Senran Kagura Beach Splash Review

Senran Kagura Beach Splash, a game that would be embarrassed for a friend to see sitting either on my shelf or digitally in my library. It is a game that needs no introduction as really, it is a game designed for fans of the anime that are after one thing only, and a compelling story and gameplay it isn’t.

Right let’s get this out of the way first, this game is not going to show you full nudity, this is not one of those games, however it defiantly pushes the limits of what can be done within the age rating of the game. Those who are fans of the anime will know what to expect, clothes ripping, embarrassed ladies and perfectly angled bits of fog, or environmental debris to block what it is you actually want to see. Personally I don’t get this, the game is one giant tease and if you’re into that sort of thing? Well more power to you.

Graphically the game has improved, with the previous titles being simultaneously released on Vita or PS4, there was certain level of graphical fidelity that was not possible to achieve. Though I wouldn’t say that the game looks massively improved, the Naruto games released on the PS3 last gen still look massively better than what is on offer here, but at least there is some Improvements, textures are increased, more models on screen at once to make the levels feel more lively. Though there is massive room for improvements, at its best this game feels like an early PS3 title, and at its worst feels like a PS2 title, the game in no way looks pretty, and seems to be so focused on its titular nature that it forgets that there actually needs to be a game underneath.

With mentioning the game underneath, lets discus this, its…disappointing still. The game works, and it’s a cheap brawler with very minimalistic strategy needed, whilst playing, the game felt like the developers saw something like Splatoon and thought, “We could slap our character’s into Bikinis and just that kind of gameplay”, but then made them fight each other with water guns, because sensual glistening skin I suppose, something that isn’t shown very well through the games limited graphics.

The gameplay is in a nutshell, you have different water guns, and you need to take out other ninjas though a water park themed level. Of course the more damage you do the more skin is shown, with finishing them off shows them in a more “vulnerable” state which is the end goal of the whole game. Again the whole point of this game in its entirety is to get the girls as close to naked as possible, that is the carrot on the end of the stick here, the game play is as average as the graphics and this is not a game that should be played by those who do not have interest

Finally, the story aspect of the game, because they did think they would attempt to justify what is actually going on. Every so often all the ninjas come together to compete in the Beach Splash tournament.

That’s it, you get no other explanation of why Ninjas who want to kill each other suddenly are okay with wearing Bikini’s and shooting each other with a water gun, maybe I missed something, maybe I’m expect too much, but I felt disappointed regardless. Though that being said, the cut scenes themselves were well animated, and near identical to the actual anime animation…I checked for…research purposes.

But that is really it when it comes to the gameplay and story, yes there are unlockable outfits and more poses that characters can do, you can customise exactly the kind of reaction they make when they get beaten, or exactly what they get to wear when fighting, but again, the graphics being used here do not exactly make the game look anywhere as good as it could look, and sort of make the dressing up portion of this game kind of useless in situation it’s been put in.

Senran Kagura Beach splash is an average game, it’s a game that people will play for the “plot” and nothing else, it is aimed at a particular type of gamer, and if you are that person you will absolutely love this game. However, for the rest of you, this is not a game you will enjoy, or more, you maybe will until a point when you realise you can just YouTube all the scenes you want to see on the internet. 3/10 for a game that is technically functional, but at the same time not entirely fun or really worth it, if you’re that desperate put your £40 towards a more…direct form of subscription found on the internet.