REVIEW

Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors Review

by Rob Pritchard, October 8th, 2016

Last year, NIS America released a localised version of Criminal Girls Invite Only, the PlayStation Vita remake of Criminal Girls for the PSP. It focused on a young man who was guiding a group of girls through the depths of hell in order to reform their ways. The game had been localised to remove most of the erotic content, and we gave it a good reception in our review here at VGU. Announced shortly after the English release of the remake, Criminal Girls 2 Party Favors offers more of the same, albeit with small twists along the way.

The start of the game begins like the original, where you play as an amnesiac young man who is the sole caretaker of another group of delinquent girls. After enlisting most of the group to join you so they can be redeemed, your task seems to take a dramatic turn when the hierarchy of Hell is compromised, and you and your parolees are forced down into its depths. During the commotion, you discover that an unknown traitor is hidden within your group. Your new journey is now to rescue the girls, also known as Delinquents, whilst at the same time uncovering the true identity of the one who betrayed your loyalty. The addition of a traitor is undeniably cliché, but without this plot twist, the game would too similar to Criminal Girls Invite Only. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is fortunate that the developers decided to mix things up, rather than playing it safe with a carbon copy of its older sibling.

Like Invite Only, each of the dungeons has a specific theme, with the bowels of Hell, a misty grassland maze and a volcano being some of the locations that you will visit along the way. The basic goal also remains the same, where you must guide your girls across each of the dungeon floors, fighting the monstrous dehumanised evils known as Convicts until you reach the exit. The battle system remains nearly identical, aside from the new Coaching system which is related to your special moves. Depending on the skills you have learnt, you can choose one of four context sensitive options to attack, heal or defend, as well as choose another party member to replace one of your current team. Outside of battles, you can talk to the seven girls, gaining a clearer picture of what they did to deserve their enrolment in the Reformation Program. The quality of writing for each of the characters hasn’t deteriorated from the previous instalment, with the Delinquents in particular providing both humour and emotional moments on several occasions. Two of the strongest characters are Lily, a sensitive girl with a foolhardy attitude that gets her into trouble, and Kuroe, an extremely shy Lolita girl who often only speaks through her stuffed donkey companion Baron.

The Motivation mini games that provided the skill progression system in the original have returned, and the new mini games still require you to use sadomasochistic tactics, a term actually coined in the game as S and M, to gain additional moves such as attacks, special moves and healing spells. When you choose which skill to give each girl, their base personality will alter to either S or M, allowing you to boost or weaken their stats in battle using the new Coaching system. Depending on which coaching tactic you choose, such as Worry, any girl with S will become stronger, whereas M party members will lose some of their strength. Whether you are spanking, brushing or tickling your party to give them a reason to evolve, NIS America have changed the original artwork enough to ensure that while the action is questionable, there is never any cause for alarm. The action is much tamer than what was offered previously, which is understandable giving that the PEGI board provided Invite Only with a 18+ rating, compared to the 16+ that has been given to Party Favours.

The soundtrack of Criminal Girls 2 follows the same trend as Criminal Girls: Invite Only, with some of the tracks sounding remarkably similar to those in the original. The boss theme sounds much more appropriate for an intensive fight this time around, and the opening theme which appears in on the title screen is a jovial JPop anthem that is pleasing to the ears. Like many of NIS America’s import titles, no English dub has been provided, but the high quality vocals provided by Japanese cast means that this omission is definitely not an issue.

Overall, Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors is a capable enjoyable RPG, albeit one which remains far too similar to the original game. The Motivation mini games are still as engaging as ever, despite the controversial content, and the twist to the storyline with the traitor keeps you guessing right till the end thanks in part to its well written character dialogue. If you are ready to be motivated by a unique adventure for a second time, then Criminal Girls 2 is an RPG that you should definitely experience.