YMMV / Touhou Gensokyo ~ Lotus Land Story

• Best Boss Ever: The Reimu vs Marisa fight in Stage 4, regardless of who you play it as. They had already squared off in the previous two games, but in the first fight, Marisa had yet to be Promoted to Playable, while the second fight happened in a free-for-all where you had to fight the entire roster (including yourself) over the course of the story, and Marisa had yet to be established as the series Deuteragonist. This game was the first time they faced each other as the series's two main characters, with the game placing emphasis on this fact. It's also the debut of Maiden's Capriccio, Reimu's most popular theme, while Marisa's theme for this fight, Casket of Star, is outstanding in its own right, meaning the fight is sure to be accompanied by Awesome Music.
• Eclipsed by the Remix: The Stage 3 track "Bad Apple!!", which the vast majority of Touhou fans know in the form of a famous Masayoshi Minoshima remix, to the point where most remixes of "Bad Apple!!" are based on that particular remix rather than being derived straight from the source track.
• Epileptic Trees: The identity of the mysterious orb that acts as the Extra Stage midboss is the subject of various fan theories, mainly involving characters who have been shown to have a Ball of Light Transformation, such as Yuuka in this very game, Nue from Undefined Fantastic Object or even Icarus from sister series Seihou.
• Fan Nickname:
  • The Stage 1 midboss is referred to as the Bewitching Lotus Flower.
  • The Stage 3 midboss is called the Dark Mirror.
  • The Stage 4 midboss (who also appears in Touhou Kaikidan ~ Mystic Square as Stage 3 midboss) has received a whopping three of these: Hikariko (光子, "child of light"), Koushi (also spelled 光子, "photon") and Rengeteki (蓮華的, "lotus flower-like"). Hikariko is the most common of the three.
  • Yuuka's Doppelgänger Attack where both she and her clone fire their giant lasers has been dubbed "Dual Spark".
  • The Extra midboss has been called the Mysterious Orb. While there's no official information on it, it has been interpreted by fans as being one of several characters, mainly either Yuuka or Nue.
• Fanon: Yuuka's giant laser being the inspiration for Marisa's Master Spark. It's never been officially confirmed, but the fanbase treats it as practically a fact.
• Game-Breaker: Marisa-A. Her lasers have by far the highest damage in the game, making quick work of bosses, on top of piercing through enemies, giving her some stage utility as well that makes her very close to a Master of All. Her piercing shots even bypass Elly's scythe. Her only problem is that as a Marisa shot type, she has to fight Reimu, but she has just the right tools for the job.
• Genius Bonus: Elly is inspired by Ankou, a Grim Reaper like figure from Breton folklore that wears a hat. This explains her scythe and her hat, as well as her theme being named "Perdition Crisis", as the term "perdition" refers to damnation in Christian theology and is thus connected to death and the afterlife. Brittany has also been historically known for its cider, and cider is made with fermented apples, thus explaining the theme of Elly's stage being named "Bad Apple!!" Of course, most people wouldn't be able to put all of that together upon playing the game, and between that and the PC-98 games' lesser popularity compared to the rest of the series, many Touhou fans are unaware of this inspiration.
• It Was His Sled: When this game dropped, the existence of Stage 6 was supposed to be a surprise, since the series's only other scrolling shooter at the time had only 5 stages, and there was no reason to assume Stage 5 wouldn't be the last this time as well, especially since the Stage 5 boss is the game's Big Bad. It also relates to the fact you only get to see Stage 6 if you haven't used continues and aren't playing on Easy, meaning a player beating the Stage 5 boss on Normal for the first time wouldn't expect the game to continue any further. However, since the 6 stage structure became part of the series's Strictly Formula after this game, people going into this game today already know there's a Stage 6 or at least expect it.
• Just Here for Godzilla: A few fans who didn't play this game for the original Bad Apple instead played it to see Yuuka's giant laser that reputedly inspired Marisa's Master Spark.
• Low-Tier Letdown: Marisa-B. Her shot tries to be a Jack of All Stats with a compromise between width and damage output, but ends up being neither strong enough to be effective against bosses, nor wide enough to be handy during stages, and the shots not having a common point of origin means you can't even shotgun with it either, leaving it as a Master of None. Furthermore, as a Marisa shot type, it has to fight Reimu in Stage 4. Since the game is relatively easy, she's not that bad on Normal, but her flaws become much, much more apparent in higher difficulties and in the Extra Stage.
• Signature Scene: Yuuka firing a giant laser during her Stage 5 fight. It's well known due to the Fanon about it inspiring Marisa to create Master Spark.
• Signature Song: "Bad Apple!!" is the most iconic track not just of this game, but of the PC-98 Era as a whole. The theme's arrangement by Alstroemeria Records has played a major part in this due to being one of the most well-known Touhou fanworks on the Internet.
• That One Attack: View this page.
• That One Boss: See the series' page.
• Watch It for the Meme: Play it because it has the original "Bad Apple!!".