I've been a Senran Kagura fan since...well...Estival Versus. In other words, not very long. The point is, I liked Estival Versus and had been looking forward to the next game in the series ever since. That's when Peach Beach Splash came along. Does it take Senran Kagura to the next level or is just some stupid game with a lot of girls? Let's find out.
As you may have deduced, Peach Beach Splash is another Senran Kagura game, starring all of the characters you know and love. Even a few there are you may or may not know. Either way, there are a lot of characters to choose from, so we're off to a good start. Some are good, some are shitty, some are cringy, you know how it is.
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| Beware the Goddess of Cringe. |
After this, however, Peach Beach Splash goes in a completely different direction. The girls trade in their ninja gear for bathing suits and their swords for water guns. Yep. It time to pick your favorite girl and compete in Non-Mortal Kombat.
The story seems more focused than Estival Versus. The girls generally do less silly stuff in a setting that's even sillier. There's no panty eating or butt splitting here. Some of these girls are going through some genuine conflict. Sadly, the individual character stories aren't here, but they are replaced by something similar with the Paradise Episodes. Finally, you have the V-Road Challenge, where you plow through numerous teams until you win the PBS tournament.
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| These girls are going through some real shit this time around. |
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| Who's this creepy MFer? You'll have to play to find out. |
The gameplay is totally different from Estival Versus. You still fight the other girls and countless fodder. Instead of hacking and slashing them, you're shooting them with water until they explode. It's pretty simple.
Also, it's not Senran Kagura without some good old-fashioned humiliation. Clothing (if the characters are wearing any) gets torn Ikkitousen-style until the girl is reduced to her underwear. Instead of Creative Finishes like in Estival Versus, you have Squirmy Finishes, which enable you to shoot off your unfortunate victim's clothing, triggering a scene where the character is either topless or bottomless (don't worry, it's censored) or just embarrassed to be sprayed so much. It's not as fun as the Creative Finishes, but it's not totally pointless (probably).
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| I can't show you what happens after this... |
There is also the heart guage, which saves you from mission failure if you run out of hit points. It's easy to get blasted into oblivion, especially if several of the main girls get together to gang rape you. Be careful, though, as you can only respawn three times before you fail.
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| Try not to run out of hearts on your way to victory. |
You also have cards that you can use to do various things in battle. Some summon tornadoes, some buff you/debuff opponents, and other put up barriers/break down opponents barriers. Cards can turn the tide of battle. Heck, you even use cards to power up your girls and weapons between levels.
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| Perhaps they overdid it with the cards. |
One aspect of the gameplay that initially threw me off is the water gauge. You can only shoot so much water before your guns run out (this is what makes the sniper rifle a pain to use). If you stop shooting, the gauge will eventually refilled, but the best way to refill it is to shake your gun. This is dangerous, as when things get intense and you run out of water, you'll get raped by whoever you were shooting at. Make sure you find a safe spot to reload and you'll be fine.
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| This annoyed me to no end when I first started playing. |
The water gauge doesn't just affect your ability to shoot, but your ability to run and use your special jump as well. Some guns enable you to fly, some let you fall slower, others give a jump boost. They all use up water. You can, however, do some creative stuff in the heat of combat by utilizing these tools, though. It's good fun to fly to the top of the arena with Yumi, then drop down, bringing watery death with you.
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| You can rain down death... |
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| ...but it can be fun to just fly around sometimes. |
As for the water guns, they are divided into ten different types. Some of these water guns are godly (assault rifle), while others border on unusable (sniper rifle). The guns have each have some passive benefits and can be freely equipped on any girl. So, if you want to equip everyone with assault rifles, go ahead. Just keep that in mind they'll have those same guns equipped when you're playing against them.
As for outfits, the girls aren't just relegated to swimsuits. You can choose to dress them in any outfit or swimsuit you have available by going to the Dressing Room/Shower. Want to put Yumi in sweatsuit? Go ahead. Perhaps you'd like to put Homura in a red thong? That option is available, as well. You can edit the girls and their clothes in a number of ways, so play around and find a look that works for you.
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| If you ever can tired of seeing the girls in swimsuits... |
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| ...feel free to change it up. |
On to the other stuff. The graphics are a very slight step above Estival Versus. The girls do look a tiny bit better, but those with an untrained eye won't really notice a difference.
The music fits, but is too happy. This is understandable, consider the setting and the way things are carried out in this game, but the music is all happiness and no intensity. Also, gone are those sweet character themes.
Then, you have the Dressing Room/Shower. Dress-up is where you change outfits. Diorama enables you to create cute scenes featuring up to five girls with a number of poses and backgrounds. Intimacy will allow you to molest the girl of your choice until she gives in and offer you a kiss (no, I'm not joking). The beauty of this game is that you can take pictures of your creations, which you inexplicably couldn't do in Estival Versus.
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| Finally, you can create and share scenes like this. |
Besides the game itself, the No Shoe, No Shirt, Full Service Edition comes with the soundtrack, intros to previous games, and a book artwork to drool over (if you so choose). There's also plenty of DLC, including characters from Ikkitousen. There's no shortage of stuff here.
In the end, Peach Beach Splash is a fun game. It took me some time to adjust to the game mechanics, but once I got into it, it was hard to stop playing. There is some cringe-factor here, but that's to be expected from a Senran Kagura game. There's some stuff they took away, but improved other stuff, so it balances out. Overall, I still prefer Estival Versus, but this is a worthy addition to your game library if you like girl-heavy games. Check it out.
