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Senran Kagura Estival Versus
PlayStation 4
Estival Versus: Good Story but, Yeah, Mostly Boobs
3.5/5 stars
Since its inception in 2011, Senran Kagura has morphed from a side-scrolling beat-'em up to a more Musou style beat-'em up but it has always featured a variety of female ninjas and the ability to strip your enemy. Surprisingly, the series originated with Nintendo - whose wholesome game approach seems counter to what Senran Kagura stands for, but I guess don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Obviously things have changed a lot since the 3DS days and though one would think this is a game reserved for horny teens and perverts, if you can look beyond the fan service (which, I know, is tough), it actually has a decent story hiding inside.
Presentation: The anime quality graphics really bring the gravity-defying jiggle physics to life. The game is super bright and vibrant, with a few cut-scenes thrown in and, I have to admit, the soundtrack is excellent - maybe a bit much on techno side, but still, it has a lot of catchy tunes throughout and they did a great job. All the girls are fully-voiced and I'm sure fans of anime will recognize more than a few of them. Considering the expansive roster of characters, this is no mean feat. Each girl is given a distinct (if overly broad) characteristic - from shy shut-ins to overly-serious leaders, bombastic bravado to perverted gropers - at least you won't forget them once you experience it.
There aren't a huge number of levels or enemies, but, for what it's worth, it manages to shake things up a bit, letting you fight on the beach, in the city, in the snow and on rooftops. There is enough variety from keeping it getting too stale. The game's main mechanic of stripping you enemy means there is a lot of fan service. It doesn't go too far - as even fully stripped girls have bright shining lights covering them up, but it pushes things about as far as they can go and that M rating is fully earned, even if the game is often angled for comedic value.
Story: As I said, the further you go in the game, the better the story gets. Initially, sisters Ryobi and Ryona stumble upon strange sight - their long-dead sister Ryoki apparently back from the dead. Following her, they wind up on a sunny beach and soon enough their fellow students from Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy appear, followed in short order by the other girls' academies: Hanzō Academy, Homura Crimson Squad and the Gessen Girls' Academy. Joined by the shrine maidens the Mikagura sisters and presided over by the elderly Sayuri all the girls learn they have been transported to this summery isle to compete in a contest of strength and wits. Each school (and the Shrine maidens) have been given a set of festival platforms with the goal of each group to defend their own and destroy their rivals. The winner will be granted the honor of learning the highest Shinobi secrets - perhaps even that of the fabled Kagura.
Beyond this setup, the game features several branching stories of the various girls' dealing with regret, loss and, inevitably, letting go. This is where the deeper part comes in to play. Take, Miyab, the serious leader of Hebijo. When she learns the spirit of her mother, who sacrificed herself to save her daughter from a Yoma (demon) attack, is on the island, she stops at nothing from getting to spend more time with her. But she comes to realize that she must honor her mother's sacrifice and even though it is one of the hardest things she has had to do, much return to the fight, stronger in both mind and spirit because of this one, last meeting.
I mean, it gets pretty deep for a game where most of the time you're trying to rip the clothes off your opponent. There is also a dark, underlying meaning to this entire content that eventually is revealed across the seven-day event. But don't worry, the game balances this out by giving you the Shinobi Girl's Heart missions. Each of these five-part missions focuses on a single girl and each one is much more comedic (and often dirty) in nature than the main story.
Overall, this aspect of the game is what certainly impressed me the most. I came for the boobs, but I left with a surprisingly emotional farewell.
Gameplay: The game follows a musou-like formula. If you'e not familiar, musou gives you waves of enemies to fight ending with a boss battle. Estival Versus throws a few different enemy types - flying, tanks, annoying ranged enemies, but it never strays too far. The biggest downfall of the game is that this pattern gets pretty old, pretty quick. If you play it for any significant amount of time, it just repeats. While the entire game can probably be completed in one sitting if you wanted, the repetition to me required breaking it down into smaller chunks just so I wouldn't get bored.
You can control a total of 28 girls (some only become available after beating the main quest) - each with their own abilities and powers. All styles are their - quick-hitting agile girls, heavy-weapon specialists, ranged, melee - if there is a style you prefer, there will be a girl you like better. I usually went with the fast-hitting variety: Asuka, Homura and Shiki being my three favorite characters. Each girl is a focus of at least a few of the main missions, though the easiest way to level them up is by playing the Girl's Heart missions.
Missions usually consist of fighting a few waves of generic enemies and then battling another girl in the finale. Levels can be confined to a short area or spread out quite wide depending on the area. Festival platforms you can destroy are often hidden off the regular path and can require some exploration, backtracking and wall-running to find. The final battle can feature one to three girls with later levels upping the difficulty. Each girl has a set of moves that are expanded as you level them up - leading to bigger and more devastating combos. You can also transform in to a secondary form - this not only refills your life, but also allows you to access the secret ninja arts - powerful moves that can devastate your opponents, but require ninja scrolls to use. These scrolls (along with health and sometimes bombs) can be hidden in pots around various levels but can also be acquired naturally by landing blows against your opponents. If you happen to level up, you will also refill your health and ninja scroll gauges. The ninja arts can also be expanded as you level up, each attack you unlock uses up more scrolls and you will eventually learn each girls ultimate ninja art that can transform them and often give them a weapon to use even after the attack is over.
Even though the game does get repetitive, the sheer amount of variety in the girls attacks, transformations and such somewhat makes up for it. Still, when it comes down to it, its a generic beat-'em up with a lot of fan service and doesn't exactly break any new ground in the gameplay elements.
Replayability: Other than trying to get a perfect rating on each level and leveling up the various girls, there isn't that much to go back to once you have beaten the game. At least it gives you plenty of humorous extra content for those interested.
Overall: For a game whose main gimmick is a button masher and stripping your enemy of their clothing, it has actually has a decent story underneath all the fan service, though it's in no way scared to go over-the-top and give you exactly what you would think a game of this type is aiming for.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Replayability: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
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