Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash Review (PS4)
There is something fascinating about how Senran Kagura just simply doesn’t give a care in the world for what is considered everyday normal moral behavior. This series is the closest you get to porn without any actual porn. And its latest spinoff Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash is no exception, taking fan service to a whole new level.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash starts out as our girls get invitations to the mysterious PBS tournament where they must compete using only water guns. The game tries to explain this contrived setup, but it really serves little more than to show off what truly matters, Boobs!
PBS is more perverted than the main entries in the series and even Senran Kagura Bon Appétit! You will pump up your big hard water gun and squirt fluids all over the teary-eyed girls, tearing off their undersized bikinis and making them even wetter in the process. PBS uses every euphemism in the book to get your perverted attention.
When you put all the fanservice aside you get a fun little team shooter underneath. If you were looking for Splatoon with boobs look no further. There are a number of weapons to choose from including dual pistols, machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and many others.
Even though you use water guns you don’t need to worry about running out of ammo and having to hunt down the nearest water source. Instead, you can refill your water stock at a moment’s notice by pumping up your water gun. Unfortunately, some weapons tend to eat through water way too quickly, forcing you to reload often.
When you are not shooting you will be doing Vanquish-like slides and water propelled jetpack leaps. While they both look cool and are unbelievably useful, they deplete your already limited water supply even faster, meaning you will be spending more time reloading your weapons than actually going all Gun Fu.
With this being said, PBS is a rather accessible title. You don’t have to have superhuman dexterity in order to have a good time. You can toggle between manual aiming and auto-aiming at the press of a button. The ever-helpful auto-aim option lets you just point in the general direction and pull the trigger in order to hit enemies. Slower weapons might miss more often than if you had taken your time to aim, but it makes the game a lot less stressful for people who just want to have fun.
One of the rules of PBS is that all girls are forbidden from using their Nippon skills in order to prevent too much havoc. As an alternative to this, you have an assortment of skill cards which give you handy buffs and specials to get an edge out over your foes. You can customize which cards a girl will bring into battle but you will only have the option of activating three randomly selected cards. These skills range from creating impenetrable barriers to summoning companions to assist you in the fight.
Once you finally do manage to take down your slippery opponents you can go in for the finisher. By pressing the square button next to an incapacitated opponent, you can execute a Kunekune Finish which has you playing a mini-game where you hose your opponent down. Soak her bikini top or bottom enough and you will expose her bare albeit censored privates for further humiliation. It’s as every bit dirty as it sounds. While initially fun, the novelty very quickly wears off, since you can literally execute a dozen of these finishers in a single round.
There is a decent number of modes, offering hours upon hours of content for those that want it. The single-player experience offers a 10-mission story mode for each of the game’s schools. After this, you have the ability to hop into even more “plot” in the game’s shorter Paradise Episodes. Last but not least, you have the V-Road Challenge where you will be put in five consecutive battles fighting for first place. At any time, you can opt to head online and try your luck against other players in ranked, free or co-op survival.
Unfortunately, even with all this, the core gameplay can get pretty repetitive. Its simplistic gameplay takes its toll. There is almost no variety and very little actual strategy is required during matches.
At any time, you can decide to head to the dressing/shower room to cool down from all the battles. Here you can fully customize your girls with new hairstyles, swimsuits and a ton of neat accessories. All these show up not only in battles but also in all cutscenes so you have double the reason to dress them up to your liking. You can also compose your own diorama which ended up being far more entertaining than it had any right to be. When you are not dressing them you will be spraying, groping and even slapping your favorite girl. Do this enough and you will be able to perform the ultimate perverted move of all… a heartfelt kiss!
Whenever you win a match you will receive a booster pack which grants you new weapons, skill and companion cards. If you are looking for something, in particular, you can always head over to the store. Here you can get all sorts of goodies ranging, from clothes and accessories to booster packs and soundtrack and artworks.
Visually, Peach Beach Splash might not be outstanding, but what it sets out to do it does flawlessly. The color pallet with its blue skies, sandy beaches and of course busty girls are pleasing to look at.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash is an entertaining spinoff which tries something totally new. Its accessible gameplay and the overwhelming customization options can have you glued to the screen for hours. With that said, even after going through just a couple of matches the novelty quickly wears thin, meaning the game might not have as much replay value as it initially seemed. If you are a fan of the series or are just looking for some quick and dirty fun on the beach, Peach Beach Splash should be enough to satisfy your appetite.
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