Senran Kagura 2 Preview – What You Wanted from Senran Kagura Burst
I recently stopped by Marvelous Europe’s Gamescom booth to check out Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson. I played the first three missions, but didn’t get a look at the story. It seems strange that Senran Kagura 2 isn’t called Senran Kagura Burst 2, as it’s the first game in the series that this second 3DS entry of the series is truly based on. Though ultimately it seems like there’s enough to set it apart, while feeling similar.
Wrapping your hands sensually around the 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, New 3DS, or New 3DS XL (in my case the last one), one thing becomes quite clear: it feels a lot like Senran Kagura Burst.
Which isn’t to say there are no differences. Thankfully, 4 years on from Senran Kagura Burst, Marvelous have learnt some tricks. The framerate, which could be a bit of a problem in the original, now seems to be much improved – leading to a silky smooth fluidity as you leap around combo’ing enemy ninjas.
Additional characters have also been added, though I did not play as them. I played as Asuka, Ikaruga, and Katsuragi in that order, each tied to the missions (at least on first playthrough).
There’s more depth to the levels now too. As you’re ferried through the quite linear environments, your route takes you between the foreground and background more frequently, making the level environments feel a lot more 3D, and more realised. This is the biggest departure departure from Senran Kagura Burst, which felt very two dimensional. Additionally the combat system has been slightly tweaked to account for the added depth. Both of these together result in gameplay that feels a lot less repetitive and more varied than in Burst.
But at its core, even though there are quite a lot of improvements, this is more Senran Kagura Burst. But that’s not exactly a bad thing – X years on, that seems to be exactly what fans want – an improved Senran Kagura Burst. It looks like Senran Kagura 2 will deliver, and be the Senran Kagura Burst you wished it was.
