For a game that would've been perfect for Summer, it was sad to see it released near the beginning of Autumn.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash is a Third-Person Shooter that utilizes ability cards that buff/debuff allies/enemies, assist with various attacks and summon little helpers. At its core, it's a 5-on-5 competitive arena shooter. With the single-player content, there's story mode, side-stories, and tournament mode along with the usual dressing-room where you can also pose your favorite characters to take pictures. In single-player modes, there can be hordes of enemies running up to you to smack you with a noodle floater, water balloons, and tackle you head on.
I wasn't expecting the game to have semi-auto-aim as part of its mechanic, but I didn't mind as much since I was only playing the single-player content (I don't have PS+ so I can't play online anyways). For the most part, I liked the game. Being able to jet high up into the sky or sliding around the ground like in the game Vanquish felt really nice as the options for movement were fast and exciting. I didn't like all the weapons in the game since some of them use up ammo (water) really fast and knocks out enemies too slowly, but I found ones I liked and stuck with them. The abilities can be kind of confusing since there are so many, but I have to admit that not having them would kind of make the game bland.
Despite its cheery appearances, I was expecting another moment from the game to mess me up again since every game in the series (other than Senran Kagura 2 Deep Crimson) and I was right. Gessen Girls' Academy's story focused on Shiki. She seemingly acted suspiciously throughout the story, saying that she should enjoy her time with her friends as it may be the last time. I suspected that she probably got an offer to study overseas judging from the promise she made to her grandfather in Estival Versus. And I was right! She was offered a scholarship to study abroad and further develop her English skills (Or French from the English translations). She was torn between staying with her friends or following her dreams and study abroad. In the end, all her friends supported her decision to study overseas. It was a nice, simple story that connected with the previous game's story. Here's the one that messed me up. Hanzou National Academy focused it story on Ikaruga (yay, my favorite character!) and started by talking about how she and Katsuragi was going to take their final exams soon and graduate. It dawned on her that graduating meant becoming a full fledged ninja, working away from the friends she had made. This made her depressed and throughout the story, the others were worried about her well-being and thought that she might be nervous about the final exams. After attempts of talking to Ikaruga and cheering her up, Katsuragi confronted Ikaruga and wanted to know what was causing this shift in mood. When Ikaruga started breaking down and explaining to Katsuragi, I started tearing up and really tried to hold it back because the last time I cried playing a video game (The Last of Us, I was bawling that time), my mom walked in on me. Sure enough, she walked in right then and wanted to tell me something really quick. I'm just sitting there saying "okay", trying to hold back tears. I got through that scene and continued to play the game. When it got to the end of the story, Ikaruga explained her recent disposition to her friends and cleared things up. She started crying, then her friends started crying, then I started crying, ugh, why did it have to have this scene?! I liked it though, it was my favorite story out of the game. It just hit a little too close to home as I felt the same exact way on my last year of college and knew I'd be saying goodbye to a lot of friends and perhaps never seeing some of them again. Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy had the two pairs of siblings arguing with one another while their leader brings them back together. Homura and crew's story was them trying to garner attention for more part-time jobs so they can earn the money to eat decent food. All the stories led up to a final story which hinted at possibly one of the biggest battles they'll ever have. I'm worried because it's they're building up quite the expectation, but can they live up to them?
The side stories were kind of a drag to get through and they weren't as funny as the ones from previous games. Aside from that, there's the tournament mode. It's pretty fun since it's simulating what you would experience playing online. I stopped playing from there though as I have a lot of other games to get through. I also messed around in the dressing room and took 2 neat pictures of my favorite characters before I shelved the game away.
I didn't like it as much as the main series games, but I enjoyed it.
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