{{Infobox Game
| type          = official game
| titleN        = {{ruby-ja|東方鬼形獣|とうほうきけいじゅう}}
| titleEn       = Wily Beast and Weakest Creature
| image         = [[File:Th17cover.png|256px|Wily Beast and Weakest Creature cover]]
| developer1    = [[Team Shanghai Alice]]
| publisher1    = [[Team Shanghai Alice]]
| publisher1Cat = Team Shanghai Alice
| released      = Trial: May 5, 2019 ([[:category:Reitaisai 16|Reitaisai 16]])<br />Full version: August 12, 2019
([[:category:Comiket 96|Comiket 96]])<br />
| convention    = 
| genre1        = Vertical Danmaku Shooting
| gameplay      = Single-Player Story Mode
| platforms     = [[Windows]] [[wikipedia:Windows 7|7]]/[[wikipedia:Windows 8|8]]/[[wikipedia:Windows 10|10]]
| requirements  ='''Steam Version'''
*Windows 7, 8, 10
*Core 2 Duo CPU or higher 
*600MB hard disk
*1024MB RAM (Recommended 2048m)
*Directx 9.0c
}}

{{thtitle|Touhou |Kikeijuu|ruby=[[Oni]]-Shaped Beast| ~ Wily Beast and Weakest Creature|jp=東方鬼形獣　～ Wily Beast and Weakest Creature}} is the seventeenth official installment of the ''[[Touhou Project]]''. It was announced by ZUN on his personal blog on April 17, 2019, at 14:02 JST.<ref name=announce>{{cite web|url=https://kourindou.exblog.jp/28205045/|title={{lang|ja|東方Project 第17弾です}}|author=ZUN|date=April 17, 2019|language=ja}}</ref> A playable demo was released on May 5, 2019, at [[Reitaisai|Reitaisai 16]]. The full version was released August 12, 2019, at [[Comiket|Comiket 96]].

==Gameplay==
{{Main|/Gameplay|l1=Gameplay|/Gameplay/Strategy|l2=Strategy|/Spell Cards|l3=Spell Cards|/Achievements|l4=Achievements}}
There are three main characters: [[Reimu Hakurei]], [[Marisa Kirisame]], and [[Youmu Konpaku]]. The player can equip one of three animal spirits, namely "Wolf", "Otter" and "Eagle". "Wolf" powers up the player's focused shot, "Otter" powers up the player's bombs, and "Eagle" powers up the player's unfocused shot.<ref name=announce />

Upon defeating certain enemies and in-between each Spell Card, items called '''Spirit Items''' will appear on screen and bounce around for a very long time, similar to [[Undefined Fantastic Object]]'s UFOs. <br>There are three ''Beast Spirits'' items (one for ''Wolf'', ''Otter'' and ''Eagle'') which periodically cycle in an order. 

Upon collecting five ''Spirit Items'', the player enters '''Roaring Mode'''. Similarly to [[Perfect Cherry Blossom]]'s Supernatural Border mode, ''Roaring Mode'' can end by timeout, calling off or by being hit, which negates the hit. While ending ''Roaring Mode'' by timeout creates new ''Beast Items'', ending it through any other method triggers a ''Spirit Strike'' which deletes nearby bullets. All standard non-basic drops (lives, bombs, high-value power & high-value points) now also feed into this system.

Triggering ''Roaring Mode'' with three or more of the same ''Beast Spirits'' will give the player special bonuses. 
* For three or more ''Wolf Spirits'', the player's focused shot will be improved (and shot even whilst unfocused). 
* For three or more ''Otter Spirits'', the player will receive an orbiting bullet shield. 
* For three of more ''Eagle Spirits'', the player's unfocused shot will be improved (and shot even whilst focused). 
Triggering such a '''Berserk Roaring Mode''' which matches your Shot Type and/or with more than three ''Beast Items'' will elongate its duration.

This game sees the return of Spell Practice and marks the addition of "Achievements" to the mainline franchise. These reward completing each scenario, difficulty, 1ccs and no-miss runs. <br>There are also secret achievements to be found.

==Concept==
In the game's preliminary description, ZUN describes it as "a shooting game that's darker than usual, full of animal elements, and just a bit aggressive."<ref name=announce />

==Story==
{{Main|/Story|l1=Story|/Translation|l2=Translation|/Characters|l3=Characters}}
<blockquote>''Beast spirits began to invade from Hell en masse.''

''"They're trying to take over the surface world with brute force and sheer numbers.''<br>
''I beg of you! Venture into Hell with me, and put a stop to their plans!"''
''So she was told, by a beast spirit that was cooperative with humans...''</blockquote>
Reimu, Marisa and Youmu encounter several animal spirits from [[Hell]], who claim that their fellow animal spirits are plotting to take over the surface world. The three heroines team up with the spirits, and venture into Hell to take out this new potential threat.

==Music==
{{Main|/Music|l1=Music}}
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature has 17 different tracks in it excluding the Player Score song, which can all be unlocked in the sound test by hearing them at least once in-game. The Stage 6 theme "Electric Heritage" is an arranged version of "Entrust the World to Idols ~ Idolatrize World", and the staff roll theme "Returning Home from the Underground" is, as is stated in the comment, an arranged version of the Stage 4 theme "Unlocated Hell". Several songs from this soundtrack aim to "''portray a Touhou-esque view''" of the afterlife, as seen in the description of "The Lamentations Known Only by Jizo" and "Everlasting Red Spider Lily".

ZUN sees "The Lamentations Known Only by Jizo" as the first instance of a Stage 1 theme being not "''bright''" and "''cheery''", but rather feeling more melancholy. "Unlocated Hell" marks another self-admitted failure of an attempt at heavy metal (see [[Embodiment_of_Scarlet_Devil/Music|Sakuya's theme]]). Many of the later songs do include the now classic ZUN-electric guitar. On the note of "electric", "Electric Heritage" is one of the first songs of the Touhou Project to have a distinct "cyber" feeling. 

In the description of "The Shining Law of the Strong Eating the Weak", ZUN notes that he'd like to start "refining his [musical] sensibility" with his children in later games.

==Press==
''Wily Beast and Weakest Creature'' was first announced on ZUN's blog on April 17, 2019, along with information about the characters and story, and several in-development screenshots. 

He noted that the game would be "darker than usual" and even "a bit aggressive"<ref name=announce />. The trial CD was released on May 5th, 2019, during Reitaisai 16<ref name=trial>{{cite web|url=https://kourindou.exblog.jp/28279622/|title={{lang|ja|明日は例大祭です}}|author=ZUN|date=May 4, 2019|language=ja}}</ref>. On May 20th, he announced the trial of ''Wily Beast and Weakest Creature'' would also be available on Steam<ref name=steamtrial>{{cite web|url=https://kourindou.exblog.jp/28323776/|title={{lang|ja|東方鬼形獣の体験版を公開しました}}|author=ZUN|date=May 20, 2019|language=ja}}</ref>, which is, according to Team Shanghai Alice's legal representative Fumio Oyamada, the result of a conversation with Toby Fox.<ref name=stationstream>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFEbWqs_Hh4&feature=youtu.be&t=6396|title={{lang|ja|東方ステーション #18　～例大祭特集～}}|author=ステーション東方|date=May 10, 2019|language=ja}}</ref>

The game was released on August 12th, 2019, during Comiket 96, along with a bug patch<ref name=release>{{cite web|url=https://kourindou.exblog.jp/28512725/|title={{lang|ja|夏コミ情報と重要なお知らせ }}|author=ZUN|date=August 10, 2019|language=ja}}</ref>. The Steam version of the full release was available September 10th, 2019.<ref name=steam>{{cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079160/__Wily_Beast_and_Weakest_Creature/|title={{lang|en|東方鬼形獣 〜 Wily Beast and Weakest Creature. on Steam}}}}</ref> 

In the afterword, ZUN sees ''Wily Beast and Weakest Creature'' as possibly the easiest game in the series.

==Gallery==
<gallery perrow="7">
File:WBaWCCDCover.jpg.jpg|CD cover of ''Wily Beast and Weakest Creature'', and onis.
File:WBaWCCDDemo.jpg|CD Demo featuring [[Eika Ebisu]].
File:WBaWCTitleScreen.jpg|Title screen.
</gallery>

==English patch==
{{thcrap|th17|}}

==External Links==
*[https://kourindou.exblog.jp/28205045/ Official announcement on ZUN's blog]
*[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079160 Steam]
*[https://www.dlsite.com/home/announce/=/product_id/RJ254866.html DLsite]
*[https://dlsoft.dmm.com/detail/shanghaialice_0007 DMM]

==References==
{{smallrefs}}



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