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.
Showing posts with label Senran Kagura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senran Kagura. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Senran Kagura Music Ranking
I've been wanting to do this for a while. Just for fun, I reviewed all the character theme songs for the Senran Kagura series and ranked them. Here are the results:
I think the hardest character themes for me to rank was Yagyū, Hikage, and Haruka as their character themes have been consistently good throughout the series. I didn't like a majority of the songs from Bon Appétit, but added it in part of the ranking as there were a few songs I thought was okay and even fewer that I thought were better than some of the main series songs. Here are some of my favorite songs from the series:
Crimson Shadows Opening (Burst):
Yomi's Theme (Burst):
Homura's Theme (Shinovi Versus)
Murasaki's Theme (Shinovi Versus):
Mirai's Theme (Deep Crimson):
Homura's Theme (Deep Crimson):
Yomi's Theme (Estival Versus):
And as a bonus, here's the 2nd Ending from the animé;; it's the only good thing to come out of it.
I think the hardest character themes for me to rank was Yagyū, Hikage, and Haruka as their character themes have been consistently good throughout the series. I didn't like a majority of the songs from Bon Appétit, but added it in part of the ranking as there were a few songs I thought was okay and even fewer that I thought were better than some of the main series songs. Here are some of my favorite songs from the series:
Crimson Shadows Opening (Burst):
Yomi's Theme (Burst):
Homura's Theme (Shinovi Versus)
Murasaki's Theme (Shinovi Versus):
Mirai's Theme (Deep Crimson):
Homura's Theme (Deep Crimson):
Yomi's Theme (Estival Versus):
And as a bonus, here's the 2nd Ending from the animé;; it's the only good thing to come out of it.
Let's talk about Senran Kagura Estival Versus (SPOILERS!)
I was able to finish my 3rd remix for the year yesterday and plan to work on some original work for a while before returning to my remix projects. I'm in particularly more pain today than I have been in the past week. I'm not sure what's causing it, but I'm doing my best to bear the pain right now. Right now my lower back hurts with the pain leading down behind my back right thigh, my upper back hurts from possibly doing the stretches I've been performing daily to ease the pain in my lower back, my stomach had an over active acid reaction from eating a little bit of sauce that had spicy stuff put into it which caused some air and discomfort, and I'm feeling fatigued possibly from not sleeping well the past few weeks because I keep waking up in the middle of the night multiple times. I can't tell if I'm getting better or worse, but I'll finally admit that I feel miserable now.
Anyways, I finished Senran Kagura Estival Versus' main campaign on PS Vita on Saturday night and wanted to talk about it a little. I was a little bit disappointed with the gameplay, but was impressed by the overall experience and presentation. I talked a little about Senran Kagura 2 Deep Crimson on 3DS about 2 posts ago and mentioned my thoughts on it being dark and serious when it ended up being sort of silly. I had a similar preconception about Estival Versus being happy, colorful and light-hearted. I've teared up quite a few times playing the series and even cried a little reading the story of Hikage's past in SK Burst, but never have I cried so much playing a videogame than I have playing Senran Kagura: Estival Versus.
A departure from the usual action-based openings, the girls of Senran Kagura are dressed in bikinis and dancing on the beach. So how is it that a game, judging from its opening, that's so happy, humor-driven, and sexy cause me to break down, not once or twice, but multiple times throughout the game? Behind the upbeat personality and colorful environments is a story that hit me at a personal level emotionally and empathetically. You'll know when I get around to them.
Story
The game revolves around the 4 groups of young female ninjas; from Hanzō Academy, Gessen Girls' Academy, Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy, and Homura's Crimson Squad; who are sucked into another world and are seemingly forced to participate in a contest called the "Shinobi Bon Dance in Kagura Millennium Festival" held by Asuka's grandmother, Sayuri. Sayuri explains that the team who wins the festival will "open the path to Kagura". "Kagura" is a title claimed only by the highest ranking ninjas that fight Yōma, dark evil creatures capable of destroying the world. The four teams and the Overseers of the Festival all compete in combat while smashing opposing team's platforms. None of the girls really wanted to participate in the contest and didn't understand it. It is revealed early on that ninjas who have died in the past appear during this festival and are given help in passing onto the next life. The girls quickly realize this situation as they "sense" someone they love that had passed away nearby. As the story progresses, the girls come to terms with those who have passed while revealing the true nature of the festival and its dire objective.
A large portion of Estival Versus' story talks about those who have lost loved ones as a shinobi and how each of those characters deal with grief, loss, and acceptance. It's an underlying theme in all the Senran Kagura games that death is an everyday encounter with their lives. There isn't a clear conflict or threat that's present in the game like in past iterations. But the game still covers a very serious story while still maintaining a fun and humorous theme. I'm a bit disappointed that it didn't escalate into a huge boss fight at the end of the story, but I was decently satisfied.
[Hanzō Academy]
So Hanzō Academy actually take a backseat in this game (more so than Shinovi Versus) as their involvement with the story has little impact with the rest of the cast.
[Gessen Girls' Academy]
It's obvious that they're going to talk about Kurokage as the majority of the story in Shinovi Versus revolves around him. It was a touching moment when the girls finally find him. When it was time for him to leave as he had no regrets seeing how his adoptive granddaughters have all grown to be strong and able, he spoke to each of them individually and each of them put on a brave, happy face to see him off. It was heart-breaking because you have to see each of them breakdown as they finally say their goodbyes.
[Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy]
The most important characters in the story for Estival Versus would have to be Ryōbi, Ryōna, and Miyabi as they have lost someone close to them sooner than they should have. I'll explain it more in detail in their individual character descriptions.
[Homura Crimson Squad]
Homura and gang are the comic relief in the story. As the crew lament on their daily struggles to survive through part-time jobs and scrapping for food, they found the island to be abundant in consumable seafood and free from hiding as they enjoy the hot, summer-like sand on the beach. They later on latch onto the dream of being Kagura so that they would no longer be hunted as renegade shinobi and free from poverty where they can eat all the meat they want and take an actual bath rather than washing in the river.
[Overseers of the Festival]
The three shrine maidens seemingly follow Sayuri's commands but is later revealed to have their own agenda to fulfill. As young shrine maidens, they possessed unnaturally strong combat abilities and are barred from speaking to anyone outside of their village. They met another young girl who seemed to possess similar abilities in speed, power, and perception. She described herself being like a shinobi but isn't one. She warns the three girls that everyone needs to evacuate the village as a Yōma would attack it the next day. But the girls were reluctant to tell the elders as it would have meant breaking the rule on not speaking to anyone outside the village. The girls didn't want to believe that a yōma was real. They couldn't help wondering and left the village at night to see for themselves only to find that the girl they met was fighting the Yōma by herself. When they tried to help, the Yōma had swallowed her whole and in the next moment the Yōma exploded. The girl was nowhere to be found and the three young shrine maidens have wanted to apologize and thank the girl ever since and looked for her during the festival. They couldn't find her which led to the conclusion that she never died. The girl's voice then spoke to them and said that if they ever want to meet her again, become a Kagura.
[Overall]
So a majority of the game talks about the individual stories of each character rather than the overall plot, but quickly reveals what was going on near the end. There exists parallel worlds and the beach that they're on belonged to one such world with nothing left except that little island. All life, including the parallel world's versions of the girls, were all wiped out and killed by a gigantic Yōma revealed by Sayuri who points at the sky with a writhing black monster hovering high above them. Sayuri wanted to teach them to let go of their emotions and to do what they need to as shinobi and become a Kagura to fight the Yōma to prevent it from destroying other worlds. Each and every one of the girls refused to let go of their emotions as they whole-heartedly believed that their love and trust with their friends and comrades enables them to follow their convictions and be strong enough to defeat anything in their path. There is no clear winner of the Festival, so they have to start the contest over again. And that was the ending. I felt a bit cheated with that sort of ending as I was expecting a grand boss fight with the huge Yōma in the sky with ALL the girls fighting it at the same time. Still, I was quite satisfied with the main story in what they provided.
Gameplay/Combat
So the gameplay has changed again, keeping the franchise fresh as every iteration plays a little differently from one another. I'm a little disappointed with the gameplay, but still enjoyed it. Here are critical changes and additions to the game:
-Animation canceling isn't as prominent in combat
-Characters can wall run up and sideways on walls
-You can launch yourself at an enemy while wall running
-Perfect guard: blocking right when you're about to be hit stuns enemies for a second
-Tag-team aerials allows you to attack enemies in the air with a partner
-Creative finishers: defeating enemies in certain areas can trigger special events
I'm not sure if that's everything. So one of the things I was disappointed with was not having boss battles or anything that felt like a boss battle other than the very last fight, which still doesn't compare to the final battle in Shinovi Versus. Perhaps I was spoiled with SK2: Deep Crimson since that had tons of boss battles and I had just played it just months ago. I'm glad they got rid of the QTE button mashing sequences, I didn't like those. So it was very difficult getting used to the new combat system as attacks can't be easily dash canceled, jumped out of, and barely shortened with blocks. This meant that it feels clunkier and stiffer than all previous Senran Kagura games. It isn't too bad, but it definitely slows the pacing of combat down a bit. I believe this change was made for the sake of multiplayer, which doesn't exist for the PS Vita version (only for PS4). Perfect guard seemed like a great idea, but it's a bit difficult to utilize effectively as it can't be brought out immediately from an attack combo. Tag-team aerials are useful in combat, but a bit boring gameplay wise as you execute one command to make it happen. Again, I'm possibly spoiled from the tag-team mechanic from Deep Crimson where team-aerial combos were a lot more interactive. I'm a bit sad at the low options on combos and attacks. Again, it's possibly me being spoiled by Deep Crimson's combo system where it was longer, more diverse, and really distinguished the play styles of each character. Creative finishers are interesting and funny and I always tried to execute them when I can. It was a bit surprising the first time I knocked the clothes off my opponent and they fell into a tree and laid there naked on a branch. Overall, I still found the gameplay to be just as addicting and satisfying, though a tad more frustrating.
Characters/Character Themes
Note: I haven't played the individual stories, which are generally humorous but can also reveal important facts about the character. These insights are all based on the main campaign.
Hanzō Academy
[Asuka]
Wow, I couldn't believe this was Asuka's theme the first time I heard it. This might be my favorite Asuka theme in the series, that's how quickly I fell in love with the song. It has a sort of serious and dangerous tone in the beginning. And then it plays this sort of melody that's filled with hope and conviction. I'm really impressed with this song. Asuka plays more of a support role in the story as her perseverance and caring nature helps those around her find the answers they're looking for.
[Ikaruga]
This is, sadly, my least favorite theme I've heard for Ikaruga. It doesn't sound bad, but something about it just doesn't really click for me as "Ikaruga's theme". I'm judging it a bit more harshly as Ikaruga's been my favorite character throughout the series and she's definitely still my favorite with fast and long reaching attacks, refined demeanor, and righteous belief in justice. She doesn't do much to push the story forward other than being the voice of reason and responsibility in the team.
[Katsuragi]
Katsuragi's theme is okay. I find her to be progressively more difficult to play in each iteration as they continually slow her attacks down. A lot of her attacks are slow and deliberate and a lot of animation lag between each attack. Not to mention she has short range. Katsuragi's around mostly for comedic moments this time around.
[Yagyū]
Again, Yagyū has another great theme song. There hasn't been a single-theme for Yagyū that I didn't like or felt weak. Every single one of her theme songs in every game is full of energy and it really pumps you up for the fight. It's just a shame that she's such an underdeveloped character with such a shallow personality. Her backstory doesn't really make sense as a shinobi. She lost her younger sister in a car accident. She meets Hibari, who reminds her of her little sister. She aims to be a strong shinobi to protect Hibari. But then they went one step further after the first game and imply that she's in fact in love with Hibari and perhaps lusts for her. And that's her character now: the strong and silent unless it involves Hibari; then she turns into a drooling pervert. I wish she had a better backstory and better character development, because her theme songs are simply riveting. So she doesn't play much of a role in this game either. There's this tiny arc story where she's fighting with Haruka on who Hibari belongs to and Yagyū insists that Hibari is all her's.
[Hibari]
Ugh, who cares about Hibari! I get angry every time I get around to talking about Hibari. So her theme is very appropriate to her character. It definitely screams Hibari and no one else. As much as I hate her and think of her as "the idiot", she was also the voice of reason in this game. OF ALL PEOPLE, SHE'S THE VOICE OF REASON! When the girls of Hanzō Academy had a decision to make on attacking the platforms of Hebijo, Hibari insisted on holding off on it as they're not mentally prepared to do so. Miyabi was looking for her mother while Ryōbi and Ryōna were having their own difficulties with their elder sister Ryōki back. Yagyū felt that it was the perfect opportunity to attack because of that reason. Hibari points out to Yagyū asking what would she do if she had the chance to see her younger sister again. She also states that if they destroy Hebijo's platforms when they're not at their best, then they can't truly call themselves the strongest and most capable to become Kagura. She made a lot of sense. But then I had to play her and I was so annoyed by her attacks. They're short-ranged and so weak! Then they made me play her a second time shortly after! I think Hibari was most deadly in Deep Crimson. She's kind of a joke in all the other iterations.
Gessen Girls' Academy
[Yumi]
The ice-princess returns with an arrangement of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor/Lacrimosa as her theme song. Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor is one of my favorite works that Mozart had worked on and it was the last thing he did before he passed away at an early age. Some say that he was writing the dirge for himself. Lacrimosa is one of my favorite parts and it's an interesting arrangement. The Gessen Girls all share a very similar story and thus they all kind of fall under the same purpose in Estival Versus. They all reunite with Kurokage and then they each say their goodbyes with a goal in mind in their lives. I'm actually a bit blurry on remembering what she promised, but it was probably to be a strong and responsible leader/shinobi. I don't remember if her elements played a big role in Shinovi Versus, but you can freeze enemies with her attacks in Estival Versus.
[Murakumo]
Her theme is a little better, I think. But I still don't really like it all that much. I like her as a character a lot though. I can't wait to play her individual story. Playing her individual story in Shinovi Versus is what made me like this character. She wears an intimidating mask which acts as a shield for her mental stability. She feels scared and embarrassed when people see her face, thus the mask is on all the time. With her mask donned on her face, she speaks in a low tone with domineering force. But when the mask is snatched from her, she becomes a blubbering, cute mess. She has an adorable face and she has a cute, feminine voice of which she speaks in a fast and clumsy manner. When she speaks to Kurokage one last time, she said she needed her mask. Kurokage says that she doesn't. She gets her mask back and says her farewell as she exclaims that the mask is the representation of the face that is strong and can take care of herself. But then she removes the mask and says that this face was important too and wants Kurokage to remember it. Kurokage says that both faces/sides of Murakumo are of a remarkable woman and is proud to have her as a granddaughter.
[Yozakura]
I actually don't know what this song is an arrangement of, but it sounds familiar. Yozakura is seen as child-like and energetic in Estival Versus. As the caretaker of all her younger siblings before she was adopted by Kurokage, she never had the time to enjoy being a kid. So when she saw the beach, she wanted to play and have fun. It was very cute of her. She had prepared all of Kurokage's favorite dishes when Kurokage spoke to her only in voice claiming that he regretfully can't eat it without a body anymore. So as to help Kurokage pass on without regrets, she shoves the food down the Hebijo girls' throats. It was a bit silly.
[Shiki]
I don't know the arrangement of these piece either, but I like it. The translation for Shiki's part is kind of strange. I can understand a bit of Japanese and French, so it made a bit more sense to me. But as a translation, it was just so weird. In the Japanese dialogue, Kurokage wanted Shiki to be able to speak English so that she can spread his Shinobi teachings throughout the world. But in the English text, it said Kurokage wanted Shiki to learn French. So the voice is speaking broken English while the text is in French. I couldn't understand the English that was being said, but thankfully the dialogue was simple enough where I understood what it said in French. This just made it so confusing. So Shiki's goodbye was also a bit silly.
[Minori]
Ah, Minori. The character that Hibari should have been but wasn't. Minori's child-like personality is lovable, but her maturity always seem to pop up at one point in the game or another. She had the most heart-breaking line in Shinovi Versus where she asks "Why can't we all just play games together? If we always played games and had fun, we would be too tired to fight. And if we didn't have to fight, my parents wouldn't have had to die." I would have expected Minori to be the one character out of the Gessen girls to rebel against leaving the beach and be with Kurokage instead. But when Kurokage was saying his goodbyes, Minori stopped him and said "don't leave yet, I need to show you how strong I've become." She then proceeds to smash Hanzō Academy's platforms by herself and win. Before Kurokage leaves, she asks to play one last game of Hide-n-Seek. Minori repeatedly asks if he's ready while Kurokage continually repeats "not yet" until his voice is no longer heard. Minori understands that he had left, breaks down and cries. It was a simple method for the player to feel empathy for Minori, and it worked.
Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy
[Miyabi]
Oh god, here it comes. This is the character that had the story that made me break down twice. First, I want to say how great her theme is in this game. I complained a lot about how much I disliked her theme in Shinovi Versus, but this is good! So some backstory: In Shinovi Versus, it reveals that Miyabi and Imu were playing in an area that their parents told them not to go because it was dangerous. Miyabi's mother goes out looking for and right when she saw them, a Yōma lunged at Miyabi with the utmost malice. Miyabi's mother dives right in front of her and the Yōma snapped her head off as the lifeless body drenched in blood dropped to the floor right in front of her. Miyabi's father quickly subdued the Yōma and covered up the body of his wife and explained to Miyabi that the true purpose of an evil shinobi was to fight Yōma and rid of them from this world. It was one of the most descriptive and graphic deaths told in the game and one that really stuck with me. So in Estival Versus, when Miyabi finally found her mother and broke down to tears in her arms, I broke down too. I often wondered what it would be like if I ever saw those who were important to me who have passed: my grandma, my grandpa, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my friend Jessica. At that moment, even though it was a video game with a fictional character, I was so happy for Miyabi and couldn't control myself. That single moment felt so real and so human that I believed it whole-heartedly. Miyabi's mother said she's make Miyabi's favorite egg-rice dish, but needed two ingredients. As Miyabi went to gather these ingredients, her best friend Imu reasoned with her and asked her "do you really want to stay here with your mother and drop everything you believed in to rid the world of Yōma?" Miyabi knew staying with her mother wouldn't be right and that she needed to return as the leader of Hebijo and that her team needed her (metaphorically, it's saying that she can't cling to the past if she want to move forward in life). She returns to her mother giving her the ingredients. But much to her surprise, her mother wanted her to make it. She knew nothing about cooking and didn't feel confident. Her mother assured her that it was easy and helped her make it. When she was finally done, Miyabi claimed that it was actually really easy and scarfed it down. Right when Miyabi was about to say she can't stay, her mom starts fading. She panicked and asked why this was happening, and her mother said something along the lines of "now that you know how to make your favorite dish I used to make you, I can pass on with no regrets." (Essentially saying you will always have a piece of memory of me with you). I broke down again as Miyabi broke down. She finally had closure with her mother and went back to her team asking for her support as she trusted each and everyone of them. Miyabi's part of the story was my favorite out of Estival Versus.
[Murasaki]
I think her theme in Shinovi Versus was better, but I still really like this song. Murasaki continues to be the hikikomori (shut-in) she's always been. When they arrive on the strange beach, she complains and wants to go back to her room to read web novels and play MMOs. At one point, she pesters Mirai on why she hasn't updated her web novel yet and that she broke her F5 key (refresh page) because of it. Mirai had writers block and wanted to introduce a new character but didn't know what kind of character she wanted. Murasaki helped find Mirai's inspiration after fighting her. After a while, she didn't want to leave the world they were in since it had internet and was secluded off from all other people already. I forgot to mention the little details they put into Shinobi Transformations now. Everyone has a different animation for transforming such as where they keep their ninja scrolls and how they pose, etc. With Murasaki's backstory and intense music, I had hoped she was a borderline psychopathic fighter. But that just isn't the case. She screams things like "just let me die already!" when she uses her hidden ninpo specials, but her animation has her give the most adorable smile towards the screen before her move ends. It's such a strange and conflicting concept. She's portrayed as creepy and depressing, yet cute at the same time. She could've been more.
[Imu]
Her theme seems rather Chinese influenced. A lot of the theme songs have influences of Chinese music and instruments. But I'm wondering if it was a decision to do so since she uses a staff much like Son Wukong does from Journey to the West. Imu plays the support character to Miyabi yet again as the best friend who stands by her through thick and thin. It was hinted that Imu liked Miyabi more than just a friend in Shinovi Versus, but now it's extremely apparent. Imu's the one that snaps Miyabi back into reality and reminded her what her ambitions were and how her team were waiting to follow her lead.
[Ryōbi]
I'd say Ryōbi and Ryōna are the main characters to Estival Versus, at least seemingly so. The two sisters were in the woods when they heard the ritual for helping the deceased move onto the next life. They saw their older sister Ryōki, who was mentioned being killed by a Yōma in Shinovi Versus, in the crowd and ran towards her. When they reached her, a bright light brought them to the parallel world. When they finally reunited with their lost sister, Ryōna was beyond happy to see her elder sister again. Ryōbi did not have the same ecstatic reaction as Ryōna and that was the driving force behind the overall story for Estival Versus. Later in the game, it is revealed that right before Ryōki took the mission to fight the Yōma, Ryōbi had yelled at her "you should just die!" And it devastated Ryōbi when Ryōki's corpse was brought back. The reasoning behind Ryōbi's outburst was because she had a inferiority complex (the game said sister complex. That's not what a sister complex is...). The three sisters had lost their parents at a young age and thus Ryōki took over as guardian for her two younger sisters. In Ryōbi's eyes, Ryōki was perfect. She was beautiful, kind, independent, strong, and intelligent. "How could I compete with that?" At a certain point, Ryōbi had become rebellious and aggressive. Ryōbi eventually reminded her older sister what she had said the last time they saw her before she died. Ryōki claims she doesn't remember the incident and that she isn't angry at her for saying that. Ryōbi ran off even more angry than before knowing that'd be the response she gave. She was such a good person that she'd forgive her for saying such a heinous statement to her beloved elder sister. When the Gessen girls and Miyabi had made peace with the ones they lost, Ryōna urged Ryōbi to tell Ryōki whatever she needed to as it might be their one and only chance. Ryōbi wasn't sure she could tell Ryōki how she really felt after what she said. Ryōna had thought she meant apologizing to her. Ryōbi said "no, I want to thank her. Thank her for taking care of us, for making us strong, and for being there went our parents couldn't." After Ryōna helped Ryōbi find the courage to confront her sister, the two fought Ryōki. Ryōki reveals that she did remember what Ryōbi had said and that it did affect her. She said that she was happy Ryōbi said what she said. Her rebellious remark eased Ryōki's heart as she saw that Ryōbi was finally standing up for herself and becoming an independent woman. She had been worried at that time as Ryōbi clinged onto her for so long that she wasn't sure she was doing the right thing for her. Ryōbi wanted to prove that she is indeed stronger and can take care of herself. The final battle is against Ryōki in her ultimate hidden ninpo state indefinitely. This was the closest boss battle I could think of in the game. And then it got to the ending sequence where they finally said goodbye. Ryōna, who had kept a tight lip and a strong face the entire game finally broke down spilling everything that was in her heart. "Thank you, Ryōki. Thank you for everything. Thank you." I broke down again as it hit a bit close to my own personal life.
I never really got to say goodbye to a lot of the ones I lost. My grandma just disappeared one day and I was told she was at the hospital. I waited patiently everyday for 3 or however many months expecting her to come home. I still remember that day very clearly when I went into the living room and my grandpa was crying. I never seen my grandpa cry before. I ran into my room where my dad was asked what was going on and he said that "we had to let her go." My life had never been the same ever since as it affect my way of thinking, my extended family, and my own family. My grandfather was the only one I really got to say goodbye to. I had visited him at the hospital and told him I'll come see him again soon. He smiled and waved at me and passed away that night. My grandpa passed away a year after my grandfather, and I didn't see him for months and didn't talk to him even longer before he passed. I've only met my great-grandfather three times in my life: once when he visited us in America, and twice when I went to China two times. The very last time I saw him, he shared his wish of wanting for me to get married and show him his great-great-grandchildren. I knew for a fact that it wouldn't happen as I didn't even have a girl friend at that time (and still don't). I also knew that it might have been the last time I'd ever get to see him as we didn't have any plans of visiting China again in the near future (it's been 10 years now). I remember waving bye to him inside the taxi as he left and I already wanted to cry then because I wanted to get to know him better but knew I might not get that chance. He passed away a couple of years ago. And finally, there's my friend Jessica. I have mentioned this in the past, but I wasn't particularly close to Jessica. Yet, she was still my friend and I was deeply saddened when I heard she had cancer and didn't have much longer to live. I wanted to see her, but felt unworthy to since I never hung out with her ever before. When she said she was at a critical state, I couldn't help it anymore and had my parents ask her mom if I could see her. Her mom said it wasn't a really good idea (I imagine she probably looked thin and sickly). I had typed messages to her before not expecting a reply because I wasn't exactly sure what to talk about. I hadn't seen her in person in years before she passed, and I'm not sure if my messages really count as a goodbye. I realized I cared about her, but I didn't now if it was something that mattered to her and I really didn't want to intrude on her when she was already going through so much. I didn't cry when she finally had passed as I cried enough before hand. I didn't go to her memorial service as I didn't think I could handle it. The game had brought all this back for me as I recently revisited these memories with my parents. 2 posts ago, I mentioned having some stressful family issues, and what was going on was that my dad's favorite chicken, Honey, was severely sick and was dying. For three weeks, we saw her go from blind, to a little better and eating, to unmoving and in pain. It deeply affected my dad because we had lost Hattie last year, and his former favorite chicken, Waffle two years ago. It was also because sitting by Honey and watching her life whittle away brought back bad memories of sitting at the hospital room with his mother (my grandma) for those 3 months (or however long it was, I don't remember anymore) and helplessly watch her life whittle away. I knew that it would bring back memories of that time because that's how I felt too: I saw how upset and in emotional pain my dad was and I didn't have anything I could say or do to make him feel better. Back when I was 10 yo and my grandma was in the hospital, I kept telling my dad that she'd be okay; however, I didn't know the circumstances and I still don't. Having grown to be such a pessimist I am today, I'm not keen on giving false hope or words of encouragement to others anymore unless I have reason to believe otherwise. I was sad when Waffle and Hattie passed away, but I did my best not to cry in front of my dad because he was blaming himself for their deaths and I didn't want him to see me sad about their passing. I wasn't as deeply affected by their passing as it did for my dad though. So it was the same with Honey. I was sad, but I didn't want to show him. More than anything, I'm afraid of losing my dad as each passing hen affects him more than the last.
So playing this game and being reminded of all these memories have been...sobering, I suppose. With my 9 week illness in the winter and my now 3 week string of ailments, I fear for my own mortality and well-being. Death is a constant reminder ever since my grandma passed away (thus changing my "way of thinking") and I've always strived forward to do great things with big ambitions. I keep trying to remind myself that it is nowhere near my time yet and that there are still much I need to take care of before the time comes. For the girls of Senran Kagura, death is a constant threat as it is the life a Shinobi must take. But I believe it to be applicable to our own lives as life is unexpected and fickle. We need to make the most of what we have.
[Ryōna]
I didn't mean to carry on for so long. So Ryōna is sort of like a main character in the story, but I guess she's more accurately a supporting role for Ryōbi. Did you know that Ryōna is the older of the two? I didn't. Ryōbi breaks down at one point and thanks Ryōna for being so loyal and so supportive of her. She expresses how grateful she is to have an older sister like Ryōna. Ryōna may be a freak in the game (super masochistic), but she often becomes the voice of reason and kindness for Ryōbi when she's lost her way.
Homura Crimson Squad
[Homura]
I was shocked to find that this song was Homura's as the intro totally sounded like a Daidōji theme song. Homura has become quite the meat-head in the story as she's always looking for a fight and thinking of eating meat. It is also implied that she loves Asuka more than a friend but denies it every time.
[Yomi]
Yomi is back! What I mean is she finally has an amazing theme song. Yomi's pre-transformation theme song in Burst was one of the best songs in the entire series. So I was disappointed when I listened to her theme in Shinovi Versus and didn't really like it. Her theme in Deep Crimson was okay, but nothing like in Burst. But when I first heard this song in Estival Versus, it instantly became one of my favorites. It's fun, catchy, and addicting to listen to. It still amazes me that Yomi is such a sweetheart in the series now when she was the psycho in Burst who hated rich people. She finds a lot of edible food sources on the beach for the crew to eat.
[Hikage]
Oh my goodness, Hikage is fun! Her ultimate hidden ninpo grants her this super powered state where it expands her reach of attack by a large amount while doing tons of damage. Fighting a group of enemies quickly refills her scrolls so she can go back into that state again. Her theme song is pretty fun to listen to. Something I really wanted to see in past Senran Kagura games was interactions between the characters that weren't already paired up. There were definitely a few times where that happened in Estival Versus. Despite it all, I really like the exchanges she has with Imu where she's still trying to figure out emotions. It all becomes sort of a comedy routine where Imu gets ticked off by Hikage while Hikage is trying to figure out what's going on in the conversation.
[Mirai]
Her theme song is...okay. I have high expectations out of her theme songs since the ones in Burst and Deep Crimson is so good and among my favorites from the series. Mirai sort of continues to be a joke or silly character in the series which makes me sad sense she was such a strong character that progressive matured in Burst. She continues writing web novels with no readers other than Murasaki, who is an avid fan of her writing. But it was shown in Shinovi Versus that Shiki took interest in her work and in Estival Versus, Ryōbi also took interest when seeing how intently Murasaki was reading. Her combat style almost seems kind of boring after playing her in Deep Crimson. I still really like Mirai, though.
[Haruka]
Much like Yagyū, Haruka has never had a theme song I didn't like. Her theme songs are easily distinguishable and are often unique and easy to listen to. She doesn't seem to be as OP as she was in Deep Crimson which is necessary if they were balancing the game for multiplayer. Haruka holds a special silly content to provoke Sayuri into telling them what the Bon Dance Festival is really for.
Overseers of the Festival
[Sayuri/Jasmine]
Sayuri is an interesting character. While Asuka's grandpa is a pervert who likes to screw around, Asuka's grandma was/is apparently stronger than her Hanzō and is portrayed as a "tough as nails" sort of gal. She's an ex-Kagura and threw away her title when she wasn't able to fulfill her obligations as a Kagura to fight the Yōma effectively. She lost her friends in the fight and had the creature get away, which is why she's training all the girls to prepare for the inevitable fight. The intro to her theme caught me off guard and I thought I was listening to Dynasty Warriors for a second. The intro really does resonate with the sound, personality, and style of Dynasty Warriors, but that quickly changes as it leads into main portion of the song. Jasmine is pretty song.
[Ryōki]
I really like the Celtic influenced song for Ryōki. I don't know why it feel appropriate, but it just seems like the right kind of theme song for her. Ryōki has very good reach and attack power, but it takes some getting used to the long animation frames to finish up.
[Renka]
Listening to the soundtrack, I knew she was going to be one of my favorite characters. Her theme song is so addicting and upbeat. It reminds me of DDR. She's got a sort of "girl next door" personality and is the smart one in the group. Her fighting style is a lot of fun and I really like her specials where she's banging away on a taiko drum.
[Hanabi]
The idiot of the group. When she thinks too hard, her fireworks jutsu goes off and explosions erupt all around her. Her fighting style is too slow and doesn't compensate in damage enough for my liking.
[Kafuru]
Oh my goodness, she's so cute! I was a bit worried when I read that she had a snobbish personality that likes to look down on others. But getting through the game, I thought she was a sensible character. I like her combos and specials.
I'm not gonna write about the other characters since they weren't part of the story and I haven't played them yet.
This ends my very long rant on Senran Kagura Estival Versus. I'm a bit disappointed with some things, but very satisfied with the overall experience.
Anyways, I finished Senran Kagura Estival Versus' main campaign on PS Vita on Saturday night and wanted to talk about it a little. I was a little bit disappointed with the gameplay, but was impressed by the overall experience and presentation. I talked a little about Senran Kagura 2 Deep Crimson on 3DS about 2 posts ago and mentioned my thoughts on it being dark and serious when it ended up being sort of silly. I had a similar preconception about Estival Versus being happy, colorful and light-hearted. I've teared up quite a few times playing the series and even cried a little reading the story of Hikage's past in SK Burst, but never have I cried so much playing a videogame than I have playing Senran Kagura: Estival Versus.
A departure from the usual action-based openings, the girls of Senran Kagura are dressed in bikinis and dancing on the beach. So how is it that a game, judging from its opening, that's so happy, humor-driven, and sexy cause me to break down, not once or twice, but multiple times throughout the game? Behind the upbeat personality and colorful environments is a story that hit me at a personal level emotionally and empathetically. You'll know when I get around to them.
Story
The game revolves around the 4 groups of young female ninjas; from Hanzō Academy, Gessen Girls' Academy, Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy, and Homura's Crimson Squad; who are sucked into another world and are seemingly forced to participate in a contest called the "Shinobi Bon Dance in Kagura Millennium Festival" held by Asuka's grandmother, Sayuri. Sayuri explains that the team who wins the festival will "open the path to Kagura". "Kagura" is a title claimed only by the highest ranking ninjas that fight Yōma, dark evil creatures capable of destroying the world. The four teams and the Overseers of the Festival all compete in combat while smashing opposing team's platforms. None of the girls really wanted to participate in the contest and didn't understand it. It is revealed early on that ninjas who have died in the past appear during this festival and are given help in passing onto the next life. The girls quickly realize this situation as they "sense" someone they love that had passed away nearby. As the story progresses, the girls come to terms with those who have passed while revealing the true nature of the festival and its dire objective.
A large portion of Estival Versus' story talks about those who have lost loved ones as a shinobi and how each of those characters deal with grief, loss, and acceptance. It's an underlying theme in all the Senran Kagura games that death is an everyday encounter with their lives. There isn't a clear conflict or threat that's present in the game like in past iterations. But the game still covers a very serious story while still maintaining a fun and humorous theme. I'm a bit disappointed that it didn't escalate into a huge boss fight at the end of the story, but I was decently satisfied.
[Hanzō Academy]
So Hanzō Academy actually take a backseat in this game (more so than Shinovi Versus) as their involvement with the story has little impact with the rest of the cast.
[Gessen Girls' Academy]
It's obvious that they're going to talk about Kurokage as the majority of the story in Shinovi Versus revolves around him. It was a touching moment when the girls finally find him. When it was time for him to leave as he had no regrets seeing how his adoptive granddaughters have all grown to be strong and able, he spoke to each of them individually and each of them put on a brave, happy face to see him off. It was heart-breaking because you have to see each of them breakdown as they finally say their goodbyes.
[Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy]
The most important characters in the story for Estival Versus would have to be Ryōbi, Ryōna, and Miyabi as they have lost someone close to them sooner than they should have. I'll explain it more in detail in their individual character descriptions.
[Homura Crimson Squad]
Homura and gang are the comic relief in the story. As the crew lament on their daily struggles to survive through part-time jobs and scrapping for food, they found the island to be abundant in consumable seafood and free from hiding as they enjoy the hot, summer-like sand on the beach. They later on latch onto the dream of being Kagura so that they would no longer be hunted as renegade shinobi and free from poverty where they can eat all the meat they want and take an actual bath rather than washing in the river.
[Overseers of the Festival]
The three shrine maidens seemingly follow Sayuri's commands but is later revealed to have their own agenda to fulfill. As young shrine maidens, they possessed unnaturally strong combat abilities and are barred from speaking to anyone outside of their village. They met another young girl who seemed to possess similar abilities in speed, power, and perception. She described herself being like a shinobi but isn't one. She warns the three girls that everyone needs to evacuate the village as a Yōma would attack it the next day. But the girls were reluctant to tell the elders as it would have meant breaking the rule on not speaking to anyone outside the village. The girls didn't want to believe that a yōma was real. They couldn't help wondering and left the village at night to see for themselves only to find that the girl they met was fighting the Yōma by herself. When they tried to help, the Yōma had swallowed her whole and in the next moment the Yōma exploded. The girl was nowhere to be found and the three young shrine maidens have wanted to apologize and thank the girl ever since and looked for her during the festival. They couldn't find her which led to the conclusion that she never died. The girl's voice then spoke to them and said that if they ever want to meet her again, become a Kagura.
[Overall]
So a majority of the game talks about the individual stories of each character rather than the overall plot, but quickly reveals what was going on near the end. There exists parallel worlds and the beach that they're on belonged to one such world with nothing left except that little island. All life, including the parallel world's versions of the girls, were all wiped out and killed by a gigantic Yōma revealed by Sayuri who points at the sky with a writhing black monster hovering high above them. Sayuri wanted to teach them to let go of their emotions and to do what they need to as shinobi and become a Kagura to fight the Yōma to prevent it from destroying other worlds. Each and every one of the girls refused to let go of their emotions as they whole-heartedly believed that their love and trust with their friends and comrades enables them to follow their convictions and be strong enough to defeat anything in their path. There is no clear winner of the Festival, so they have to start the contest over again. And that was the ending. I felt a bit cheated with that sort of ending as I was expecting a grand boss fight with the huge Yōma in the sky with ALL the girls fighting it at the same time. Still, I was quite satisfied with the main story in what they provided.
Gameplay/Combat
So the gameplay has changed again, keeping the franchise fresh as every iteration plays a little differently from one another. I'm a little disappointed with the gameplay, but still enjoyed it. Here are critical changes and additions to the game:
-Animation canceling isn't as prominent in combat
-Characters can wall run up and sideways on walls
-You can launch yourself at an enemy while wall running
-Perfect guard: blocking right when you're about to be hit stuns enemies for a second
-Tag-team aerials allows you to attack enemies in the air with a partner
-Creative finishers: defeating enemies in certain areas can trigger special events
I'm not sure if that's everything. So one of the things I was disappointed with was not having boss battles or anything that felt like a boss battle other than the very last fight, which still doesn't compare to the final battle in Shinovi Versus. Perhaps I was spoiled with SK2: Deep Crimson since that had tons of boss battles and I had just played it just months ago. I'm glad they got rid of the QTE button mashing sequences, I didn't like those. So it was very difficult getting used to the new combat system as attacks can't be easily dash canceled, jumped out of, and barely shortened with blocks. This meant that it feels clunkier and stiffer than all previous Senran Kagura games. It isn't too bad, but it definitely slows the pacing of combat down a bit. I believe this change was made for the sake of multiplayer, which doesn't exist for the PS Vita version (only for PS4). Perfect guard seemed like a great idea, but it's a bit difficult to utilize effectively as it can't be brought out immediately from an attack combo. Tag-team aerials are useful in combat, but a bit boring gameplay wise as you execute one command to make it happen. Again, I'm possibly spoiled from the tag-team mechanic from Deep Crimson where team-aerial combos were a lot more interactive. I'm a bit sad at the low options on combos and attacks. Again, it's possibly me being spoiled by Deep Crimson's combo system where it was longer, more diverse, and really distinguished the play styles of each character. Creative finishers are interesting and funny and I always tried to execute them when I can. It was a bit surprising the first time I knocked the clothes off my opponent and they fell into a tree and laid there naked on a branch. Overall, I still found the gameplay to be just as addicting and satisfying, though a tad more frustrating.
Characters/Character Themes
Note: I haven't played the individual stories, which are generally humorous but can also reveal important facts about the character. These insights are all based on the main campaign.
Hanzō Academy
[Asuka]
Wow, I couldn't believe this was Asuka's theme the first time I heard it. This might be my favorite Asuka theme in the series, that's how quickly I fell in love with the song. It has a sort of serious and dangerous tone in the beginning. And then it plays this sort of melody that's filled with hope and conviction. I'm really impressed with this song. Asuka plays more of a support role in the story as her perseverance and caring nature helps those around her find the answers they're looking for.
[Ikaruga]
This is, sadly, my least favorite theme I've heard for Ikaruga. It doesn't sound bad, but something about it just doesn't really click for me as "Ikaruga's theme". I'm judging it a bit more harshly as Ikaruga's been my favorite character throughout the series and she's definitely still my favorite with fast and long reaching attacks, refined demeanor, and righteous belief in justice. She doesn't do much to push the story forward other than being the voice of reason and responsibility in the team.
[Katsuragi]
Katsuragi's theme is okay. I find her to be progressively more difficult to play in each iteration as they continually slow her attacks down. A lot of her attacks are slow and deliberate and a lot of animation lag between each attack. Not to mention she has short range. Katsuragi's around mostly for comedic moments this time around.
[Yagyū]
Again, Yagyū has another great theme song. There hasn't been a single-theme for Yagyū that I didn't like or felt weak. Every single one of her theme songs in every game is full of energy and it really pumps you up for the fight. It's just a shame that she's such an underdeveloped character with such a shallow personality. Her backstory doesn't really make sense as a shinobi. She lost her younger sister in a car accident. She meets Hibari, who reminds her of her little sister. She aims to be a strong shinobi to protect Hibari. But then they went one step further after the first game and imply that she's in fact in love with Hibari and perhaps lusts for her. And that's her character now: the strong and silent unless it involves Hibari; then she turns into a drooling pervert. I wish she had a better backstory and better character development, because her theme songs are simply riveting. So she doesn't play much of a role in this game either. There's this tiny arc story where she's fighting with Haruka on who Hibari belongs to and Yagyū insists that Hibari is all her's.
[Hibari]
Ugh, who cares about Hibari! I get angry every time I get around to talking about Hibari. So her theme is very appropriate to her character. It definitely screams Hibari and no one else. As much as I hate her and think of her as "the idiot", she was also the voice of reason in this game. OF ALL PEOPLE, SHE'S THE VOICE OF REASON! When the girls of Hanzō Academy had a decision to make on attacking the platforms of Hebijo, Hibari insisted on holding off on it as they're not mentally prepared to do so. Miyabi was looking for her mother while Ryōbi and Ryōna were having their own difficulties with their elder sister Ryōki back. Yagyū felt that it was the perfect opportunity to attack because of that reason. Hibari points out to Yagyū asking what would she do if she had the chance to see her younger sister again. She also states that if they destroy Hebijo's platforms when they're not at their best, then they can't truly call themselves the strongest and most capable to become Kagura. She made a lot of sense. But then I had to play her and I was so annoyed by her attacks. They're short-ranged and so weak! Then they made me play her a second time shortly after! I think Hibari was most deadly in Deep Crimson. She's kind of a joke in all the other iterations.
Gessen Girls' Academy
[Yumi]
The ice-princess returns with an arrangement of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor/Lacrimosa as her theme song. Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor is one of my favorite works that Mozart had worked on and it was the last thing he did before he passed away at an early age. Some say that he was writing the dirge for himself. Lacrimosa is one of my favorite parts and it's an interesting arrangement. The Gessen Girls all share a very similar story and thus they all kind of fall under the same purpose in Estival Versus. They all reunite with Kurokage and then they each say their goodbyes with a goal in mind in their lives. I'm actually a bit blurry on remembering what she promised, but it was probably to be a strong and responsible leader/shinobi. I don't remember if her elements played a big role in Shinovi Versus, but you can freeze enemies with her attacks in Estival Versus.
[Murakumo]
Her theme is a little better, I think. But I still don't really like it all that much. I like her as a character a lot though. I can't wait to play her individual story. Playing her individual story in Shinovi Versus is what made me like this character. She wears an intimidating mask which acts as a shield for her mental stability. She feels scared and embarrassed when people see her face, thus the mask is on all the time. With her mask donned on her face, she speaks in a low tone with domineering force. But when the mask is snatched from her, she becomes a blubbering, cute mess. She has an adorable face and she has a cute, feminine voice of which she speaks in a fast and clumsy manner. When she speaks to Kurokage one last time, she said she needed her mask. Kurokage says that she doesn't. She gets her mask back and says her farewell as she exclaims that the mask is the representation of the face that is strong and can take care of herself. But then she removes the mask and says that this face was important too and wants Kurokage to remember it. Kurokage says that both faces/sides of Murakumo are of a remarkable woman and is proud to have her as a granddaughter.
[Yozakura]
I actually don't know what this song is an arrangement of, but it sounds familiar. Yozakura is seen as child-like and energetic in Estival Versus. As the caretaker of all her younger siblings before she was adopted by Kurokage, she never had the time to enjoy being a kid. So when she saw the beach, she wanted to play and have fun. It was very cute of her. She had prepared all of Kurokage's favorite dishes when Kurokage spoke to her only in voice claiming that he regretfully can't eat it without a body anymore. So as to help Kurokage pass on without regrets, she shoves the food down the Hebijo girls' throats. It was a bit silly.
[Shiki]
I don't know the arrangement of these piece either, but I like it. The translation for Shiki's part is kind of strange. I can understand a bit of Japanese and French, so it made a bit more sense to me. But as a translation, it was just so weird. In the Japanese dialogue, Kurokage wanted Shiki to be able to speak English so that she can spread his Shinobi teachings throughout the world. But in the English text, it said Kurokage wanted Shiki to learn French. So the voice is speaking broken English while the text is in French. I couldn't understand the English that was being said, but thankfully the dialogue was simple enough where I understood what it said in French. This just made it so confusing. So Shiki's goodbye was also a bit silly.
[Minori]
Ah, Minori. The character that Hibari should have been but wasn't. Minori's child-like personality is lovable, but her maturity always seem to pop up at one point in the game or another. She had the most heart-breaking line in Shinovi Versus where she asks "Why can't we all just play games together? If we always played games and had fun, we would be too tired to fight. And if we didn't have to fight, my parents wouldn't have had to die." I would have expected Minori to be the one character out of the Gessen girls to rebel against leaving the beach and be with Kurokage instead. But when Kurokage was saying his goodbyes, Minori stopped him and said "don't leave yet, I need to show you how strong I've become." She then proceeds to smash Hanzō Academy's platforms by herself and win. Before Kurokage leaves, she asks to play one last game of Hide-n-Seek. Minori repeatedly asks if he's ready while Kurokage continually repeats "not yet" until his voice is no longer heard. Minori understands that he had left, breaks down and cries. It was a simple method for the player to feel empathy for Minori, and it worked.
Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy
[Miyabi]
Oh god, here it comes. This is the character that had the story that made me break down twice. First, I want to say how great her theme is in this game. I complained a lot about how much I disliked her theme in Shinovi Versus, but this is good! So some backstory: In Shinovi Versus, it reveals that Miyabi and Imu were playing in an area that their parents told them not to go because it was dangerous. Miyabi's mother goes out looking for and right when she saw them, a Yōma lunged at Miyabi with the utmost malice. Miyabi's mother dives right in front of her and the Yōma snapped her head off as the lifeless body drenched in blood dropped to the floor right in front of her. Miyabi's father quickly subdued the Yōma and covered up the body of his wife and explained to Miyabi that the true purpose of an evil shinobi was to fight Yōma and rid of them from this world. It was one of the most descriptive and graphic deaths told in the game and one that really stuck with me. So in Estival Versus, when Miyabi finally found her mother and broke down to tears in her arms, I broke down too. I often wondered what it would be like if I ever saw those who were important to me who have passed: my grandma, my grandpa, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my friend Jessica. At that moment, even though it was a video game with a fictional character, I was so happy for Miyabi and couldn't control myself. That single moment felt so real and so human that I believed it whole-heartedly. Miyabi's mother said she's make Miyabi's favorite egg-rice dish, but needed two ingredients. As Miyabi went to gather these ingredients, her best friend Imu reasoned with her and asked her "do you really want to stay here with your mother and drop everything you believed in to rid the world of Yōma?" Miyabi knew staying with her mother wouldn't be right and that she needed to return as the leader of Hebijo and that her team needed her (metaphorically, it's saying that she can't cling to the past if she want to move forward in life). She returns to her mother giving her the ingredients. But much to her surprise, her mother wanted her to make it. She knew nothing about cooking and didn't feel confident. Her mother assured her that it was easy and helped her make it. When she was finally done, Miyabi claimed that it was actually really easy and scarfed it down. Right when Miyabi was about to say she can't stay, her mom starts fading. She panicked and asked why this was happening, and her mother said something along the lines of "now that you know how to make your favorite dish I used to make you, I can pass on with no regrets." (Essentially saying you will always have a piece of memory of me with you). I broke down again as Miyabi broke down. She finally had closure with her mother and went back to her team asking for her support as she trusted each and everyone of them. Miyabi's part of the story was my favorite out of Estival Versus.
[Murasaki]
I think her theme in Shinovi Versus was better, but I still really like this song. Murasaki continues to be the hikikomori (shut-in) she's always been. When they arrive on the strange beach, she complains and wants to go back to her room to read web novels and play MMOs. At one point, she pesters Mirai on why she hasn't updated her web novel yet and that she broke her F5 key (refresh page) because of it. Mirai had writers block and wanted to introduce a new character but didn't know what kind of character she wanted. Murasaki helped find Mirai's inspiration after fighting her. After a while, she didn't want to leave the world they were in since it had internet and was secluded off from all other people already. I forgot to mention the little details they put into Shinobi Transformations now. Everyone has a different animation for transforming such as where they keep their ninja scrolls and how they pose, etc. With Murasaki's backstory and intense music, I had hoped she was a borderline psychopathic fighter. But that just isn't the case. She screams things like "just let me die already!" when she uses her hidden ninpo specials, but her animation has her give the most adorable smile towards the screen before her move ends. It's such a strange and conflicting concept. She's portrayed as creepy and depressing, yet cute at the same time. She could've been more.
[Imu]
Her theme seems rather Chinese influenced. A lot of the theme songs have influences of Chinese music and instruments. But I'm wondering if it was a decision to do so since she uses a staff much like Son Wukong does from Journey to the West. Imu plays the support character to Miyabi yet again as the best friend who stands by her through thick and thin. It was hinted that Imu liked Miyabi more than just a friend in Shinovi Versus, but now it's extremely apparent. Imu's the one that snaps Miyabi back into reality and reminded her what her ambitions were and how her team were waiting to follow her lead.
[Ryōbi]
I'd say Ryōbi and Ryōna are the main characters to Estival Versus, at least seemingly so. The two sisters were in the woods when they heard the ritual for helping the deceased move onto the next life. They saw their older sister Ryōki, who was mentioned being killed by a Yōma in Shinovi Versus, in the crowd and ran towards her. When they reached her, a bright light brought them to the parallel world. When they finally reunited with their lost sister, Ryōna was beyond happy to see her elder sister again. Ryōbi did not have the same ecstatic reaction as Ryōna and that was the driving force behind the overall story for Estival Versus. Later in the game, it is revealed that right before Ryōki took the mission to fight the Yōma, Ryōbi had yelled at her "you should just die!" And it devastated Ryōbi when Ryōki's corpse was brought back. The reasoning behind Ryōbi's outburst was because she had a inferiority complex (the game said sister complex. That's not what a sister complex is...). The three sisters had lost their parents at a young age and thus Ryōki took over as guardian for her two younger sisters. In Ryōbi's eyes, Ryōki was perfect. She was beautiful, kind, independent, strong, and intelligent. "How could I compete with that?" At a certain point, Ryōbi had become rebellious and aggressive. Ryōbi eventually reminded her older sister what she had said the last time they saw her before she died. Ryōki claims she doesn't remember the incident and that she isn't angry at her for saying that. Ryōbi ran off even more angry than before knowing that'd be the response she gave. She was such a good person that she'd forgive her for saying such a heinous statement to her beloved elder sister. When the Gessen girls and Miyabi had made peace with the ones they lost, Ryōna urged Ryōbi to tell Ryōki whatever she needed to as it might be their one and only chance. Ryōbi wasn't sure she could tell Ryōki how she really felt after what she said. Ryōna had thought she meant apologizing to her. Ryōbi said "no, I want to thank her. Thank her for taking care of us, for making us strong, and for being there went our parents couldn't." After Ryōna helped Ryōbi find the courage to confront her sister, the two fought Ryōki. Ryōki reveals that she did remember what Ryōbi had said and that it did affect her. She said that she was happy Ryōbi said what she said. Her rebellious remark eased Ryōki's heart as she saw that Ryōbi was finally standing up for herself and becoming an independent woman. She had been worried at that time as Ryōbi clinged onto her for so long that she wasn't sure she was doing the right thing for her. Ryōbi wanted to prove that she is indeed stronger and can take care of herself. The final battle is against Ryōki in her ultimate hidden ninpo state indefinitely. This was the closest boss battle I could think of in the game. And then it got to the ending sequence where they finally said goodbye. Ryōna, who had kept a tight lip and a strong face the entire game finally broke down spilling everything that was in her heart. "Thank you, Ryōki. Thank you for everything. Thank you." I broke down again as it hit a bit close to my own personal life.
I never really got to say goodbye to a lot of the ones I lost. My grandma just disappeared one day and I was told she was at the hospital. I waited patiently everyday for 3 or however many months expecting her to come home. I still remember that day very clearly when I went into the living room and my grandpa was crying. I never seen my grandpa cry before. I ran into my room where my dad was asked what was going on and he said that "we had to let her go." My life had never been the same ever since as it affect my way of thinking, my extended family, and my own family. My grandfather was the only one I really got to say goodbye to. I had visited him at the hospital and told him I'll come see him again soon. He smiled and waved at me and passed away that night. My grandpa passed away a year after my grandfather, and I didn't see him for months and didn't talk to him even longer before he passed. I've only met my great-grandfather three times in my life: once when he visited us in America, and twice when I went to China two times. The very last time I saw him, he shared his wish of wanting for me to get married and show him his great-great-grandchildren. I knew for a fact that it wouldn't happen as I didn't even have a girl friend at that time (and still don't). I also knew that it might have been the last time I'd ever get to see him as we didn't have any plans of visiting China again in the near future (it's been 10 years now). I remember waving bye to him inside the taxi as he left and I already wanted to cry then because I wanted to get to know him better but knew I might not get that chance. He passed away a couple of years ago. And finally, there's my friend Jessica. I have mentioned this in the past, but I wasn't particularly close to Jessica. Yet, she was still my friend and I was deeply saddened when I heard she had cancer and didn't have much longer to live. I wanted to see her, but felt unworthy to since I never hung out with her ever before. When she said she was at a critical state, I couldn't help it anymore and had my parents ask her mom if I could see her. Her mom said it wasn't a really good idea (I imagine she probably looked thin and sickly). I had typed messages to her before not expecting a reply because I wasn't exactly sure what to talk about. I hadn't seen her in person in years before she passed, and I'm not sure if my messages really count as a goodbye. I realized I cared about her, but I didn't now if it was something that mattered to her and I really didn't want to intrude on her when she was already going through so much. I didn't cry when she finally had passed as I cried enough before hand. I didn't go to her memorial service as I didn't think I could handle it. The game had brought all this back for me as I recently revisited these memories with my parents. 2 posts ago, I mentioned having some stressful family issues, and what was going on was that my dad's favorite chicken, Honey, was severely sick and was dying. For three weeks, we saw her go from blind, to a little better and eating, to unmoving and in pain. It deeply affected my dad because we had lost Hattie last year, and his former favorite chicken, Waffle two years ago. It was also because sitting by Honey and watching her life whittle away brought back bad memories of sitting at the hospital room with his mother (my grandma) for those 3 months (or however long it was, I don't remember anymore) and helplessly watch her life whittle away. I knew that it would bring back memories of that time because that's how I felt too: I saw how upset and in emotional pain my dad was and I didn't have anything I could say or do to make him feel better. Back when I was 10 yo and my grandma was in the hospital, I kept telling my dad that she'd be okay; however, I didn't know the circumstances and I still don't. Having grown to be such a pessimist I am today, I'm not keen on giving false hope or words of encouragement to others anymore unless I have reason to believe otherwise. I was sad when Waffle and Hattie passed away, but I did my best not to cry in front of my dad because he was blaming himself for their deaths and I didn't want him to see me sad about their passing. I wasn't as deeply affected by their passing as it did for my dad though. So it was the same with Honey. I was sad, but I didn't want to show him. More than anything, I'm afraid of losing my dad as each passing hen affects him more than the last.
So playing this game and being reminded of all these memories have been...sobering, I suppose. With my 9 week illness in the winter and my now 3 week string of ailments, I fear for my own mortality and well-being. Death is a constant reminder ever since my grandma passed away (thus changing my "way of thinking") and I've always strived forward to do great things with big ambitions. I keep trying to remind myself that it is nowhere near my time yet and that there are still much I need to take care of before the time comes. For the girls of Senran Kagura, death is a constant threat as it is the life a Shinobi must take. But I believe it to be applicable to our own lives as life is unexpected and fickle. We need to make the most of what we have.
[Ryōna]
I didn't mean to carry on for so long. So Ryōna is sort of like a main character in the story, but I guess she's more accurately a supporting role for Ryōbi. Did you know that Ryōna is the older of the two? I didn't. Ryōbi breaks down at one point and thanks Ryōna for being so loyal and so supportive of her. She expresses how grateful she is to have an older sister like Ryōna. Ryōna may be a freak in the game (super masochistic), but she often becomes the voice of reason and kindness for Ryōbi when she's lost her way.
Homura Crimson Squad
[Homura]
I was shocked to find that this song was Homura's as the intro totally sounded like a Daidōji theme song. Homura has become quite the meat-head in the story as she's always looking for a fight and thinking of eating meat. It is also implied that she loves Asuka more than a friend but denies it every time.
[Yomi]
Yomi is back! What I mean is she finally has an amazing theme song. Yomi's pre-transformation theme song in Burst was one of the best songs in the entire series. So I was disappointed when I listened to her theme in Shinovi Versus and didn't really like it. Her theme in Deep Crimson was okay, but nothing like in Burst. But when I first heard this song in Estival Versus, it instantly became one of my favorites. It's fun, catchy, and addicting to listen to. It still amazes me that Yomi is such a sweetheart in the series now when she was the psycho in Burst who hated rich people. She finds a lot of edible food sources on the beach for the crew to eat.
[Hikage]
Oh my goodness, Hikage is fun! Her ultimate hidden ninpo grants her this super powered state where it expands her reach of attack by a large amount while doing tons of damage. Fighting a group of enemies quickly refills her scrolls so she can go back into that state again. Her theme song is pretty fun to listen to. Something I really wanted to see in past Senran Kagura games was interactions between the characters that weren't already paired up. There were definitely a few times where that happened in Estival Versus. Despite it all, I really like the exchanges she has with Imu where she's still trying to figure out emotions. It all becomes sort of a comedy routine where Imu gets ticked off by Hikage while Hikage is trying to figure out what's going on in the conversation.
[Mirai]
Her theme song is...okay. I have high expectations out of her theme songs since the ones in Burst and Deep Crimson is so good and among my favorites from the series. Mirai sort of continues to be a joke or silly character in the series which makes me sad sense she was such a strong character that progressive matured in Burst. She continues writing web novels with no readers other than Murasaki, who is an avid fan of her writing. But it was shown in Shinovi Versus that Shiki took interest in her work and in Estival Versus, Ryōbi also took interest when seeing how intently Murasaki was reading. Her combat style almost seems kind of boring after playing her in Deep Crimson. I still really like Mirai, though.
[Haruka]
Much like Yagyū, Haruka has never had a theme song I didn't like. Her theme songs are easily distinguishable and are often unique and easy to listen to. She doesn't seem to be as OP as she was in Deep Crimson which is necessary if they were balancing the game for multiplayer. Haruka holds a special silly content to provoke Sayuri into telling them what the Bon Dance Festival is really for.
Overseers of the Festival
[Sayuri/Jasmine]
Sayuri is an interesting character. While Asuka's grandpa is a pervert who likes to screw around, Asuka's grandma was/is apparently stronger than her Hanzō and is portrayed as a "tough as nails" sort of gal. She's an ex-Kagura and threw away her title when she wasn't able to fulfill her obligations as a Kagura to fight the Yōma effectively. She lost her friends in the fight and had the creature get away, which is why she's training all the girls to prepare for the inevitable fight. The intro to her theme caught me off guard and I thought I was listening to Dynasty Warriors for a second. The intro really does resonate with the sound, personality, and style of Dynasty Warriors, but that quickly changes as it leads into main portion of the song. Jasmine is pretty song.
[Ryōki]
I really like the Celtic influenced song for Ryōki. I don't know why it feel appropriate, but it just seems like the right kind of theme song for her. Ryōki has very good reach and attack power, but it takes some getting used to the long animation frames to finish up.
[Renka]
Listening to the soundtrack, I knew she was going to be one of my favorite characters. Her theme song is so addicting and upbeat. It reminds me of DDR. She's got a sort of "girl next door" personality and is the smart one in the group. Her fighting style is a lot of fun and I really like her specials where she's banging away on a taiko drum.
[Hanabi]
The idiot of the group. When she thinks too hard, her fireworks jutsu goes off and explosions erupt all around her. Her fighting style is too slow and doesn't compensate in damage enough for my liking.
[Kafuru]
Oh my goodness, she's so cute! I was a bit worried when I read that she had a snobbish personality that likes to look down on others. But getting through the game, I thought she was a sensible character. I like her combos and specials.
I'm not gonna write about the other characters since they weren't part of the story and I haven't played them yet.
This ends my very long rant on Senran Kagura Estival Versus. I'm a bit disappointed with some things, but very satisfied with the overall experience.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Let's talk about Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus (SPOILERS!)
Wow, November has been a very short month. I can't say I've been particularly productive this month, but it seems like I'm getting a bit better about exercising again. Now I just need to fix my sleep schedule (again...).
Anyways, I've been playing Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus the past month as I suspected I would. I finished the game in its entirety (with the exception of one last alternate final battle) earlier this week and really thought through on how I felt about the game compared to Burst, of which I had just finished earlier this year. It's only been a little over a year since Senran Kagura Burst first reached North America (launched Nov. 14th) and I already feel like I've been a fan for the longest time. In the span of three years (within Japan), Senran Kagura has already exploded into popularity with 5 games (with one more coming out next year), several manga adaptations, and an animé (albeit, it was dumb). I enjoyed SK Burst immensely; however, I was sorely disappointed with the animé adaptation. So when I got SK Shinovi Versus, I was concerned about the quality of the game and was thinking maybe the first game was a fluke. Thankfully, SKSV is a great continuation of the series despite some weaker points.
Story
I was very worried about the story when I found out that 10 new characters were added with the addition of two new groups being added to the fray. When you put too many characters into a story, it's difficult to give them all a chance to shine and connect with the player. It also makes for some really messy story telling when trying to get all the characters to interact with each other. I had a lot of problems with the stories and character interactions, but it seemed to have panned out pretty well overall when you look at the end result. I also like all the comedic side-stories they had for each character. There will be a lot of complaining from me, but know that I still liked the story overall.
[Hanzō Academy]
The overall campaign for Hanzo Academy was a bit weak this time around and didn't have as big of a impact as Skirting Shadows (Hanzō side of Burst) did. The characters individual stories all expand off of the ones told in Burst and gives the player a better understanding of the characters. Their campaign compliments the stories of the other 3 groups rather than being an important one individually.
[Gessen Girls' Academy]
This campaign was probably my favorite out of the four as it had the best story to tell. All the characters in this group lost their parents against the Evil Shinobi and were all adopted, raised and trained by a renegade Good Shinobi named Kurokage. Kurokage also lost his parents to Evil Shinobi when he was younger and believed that the world wouldn't find peace or happiness as long as "evil" existed. He was good friends with Hanzō (Asuka's Grandfather) during his days as a Good Shinobi, but he had conflicting beliefs on what their job as Good Shinobi should be. Hanzō believed that "evil" is found in all humans and that there must be balance between good and evil for there to be harmony in the world. Kurokage believed that ALL evil must be vanquished, and thus he became a renegade to kill as many Evil Shinobi as possible while being hunted down by Good Shinobi and Evil Shinobi alike. This ideology was passed down to the five Gessen Girls and devoted themselves to that belief that only good should exist and evil should not. Hanzō provokes the Gessen Girls to fight against the girls from Hanzō Academy and later fights Homura and her crew only to find doubt in their beliefs that all evil should be eliminated. It's the same struggle both groups faced in Burst when they were challenged with the question of "what is a good shinobi and what is a evil shinobi?" Kurokage himself is found in such conflict with his own belief and slowly reveals his acceptance in his mistake and hoped that his beloved girls would find their way without facing the same mistake that he did and influenced upon them throughout the campaign. You could say it's a copy concept of the original story, but I really liked the delivery and found it both touching and memorable.
[Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy]
This was a weird campaign. It felt kind of rushed with no real substance, yet it still achieved what it sought out to do in the end. The story starts out at the end of Burst when both Asuka's group and Homura's Group was fighting Orochi. Miyabi, the leader of this group, is in a coma like state after a mission against a Yōma went awry and was forced to use drastic measures to stop it. She awakens from that state when she bear witnesses the destruction of her school and vows to restore it to its former glory. This leads her to finding members to add to the Elite team which ends up being the weirdest group of characters in the game. Besides Miyabi, there is her best friend Imu, who is strict, passionate and loyal; Imu's sister Murasaki, who is often quiet and secluded but becomes loud and crazy when in combat; Ryōbi the foul-mouthed sadist and her twin sister Ryōna the perverted masochist. In order to raise back the reputation of the schools' name once more, the group goes around and dunks on the other three groups. Their interactions with the other characters don't seem nearly as important as the ones they have with each other. The main conflict is between the members within the group and it finally exposes itself at the end before several deadly confrontations brought them together to a mutual understanding of each other. I want to say it was a decent story, but it felt kind of dumb at the same time. The story is mainly the very beginning and very end of the campaign, everything else was kind of a filler. This group has an interesting group of characters, but their potential is unfortunately wasted (which I'll get into detail later under "characters").
[Homura Crimson Squad]
This was the story I was most interested in, which I'm sure most would agree after the ending of SK Burst. Homura fled as a renegade ninja after she killed one of Hebijo's biggest investor, and her four friends followed her. Fleeing as renegades, the group can no longer be shinobi and take on jobs; however, Homura mentions that the lowest of the low can accept assassination missions from shady dealings for money but also points out that it would hurt her pride. They can no longer live peacefully either as renegades are hunted down and eliminated since they've learned the secrets of their school. As they are no longer shinobi, they are always on the run and seem to have lost their purpose in life. "What's the point in living if the day to day life is running and scraping for food?" It's no wonder this story was a locked and hidden campaign until you finished the other three. I really liked it and it reveals a bigger picture on the whole plot for the series. It leads to a new found purpose for the girls and foreshadows an even bigger adventure for all the characters in the future.
[Overall]
I think the overall story in Burst was better than Shinovi Versus, but I still really enjoyed it and am craving more. I can't wait for Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson and Senran Kagura: Estival Versus to release next year.
Gameplay/Combat
I have to admit that Shinovi Versus is much better in terms of gameplay compared to Burst.
Pros:
+ From 2D Side-view to 3D Behind-the-Character, the new orientation gives more room to fight in
+ The three stances: Yin, Yang, and Flash, are all integrated in combat
+ Different techniques for different situations add variety to utilize in combat
+ Smarter AI for boss fights, they're a lot more challenging
+ A Hard difficulty can be chosen after the first playthrough
+ The environment feels more dynamic and diverse
+ Changes in attacks and the addition of elements further distinguishes the characters' playstyle
+ They tried to shorten the story-telling parts without cutting too thin on it
+ Character side-stories is a nice diversion that further develops the relationship between characters
Cons:
- Loading takes so long! Sometimes, they're longer than the actual fight!
- Camera can go haywire and get stuck in a wall or start spinning around
- I don't really like the button mashing sequences
- I'm scared to try PvP, the characters are totally not balanced for it
- Combo chains aren't as long as the ones in Burst, though they feel more well-rounded
So even though the story might not be as good as Burst's, I think the gameplay is a huge improvement. I thought Burst was either way too easy or way too hard. SK Shinovi Versus feels very balanced all the way through as long as you don't do the side-stories first.
Music
The quality of the music is higher than Burst, but I feel like the compositions are weaker. There are a few tracks that really stand out, and I suppose Burst was much the same way. But overall, I think character themes were more distinguished composition-wise in Burst. In terms of the opening theme (video up top), I really like the opening riff and guitar solo. But the rest of the song is only okay compared to the likes of the first two opening themes for Burst (Skirting Shadows and Crimson Shadows), both of which I really liked. The opening to Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is also amazing and I can't wait for it to reach here in North America.
Characters/Character Themes
Hanzō Academy
[Asuka]
Asuka doesn't get much character development this time around as she continues to find her way along the path of the shinobi. She acts as a sort of trigger to help the girls of the other groups find their way in their lives. I'm not really feeling it for her theme song. I don't really like the intro compared the themes she had in Burst, but the main parts are alright.
[Ikaruga]
Ikaruga struggles with preparing for the final exam and then it dawns on me: "are the girls going to be split apart after they graduate?" It'll be interesting to see new characters and see the remaining ones change, but it'd also be a bit sad to see the group split apart. They do mention that they might not get to see each other as much as soon as they graduate and start taking on missions as a full fledged shinobi. It's also not surprising to see that her brother shows up again; however, it was surprising to see him try to change and find it in his heart to accept Ikaruga. I also really liked her interaction with Murakumo from Gessen Academy and their involvement with Yomi. Ikaruga remains my favorite character as her fast dashes, long reach, and crowd control fit my playstyle. She really respectful, fair and just, and always speaks formally. Her theme in the past was kind of weird the first time I heard it, but I really grew to like it. So I wasn't sure if I was going to like the new one. I do like it. It still has that flavor and a melody that you can follow. I just really like her character.
[Katsuragi]
I've come to really like Katsuragi more and more as a character. In terms of combat, I thought she was kind of hard to use in Burst and she's even harder to use in Shinovi Versus. She's slower with short range, but is strong. I thought they presented her even better in Shinovi Versus as they show many different sides of her. She's usually loud, confident, perverted, and seems to fool around a lot. In Burst, she reveals the truth about her past in how her parents disappeared and how she finds them. The player is then shown a much more serious and determined side of her. Her parents are renegades on the run. And in SK Shinovi Versus, it explains why. Her parents were assigned to assassinate Kurokage. But after seeing how he was just a frail old man taking care of 5 orphans, they decided to live as renegades seeing as they can't bring themselves to kill him and failure meant death. The game also shows a hypocritical and sensitive side of Katsuragi as she reveals that she doesn't like to be sexually harassed despite doing it ALL THE TIME! Despite all the love of fighting she has, she is also shown to have a strong will when she refuses to kill Yozakura. She was a great character in Shinovi Versus. Her theme song is alright. I never really noticed it before, but her theme songs all sound kind of like they're from a Chinese Kung-Fu film. But I think that's what they were going for.
[Yagyū]
I listen through all of her themes from Burst, to Shinovi Versus, to Deep Crimson and I realize they're all really good! Each and every one of them has this beginning riff that makes it sound really cool. It evokes the feeling of "it's time to kick butt!" I don't really quite remember the melody like I do in Burst, but it's something I'd be willing to listen to. It's hard to say how I feel about Yagyū's character. Her back story is sad, but it's not very strong. She loses her younger sister in a car accident and it forever changed her. In Shinovi Versus, it finally explains why she wears an eye patch. She is told that time can heal the pain as memories fade. She starts to forget some things about her sister and that frightened her. So she wears a coin and ribbon over her eye so that she always has one eye on the memories of her sister because she never wants to forget her. So when she first meets Hibari, she is reminded of her younger sister. This is Yagyū's character: the big and overprotective sister. Her character revolves entirely around Hibari to the point where she's even mean to her own friends in the group. She's a pretty cool character, but there just isn't much to her other than she wants to protect the one she loves most who happens to be Hibari. And maybe she wants to protect her friends too, but she has threatened to behead Katsuragi if she feeds Hibari's mind with indecent thoughts.
[Hibari]
Hibari is a dumb character. Why am I talking about her anyways? Okay, I'll admit that I like her a bit more after she reveals that she has a special power that lets her control people. It's the reason why her eyes are different with little flowers in it. She explains why she doesn't like her powers since she feels all the help and friends she has is due to her eye and that she's been living a lie. Haruka is the one who points out to her that people want to help her and she has friends because of her "charm" and personality and not because of her powers because that power only lasts temporarily. But now it explains why she always seem so down when not being able to pull her own weight and help the others. She supposed to be such a cute character with a cheerful personality, but a lot of the times she's depressing, air-headed, and dumb. One of her moves causes her to face plant the floor! Her normal air attack is awesome, though. She a bunny bouncing up and down into the ground killing everything around! Her song is as dumb and silly as her other themes. Yes, I like her a little more, but she's still a dumb character.
Gessen Girls' Academy
[Yumi]
She's quite the lady. Her ninja outfit is a kimono, she's prim, proper, and full of grace. She was also haughty and rather conceited for most of the game. Brought up with the belief that all evil should be vanquished, she finds it deplorable that Asuka and her friends had any involvement with Evil Shinobi. Her ice element is pretty strong as it encases opponents and allows her to continue wailing on them. Yumi is supposed to be an Ice-princess of sort: cold, resolute, with deadly conviction. This is to counter Asuka's personality who is energetic, passionate, with a hot determination. Yumi's theme is an arrangement of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor/Dies Irae and Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 (Sonata Pathétique). I don't know if I like her or not. I guess I feel rather neutral about her character. I really liked her character progression throughout the Gessen campaign, though.
[Murakumo]
She is absolutely adorable! She's a very interesting character in terms of personality. When she has her mask on, she's strong and rather scary as she comes on very strong and aggressive. But the second she loses her mask, she's this incredibly timid and cute girl who just breaks down and can't even talk correctly. The voice actor did an incredible job capture the essence of who this character is supposed to be. For wielding a large cleaver and spear, she's incredibly fast. Her story is that she was an orphan living in the slums where she meets Yomi. She was adopted by Kurokage to be raised and trained alongside the other 4 Gessen girls. She was then adopted to rival Ikaruga's adoptive father's company. She resents Ikaruga's existence as this caused her to be pulled away from Kurokage. Unfortunately, she has the least appealing character theme song. It's supposedly based off of Sergei Prokofiev's Scythian Suite Op. 20, and it's a rather creative arrangement. But it only seems to really emphasize the scary part of her. Still, I think she might be my favorite among the Gessen Girls.
[Yozakura]
There's a lot of mention of being a "big-sister" in the series, but she's the real big sister with 12 younger siblings. She was pretty much the mother figure in the house who cooked and cleaned as their parents were both Good Shinobi and always out in the field for a mission. After losing both parents due to Shinobi battles out in the field, relatives and distant relatives split all the children apart to raise them. Yozakura wanted to take care of all them on her own, but she was only 9 at the time. After being adopted by Kurokage, she sought forth to improve herself until she was strong and responsible enough to bring all her siblings back together again. Not a very realistic dream as all the kids will have grown up and be living their own lives, but a dream nonetheless. She fights with large gauntlets of which I knew immediately she was going to fight Katsuragi (Fists vs. Feet). I like her theme the most out of the Gessen girls and I think it's one of the ones that stand out most in the game. It's an arrangement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata). Yozakura is a very serious character. I feel kind of neutral about this character as well.
[Shiki]
Shiki is a rich and modern girl who's always talking on the phone, using modern slang, and talking about fashion. She knows she grew up rich and spoiled, but she kind of changed after losing both her parents. Kurokage teaches her the sutras of Buddhism to calm her mind when she's not feeling right. So she's often very outgoing with a happy-go-lucky personality, but she also has a calm and zen side of her when she's more serious. In combat, she uses a Scythe with stupid range which is why I don't play PvP because I'd have to struggle through fights with her among others. Her theme is an arrangement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, particularly Winter. She's a fun character with a bubbly personality.
[Minori]
HER! This right here, this is the character Hibari should have been! When I first started up the game and saw Minori as she opened up her mouth to talk, I groaned and complained "not another Hibari..." But holy smacks, I fell in love with this character so quickly. She's not the air-head that Hibari is. Rather, Minori is the epitome of a child-like personality who acts and thinks like a child. She doesn't have much of a back story other than losing her parents due to Shinobi related business like the other Gessen Girls. What made me really like her was who she was. She's as innocent as a child could be in her response of why she wants to play. When she lost her parents, she says there was no one to play with until Kurokage adopted her. Then Kurokage was bedridden with illness. And then she said that one line along the lines of "If everyone just played, we wouldn't have to fight and then my parents wouldn't have to die". That just tore me up. I loved that response. Whenever she had to fight someone, it was never "fighting." She just wants to find friends to play with and she'll say it's "playing shinobi" if it's a fight people are looking for. She's such an adorable character. Her character is a bit difficult to play, though. With short-to-medium range attacks with medium speed, she doesn't have much coverage. Her specials also come out a bit slow and don't have as much coverage as other characters. She fights with a frying pan and bucket full of candy. Her theme is an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, of which I've gotten really sick of hearing since it's a theme often heard during Christmas every year in a lot of cartoons. It kind of bugs me that she has such a large chest for being so child-like. I'm sure it pains Mirai most of all.
Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy
[Miyabi]
I feel like the majority of this group's characters have great potential for character and story development, but they all fell short of greatness. Miyabi is an extremely intimidating character with a dominating attitude. She had the most graphic back story in the game. Often left alone at home with her parents out on a mission, Miyabi and her best friend Imu would play while they wait for their parents to come home. One day, she and Imu decide to go to the place their parents forbade them to go to because it sounded dangerous and they wanted to see what it felt like to be real shinobi instead of pretend play. While they ended up playing there, a black, ravenous monster came out and lunged towards Miyabi. Miyabi's mother, who was looking for her and Imu, saw the monster and ran forward to protect Miyabi. The monster devours Miyabi's mother's head in one bite as her lifeless body falls just near Miyabi as it splatters in blood. Miyabi's father kills the monster and explains to Miyabi what the Yōma are and their role as Evil Ninja is to eradicate the monsters. So Miyabi's drive in life is to become strong enough to fight the Yōma. She doesn't have any strong relationship to ANY of the characters other than Imu, and I think that's wasted potential. I don't really remember much about her play style other than that half wing she uses was really strong. The intro to her theme doesn't really match her character. I was thinking it'd be more darker and heavier. The middle portion of the song is alright. I think Miyabi was wasted potential as a character, but I can hope that she gets more character development in future installments.
[Murasaki]
I want to love this character SO MUCH, but she is also wasted potential. Murasaki is the younger sister of Imu and possess a strange ability that causes her to be inhumanly strong. Often times, she's extremely reclusive and wants to be in her own dark room. She's a "hikikomori" or a "shut-in" and doesn't like coming out. During practice battle when they were younger, Murasaki unleashed her special powers but blacks out when she does so she doesn't know what happens. She was upset that she hurt her sister and didn't want to fight again. She talks very softly and slowly, which often annoys me when she talks in the game, but then explodes and screeches and yells when fighting. I wish they had rode off of this little gimmick of her personality and went with it. Make her one crazy !@# $#!@% when she's fighting or transformed. It would match her theme a LOT better. By the way, her theme song is THE BEST song in the game. I really wish it was Imu's theme because it matches the speed that Imu has and her passionate loyalty to Miyabi. I really want to see this character snap and just go insane with this theme going. I love this song so much. She fights with large shurikens and yells as her special while unleashing her secret ability.
[Imu]
She shares her backstory with Miyabi and Murasaki. Imu feels guilty about the death of Miyabi's mother as it was her idea to go to the forbidden area. Imu is jealous of Murasaki for having the special ability when she did not (but then she finds out she does at the end of the campaign). There isn't much to her character. She's very angry looking, stern, but very girly and vulnerable around Miyabi who she clearly is deeply in love with. I like her interactions with Miyabi and Murasaki, but there isn't enough of it in this game. She's an extremely fast fighter who uses a staff with an electricity element. If I ever PvP, I'd use her because her regular combos would stun enemies pretty easily. Her theme is so normal. It doesn't feel or sound very special.
[Ryōbi]
The Sadist of the twins. She starts off being foul mouthed, but she kind of trails off and doesn't have that personality as much near the end. She doesn't have as much long-ranged attack as I thought she would considering she uses a rifle. Ryōbi and Ryōna lost their older sister and believes Miyabi to be her killer. They plan to ruse as a member until they find the right time to take their revenge. They later find out that a yōma had killed their sister and not Miyabi. Her theme is pretty heavy and grungy. I kinda like it. There isn't much to this character. She didn't play her Sadist part enough.
[Ryōna]
The Masochist of the twins. She does show a much softer and understanding personality when she's not annoyingly masochistic compared to her twin who is often aggressive and demanding. She uses dual pistols with the handles connected which totals to four pistols. She moves like an ice skater and a lot of gun-slinging moves as her fighting style. She such a weird character. I've seen the "masochist" type characters in animé and games before, but she goes far and beyond that. Her walking animation is this weird skipping, her voice is whiny, and she just wants to be beaten. I found her very annoying at first, but she ended up being the one with the most personality of the group. Her theme sounds a bit similar to her sister up until when the melody starts. I like her theme more. I like her character more, too.
Homura Crimson Squad
[Homura]
I liked the story of this group back in Burst, so I was looking forward to this one too. And it was pretty good. Homura has crazy range and coverage with a move that gives her invincibility. I love her theme song this time around as I felt the previous two themes she had started with a good intro but it never built up to anything. Her theme song in this one had a great intro like she's getting pumped up, and then the melody starts and goes somewhere with it. Homura is pretty solid this time around.
[Yomi]
Yomi took a 180 degree turn in personality in this one, it's strange yet wonderful at the same time. She's super warm and friendly in Shinovi Versus. She moves and attacks slower in this one, but she has super armor and a stronger attack this time around. Her theme is very her; you know it's her theme, but it's just not as catchy as her other two themes. She cooks for her friends everyday and still talks a lot about beansprouts.
[Hikage]
Hikage also changed a bit. She was confused and didn't think too much about herself or others because she didn't understand emotions. In Shinovi Versus, she's actively learning more about herself and others while grasping the idea of different emotions. She's super fast and also has a special that makes her temporarily invincible. She also can apply poison damage. Her theme is alright. I liked her older themes more. But the intro is really good.
[Mirai]
Mirai's character is expanded even more as she has found confidence as a shinobi but not quite as a person yet. She shows interest in writing novels and Otaku culture with a series called "Super Sengoku Wars". Her interactions with the other characters are really good. They changed her combat system drastically. She is almost entirely ranged with a lot of different bullet moves. She's also the only character to back dash as her normal dash to put space between her and her opponent. Her theme is very forgettable compared to her other two themes in Burst, which were my favorites.
[Haruka]
Haruka's theme has always been one of the most distinguishable ones. Her theme is pretty good in this one too. I never really liked playing her, and she's even harder in this one with short dashes, short reach, and slow attacks. She has a lot of good interactions with other characters, especially with Ryōna.
[Suzune/Rin]
I wanted to point out that she finally goes back to Hanzō. I really liked that scene.
Okay, I think I've written enough. I really liked Shinovi Versus. I really like Senran Kagura even more now. I'm probably going to even get that music rhythm game. I can't wait for Senran Kagura 2 and Estival Versus.
Anyways, I've been playing Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus the past month as I suspected I would. I finished the game in its entirety (with the exception of one last alternate final battle) earlier this week and really thought through on how I felt about the game compared to Burst, of which I had just finished earlier this year. It's only been a little over a year since Senran Kagura Burst first reached North America (launched Nov. 14th) and I already feel like I've been a fan for the longest time. In the span of three years (within Japan), Senran Kagura has already exploded into popularity with 5 games (with one more coming out next year), several manga adaptations, and an animé (albeit, it was dumb). I enjoyed SK Burst immensely; however, I was sorely disappointed with the animé adaptation. So when I got SK Shinovi Versus, I was concerned about the quality of the game and was thinking maybe the first game was a fluke. Thankfully, SKSV is a great continuation of the series despite some weaker points.
Story
I was very worried about the story when I found out that 10 new characters were added with the addition of two new groups being added to the fray. When you put too many characters into a story, it's difficult to give them all a chance to shine and connect with the player. It also makes for some really messy story telling when trying to get all the characters to interact with each other. I had a lot of problems with the stories and character interactions, but it seemed to have panned out pretty well overall when you look at the end result. I also like all the comedic side-stories they had for each character. There will be a lot of complaining from me, but know that I still liked the story overall.
[Hanzō Academy]
The overall campaign for Hanzo Academy was a bit weak this time around and didn't have as big of a impact as Skirting Shadows (Hanzō side of Burst) did. The characters individual stories all expand off of the ones told in Burst and gives the player a better understanding of the characters. Their campaign compliments the stories of the other 3 groups rather than being an important one individually.
[Gessen Girls' Academy]
This campaign was probably my favorite out of the four as it had the best story to tell. All the characters in this group lost their parents against the Evil Shinobi and were all adopted, raised and trained by a renegade Good Shinobi named Kurokage. Kurokage also lost his parents to Evil Shinobi when he was younger and believed that the world wouldn't find peace or happiness as long as "evil" existed. He was good friends with Hanzō (Asuka's Grandfather) during his days as a Good Shinobi, but he had conflicting beliefs on what their job as Good Shinobi should be. Hanzō believed that "evil" is found in all humans and that there must be balance between good and evil for there to be harmony in the world. Kurokage believed that ALL evil must be vanquished, and thus he became a renegade to kill as many Evil Shinobi as possible while being hunted down by Good Shinobi and Evil Shinobi alike. This ideology was passed down to the five Gessen Girls and devoted themselves to that belief that only good should exist and evil should not. Hanzō provokes the Gessen Girls to fight against the girls from Hanzō Academy and later fights Homura and her crew only to find doubt in their beliefs that all evil should be eliminated. It's the same struggle both groups faced in Burst when they were challenged with the question of "what is a good shinobi and what is a evil shinobi?" Kurokage himself is found in such conflict with his own belief and slowly reveals his acceptance in his mistake and hoped that his beloved girls would find their way without facing the same mistake that he did and influenced upon them throughout the campaign. You could say it's a copy concept of the original story, but I really liked the delivery and found it both touching and memorable.
[Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy]
This was a weird campaign. It felt kind of rushed with no real substance, yet it still achieved what it sought out to do in the end. The story starts out at the end of Burst when both Asuka's group and Homura's Group was fighting Orochi. Miyabi, the leader of this group, is in a coma like state after a mission against a Yōma went awry and was forced to use drastic measures to stop it. She awakens from that state when she bear witnesses the destruction of her school and vows to restore it to its former glory. This leads her to finding members to add to the Elite team which ends up being the weirdest group of characters in the game. Besides Miyabi, there is her best friend Imu, who is strict, passionate and loyal; Imu's sister Murasaki, who is often quiet and secluded but becomes loud and crazy when in combat; Ryōbi the foul-mouthed sadist and her twin sister Ryōna the perverted masochist. In order to raise back the reputation of the schools' name once more, the group goes around and dunks on the other three groups. Their interactions with the other characters don't seem nearly as important as the ones they have with each other. The main conflict is between the members within the group and it finally exposes itself at the end before several deadly confrontations brought them together to a mutual understanding of each other. I want to say it was a decent story, but it felt kind of dumb at the same time. The story is mainly the very beginning and very end of the campaign, everything else was kind of a filler. This group has an interesting group of characters, but their potential is unfortunately wasted (which I'll get into detail later under "characters").
[Homura Crimson Squad]
This was the story I was most interested in, which I'm sure most would agree after the ending of SK Burst. Homura fled as a renegade ninja after she killed one of Hebijo's biggest investor, and her four friends followed her. Fleeing as renegades, the group can no longer be shinobi and take on jobs; however, Homura mentions that the lowest of the low can accept assassination missions from shady dealings for money but also points out that it would hurt her pride. They can no longer live peacefully either as renegades are hunted down and eliminated since they've learned the secrets of their school. As they are no longer shinobi, they are always on the run and seem to have lost their purpose in life. "What's the point in living if the day to day life is running and scraping for food?" It's no wonder this story was a locked and hidden campaign until you finished the other three. I really liked it and it reveals a bigger picture on the whole plot for the series. It leads to a new found purpose for the girls and foreshadows an even bigger adventure for all the characters in the future.
[Overall]
I think the overall story in Burst was better than Shinovi Versus, but I still really enjoyed it and am craving more. I can't wait for Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson and Senran Kagura: Estival Versus to release next year.
Gameplay/Combat
I have to admit that Shinovi Versus is much better in terms of gameplay compared to Burst.
Pros:
+ From 2D Side-view to 3D Behind-the-Character, the new orientation gives more room to fight in
+ The three stances: Yin, Yang, and Flash, are all integrated in combat
+ Different techniques for different situations add variety to utilize in combat
+ Smarter AI for boss fights, they're a lot more challenging
+ A Hard difficulty can be chosen after the first playthrough
+ The environment feels more dynamic and diverse
+ Changes in attacks and the addition of elements further distinguishes the characters' playstyle
+ They tried to shorten the story-telling parts without cutting too thin on it
+ Character side-stories is a nice diversion that further develops the relationship between characters
Cons:
- Loading takes so long! Sometimes, they're longer than the actual fight!
- Camera can go haywire and get stuck in a wall or start spinning around
- I don't really like the button mashing sequences
- I'm scared to try PvP, the characters are totally not balanced for it
- Combo chains aren't as long as the ones in Burst, though they feel more well-rounded
So even though the story might not be as good as Burst's, I think the gameplay is a huge improvement. I thought Burst was either way too easy or way too hard. SK Shinovi Versus feels very balanced all the way through as long as you don't do the side-stories first.
Music
The quality of the music is higher than Burst, but I feel like the compositions are weaker. There are a few tracks that really stand out, and I suppose Burst was much the same way. But overall, I think character themes were more distinguished composition-wise in Burst. In terms of the opening theme (video up top), I really like the opening riff and guitar solo. But the rest of the song is only okay compared to the likes of the first two opening themes for Burst (Skirting Shadows and Crimson Shadows), both of which I really liked. The opening to Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is also amazing and I can't wait for it to reach here in North America.
Characters/Character Themes
Hanzō Academy
[Asuka]
Asuka doesn't get much character development this time around as she continues to find her way along the path of the shinobi. She acts as a sort of trigger to help the girls of the other groups find their way in their lives. I'm not really feeling it for her theme song. I don't really like the intro compared the themes she had in Burst, but the main parts are alright.
[Ikaruga]
Ikaruga struggles with preparing for the final exam and then it dawns on me: "are the girls going to be split apart after they graduate?" It'll be interesting to see new characters and see the remaining ones change, but it'd also be a bit sad to see the group split apart. They do mention that they might not get to see each other as much as soon as they graduate and start taking on missions as a full fledged shinobi. It's also not surprising to see that her brother shows up again; however, it was surprising to see him try to change and find it in his heart to accept Ikaruga. I also really liked her interaction with Murakumo from Gessen Academy and their involvement with Yomi. Ikaruga remains my favorite character as her fast dashes, long reach, and crowd control fit my playstyle. She really respectful, fair and just, and always speaks formally. Her theme in the past was kind of weird the first time I heard it, but I really grew to like it. So I wasn't sure if I was going to like the new one. I do like it. It still has that flavor and a melody that you can follow. I just really like her character.
[Katsuragi]
I've come to really like Katsuragi more and more as a character. In terms of combat, I thought she was kind of hard to use in Burst and she's even harder to use in Shinovi Versus. She's slower with short range, but is strong. I thought they presented her even better in Shinovi Versus as they show many different sides of her. She's usually loud, confident, perverted, and seems to fool around a lot. In Burst, she reveals the truth about her past in how her parents disappeared and how she finds them. The player is then shown a much more serious and determined side of her. Her parents are renegades on the run. And in SK Shinovi Versus, it explains why. Her parents were assigned to assassinate Kurokage. But after seeing how he was just a frail old man taking care of 5 orphans, they decided to live as renegades seeing as they can't bring themselves to kill him and failure meant death. The game also shows a hypocritical and sensitive side of Katsuragi as she reveals that she doesn't like to be sexually harassed despite doing it ALL THE TIME! Despite all the love of fighting she has, she is also shown to have a strong will when she refuses to kill Yozakura. She was a great character in Shinovi Versus. Her theme song is alright. I never really noticed it before, but her theme songs all sound kind of like they're from a Chinese Kung-Fu film. But I think that's what they were going for.
[Yagyū]
I listen through all of her themes from Burst, to Shinovi Versus, to Deep Crimson and I realize they're all really good! Each and every one of them has this beginning riff that makes it sound really cool. It evokes the feeling of "it's time to kick butt!" I don't really quite remember the melody like I do in Burst, but it's something I'd be willing to listen to. It's hard to say how I feel about Yagyū's character. Her back story is sad, but it's not very strong. She loses her younger sister in a car accident and it forever changed her. In Shinovi Versus, it finally explains why she wears an eye patch. She is told that time can heal the pain as memories fade. She starts to forget some things about her sister and that frightened her. So she wears a coin and ribbon over her eye so that she always has one eye on the memories of her sister because she never wants to forget her. So when she first meets Hibari, she is reminded of her younger sister. This is Yagyū's character: the big and overprotective sister. Her character revolves entirely around Hibari to the point where she's even mean to her own friends in the group. She's a pretty cool character, but there just isn't much to her other than she wants to protect the one she loves most who happens to be Hibari. And maybe she wants to protect her friends too, but she has threatened to behead Katsuragi if she feeds Hibari's mind with indecent thoughts.
[Hibari]
Hibari is a dumb character. Why am I talking about her anyways? Okay, I'll admit that I like her a bit more after she reveals that she has a special power that lets her control people. It's the reason why her eyes are different with little flowers in it. She explains why she doesn't like her powers since she feels all the help and friends she has is due to her eye and that she's been living a lie. Haruka is the one who points out to her that people want to help her and she has friends because of her "charm" and personality and not because of her powers because that power only lasts temporarily. But now it explains why she always seem so down when not being able to pull her own weight and help the others. She supposed to be such a cute character with a cheerful personality, but a lot of the times she's depressing, air-headed, and dumb. One of her moves causes her to face plant the floor! Her normal air attack is awesome, though. She a bunny bouncing up and down into the ground killing everything around! Her song is as dumb and silly as her other themes. Yes, I like her a little more, but she's still a dumb character.
Gessen Girls' Academy
[Yumi]
She's quite the lady. Her ninja outfit is a kimono, she's prim, proper, and full of grace. She was also haughty and rather conceited for most of the game. Brought up with the belief that all evil should be vanquished, she finds it deplorable that Asuka and her friends had any involvement with Evil Shinobi. Her ice element is pretty strong as it encases opponents and allows her to continue wailing on them. Yumi is supposed to be an Ice-princess of sort: cold, resolute, with deadly conviction. This is to counter Asuka's personality who is energetic, passionate, with a hot determination. Yumi's theme is an arrangement of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor/Dies Irae and Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 (Sonata Pathétique). I don't know if I like her or not. I guess I feel rather neutral about her character. I really liked her character progression throughout the Gessen campaign, though.
[Murakumo]
She is absolutely adorable! She's a very interesting character in terms of personality. When she has her mask on, she's strong and rather scary as she comes on very strong and aggressive. But the second she loses her mask, she's this incredibly timid and cute girl who just breaks down and can't even talk correctly. The voice actor did an incredible job capture the essence of who this character is supposed to be. For wielding a large cleaver and spear, she's incredibly fast. Her story is that she was an orphan living in the slums where she meets Yomi. She was adopted by Kurokage to be raised and trained alongside the other 4 Gessen girls. She was then adopted to rival Ikaruga's adoptive father's company. She resents Ikaruga's existence as this caused her to be pulled away from Kurokage. Unfortunately, she has the least appealing character theme song. It's supposedly based off of Sergei Prokofiev's Scythian Suite Op. 20, and it's a rather creative arrangement. But it only seems to really emphasize the scary part of her. Still, I think she might be my favorite among the Gessen Girls.
[Yozakura]
There's a lot of mention of being a "big-sister" in the series, but she's the real big sister with 12 younger siblings. She was pretty much the mother figure in the house who cooked and cleaned as their parents were both Good Shinobi and always out in the field for a mission. After losing both parents due to Shinobi battles out in the field, relatives and distant relatives split all the children apart to raise them. Yozakura wanted to take care of all them on her own, but she was only 9 at the time. After being adopted by Kurokage, she sought forth to improve herself until she was strong and responsible enough to bring all her siblings back together again. Not a very realistic dream as all the kids will have grown up and be living their own lives, but a dream nonetheless. She fights with large gauntlets of which I knew immediately she was going to fight Katsuragi (Fists vs. Feet). I like her theme the most out of the Gessen girls and I think it's one of the ones that stand out most in the game. It's an arrangement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata). Yozakura is a very serious character. I feel kind of neutral about this character as well.
[Shiki]
Shiki is a rich and modern girl who's always talking on the phone, using modern slang, and talking about fashion. She knows she grew up rich and spoiled, but she kind of changed after losing both her parents. Kurokage teaches her the sutras of Buddhism to calm her mind when she's not feeling right. So she's often very outgoing with a happy-go-lucky personality, but she also has a calm and zen side of her when she's more serious. In combat, she uses a Scythe with stupid range which is why I don't play PvP because I'd have to struggle through fights with her among others. Her theme is an arrangement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, particularly Winter. She's a fun character with a bubbly personality.
[Minori]
HER! This right here, this is the character Hibari should have been! When I first started up the game and saw Minori as she opened up her mouth to talk, I groaned and complained "not another Hibari..." But holy smacks, I fell in love with this character so quickly. She's not the air-head that Hibari is. Rather, Minori is the epitome of a child-like personality who acts and thinks like a child. She doesn't have much of a back story other than losing her parents due to Shinobi related business like the other Gessen Girls. What made me really like her was who she was. She's as innocent as a child could be in her response of why she wants to play. When she lost her parents, she says there was no one to play with until Kurokage adopted her. Then Kurokage was bedridden with illness. And then she said that one line along the lines of "If everyone just played, we wouldn't have to fight and then my parents wouldn't have to die". That just tore me up. I loved that response. Whenever she had to fight someone, it was never "fighting." She just wants to find friends to play with and she'll say it's "playing shinobi" if it's a fight people are looking for. She's such an adorable character. Her character is a bit difficult to play, though. With short-to-medium range attacks with medium speed, she doesn't have much coverage. Her specials also come out a bit slow and don't have as much coverage as other characters. She fights with a frying pan and bucket full of candy. Her theme is an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, of which I've gotten really sick of hearing since it's a theme often heard during Christmas every year in a lot of cartoons. It kind of bugs me that she has such a large chest for being so child-like. I'm sure it pains Mirai most of all.
Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy
[Miyabi]
I feel like the majority of this group's characters have great potential for character and story development, but they all fell short of greatness. Miyabi is an extremely intimidating character with a dominating attitude. She had the most graphic back story in the game. Often left alone at home with her parents out on a mission, Miyabi and her best friend Imu would play while they wait for their parents to come home. One day, she and Imu decide to go to the place their parents forbade them to go to because it sounded dangerous and they wanted to see what it felt like to be real shinobi instead of pretend play. While they ended up playing there, a black, ravenous monster came out and lunged towards Miyabi. Miyabi's mother, who was looking for her and Imu, saw the monster and ran forward to protect Miyabi. The monster devours Miyabi's mother's head in one bite as her lifeless body falls just near Miyabi as it splatters in blood. Miyabi's father kills the monster and explains to Miyabi what the Yōma are and their role as Evil Ninja is to eradicate the monsters. So Miyabi's drive in life is to become strong enough to fight the Yōma. She doesn't have any strong relationship to ANY of the characters other than Imu, and I think that's wasted potential. I don't really remember much about her play style other than that half wing she uses was really strong. The intro to her theme doesn't really match her character. I was thinking it'd be more darker and heavier. The middle portion of the song is alright. I think Miyabi was wasted potential as a character, but I can hope that she gets more character development in future installments.
[Murasaki]
I want to love this character SO MUCH, but she is also wasted potential. Murasaki is the younger sister of Imu and possess a strange ability that causes her to be inhumanly strong. Often times, she's extremely reclusive and wants to be in her own dark room. She's a "hikikomori" or a "shut-in" and doesn't like coming out. During practice battle when they were younger, Murasaki unleashed her special powers but blacks out when she does so she doesn't know what happens. She was upset that she hurt her sister and didn't want to fight again. She talks very softly and slowly, which often annoys me when she talks in the game, but then explodes and screeches and yells when fighting. I wish they had rode off of this little gimmick of her personality and went with it. Make her one crazy !@# $#!@% when she's fighting or transformed. It would match her theme a LOT better. By the way, her theme song is THE BEST song in the game. I really wish it was Imu's theme because it matches the speed that Imu has and her passionate loyalty to Miyabi. I really want to see this character snap and just go insane with this theme going. I love this song so much. She fights with large shurikens and yells as her special while unleashing her secret ability.
[Imu]
She shares her backstory with Miyabi and Murasaki. Imu feels guilty about the death of Miyabi's mother as it was her idea to go to the forbidden area. Imu is jealous of Murasaki for having the special ability when she did not (but then she finds out she does at the end of the campaign). There isn't much to her character. She's very angry looking, stern, but very girly and vulnerable around Miyabi who she clearly is deeply in love with. I like her interactions with Miyabi and Murasaki, but there isn't enough of it in this game. She's an extremely fast fighter who uses a staff with an electricity element. If I ever PvP, I'd use her because her regular combos would stun enemies pretty easily. Her theme is so normal. It doesn't feel or sound very special.
[Ryōbi]
The Sadist of the twins. She starts off being foul mouthed, but she kind of trails off and doesn't have that personality as much near the end. She doesn't have as much long-ranged attack as I thought she would considering she uses a rifle. Ryōbi and Ryōna lost their older sister and believes Miyabi to be her killer. They plan to ruse as a member until they find the right time to take their revenge. They later find out that a yōma had killed their sister and not Miyabi. Her theme is pretty heavy and grungy. I kinda like it. There isn't much to this character. She didn't play her Sadist part enough.
[Ryōna]
The Masochist of the twins. She does show a much softer and understanding personality when she's not annoyingly masochistic compared to her twin who is often aggressive and demanding. She uses dual pistols with the handles connected which totals to four pistols. She moves like an ice skater and a lot of gun-slinging moves as her fighting style. She such a weird character. I've seen the "masochist" type characters in animé and games before, but she goes far and beyond that. Her walking animation is this weird skipping, her voice is whiny, and she just wants to be beaten. I found her very annoying at first, but she ended up being the one with the most personality of the group. Her theme sounds a bit similar to her sister up until when the melody starts. I like her theme more. I like her character more, too.
Homura Crimson Squad
[Homura]
I liked the story of this group back in Burst, so I was looking forward to this one too. And it was pretty good. Homura has crazy range and coverage with a move that gives her invincibility. I love her theme song this time around as I felt the previous two themes she had started with a good intro but it never built up to anything. Her theme song in this one had a great intro like she's getting pumped up, and then the melody starts and goes somewhere with it. Homura is pretty solid this time around.
[Yomi]
Yomi took a 180 degree turn in personality in this one, it's strange yet wonderful at the same time. She's super warm and friendly in Shinovi Versus. She moves and attacks slower in this one, but she has super armor and a stronger attack this time around. Her theme is very her; you know it's her theme, but it's just not as catchy as her other two themes. She cooks for her friends everyday and still talks a lot about beansprouts.
[Hikage]
Hikage also changed a bit. She was confused and didn't think too much about herself or others because she didn't understand emotions. In Shinovi Versus, she's actively learning more about herself and others while grasping the idea of different emotions. She's super fast and also has a special that makes her temporarily invincible. She also can apply poison damage. Her theme is alright. I liked her older themes more. But the intro is really good.
[Mirai]
Mirai's character is expanded even more as she has found confidence as a shinobi but not quite as a person yet. She shows interest in writing novels and Otaku culture with a series called "Super Sengoku Wars". Her interactions with the other characters are really good. They changed her combat system drastically. She is almost entirely ranged with a lot of different bullet moves. She's also the only character to back dash as her normal dash to put space between her and her opponent. Her theme is very forgettable compared to her other two themes in Burst, which were my favorites.
[Haruka]
Haruka's theme has always been one of the most distinguishable ones. Her theme is pretty good in this one too. I never really liked playing her, and she's even harder in this one with short dashes, short reach, and slow attacks. She has a lot of good interactions with other characters, especially with Ryōna.
[Suzune/Rin]
I wanted to point out that she finally goes back to Hanzō. I really liked that scene.
Okay, I think I've written enough. I really liked Shinovi Versus. I really like Senran Kagura even more now. I'm probably going to even get that music rhythm game. I can't wait for Senran Kagura 2 and Estival Versus.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
[SPOILER ALERT] Rant on Senran Kagura (Animé)
[Spoiler Alert]: I'm going to talk a lot about the story in Senran Kagura's Game and Animé so you might want to hold off on reading this if you haven't played or watched it yet and plan to.
I know I talked a lot about Senran Kagura Burst just two days ago, but I can't hold to myself what I feel and think about Senran Kagura the Animé. I started watching it that night after I finished the post and then finish the rest of it yesterday. To put it simply: I was disappointed with the Animé. It wasn't bad and I had fun watching it, but it wasn't what I wanted and I didn't like some of the things they changed. I know I shouldn't compare it to the game, but it used the same story line and changed some things around. First, I'd like to go over things I liked about it.
Things I liked about the Animé:
-This song! A lot of the other opening and ending themes aren't bad, but are forgettable. I instantly fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. The allure of its melody, use of traditional Japanese instruments, bouncy beats, and uplifting guitar riffs just stood out to me. It's such a catchy tune!
-All the original voice actors reprise their roles. It's very sad to get different voice actors for the same characters because it doesn't feel the same. So I was very happy to hear all the same voices again.
-Daidouji gets a bigger part in the story when she was only mentioned twice in the game. They also give an explanation as to why she never graduated when she clearly qualifies to.
-People who were faceless in the game is shown in the animé: Murasame (Ikaruga's adoptive older brother), Hanzou (Asuka's Grandfather), Rin (Younger version), and Dougen (Hebijou Investor).
-Attention to certain details such as their catch phrases, special skills (hidden ninpo), and back story.
-Mirai is pretty darn cute in the animé.
-Grandfather Hanzou, Daidouji and Rin get to play a bigger part in the story
-The humor is pretty good and one of the aspects that made it kind of fun to watch.
-I don't care too much for fan-service, nor do I hate it. I can say I like it, but I also can say it wasn't necessary had they focused more on the story and its characters. There is a lot of nudity, but no nipples or private parts. So it didn't go beyond ridiculous...depending on your tolerance.
Things I had problems with in the Animé:
Whew, here we go.
-Music is just as important to an animé sometimes as much as it is to videogames because it emphasizes a moment, an emotion, and event that triggers a memory or reaction from them. Senran Kagura didn't really seem to have those aspects in their BGM and opening/ending themes (other than the one mentioned above) which is severely disappointing when the game had incredible BGM that could, very well, work in the animé.
The opening theme to Skirting Shadows is uplifting and intense while the opening to Crimson Girls is dark and powerful. Both are very memorable.
-Battle/combat choreography: A lot of the battles are short, one motion clips that have a lot of flashy effects and color, but no real impact and intensity in its movements. Look at the openings for the game right above and see how action-packed the fights look. I didn't really get that effect from the animé.
-Animation/certain details: I'm not talking about the graphics, but I thought they did an incredible job with the characters and environment. But certain little things such as facial expressions, battle movement and effects, and certain gestures don't seem to really achieve a greater goal. It's subtle details that can affect an entire moment and character. The prime examples are my three favorite characters from Hebijo side: Yomi, Hikage, and Mirai. Yomi has this facial expression in the game where the pupil of her eyes narrows and she has a very dire attitude. But in the animé, they just give her a half closed evil eye that feels more presumptuous than serious. With Hikage, they changed her story entirely! In the game, she never smiles and it brought about this mysterious yet charming side of not knowing what she's about. And then the player finds out there's a lot to her than what she lets on. But in the animé, she's ALWAYS smiling and is described as being raised as a child soldier and to suppress her emotions. Again, instead of being unpredictable and frightening like in the game, her character is confident and cocky in the animé. For Mirai, I like how they made her very cute because she "is" very adorable. But I'm very sad they made her the joke of the animé because she was a very strong character in the game who faced many difficulties through the story that made her confident. She also has an arrogant attitude in the animé which makes me think they wanted to make Hebijo girls all the same.
-Let's get to characters, because I think that's the subject I'm most bothered with:
*Asuka: I think they nailed it with Asuka's personality, but they didn't portray her growth in understanding the concept behind having "Sword and Shield" as well as it did in the game. It also didn't feel like Asuka really taught Homura anything about friendship. It was brought up, and then just kind of crossed her mind at the end.
*Ikaruga: I am VERY bothered by the portrayal of her character because she is my absolute favorite. In the game, she is a responsible, proud, and understanding older-sister to everyone in the team. In the animé, she's cold and resolute. It made her more of a loner. I was very saddened by this.
*Katsuragi: I feel like they didn't explain her backstory, like many other characters, with any impact. That emotional tie you're supposed to feel for that character just isn't there. Otherwise, they did a really good job on her personality.
*Yagyuu: Yagyuu, unfortunately, didn't have as much personality and character build up in the game either, but she did play some important roles in the story. Well, they just made her even more shallow and boring in the animé. There was a rather serious point in the story for Yagyuu in the game that reflected the strong bond between the girls, but idea wasn't carried across very well in the animé.
*Hibari: You know, she's actually one of the characters I thought they did some improvements with in the animé. It's a good and bad thing. In the game, she becomes more confident and is the one character to really bring together the two side to understand one another. That also happens in the animé to a lesser degree, BUT she also has special abilities and talent in the animé that she didn't really have in the game. Although her character played a stronger part in the story in the game, she seemed a lot more useful in the animé.
*Homura: Much like Katsuragi, Homura's story wasn't explained very well so I felt it was hard to connect with her character in the animé.
*Yomi: To be fair, I really despised her for a good half of the game. A lot of the Hebijo characters during the Hanzo story was actually pretty shallow and reminded me of Pokémon. Homura's all about "power, power, !@#$ friends", Hikage says "Wakannai yo" (I don't get it) a lot because she doesn't have "emotions", Mirai is "DON'T IGNORE ME!" girl, Haruka is "Puppets, puppets, Imma make you my doll!", while Yomi was one of the most unbearable ones who goes "Bean sprouts, BEAN SPROUTS, I love bean sprouts, Rich people? RICH PEOPLE! ALL RICH PEOPLE SHOULD DIE!" But since they were going to use the same story and implemented stories from the Hebijo side as well, why not make her character the same? Yomi's attitude and demeanor was almost that of insanity in the game. But in the animé, her expressions and dialogue was more of casual anger and contempt.
*Hikage: This was probably the most heart-breaking changes they made to a character as Hikage's story was probably my favorite on the Hebijo side. I know I said there'd be spoilers, but I don't think I can explain the story with as much impact as the game. Hikage's lack of emotion and never smiling gave her a unique personality. Because she never shows emotion and conveys interest in understanding it, she was mysterious, unpredictable, funny and somewhat charming when she tries to laugh or show anger. In the animé "she's a child soldier told to suppress her emotions". With that, they made her always smiling in contempt and is described as "the perfect assassin". So she was the typical "bad guy". THEY TURNED HER INTO RAIDEN FROM MGS! But it doesn't even have the same impact. She was a stupid character in the animé with no real personality.
*Mirai: Like Yomi, I thought Mirai was a dumb character during the Hanzou story always going about "DON'T IGNORE ME!" But Mirai plays a big role in the Hebijo story with the player following the growth of her character. She does get very strong and has an adorable charm about her. Sadly, she's treated as a joke in the Animé. Though, they did draw and animate her to be very cute though.
*Haruka: In the game, she was incredibly creepy during Hanzou story. But they also show an interesting, sensitive side to her in the Hebijo story. She's also shown as being a lot more mature and experienced as a shinobi as she grew up. In the animé, just her creepy side is mostly shown. "Puppets, puppets, Imma make you my doll!"
*Kiriya: Kiriya sensei is great. In some aspects, they improved him even more in the animé with having a larger role in the story; however, they destroy the image of a wise and strong minded instructor by having him goof up multiple times throughout the show. What kind of shinobi of his experience falls for so many tricks in a row? He also had one of my favorite story arch in the game during the Hanzou story. But they butchered it and changed it in the animé which lost its meaning and purpose for his character.
*Rin/Suzune: The change to her character also really bugged me. In the game, she's not revealed to be Rin until the very end of the game. But as Suzune-sensei, she was strict yet unbelievably caring. She loved her students and looked out for them to the very end. Yet in the animé, she is introduced pretty early in the story and seeks to sell out her students to gain power on her own. That totally ruined the image of her character. She had this air about her in the game where she really was like a mother AND a strong loving sensei to the Hebijo girls. But in the animé, she was weak in spirit and mind. She only sought power and understood what it was at the end and does a random sacrifice that felt more wasted and dumb than noble.
*Dougen/Orochi: They made Dougen better and worse at the same time. In the game, he secretly disguises himself as a wealthy investor and is never shown. He seemed like an ordinary man, but not showing how he looked like made him a mysterious character. His haughty attitude and power he had behind his influence on Hebijo created an intimidating entity that the player never really sees. What's dumb in the game is that he reveals to be a shinobi and reveals how they were using the Hebijo this entire time to resurrect Orochi and immediately gets killed by Homura right after that. He must've been a terrible shinobi to get sliced up so quickly like that. In the animé, he is shown a lot, has skillful powers as well as influential power in the story. His hidden ninpo happens to be summoning Orochi. All these aspects made him seem stronger in the animé, but the problem is that he wasn't as intimidating and mysterious which made him feel less threatening, ironically enough. In the game, Orochi is an entity on its own that has been slumbering under the Hebijo school for centuries. So Orochi seemed more threatening in the game. He was also harder to beat, that's for sure. In the animé, Orochi grabs Homura and Asuka, then gets cut by both of them and dies off. Even though Dougen was killed so easily in the story of the game, he was a frightening man who had his plans set with no sense of fear or hesitation. Despite all the power and ability Dougen seemed to have in the animé, he ends up being weak and cornered like a typical bad guy.
-The Ending: No crazy rooftop battle between Asuka and Homura where they use the Yin and Yang scrolls? No flying around and doing crazy hidden ninpo? No epic music playing in the background while they fight?! Instead, they slice up Orochi in one attack and then have Rin jump off a rooftop with Dougen in hand as a "noble" sacrifice? No true understanding between the Hanzou and Hebijo girls?! No stronger sense of purpose beyond the ideas of death, between good and evil, and friendship? Everything that led up to the ending of the game felt so right and satisfying. I was so happy getting to the end of the story and experiencing the whole thing and how they connected to the ending. But the ending to the animé felt so empty and dumb! I was very disappointed.
Wrap-up:
To be very fair, it's really hard to fit the stories and characters and details within 12 episodes of an animé. And I think that's the problem: they couldn't convey the same story within that duration with the same impact and meaning. It was a fun watch, but it sadly feels shallow and empty compared to its original context. Keep in mind that the majority of the game's story is told entirely of text and character conversations. Even with that, it delivered a much more deeper and meaningful story with its characters and purpose than the animé did. If anything, the animé was meant to exploit even more fan-service than the game, and it did indeed do that. Those that haven't played the game might be able to enjoy the animé more than those who have.
It makes me worried about the other game-to-animé adaptations. I've started watching Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation, and the first two episodes is a lot of fun so far. I think the story is different from the games, which is what Senran Kagura should've probably done. I also have BlazBlue to watch after, and I've heard bad things about that one. Well, I think that's enough ranting for one day.
I know I talked a lot about Senran Kagura Burst just two days ago, but I can't hold to myself what I feel and think about Senran Kagura the Animé. I started watching it that night after I finished the post and then finish the rest of it yesterday. To put it simply: I was disappointed with the Animé. It wasn't bad and I had fun watching it, but it wasn't what I wanted and I didn't like some of the things they changed. I know I shouldn't compare it to the game, but it used the same story line and changed some things around. First, I'd like to go over things I liked about it.
Things I liked about the Animé:
-This song! A lot of the other opening and ending themes aren't bad, but are forgettable. I instantly fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. The allure of its melody, use of traditional Japanese instruments, bouncy beats, and uplifting guitar riffs just stood out to me. It's such a catchy tune!
-All the original voice actors reprise their roles. It's very sad to get different voice actors for the same characters because it doesn't feel the same. So I was very happy to hear all the same voices again.
-Daidouji gets a bigger part in the story when she was only mentioned twice in the game. They also give an explanation as to why she never graduated when she clearly qualifies to.
-People who were faceless in the game is shown in the animé: Murasame (Ikaruga's adoptive older brother), Hanzou (Asuka's Grandfather), Rin (Younger version), and Dougen (Hebijou Investor).
-Attention to certain details such as their catch phrases, special skills (hidden ninpo), and back story.
-Mirai is pretty darn cute in the animé.
-Grandfather Hanzou, Daidouji and Rin get to play a bigger part in the story
-The humor is pretty good and one of the aspects that made it kind of fun to watch.
-I don't care too much for fan-service, nor do I hate it. I can say I like it, but I also can say it wasn't necessary had they focused more on the story and its characters. There is a lot of nudity, but no nipples or private parts. So it didn't go beyond ridiculous...depending on your tolerance.
Things I had problems with in the Animé:
Whew, here we go.
-Music is just as important to an animé sometimes as much as it is to videogames because it emphasizes a moment, an emotion, and event that triggers a memory or reaction from them. Senran Kagura didn't really seem to have those aspects in their BGM and opening/ending themes (other than the one mentioned above) which is severely disappointing when the game had incredible BGM that could, very well, work in the animé.
The opening theme to Skirting Shadows is uplifting and intense while the opening to Crimson Girls is dark and powerful. Both are very memorable.
-Battle/combat choreography: A lot of the battles are short, one motion clips that have a lot of flashy effects and color, but no real impact and intensity in its movements. Look at the openings for the game right above and see how action-packed the fights look. I didn't really get that effect from the animé.
-Animation/certain details: I'm not talking about the graphics, but I thought they did an incredible job with the characters and environment. But certain little things such as facial expressions, battle movement and effects, and certain gestures don't seem to really achieve a greater goal. It's subtle details that can affect an entire moment and character. The prime examples are my three favorite characters from Hebijo side: Yomi, Hikage, and Mirai. Yomi has this facial expression in the game where the pupil of her eyes narrows and she has a very dire attitude. But in the animé, they just give her a half closed evil eye that feels more presumptuous than serious. With Hikage, they changed her story entirely! In the game, she never smiles and it brought about this mysterious yet charming side of not knowing what she's about. And then the player finds out there's a lot to her than what she lets on. But in the animé, she's ALWAYS smiling and is described as being raised as a child soldier and to suppress her emotions. Again, instead of being unpredictable and frightening like in the game, her character is confident and cocky in the animé. For Mirai, I like how they made her very cute because she "is" very adorable. But I'm very sad they made her the joke of the animé because she was a very strong character in the game who faced many difficulties through the story that made her confident. She also has an arrogant attitude in the animé which makes me think they wanted to make Hebijo girls all the same.
-Let's get to characters, because I think that's the subject I'm most bothered with:
*Asuka: I think they nailed it with Asuka's personality, but they didn't portray her growth in understanding the concept behind having "Sword and Shield" as well as it did in the game. It also didn't feel like Asuka really taught Homura anything about friendship. It was brought up, and then just kind of crossed her mind at the end.
*Ikaruga: I am VERY bothered by the portrayal of her character because she is my absolute favorite. In the game, she is a responsible, proud, and understanding older-sister to everyone in the team. In the animé, she's cold and resolute. It made her more of a loner. I was very saddened by this.
*Katsuragi: I feel like they didn't explain her backstory, like many other characters, with any impact. That emotional tie you're supposed to feel for that character just isn't there. Otherwise, they did a really good job on her personality.
*Yagyuu: Yagyuu, unfortunately, didn't have as much personality and character build up in the game either, but she did play some important roles in the story. Well, they just made her even more shallow and boring in the animé. There was a rather serious point in the story for Yagyuu in the game that reflected the strong bond between the girls, but idea wasn't carried across very well in the animé.
*Hibari: You know, she's actually one of the characters I thought they did some improvements with in the animé. It's a good and bad thing. In the game, she becomes more confident and is the one character to really bring together the two side to understand one another. That also happens in the animé to a lesser degree, BUT she also has special abilities and talent in the animé that she didn't really have in the game. Although her character played a stronger part in the story in the game, she seemed a lot more useful in the animé.
*Homura: Much like Katsuragi, Homura's story wasn't explained very well so I felt it was hard to connect with her character in the animé.
*Yomi: To be fair, I really despised her for a good half of the game. A lot of the Hebijo characters during the Hanzo story was actually pretty shallow and reminded me of Pokémon. Homura's all about "power, power, !@#$ friends", Hikage says "Wakannai yo" (I don't get it) a lot because she doesn't have "emotions", Mirai is "DON'T IGNORE ME!" girl, Haruka is "Puppets, puppets, Imma make you my doll!", while Yomi was one of the most unbearable ones who goes "Bean sprouts, BEAN SPROUTS, I love bean sprouts, Rich people? RICH PEOPLE! ALL RICH PEOPLE SHOULD DIE!" But since they were going to use the same story and implemented stories from the Hebijo side as well, why not make her character the same? Yomi's attitude and demeanor was almost that of insanity in the game. But in the animé, her expressions and dialogue was more of casual anger and contempt.
*Hikage: This was probably the most heart-breaking changes they made to a character as Hikage's story was probably my favorite on the Hebijo side. I know I said there'd be spoilers, but I don't think I can explain the story with as much impact as the game. Hikage's lack of emotion and never smiling gave her a unique personality. Because she never shows emotion and conveys interest in understanding it, she was mysterious, unpredictable, funny and somewhat charming when she tries to laugh or show anger. In the animé "she's a child soldier told to suppress her emotions". With that, they made her always smiling in contempt and is described as "the perfect assassin". So she was the typical "bad guy". THEY TURNED HER INTO RAIDEN FROM MGS! But it doesn't even have the same impact. She was a stupid character in the animé with no real personality.
*Mirai: Like Yomi, I thought Mirai was a dumb character during the Hanzou story always going about "DON'T IGNORE ME!" But Mirai plays a big role in the Hebijo story with the player following the growth of her character. She does get very strong and has an adorable charm about her. Sadly, she's treated as a joke in the Animé. Though, they did draw and animate her to be very cute though.
*Haruka: In the game, she was incredibly creepy during Hanzou story. But they also show an interesting, sensitive side to her in the Hebijo story. She's also shown as being a lot more mature and experienced as a shinobi as she grew up. In the animé, just her creepy side is mostly shown. "Puppets, puppets, Imma make you my doll!"
*Kiriya: Kiriya sensei is great. In some aspects, they improved him even more in the animé with having a larger role in the story; however, they destroy the image of a wise and strong minded instructor by having him goof up multiple times throughout the show. What kind of shinobi of his experience falls for so many tricks in a row? He also had one of my favorite story arch in the game during the Hanzou story. But they butchered it and changed it in the animé which lost its meaning and purpose for his character.
*Rin/Suzune: The change to her character also really bugged me. In the game, she's not revealed to be Rin until the very end of the game. But as Suzune-sensei, she was strict yet unbelievably caring. She loved her students and looked out for them to the very end. Yet in the animé, she is introduced pretty early in the story and seeks to sell out her students to gain power on her own. That totally ruined the image of her character. She had this air about her in the game where she really was like a mother AND a strong loving sensei to the Hebijo girls. But in the animé, she was weak in spirit and mind. She only sought power and understood what it was at the end and does a random sacrifice that felt more wasted and dumb than noble.
*Dougen/Orochi: They made Dougen better and worse at the same time. In the game, he secretly disguises himself as a wealthy investor and is never shown. He seemed like an ordinary man, but not showing how he looked like made him a mysterious character. His haughty attitude and power he had behind his influence on Hebijo created an intimidating entity that the player never really sees. What's dumb in the game is that he reveals to be a shinobi and reveals how they were using the Hebijo this entire time to resurrect Orochi and immediately gets killed by Homura right after that. He must've been a terrible shinobi to get sliced up so quickly like that. In the animé, he is shown a lot, has skillful powers as well as influential power in the story. His hidden ninpo happens to be summoning Orochi. All these aspects made him seem stronger in the animé, but the problem is that he wasn't as intimidating and mysterious which made him feel less threatening, ironically enough. In the game, Orochi is an entity on its own that has been slumbering under the Hebijo school for centuries. So Orochi seemed more threatening in the game. He was also harder to beat, that's for sure. In the animé, Orochi grabs Homura and Asuka, then gets cut by both of them and dies off. Even though Dougen was killed so easily in the story of the game, he was a frightening man who had his plans set with no sense of fear or hesitation. Despite all the power and ability Dougen seemed to have in the animé, he ends up being weak and cornered like a typical bad guy.
-The Ending: No crazy rooftop battle between Asuka and Homura where they use the Yin and Yang scrolls? No flying around and doing crazy hidden ninpo? No epic music playing in the background while they fight?! Instead, they slice up Orochi in one attack and then have Rin jump off a rooftop with Dougen in hand as a "noble" sacrifice? No true understanding between the Hanzou and Hebijo girls?! No stronger sense of purpose beyond the ideas of death, between good and evil, and friendship? Everything that led up to the ending of the game felt so right and satisfying. I was so happy getting to the end of the story and experiencing the whole thing and how they connected to the ending. But the ending to the animé felt so empty and dumb! I was very disappointed.
Wrap-up:
To be very fair, it's really hard to fit the stories and characters and details within 12 episodes of an animé. And I think that's the problem: they couldn't convey the same story within that duration with the same impact and meaning. It was a fun watch, but it sadly feels shallow and empty compared to its original context. Keep in mind that the majority of the game's story is told entirely of text and character conversations. Even with that, it delivered a much more deeper and meaningful story with its characters and purpose than the animé did. If anything, the animé was meant to exploit even more fan-service than the game, and it did indeed do that. Those that haven't played the game might be able to enjoy the animé more than those who have.
It makes me worried about the other game-to-animé adaptations. I've started watching Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation, and the first two episodes is a lot of fun so far. I think the story is different from the games, which is what Senran Kagura should've probably done. I also have BlazBlue to watch after, and I've heard bad things about that one. Well, I think that's enough ranting for one day.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Games are won and things get done!
This month has been tiring and busy with productivity. A few weeks ago, one of our favorite pet Chickens died from choking on her medicine. Waffle hasn't been well the past weeks prior to the incident with her excrement being white, her lack of appetite, and being less energetic than usual. She hasn't laid an egg for over a year and she had problems as a baby chick. So when she was being fed some medicine to help her expunge whatever was in her system, she choked on it and died. It was sad to see and it hurt my father the most since he loved her the most out of all our pet chickens. It was a tense and uncomfortable few weeks following that incident. When Fuzzy died back when I was still in UC Irvine, my dad was upset back then too and bought 11 baby chicks soon after. I was shocked and wasn't sure if this was okay. My dad said this was the last time he'd raise anymore chickens. But after losing Waffle, he ended up buying two more baby chicks a few days later. Unfortunately, one of the baby chicks immediately had the same problems that Waffle did when she was brought home and my dad found out that it's a common disease that affects chickens. Like with Waffle, my parents fed the new baby chick medicine and now it seems to be okay, but the disease doesn't really go away. I knew losing Hattie or Waffle would be hard for the family, but it turned out a lot more dire in my father's situation than I thought it would. I really hope he'll be okay.
I've been in overdrive mode again this month and feel really proud of myself for being able to stay focused. I've started the Ultima Remix album I had planned since back in Jr. College and am making it a reality right now. I met up with one of my cousins, who I haven't seen in a very long time, for lunch and we were talking about games when he mentioned "Ultima Exodus" for the NES. I love that game as it was the game that made me very interested in RPGs. I remember watching my father play the game and loved the music which has stuck with me even now. Back in Jr. College, I had planned to make simple guitar arrangements for them and I had done so with the town theme. But my friends were always busy and we ended up not playing that song together. But when my cousin mentioned the game, I realized that I have the ability to remix and re-imagine the songs the way I want it now. I felt inspired by the idea of revisiting an old project and making it a reality, and so I've pushed aside all other projects to create the remix album. I've finished two of them so far and already have the others planned out. I'm very excited to finishing this project.
I actually watched animé recently! My friends have been telling me to watch Sword Art Online for over a year now, but I never found the time to watch it. I started watching it during breakfast and lunch time and I got really into it. I had finished my 2nd remix on Thursday, so Friday was pretty much free to me and so I spent the whole day watching episodes 11-25 and finished the series. I loved it! It had action, romance, drama, humor, and meaning and executed it really well. That is, the first half of the series was like that. The premise of the story is that in the future, virtual gaming gets to a point where a player's mind can dive into a system and play online games with 1:1 motion within the mind. This is similar to old Animés like .Hack Sign. The whole plot revolves around a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called "Sword Art Online" where thousands of players bought and played it on the first day of release. The game was fun and exciting for the players until they find out that they couldn't log out and return to the real world. All the players were pulled into the main beginning town and was then told that they were stuck in the game and weren't allowed to get out until they completed the game. The big catch is that if they died in the game, the helmet on their heads in real-life that dives their mind into the game would fry their brain and kill them. Furthermore, all the players custom looks were taken away and their true faces from the real world were suddenly shown in the game. No one could hide or escape. If someone in the real world tried to take of the helmet, it would instantly kill the one wearing it. The rest of the animé focuses on the character, Kirito, in his quest to finish the game and free everyone from the death game that they were trapped in. Throughout the story, he grows as a person, affects those around them, and faces difficulties he didn't think he'd have to go through in a game. It wasn't a game anymore, it was a fight for survival. And that's how the whole story gets interesting. All the psychological and sociological inclinations of the players are shown and reflected to those found in real-life. The interactions between the characters are deep and meaningful. Aside from that, the graphics style is clean and modern. But the animations is what really distinguishes itself from other animé shows where motion, effects, and especially character expressions are done so effectively. I've been watching so many slice of life and comedy animé that it felt a bit weird to watch something so serious around the premise of a game. Everything felt so grave and meaningful in the story, and that's where everything seems to fall apart in the 2nd half of the series. I hope I'm not spoiling anything by saying that the remaining players alive escape from Sword Art Online, but some did not and was stuck in another game. When Kirito returns to the real world, one of the players he became very close to did not come back to reality and was still in the virtual world. He goes into that game to save that person, but everything was treated as a game there. People killed wouldn't die in real-life. There were a lot less characters for Kirito to interact with. And the whole story was kind of a stereotypical videogame story of saving the princess at the end of the game sort of deal. The main villain was also very stereotypical and incredibly disgusting. I still had fun watching it, but the 2nd half didn't feel nearly as exciting, involving or meaningful as the first half. And then there's the movie which recaps the entire series with little snippets of their life after the incident with one final adventure within the new game before the movie ends. Supposedly there's a 3rd arch to the story that will release sometime later this year. By the way, if you do watch Sword Art Online, be prepared to cry a few times.
With Sword Art Online finished, I am a bit lost of what to watch next. I'm thinking of watching Senran Kagura next because I just finished the game 2 nights ago. I definitely need to talk about that.
I've completed 7 games so far this month with most of them being First-Person Shooters and games I recently bought. First-Person Shooters are generally short but they take up a lot of hard drive space. I'm running really low and decided to play through all my installed Shooters and delete them after completing them. With this month, I played through Transformers: War for Cybertron. It's actually a 3rd-person shooter and had some interesting moments. The game was a bit entertaining and managed to stay pretty consistent with itself. It never got better or worse, but there were times I thought "wow, this is pretty cool!" Being able to fly around, switch into car mode and drive really fast and shooting all sorts of weapons kept me interested throughout the playthrough.
Alien Rage, unfortunately was a different case. I actually really liked the presentation of the game. The graphics were beautiful, the guns and mechanics with aiming, shooting and moving around "felt" really good, and I liked the story that was told through the audio logs by a character that's never seen and only heard. Sadly, the actual character was boring and the stereotypical, bald, space-marine. The game was fun for the first few levels, then it starts suffering from a case of self-identity. The game boasts itself for being a fast-paced, old-school shooter. Unfortunately, rushing forward generally got you killed really fast. In those cases, it seems like it wants the player to play more tactically and carefully. The problem is that cover is sparse and don't provide very good protection. Grenade launchers can easily kill the player in one hit, and it can splash beyond cover. Having to hide behind cover and run back where you came to be in safety really broke the flow of the game and it didn't seem worth it. A lot of bosses can kill you in one hit, so you have to be consistently moving; however, other enemies and sometimes the boss itself can also shoot bullets and rockets while you're running around and most of the cover are actually explosive and can kill the player in one hit as well. In simple terms, the game couldn't find a good balance between fast-paced action and slower-paced tactics. The game ended up irritating me more than entertaining me. I didn't even get to try multiplayer side since not a single-player was online to play it. I didn't want to believe it was a bad game, and I don't think it is perse. I saw what the developers wanted to achieve in having the player experience, but don't feel that it was executed very well.
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation was pretty much a stripped down version of the first Painkiller with better graphics. There were less levels and the last boss was long and tedious. It was mildly entertaining, but mostly boring.
Rise of the Triad was a huge disappointment. Much like Alien Rage, the game was advertised as being a fast-paced shooter with old-school charm. It started off okay and quickly became disgusting gameplay. Rather than shooting enemies, the game is filled with traps, poorly designed jump puzzles, and everything that hit you later on causes a really big cloudy explosion that fills the entire screen. The whole game felt very gimmicky because of all these puzzles and traps and I got no satisfaction from it. The last boss was so ridiculous that I had to use a cheat code to beat it (essentially, you're surround by lava that hurt you, tiny enemies that dive and blind you constantly, and a boss with an abnormal amount of health and damage that could kill you in two hits. The whole game just felt so messy and unorganized. I constantly felt lost as to where to go next as well because of how the levels were designed. I was more than ready to delete the game after completing it.
I didn't play all bad games this month though. I saw a game for about $3 that had just released called "One Way Heroics". I was rather reluctant on getting it because the graphics looked underwhelming and it was considered a "Rogue-like", a word that is thrown around a little too often in the indie game industry nowadays that it seems to have lost its meaning. Thankfully, the game turned out to be incredibly entertaining. The game is indeed a rogue-like with randomly generated levels, item spawn, and events for every playthrough. Unlike Elona, the game is significantly easier to learn how to play, takes a shorter amount of time to play, and still has enough content to keep it interesting. Essentially, the player chooses a class to play and keeps walking to the right as the dark shroud from the left of the screen consumes everything it comes in contact with while fighting off enemies, grabbing better equipment and getting stronger to fight the demon lord to stop the dark shroud from going any further. The game can still be unforgiving with enemies that can kill you in one hit, but there is the ability to save between towns and continue from there if killed. I've already beaten the game about 5 times on easy mode and can still find something to play out of it.
Vanguard Princess finally reach Steam and it was super cheap upon release! I've played this fighting game for the past 2 years or so already in Japanese and have been waiting for the English version to reach Steam for a while now ever since it was announced that it was put up on Steam Greenlight. It was really nice to be able to read the text and understand the story, even though there isn't that much depth to it. Sadly, my fight-stick doesn't work with the game and so I'm forced to use my Logitech Controller which seems to work perfectly fine with it. I had a lot of fun playing the game and can definitely play it once in a while if I want to play a fighting game really quick. The combo system is a little too technical which makes it hard to pull off long chains, but the simple combos are really short and are still very effective. It's amazing that this game was made by one guy (essentially).
Lastly, I want to talk about Senran Kagura Burst. I wouldn't have imagined that I'd enjoy the game so much and poured so many hours into it. Senran Kagura Burst is a Beat-em-Up for the 3DS and was heavily advertised in Japan for having incredibly busty female ninjas that lose pieces of their clothing as they fight. I don't mind fan-service as much anymore after being exposed to it so often in Animé and other Japanese games, but it always puts me on alert when it's used so heavily in a game making me think that the gameplay might not be enough to make the game worth it. I had changed my mind about Senran Kagura Burst and found interest in it when I saw a footage of the combo system. I couldn't keep away from it when it released here despite being digitally sold only (I despise getting games digitally on anything other than PC or tablets). I also didn't like the fact that it was $30 for a digital copy. Still, I was craving for a good beat-em-Up as I did enjoy Code of Princess but wasn't satisfied. Well, I got a lot more than I had hoped from Senran Kagura Burst because all I wanted was a decent Beat-em-up I could play for about 7 hours. I already have 39 hours on it and I still have a lot of extras to play! For one thing, I didn't expect the game to have a real story or one that was decent, yet a large portion of the game was reading the story for each mission and who the characters were, who they fight, how they've grown, and what their world was about. This, in turn, made me really like the characters. Sure, there are a few I don't like as much, but grew rather fond of them. The game looks so silly and upbeat that I didn't think it would venture into serious topics like death, good and evil, and the meaning of being a shinobi. I really liked that it did that, because the characters felt more believable. The whole world around them feels more real and has more meaning to who they are and why they fight when the story is taken a bit more seriously. Graphics is a bit on and off. I like the character designs a lot, though I don't think gigantic boobs is really necessary to make than any more attractive or likable. Seriously, the interactions they have with each other, their back stories, and their personalities shine through and made me care about them more than I thought I would. Their 3D models are really nice during conversations and special attacks. But the ones made for walking around in the room is very weird. Some of them have super thin arms and have odd walking animations when walking in the preparation room. The graphics in combat is sadly not entirely in 3D in turn to prevent frame skipping or slow-down (a serious problem in Code of Princess), but Specials are still in 3D which looks pretty cool. The graphics for combat aren't incredibly impressive, but the animation and how the game feels has a slick and flashy flow to the combat which I feel is very important to a beat-em-up. The AI isn't incredibly smart, but the way they're set-up sometimes is quite devious which is where the game feels challenging. Just button-mashing can get you so far until certain enemies that don't get fazed or attack from a range interrupts your attacks and deals massive damage. The game is comparable to Dynasty Warriors in that a lot of enemies are presented to you. Although a singular enemy may not be a threat, multiple enemies can cause problems if you don't position yourself and perform the correct attack chains to prevent getting flanked or stunned. I also didn't expect the music to be so good either. One of the first tracks that really caught my attention and made me appreciate the whole atmosphere it created within the game is Mirai's Theme "To the Worthless!"
The two composers that worked on the soundtrack for the game uses various styles and genres to really capture each characters personality and environment in a unique way. Mirai is the tiny, gothic lolita character in the back and is described as small but hates being ignored and wants to be treated as a true shinobi. This song comes across as being somewhat cute with the melodic piano, but also emphasizes how serious and strong Mirai is with a heavy techno beat and guitar riffs. I loved the song, but hated the character during the first half of the game (Hanzo story side). But when I played her story and learned more about her in the Hebijo side of the story, she became my favorite character for that side. That's what the writing of the story did for these characters coupled with the amazing songs for each of them. Another character I didn't really like but did later is Yomi who has an incredibly catchy theme:
And so I finished the game 2 nights ago with completing the main story. I felt so satisfied with the game. I can't say the story is epic or incredible, but the whole journey and learning about the characters and the progression of the story all felt very cohesive and felt so good when put togther: The story, the characters, the graphics, the music, the combat, and the challenge; they're all pretty good but not mind-blowing, yet they all work so well together that I felt it achieved in delivering the experience that the developer sought out to put out. It's similar to the same satisfaction and happiness I felt when I finish Fortune Summoners, it's just not the same exact kind since Fortune Summoners did drive me up the wall quite a few times. With all that said, I honestly hope that they bring over Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus and Senran Kagura 2 because Senran Kagura Burst has turned me into a fan of the series. I'm just sad that the developers feel like the game won't sell unless it's overly sexy when everything else in the game has worked so well for a fun game. Look at this ridiculous trailer for their new Cooking Rhythm spinoff they're making:
Like I said, I don't mind fan-service; however, fan-service to this degree makes it infinitely harder for publishers to bring it over. That and it's not even necessary for a fun or even attractive game. Trying to look past all this, I'd still get all these games if it has the same quality (if not better) in the level of story, characters, game mechanics, music, and graphics that I experienced in Senran Kagura Burst. I certainly enjoyed it after playing games like Alien Rage, Painkiller, and Rise of the Triad where I felt irritation, boredom and disappointment.
Besides that, I'm still working on Final Fantasy XIII. But that's a story for another time.
I've been in overdrive mode again this month and feel really proud of myself for being able to stay focused. I've started the Ultima Remix album I had planned since back in Jr. College and am making it a reality right now. I met up with one of my cousins, who I haven't seen in a very long time, for lunch and we were talking about games when he mentioned "Ultima Exodus" for the NES. I love that game as it was the game that made me very interested in RPGs. I remember watching my father play the game and loved the music which has stuck with me even now. Back in Jr. College, I had planned to make simple guitar arrangements for them and I had done so with the town theme. But my friends were always busy and we ended up not playing that song together. But when my cousin mentioned the game, I realized that I have the ability to remix and re-imagine the songs the way I want it now. I felt inspired by the idea of revisiting an old project and making it a reality, and so I've pushed aside all other projects to create the remix album. I've finished two of them so far and already have the others planned out. I'm very excited to finishing this project.
I actually watched animé recently! My friends have been telling me to watch Sword Art Online for over a year now, but I never found the time to watch it. I started watching it during breakfast and lunch time and I got really into it. I had finished my 2nd remix on Thursday, so Friday was pretty much free to me and so I spent the whole day watching episodes 11-25 and finished the series. I loved it! It had action, romance, drama, humor, and meaning and executed it really well. That is, the first half of the series was like that. The premise of the story is that in the future, virtual gaming gets to a point where a player's mind can dive into a system and play online games with 1:1 motion within the mind. This is similar to old Animés like .Hack Sign. The whole plot revolves around a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called "Sword Art Online" where thousands of players bought and played it on the first day of release. The game was fun and exciting for the players until they find out that they couldn't log out and return to the real world. All the players were pulled into the main beginning town and was then told that they were stuck in the game and weren't allowed to get out until they completed the game. The big catch is that if they died in the game, the helmet on their heads in real-life that dives their mind into the game would fry their brain and kill them. Furthermore, all the players custom looks were taken away and their true faces from the real world were suddenly shown in the game. No one could hide or escape. If someone in the real world tried to take of the helmet, it would instantly kill the one wearing it. The rest of the animé focuses on the character, Kirito, in his quest to finish the game and free everyone from the death game that they were trapped in. Throughout the story, he grows as a person, affects those around them, and faces difficulties he didn't think he'd have to go through in a game. It wasn't a game anymore, it was a fight for survival. And that's how the whole story gets interesting. All the psychological and sociological inclinations of the players are shown and reflected to those found in real-life. The interactions between the characters are deep and meaningful. Aside from that, the graphics style is clean and modern. But the animations is what really distinguishes itself from other animé shows where motion, effects, and especially character expressions are done so effectively. I've been watching so many slice of life and comedy animé that it felt a bit weird to watch something so serious around the premise of a game. Everything felt so grave and meaningful in the story, and that's where everything seems to fall apart in the 2nd half of the series. I hope I'm not spoiling anything by saying that the remaining players alive escape from Sword Art Online, but some did not and was stuck in another game. When Kirito returns to the real world, one of the players he became very close to did not come back to reality and was still in the virtual world. He goes into that game to save that person, but everything was treated as a game there. People killed wouldn't die in real-life. There were a lot less characters for Kirito to interact with. And the whole story was kind of a stereotypical videogame story of saving the princess at the end of the game sort of deal. The main villain was also very stereotypical and incredibly disgusting. I still had fun watching it, but the 2nd half didn't feel nearly as exciting, involving or meaningful as the first half. And then there's the movie which recaps the entire series with little snippets of their life after the incident with one final adventure within the new game before the movie ends. Supposedly there's a 3rd arch to the story that will release sometime later this year. By the way, if you do watch Sword Art Online, be prepared to cry a few times.
With Sword Art Online finished, I am a bit lost of what to watch next. I'm thinking of watching Senran Kagura next because I just finished the game 2 nights ago. I definitely need to talk about that.
I've completed 7 games so far this month with most of them being First-Person Shooters and games I recently bought. First-Person Shooters are generally short but they take up a lot of hard drive space. I'm running really low and decided to play through all my installed Shooters and delete them after completing them. With this month, I played through Transformers: War for Cybertron. It's actually a 3rd-person shooter and had some interesting moments. The game was a bit entertaining and managed to stay pretty consistent with itself. It never got better or worse, but there were times I thought "wow, this is pretty cool!" Being able to fly around, switch into car mode and drive really fast and shooting all sorts of weapons kept me interested throughout the playthrough.
Alien Rage, unfortunately was a different case. I actually really liked the presentation of the game. The graphics were beautiful, the guns and mechanics with aiming, shooting and moving around "felt" really good, and I liked the story that was told through the audio logs by a character that's never seen and only heard. Sadly, the actual character was boring and the stereotypical, bald, space-marine. The game was fun for the first few levels, then it starts suffering from a case of self-identity. The game boasts itself for being a fast-paced, old-school shooter. Unfortunately, rushing forward generally got you killed really fast. In those cases, it seems like it wants the player to play more tactically and carefully. The problem is that cover is sparse and don't provide very good protection. Grenade launchers can easily kill the player in one hit, and it can splash beyond cover. Having to hide behind cover and run back where you came to be in safety really broke the flow of the game and it didn't seem worth it. A lot of bosses can kill you in one hit, so you have to be consistently moving; however, other enemies and sometimes the boss itself can also shoot bullets and rockets while you're running around and most of the cover are actually explosive and can kill the player in one hit as well. In simple terms, the game couldn't find a good balance between fast-paced action and slower-paced tactics. The game ended up irritating me more than entertaining me. I didn't even get to try multiplayer side since not a single-player was online to play it. I didn't want to believe it was a bad game, and I don't think it is perse. I saw what the developers wanted to achieve in having the player experience, but don't feel that it was executed very well.
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation was pretty much a stripped down version of the first Painkiller with better graphics. There were less levels and the last boss was long and tedious. It was mildly entertaining, but mostly boring.
Rise of the Triad was a huge disappointment. Much like Alien Rage, the game was advertised as being a fast-paced shooter with old-school charm. It started off okay and quickly became disgusting gameplay. Rather than shooting enemies, the game is filled with traps, poorly designed jump puzzles, and everything that hit you later on causes a really big cloudy explosion that fills the entire screen. The whole game felt very gimmicky because of all these puzzles and traps and I got no satisfaction from it. The last boss was so ridiculous that I had to use a cheat code to beat it (essentially, you're surround by lava that hurt you, tiny enemies that dive and blind you constantly, and a boss with an abnormal amount of health and damage that could kill you in two hits. The whole game just felt so messy and unorganized. I constantly felt lost as to where to go next as well because of how the levels were designed. I was more than ready to delete the game after completing it.
I didn't play all bad games this month though. I saw a game for about $3 that had just released called "One Way Heroics". I was rather reluctant on getting it because the graphics looked underwhelming and it was considered a "Rogue-like", a word that is thrown around a little too often in the indie game industry nowadays that it seems to have lost its meaning. Thankfully, the game turned out to be incredibly entertaining. The game is indeed a rogue-like with randomly generated levels, item spawn, and events for every playthrough. Unlike Elona, the game is significantly easier to learn how to play, takes a shorter amount of time to play, and still has enough content to keep it interesting. Essentially, the player chooses a class to play and keeps walking to the right as the dark shroud from the left of the screen consumes everything it comes in contact with while fighting off enemies, grabbing better equipment and getting stronger to fight the demon lord to stop the dark shroud from going any further. The game can still be unforgiving with enemies that can kill you in one hit, but there is the ability to save between towns and continue from there if killed. I've already beaten the game about 5 times on easy mode and can still find something to play out of it.
Vanguard Princess finally reach Steam and it was super cheap upon release! I've played this fighting game for the past 2 years or so already in Japanese and have been waiting for the English version to reach Steam for a while now ever since it was announced that it was put up on Steam Greenlight. It was really nice to be able to read the text and understand the story, even though there isn't that much depth to it. Sadly, my fight-stick doesn't work with the game and so I'm forced to use my Logitech Controller which seems to work perfectly fine with it. I had a lot of fun playing the game and can definitely play it once in a while if I want to play a fighting game really quick. The combo system is a little too technical which makes it hard to pull off long chains, but the simple combos are really short and are still very effective. It's amazing that this game was made by one guy (essentially).
Lastly, I want to talk about Senran Kagura Burst. I wouldn't have imagined that I'd enjoy the game so much and poured so many hours into it. Senran Kagura Burst is a Beat-em-Up for the 3DS and was heavily advertised in Japan for having incredibly busty female ninjas that lose pieces of their clothing as they fight. I don't mind fan-service as much anymore after being exposed to it so often in Animé and other Japanese games, but it always puts me on alert when it's used so heavily in a game making me think that the gameplay might not be enough to make the game worth it. I had changed my mind about Senran Kagura Burst and found interest in it when I saw a footage of the combo system. I couldn't keep away from it when it released here despite being digitally sold only (I despise getting games digitally on anything other than PC or tablets). I also didn't like the fact that it was $30 for a digital copy. Still, I was craving for a good beat-em-Up as I did enjoy Code of Princess but wasn't satisfied. Well, I got a lot more than I had hoped from Senran Kagura Burst because all I wanted was a decent Beat-em-up I could play for about 7 hours. I already have 39 hours on it and I still have a lot of extras to play! For one thing, I didn't expect the game to have a real story or one that was decent, yet a large portion of the game was reading the story for each mission and who the characters were, who they fight, how they've grown, and what their world was about. This, in turn, made me really like the characters. Sure, there are a few I don't like as much, but grew rather fond of them. The game looks so silly and upbeat that I didn't think it would venture into serious topics like death, good and evil, and the meaning of being a shinobi. I really liked that it did that, because the characters felt more believable. The whole world around them feels more real and has more meaning to who they are and why they fight when the story is taken a bit more seriously. Graphics is a bit on and off. I like the character designs a lot, though I don't think gigantic boobs is really necessary to make than any more attractive or likable. Seriously, the interactions they have with each other, their back stories, and their personalities shine through and made me care about them more than I thought I would. Their 3D models are really nice during conversations and special attacks. But the ones made for walking around in the room is very weird. Some of them have super thin arms and have odd walking animations when walking in the preparation room. The graphics in combat is sadly not entirely in 3D in turn to prevent frame skipping or slow-down (a serious problem in Code of Princess), but Specials are still in 3D which looks pretty cool. The graphics for combat aren't incredibly impressive, but the animation and how the game feels has a slick and flashy flow to the combat which I feel is very important to a beat-em-up. The AI isn't incredibly smart, but the way they're set-up sometimes is quite devious which is where the game feels challenging. Just button-mashing can get you so far until certain enemies that don't get fazed or attack from a range interrupts your attacks and deals massive damage. The game is comparable to Dynasty Warriors in that a lot of enemies are presented to you. Although a singular enemy may not be a threat, multiple enemies can cause problems if you don't position yourself and perform the correct attack chains to prevent getting flanked or stunned. I also didn't expect the music to be so good either. One of the first tracks that really caught my attention and made me appreciate the whole atmosphere it created within the game is Mirai's Theme "To the Worthless!"
The two composers that worked on the soundtrack for the game uses various styles and genres to really capture each characters personality and environment in a unique way. Mirai is the tiny, gothic lolita character in the back and is described as small but hates being ignored and wants to be treated as a true shinobi. This song comes across as being somewhat cute with the melodic piano, but also emphasizes how serious and strong Mirai is with a heavy techno beat and guitar riffs. I loved the song, but hated the character during the first half of the game (Hanzo story side). But when I played her story and learned more about her in the Hebijo side of the story, she became my favorite character for that side. That's what the writing of the story did for these characters coupled with the amazing songs for each of them. Another character I didn't really like but did later is Yomi who has an incredibly catchy theme:
And so I finished the game 2 nights ago with completing the main story. I felt so satisfied with the game. I can't say the story is epic or incredible, but the whole journey and learning about the characters and the progression of the story all felt very cohesive and felt so good when put togther: The story, the characters, the graphics, the music, the combat, and the challenge; they're all pretty good but not mind-blowing, yet they all work so well together that I felt it achieved in delivering the experience that the developer sought out to put out. It's similar to the same satisfaction and happiness I felt when I finish Fortune Summoners, it's just not the same exact kind since Fortune Summoners did drive me up the wall quite a few times. With all that said, I honestly hope that they bring over Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus and Senran Kagura 2 because Senran Kagura Burst has turned me into a fan of the series. I'm just sad that the developers feel like the game won't sell unless it's overly sexy when everything else in the game has worked so well for a fun game. Look at this ridiculous trailer for their new Cooking Rhythm spinoff they're making:
Like I said, I don't mind fan-service; however, fan-service to this degree makes it infinitely harder for publishers to bring it over. That and it's not even necessary for a fun or even attractive game. Trying to look past all this, I'd still get all these games if it has the same quality (if not better) in the level of story, characters, game mechanics, music, and graphics that I experienced in Senran Kagura Burst. I certainly enjoyed it after playing games like Alien Rage, Painkiller, and Rise of the Triad where I felt irritation, boredom and disappointment.
Besides that, I'm still working on Final Fantasy XIII. But that's a story for another time.
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