Touhou Project fan app Koishi Navigation Desktop Youkai sees positive reception on Steam

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-08-08 19:15 JST)

Chirei Kenkyoin (地霊研究院) launched Koishi Navigation Desktop Youkai for Steam on August 2. It’s a free app that features the popular Touhou Project character Koishi Komeiji as a desktop pet. The app has gathered over 160 user reviews since its release, and as of August 9 (JST), 97% of reviews have been positive, giving it a Very Positive rating.

Koishi Komeiji is a character that first appeared in Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism., the eleventh official game in Team Shanghai Alice’s Touhou Project series. She takes on the role of a boss that awaits players in an extra stage that can be reached by beating the game on normal difficulty or higher while not using any continues. It’s likely that many players endured great suffering due to the myriad bullets that she unleashed upon them.

Koishi Navigation Desktop Youkai features Koishi in the role of a desktop pet. When you load up the app, Koishi will appear on your PC’s desktop. She doesn’t do anything special, nor can she help with your work, but it can be calming just to gaze at the Live2D-created character as she gently sways back and forth. When you click on her, she will respond with a cute voice. Certain actions will bring out even more of her adorable side, like the way she gets embarrassed when you touch her head. Depending on where you click, she will even react by moving away from the pointer or sending some insults your way.

If you leave her be for a while, she will suddenly start speaking or become semi-transparent. The transparency gimmick is likely a reference to the character’s ability to manipulate the unconsciousness of others. Clicking on her in this state will also result in a special reaction. There is a function that lets you feed her, and once a day, you can draw a fortune slip. All these gimmicks will likely add a little bit of pep to the time you spend on a PC.

The app also includes a chat function where Koishi will reply to certain words that are typed into the chat window. Her responses are kept in an Excel file, so it is possible to edit them and customize her reactions. There is even an online chat function where you can interact with other users of the app, though it seems that most messages are written in Chinese. Based on the user reviews for the app, it appears that there are many Chinese users who are enjoying using this function.

The Steam page for Koishi Navigation Desktop Youkai can be found here. The app supports English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese.