My Senran Kagura Estival Versus Dream Team

It's no secret that I like Senran Kagura.  What is secret is the characters I like to use.  Before I start, I will say that these aren't the top five girls in terms of usefulness or even popularity.  These are MY personal favorites, based on a number of factors.  Also, I won't be including DLC characters, so (against every fiber of my being) Ryofu and Ayane won't be on this list.  Anyway, here are the five girls on my Estival Versus dream team.

5.  Mirai

It's an umbrella.  It's a gun.  It's an umbrella gun.

When she gets going you don't even have to move to defeat bosses in the one-on-one battles.  Just stand there and shoot like your life depends on it.  It's hilarious to watch the boss struggle to get to you, only to watch her go flying the moment she within three miles of you.  Good Stuff.

Bosses are almost defenseless against her umbrella gun.

Happy after a long day of blasting heads.

4.  Homura

Ready to curve up peons like turkeys.

She fights with six swords, three per hand, and slashes at anyone within reach like a female version of Wolverine on her menstrual cycle.  Plus, she has a cute ponytail and some funny interactions with the other girls.

Check those sick swords...and that sick ponytail.

Relaxing after slicing people up.

3.  Renka

Ready to bust heads and look hot doing it.

Just a well-designed character all around.  She's a drummer girl, who fights with giant drumsticks, and has a drum-based theme.  Heck, some of her move even has her beating on a magical drum while she's beating on enemies.  All of her traits seem carefully thought out and have good synergy.  Oh...and she's hot.  Just hot for no good reason other than for the sake of being hot.  Being hot is compounded by being eighteen.  Yep, she's an adult, so drool away, guys.

Marching to the beat of her own energy drum.

After beating on heads, she goes back to beating on drums.

2.  Ikaruga

Years of training has gone into this ass-whuppin'.

Possibly the coolest-looking character in the game.  Everything about her just looks cool.  Her outfit, her fighting style, her hair, everything.  And her theme is the most badass in the game.  Just cool.

One heck of an outfit.

A smile as big as her sword.

1.  Yumi

Ikaruga may look the coolest, but Yumi actually is the coolest.  She's a snow lady, which genuinely makes her the coolest.  Everything about her screams cold and ice.  Her appearance, her moveset, her outfit, her run animation, even her personality.  Also, she is the default guide (the voice you hear as you navigate the menus).

Icy cold death from above.

Yumi's ice surfing is the coolest run animation in the game.

Transformed and ready to go.

The Ice Queen never rests.

And there they are.  My Estival Versus dream team.  They may or may not be the most useful, most popular, or the cutest, but this is the team I ride with.  Like them?  Don't like them?  Who are your favorites?  Feel free to comment below.

Onechanbara Z2 Chaos Review (PS4)

Videogames can be so simple sometimes.  Zombies, violence, and scantily-clad women.  That's all there is to Onechanbara Z2 Choas.  Nobody ever said simplicity was bad.

Undead ass-beatings lie within.

In this game, you take the role of four women.  First, you have the mainstays of the series, the temptress Aya and foul-mouthed Saki.  They bring two others to the party, vampires Kagura and Saaya (no, that's not a typo).  These archenemies must come together to defeat a new breed of evil.

The four ravishing vixens you'll be playing as.

The gameplay is fast, fluid, fun, and simple.  You just select the order you want to use the girls in.  Then, you run around and kill every enemy you see.  If one of the girls is getting her ass kicked too much, just switch to the next girl and continue the fight.  Even with all four girls at your disposal, if you're careless you might take an ass-whuppin' and all four girls will be dead faster than you can say "g-string".  Yes, there is some level of challenge.  It's not just killing things and drooling over girls.

There is a little more to the game than mindless hacking and slashing, though.  Each girl has several weapons that you can switch between at any time.  The whole time you're fighting, these weapons will get covered in blood and will need to be cleaned.

The real fun, though, is when the girls themselves get covered in blood.  Yep.  With all the blood flying around, the girls are bound to get covered in it.  When the girls get covered in too much of it, they will turn into a berserk killing machine, doling out beatings and rape to all who dare to get near them.  However, you must be careful, because while in berserk mode your girl's energy will slowly drain and she CAN actually die from it.  You can revert the afflicted character by going to a goddess statue or she transform back over time, assuming she doesn't die first.  You can also keep her from going berserk by using statue fragments.  Of course you could also switch the girl out after she changes over (her energy won't drain while she's on the sidelines) and unleash her when you need to kill without prejudice.  The afflicted girl can get even more powerful with a mega-transformation for maximum butt-kicking powers.

The action can get pretty fast and crazy.

The graphics do their job.  The girls really do look hot, especially Kagura and Aya (sorry, but there's no getting around it).  Some of the imagery can be disturbing.  For example, there is an area where you fight where the ground is completely completely covered in blood.  It's pretty creepy.  Also, the enemies look good, especially the bosses.

Make no mistake, this is so creepy stuff.

The story is total BS.  It's almost in comprehensible.  Seriously.  You'll be going WTF the whole time.  This game is a sequel, so the first game may give you a better idea of what's going on, but in general, the Onechanbara series as a whole has a head-scratcher of a story.

Pretty nice looking game.

So the game looks and plays good.  What are the flaws?  It's too short.  The game ends just as it starts to get good.  It leaves you wanting more and not in a good ways.  It feels kind of cheap, like when Street Fighter 5 first came out.  Also, sometimes there's a little too much going on at times.  You just be hacking and slash when your girl will suddenly just drop dead, because you didn't realize you were getting it as good as you were giving it.  As mentioned earlier, watch your girl's energy and switch frequently to keep them alive.

What about the other stuff.  The music seems weaker than other games in the series, but it's still loaded with the fist-pumping energy a game like this needs.  On the sound front, we finally have English voices.  They may or may not be bad, but I can finally understand what Aya and Saki are saying and that trumps everything.  There is also a challenge mode, which adds a little more length for those left unsatisfied with the short story mode.  You can change the girls' outfits in coordinate mode, power up the girls and their weapons in battle settings, or just drool over them in gallery mode.  One thing that other titles in the series have that's mysteriously missing from this entry is survival mode, which also can have helped counter the short length.

Now THESE are good uniforms.

All-in-all, Onechanbara Z2 Chaos is a solid game.  It's short, yet violent and moderately-satisfying.  The action is fast and there are plenty of enemies to kill.  The girls die pretty fast, but the use of items and frequent switching can help on that front.  It's just mindless, over-the-top mayhem.  If you like female protagonists, skimpy outfits, and hilarious amounts of violence, this is your game.  I say check it out.

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus Review (PS4)

Senran Kagura gets sort of a bad rap.  To an extent, it's understandable.  I mean, let's look into what it is.  It's a game where you play as a girl and beat other girls until their clothes fall off.  These other girls won't take this lying down and will instead beat you until your clothes fall off if you allow them to.  It sounds kind of perverted, which can turn some people off.  This is a little sad, because there is actually a solid game underneath this exterior.

Upon getting into the game, you may be reminded of Dynasty/Samurai Warriors. You pick a character, beat on waves of peons, and occassionally fight a boss (who themselves are selectable characters).  You have weak attacks, strong attacks, jump attacks and other things.  It's monotonous, button mashing fun like the aformentioned Warriors games.

Sometimes you can barely find you own character because of all the peons.  Surprisingly, there's no slowdown.

Estival Versus isn't a total Warriors clone, however.  There are a number of differences that set it apart.  The most obvious one is that this game has an all female cast.  That's right.  Every character (main characters and peons alike) is female.  As such, you have the usual crap that comes with female characters interacting in manga/anime type settings.  That sisterspeak garbage, the attempted groping from the perverted girl, among other things are all present here.  Fortunately, it's not overdone in this game.

The next and possibly most important difference from the Warriors series is tone.  The graphics are cartoony and the action is lighthearted.  As a result, the sexuality doesn't come off as sexy, but funny, which is what I believe the developers were going for.  You'll hit peon with a combo, causing their clothes to explode Ikkitousen-style while sending them flying Team Rocket-style.

Beat the crap out of them and watch their clothing explode.

Continuing on, you also have the ability to use bombs, which can inflict maladies such as poison and freeze, to inflict even more pain on hapless victims.  The game even has cute little mechs (yes, really) you can ride, allowing you to dish out some major-league hurt.  The enemy may ride there own mechs into battle as well and yes, their hits hit badly.  You can also use transformations to wreck havoc on peons and bosses alike.  Bosses can also transform and put some major-league hurt on you as well, so be careful.

That mech may look cute, but don't laugh.  Those things are serious business.

As for those transformations, you have two.  The first changes your character into some magical-type girl.  While in this mode, your girl gets powers and her defense increases.  As for the second transformation...you strip your girl down to her underwear, which extends her combos and increases her attack power.  This second transformation is kind of pervy, but you could simply opt to not to use it.

Moving on, this game is long.  There's a lot to do, though most of it is the same.  You have a main story mode the spans nine days, forcing you to play as different characters to advance.  This can suck if you don't like a particular character because they have a crappy fighting style.  You can replay these missions with any character after you beat them.

There are also various difficulty settings you can play on.  The game isn't too difficult as long as you don't underestimate it.  Seriously.  You may be ready to for the hard difficulty, but if your girl isn't, you'll be walking into a vicious ass-whuppin'.

The scars of an intense battle, clearly visible.

On top of the main story, each girl has her own seperate story.  Things can get tough here, so make sure your girls are leveled up enough before delving into these.  Good luck playing as one one the crappier characters.  Once again, you can play these with any character once you've beaten them.

She's the coolest character in the game.  Literally.

As for everything else...it fits.  The graphics have that cute, anime look.  The music is playful, yet still intense enough for combat.  Some character themes, like Ikaruga's, are pure badass.  The story is what you'd expect; cute girls fighting and doing silly things.  The game is content heavy, with lots of stuff to find (creative finishers), buy in game (dat store though), and download (yay, Ryofu Housen and Ayane).

Look closely for familiar sights.

There is a library where you can listen to music and pictures you've unlocked and bought.  Also, you have a dressing room where a lot can go down.  You can dress the girls in outfits you bought from the store or put them in other girls' outfit.  You can chose any five girls you want and put them in various poses and states.  Or you can just drool over them, if you want (if you like girls like this).

All in all, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus is a pretty darned good game.  It's long, fun, and satisfying.  It has a big roster and only a few characters suck.  The DLC characters they added make it that much sweeter.  It can be repetitive and a little perverted, but it has too many other things going for it to recommend against.  Grow a backbone and play this one as soon as you can.