REVIEW

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus Review

by Jake Stewart, March 22nd, 2017

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus is a surprisingly deep game that invites you with the sex appeal, then asks you to stay with an enjoyable combat system. Senran Kagura is a third-person beat ’em up

Senran Kagura is a third-person beat ’em up game very similar to that of Dynasty Warriors. Waves of simple enemies are thrown wildly across the screen from your attacks, and eventually lead up to fighting a boss or multiple bosses.

I went into this game expecting a mediocre fighting game oozing with enough fan-service for some to find forgivable. Luckily, I left the game surprised as it had exceeded my every expectation.

The story follows 20 or so girls who are “Shinobi,” and are training to become fighters. These girls are all teleported from their homes and taken to a festival being thrown to celebrate Shinobi from the past and present. The girls are reunited with their deceased loved-ones, and are told that they cannot leave until the festival ends. The story takes a back-seat from here on, as the game mostly follows the girl’s antics on the island instead of relating to the festival.

The progression is mission-based, and always stems from the girls having some petty dispute (or sometimes just trying to grope each other). Each character uses a different weapon and feels vastly different in their move sets. This keeps variety high and resists early burn-out. I was impressed with just how different each girl felt. Not only is the design of weapons creative, but no two characters feel even remotely similar during play. Weapons range from scythes, knives, guns, swords, gauntlets, and even a bucket. Clearly a lot of effort was made into making these characters stand out and create many different experiences.

Surprisingly enough, I found that the weapons and character types actually had much more variety than the similar Dynasty Warriors. Playing a new character felt exciting as you discovered their fighting types and special move. I found it baffling just how much work went into diversifying the attacks. Not only do the girls have a range of special moves with their own distinct animations, but even the basic attacks vary in animation and type from each girl.

Unfortunately, even the myriad of fighting types doesn’t stop the game from feeling like more of the same over and over again. Personally, I find myself bore somewhat quickly in these beat ’em up type games. Mowing down the same group of enemies eventually gets old, making it hard to have long play sessions. Each mission plays almost identical, the only variety being the character that you are playing as. The story in its entirety lasts around 15-20 hours, and I started feeling bored around the half-way mark. Fans of this genre may find this forgivable, but it’s certainly a notable lack of variety in missions.

While fighting the weak enemies was fun at first, it can drag on for a tad too long. These enemies are super weak and generally pose little threat or variety. I often found myself spamming attacks to get through these enemies and begin fighting the other girls, which was much more entertaining. Like Dynasty Warriors, it is still enjoyable to send the weak enemies flying everywhere, but eventually grows old. I often found myself wishing for more maps as well. Fighting on the same beach or dojo can make one wish for a change of scenery after a while.

Luckily, fighting the other playable girls is always fun and exciting. Movement is fast and fluid, keeping the battles very intense. Running and jumping feels tight and makes the battles feel as quick and as exciting as an anime. As previously mentioned, each girl has a very different playstyle, so each fight pairing almost always feels fantastic.

The OST is very memorable as well. Music amps up as the boss battles begin and adds an extra layer to an already intense fight. The art style is colorful and easy on the eyes. Characters are cute and have varied personality types. These aspects create a pleasant and polished experience that adds a lot of value to the game.

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Fan-service is a heavy theme in this game, as most situations often have sexual undertones. Girls shown heavy sexual interest in one another, and flirt constantly. Clothes fly off during fights, causing short cut scenes that felt dirty enough to keep me looking over my shoulder. Girls fall to the ground teary-eyed and exposed, which is definitely used to tap into some sort of fetish market out there. Girls can go into “Shinobi mode” causing a magical-girl type transformation where the girls become naked, and have new clothes appear on them. Another style is frantic mode, where the player’s defense drops and attack raises as their clothes fly off. Being the guy that I am, I enjoyed the heavy fan-service. However, I still found that it might be trying just a bit too hard. Even players that enjoy fan-service in games may find it to be too gratuitous. Luckily, the extreme amount of sex appeal doesn’t negatively affect the game much and remains pleasant.

Overall I was surprised with how much I enjoyed Senran Kagura: Estival Versus. While the repetition wore me down, the combat was much more deep and diverse than I expected. The great selection of characters and the generous fan-service make for an entertaining experience. Unfortunately both of these aspects grow old after some time, and have little to offer beyond sexy girls and mindless violence. Senran Kagura is definitely worth a play for fans of beat ’em up titles, but is probably still worth waiting for a sale before picking up.