

I really should have expected the Mission: Survive from this fight but I was too drunk off of the ability to go poison-crazy.

Entire party died from left to right, LOL.

I spent 1000 years building up Koishi as the super dodgebot who could handle Sakuya and Wriggle just counters her to death on the first hit. 10000 points to Wriggle.

Meiling gets a little bit of food, as a treat.

Sakuya's kit is FULL of things that make you say 'this is the coolest thing ever'.

I have been staring at ice puzzles for an hour. I have become the ice. My mind is smooth and slippery.

Another shortcut fight? You shouldn't have. (in that 'polite but grateful' voice)

My entire team is wearing thief gloves now. We're Reimu's 12.

I've been grinding.

That's true.

Took a day off to do some traveling and now I'm back on the grind (the grind for food (Cirno has saved me by finding some expired food at a supermarket)).

God, I've been looking for a tank with aggro.

Awwwwww!!!!!!!

Gamers love to hear this. (Person who likes Anderson from Granblue voice)

Yuyuko is the designated DTH inflicter, which means I should pay attention to her.

Ah, the anti-Marisa has arrived.

Whoops. Sorry Rumia.

Oh you think you're sooooo funny.

Honestly these batches of statues feel like they are numbered.

There's definitely soooomething going on here.

After like 36 hours of creaking I'm finally back on that Touhou Labyrinth Tri. I have some wonderful tips on progression I can follow up on, but also I want to grind out an 0.5% drop because I think it'd be funny to do, so I guess it's time to put on 20 pairs of Thief Gloves.

I got distracted and remembered that Labyrinth of Touhou has always had that fun feature where you can just replace any character art you want.

That's just how it is when facing yourself.

True!

Lacked reading comprehension and full healed Kasen, LOL.

That's true.

Oh, I want to know what's in that one.

I love how this game keeps referencing stuff that makes me stop and go 'wait holy shit'.

Yeah, look me too, Flan.

Oh she's a Funny character.

Eirin fight was an absolute slugfest even with tactics I thought were absolutely beautiful (Sakuya turn spamming + Alice debuff lockdown). What a fight.

Yuugi's one of the higher-functioning nightmare sufferers, and as such, one of the ones who has it ingrained really deep.

Titles are the best.

Local Tenshi 'not bothered one bit' by being hit for 2x her HP pool.

(vibrating at a strange frequency) Hey, don't say that.

Stop thattttttt.

Stop that!!!!!!!!!

Yeaaaaaaaaah.

I love sentences.

Today Patchy is on exploding duty.

Ohhhh that's a cool buff. Also what do I do.

'Yuugi's ATK is high (duh)'.

Here's Suika, who is fighting for Gensokyo's sake.

Usable image #28.

MORE usable image #29.

Cirno is so short. Idiot.

Top-notch sentences.

Me too.

Oh, that's a lot of gates.

Whoa there, Reisen.

Ohhh this is an interesting development.

Reimu guessed what I was guessing, which is somehow a bad sign.

Girl, what.

Alright, well I'm sure reading comprehension is good, but.

Oh, that's dense.

Kokoro is cute.

When you just need something, anything, to stick.

Okay, that was pretty funny.

Finally, some orbs to ponder in here.

Awwwwww.

Girl why is your skill tree so crooked. You'll get back pain.

The bonus flavor of the Yuugi fight is finding out which dumbass gremlin is left standing.

A section of map that I want to be a QR code (it's not).

This one specific floor is such a funny shape.

Noooooooooo I did all of these except for one.

For the record I am still accidentally pressing the 'trigger random encounter' button 40 hours later.

Cackling because the Ice Intersection is back.

I wonder what game this is.

Oh let's gooooooooo.

Yeahhhhhhhhh!

After like 3 hours I managed to reach this box! It contains an item that I've not yet seen this game, which is very exciting. I'll leave it to you to discover this one!

I love sentences!!

Nitori using the power of copyright-striking, as always.

Oh lord.

Well, let's clean that up the way we know how.

Akyuu, you can't just say that.

Oh, working in 'people feel hopeless about the status quo so they believe in a implausible external actor saving the day' is some real stuff.

Real enemy name.

I think I'm starting to see all the characters... to not spoil those not zooming in... the bottom right and middle ones I think are obvious, the one on the left I feel I should know...? It's not Akyuu, probably haha.

Gacha talk returns.

Playing on Lunatic mode is like this. (I'm playing on Hard)

Oh Kanako was not kidding when she said 'two breaths of that is bad news'.

Good sentence.

Oh now THAT's a textbox.

Hey this is an aside for the Labyrinth of Touhou Tri thread, but has anyone read Even a Replica Can Fall in Love.

Aaaaaaaaaaah (honestly all of these puzzles feel like extensions on the same puzzle, I like it but...).

Hell yeah.

Usable image #113.

I chuckled at this whole exchange.

We are icing very hard.

I've got a lot of learning to do.

Oh wait. Oh this is sicko.

A drive-by orb, for convenient pondering.

This area is sooo neat looking.

Boy, that sure is glowy.

I'm glad the game is back to saying things like this.

Kanako is right though.

Wooooooooow.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

No guidebook? New music? This is serious.

A gun!

Too many guns!!!!!!

'Nevermind' - Sumireko

Oh HERE we go.

After a bit of time off for Next Fest and personal projects, I'm back here, looking at a boss that wants to appear 'final' but for all intents and purposes, definitely isn't.

Ohhhh Suwako's skill-bouncing can trigger each other repeatedly, just like Chen!!! Hell yeah.

Kogasaaaaaa.

I forgot to post Sumireko's 'As long as I'm alive, I'm winning...?' post so here you are.

For people who like these sentences.

Basically all of this is a Like a Dragon ending, all I need is for Sumireko(s) to throw hands and for the Millenium Tower to be there.

True!!!!

True!!!!!!!!! I forgot to screenshot the line 'Get teleported, idiot!!!' right after this but I clapped.

The rebellion of a tool...

Awww, Sumireko.

God, Marisa, what a line.

What surprises await us with these icons?

('Moon's haunted' voice) Teleporter maze.

That's fine, Koishi.

I won't quite admit to thinking 'well if I put two Drop Rate lv4 awakening equipments on every character on my backline, that'd be like another 64% drop rate increase'. but you COULD think that.

Alright, now that's a good amount of drop rate.

Building the ultimate 'Aya does not like when it is not her turn' machine. She resets to 9100 after a basic attack.

Very pillary here.

Let's bet.

Oh, this is a 'please use Wriggle' statline.

Oh, 120 isn't the max!

There's so many funny corners here like this. I wonder what's up.

I'm in rush hour traffic.

52 hours in!

That puzzle felt really nice to do!

That's such a cool phrase.

What did they mean by this, really.

Fun little dungeon floor.

10x Engineer Aya is simply a fun build.

This is the real spirit of this game.

Ohhhh....

Absolute journey to reach this orb. Would recommend.

Reaching this orb makes you feel like a genius.

I actually did this puzzle twice because I fat-fingered 'close game' instead of 'leave dungeon' and the best part is that I did it much faster the second time. That's Knowledge.

So I'm at what I think is the final boss of Labyrinth of Touhou Tri, and you know how RPGs like to do the 'everybody gets a word in' before the final fight?

I just checked to make sure but the dialog comes from *everyone in your current party*, which is an absolutely phenomenal touch.

Wahaha.

Ah. Well.

And thank YOU for making this.

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