As far as the mainline soundtracks go, Wily Beast And Wicked Creature has my personal least favorite in the entire franchise. It has its good songs and a unique sound to call its own, but it's so experimental that its tracks wildly range in quality. The instrumentation is also even more all over the place than in HSiFS. The Elementic drums are still around and the electric guitars sound way crustier than they used to, but on the other hand, the synth stuff is phenomenal. ZUN's techno game from 13-15 is still on point and does a lot to carry this score.
Unspeaking Beast Spirits
Solid title theme that definitely fits the game in how aggressive it is, with heavy guitars and a menacing central riff. The hard-hitting chorus really makes this song for me.
4/5 Stars
The Lamentations Known Only By Jizo
Once again, a pretty great first stage theme. With a ghostly-sounding lead synth, melancholic melody, and acoustic guitars and chimes all over the place, this is an unusually haunting track that fits the game's tone super well. It also uses the Elementic drums as a trap beat, which as I've mentioned, is probably the best way to use that soundfont.
Update: Bumped up to a 5/5 after listening to its recent remix.
5/5 Stars
Jelly Stone
Jelly Stone has a lot of problems. The combination of the loud and crusty acoustic guitars and the Elementic spam make for a track that is super busy-sounding, but thankfully, the Spooky Lead chorus sounds great and manages to save the track.
3/5 Stars
Lost River
I like this recent trend of Stage 2 themes being super atmospheric and spacey, with Lost River employing an ominous, smooth, and slightly swingy synth melody that really hooks you in. And that's not even getting into the super powerful chorus, which sounds almost EoSD-esque in how its distorts its instruments to heighten the eerieness. Still not a fan of the percussion, but the synths really elevate Lost River for me.
5/5 Stars
The Stone Baby And The Submerged Bovine
And now, we have hands down my least favorite theme in the series, by a long shot at that. It's the only piece of Touhou music I genuinely dislike. The moo-sounding synths sound awful, the melody is all over the place and not catchy at all, and it sounds like the tune falls apart in the second half. Sorry, ZUN, this one was a pretty big miss.
0/5 Stars
Everlasting Red Spider Lily
That's better. WBaWC has way better stage themes than I remembered. Everlasting Red Spider Lily is such a unique-sounding theme, with its twinkly and slightly disonnant riff, heavy use of bass drum, catchy yet off-kilter melody, heavy ZUNpets, and actually good usage of the moo-sounding soundfont.
5/5 Stars
Seraphic Chicken
Like with Jelly Stone, the Elementic drums come in a bit too hard this time, which is a shame because the rest of the track is wonderful. The wonky time signatures, repetitive melody, and intense guitars work surprisingly well, and the energetic ZUNpet chorus is absolutely fantastic. It's a heavy and exhilirating boss theme, even if the 17.5 version far surpasses it.
4/5 Stars
Unlocated Hell
What a banger! For someone who claims to suck at making metal, ZUN did a pretty great job here. Bursting out of the gate with an addictingly heavy guitar riff, Unlocated Hell is a relentless track with breezy piano, booming ZUNpets, and an absolutely phenomenal chorus. Once again, the Stage 4 theme is a big highlight.
5/5 Stars
Tortoise Dragon
Tortoise Dragon is yet another unique track carried hard by its synths. They're so pleasing and fun to listen to, and the addition of choirs only increases the intensity. The whole song is composed of melodies that interrupt themselves, and yet it's all so slick and smooth.
5/5 Stars
Beast Metropolis
Befitting a metropolis, Beast Metropolis is a standout track for how it keeps building on itself, increasing the intensity, tempo, and instruments every time it repeats its addictingly melancholic main melody. There are so many instruments too, from the UFO saxes, to the ZUNpets, to a distinct twinkling synth, to piano, to choirs. Better percussion would've made this one perfect.
5/5 Stars
Joutounin Of Ceramics
While I said the second half of WBaWC's soundtrack is good, that comes with the exception of this theme. Sadly, it doesn't really do much for me, and it's not even an instrumentation thing. So much of the track is just a (decently ominous) build-up, and the actual payoff in the chorus is kinda weak. The electric guitars are especially off, their counter-melody just doesn't mesh well with the rest of the song.
2/5 Stars
Electric Heritage
Ah, that's better. Like in TH14 & TH15, Electric Heritage is a bit of an appetizer for the final boss theme, and does a pretty great job at that. It's pretty much the best part of Idolatrize World but given a hard techno remix, and it does a fantastic job at hyping you up for the final boss.
5/5 Stars
Idolatrize World
Yeah, this theme is great, definitely deserved of the praise it has. From the grandiose intro, to the beautiful piano solo in the verse, to the beautiful ZUNpet chorus, to the frantic guitar solo, to the Theme Of Eastern Story reprisal, this is as final boss-y as it gets and stands up right alongside some of the best of the series in terms of composition. Still wish we had better drums but I probably sound like a broken record at this point. Good song.
5/5 Stars
The Shining Law Of The Strong Eating The Weak
Probably the most disappointing thing about WBaWC's soundtrack is how eh the extra themes are. The Shining Law has a nice western vibe and some decent melodies, but it lacks the intensity or creativity you'd want from an extra stage theme, and the at times off-beat Elementic drums really drag it down.
2/5 Stars
Dark Pegasus
I keep forgetting this theme exists, which is not a good sign for an extra stage theme. Granted, Dark Pegasus isn't even that bad a song. It's got a stellar intro in how ominous it is, the piano solo in the verse is pretty great, and the chorus is super frantic. However, Dark Pegasus just doesn't really come together for me and lacks the same wow factor that all the other extra boss themes have.
3/5 Stars
The Animals' Rest
This is an alright ending theme, it's bouncy, jazzy, has some fun techno wubs, and the piano melody is pretty fun. It's short to a fault, but for sure better than HSiFS's ending theme.
3/5 Stars
Returning From The Underground
Ehhhhhhhhhh... I love Unlocated Hell, but it might be a bit too hardcore to be a staff roll theme. The saxophones and synths are doing a pretty good job, but then you have the electric guitars overshadowing the whole piece and mitigating what should be a calming sigh of relief.
3/5 Stars
As for the characters, ZUN went a bit more off-the-wall with WBaWC's animal-themed cast. Sadly, most of them don't quite work for me, but there are a few good eggs.
Eika Ebisu
What is up with those earlobes? Like I get it, she's based on Ebisu, but those long earlobes just really creep me out. The rest of her design is fine, I like the jellyfish theming, and the fact that she fights you because you knocked over her rocks is funny, but I just can't look past the ears.
2/5 Stars
Urumi Ushizaki
Maybe it's because of how much I hate her theme, but Urumi is one of my least favorite Touhou characters. For someone based on a cow, her design feels almost a bit too on the nose, between the heavy usage of black and white, and her large chest (thus why ZUN gave her that motherly element too). Apparently, ZUN wanted to make her a fisher since cows are usually herbivores, and that would've been so funny! What a waste...
1/5 Stars
Kutaka Niwatari
Now this is a good animal-themed Touhou. Kutaka has the wings and colors of a chicken, but her design has so many extra creative touches, like the red hair streak, the ribbon by her neck, and the little chick in her hair. 17.5 even gives her a whistle so she can make chicken sounds, I love that! She's also a guardian of hell which is pretty funny considered her unassuming design, and she sits in a comfy middle between Mystia and Utsuho on the birdbrain spectrum.
4/5 Stars
Yachie Kicchou
Dragons are cool. Yachie's design is pretty simple, but it's sleek and intimidating in its own way. Yachie is one of the more manipulative Touhou characters as of late, and it really shows in her role in WBaWC's story. She could've been a neat reoccurring antagonist in the same vein as the Moriyas were in the second generation. (Update: Touhou 19 makes Yachie even better. She tricked Biton into thinking she's Goku, and spent her entire storyline getting outsmarted by everyone including Aunn somehow. She just turned from super intimidating into an absolute dork and I can't get enough of it.)
5/5 Stars
Mayumi Joutouguu
Really? Another character based off a doll/statue a game after Narumi? Well, okay. I'm still not huge on her design and her loyalty powers would be more impressive if she didn't come after Sakuya, Youmu, Shou, Futo, and Mai/Satono, but Mayumi essentially being a military leader is a fun concept that's used pretty well in the story.
2/5 Stars
Keiki Haniyasushin
I don't really have too much to say about Keiki outside of her being pretty cool. She's a god which makes her an intimidating final boss, her design is neat, the artist side of her is really cool, and her rivalry against Yachie and the animal spirits is interesting. Good final boss, just not one of the most noteworthy ones.
4/5 Stars
Saki Kurokoma
Speaking of on the nose designs, Saki is mean to be a horse, so of course, why not just make her a cowgirl? My issues with her theme stem with her character as well, she's just not super memorable for an extra boss. She doesn't have the fascinating lore that the earlier extra bosses (Flandre through Koishi) had, nor the fun designs that the later extra bosses (Nue through Hecatia) had.
2/5 Stars
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