With so many unique hardware features at its disposal, Nintendo Switch has given developers plenty of inspiration when it comes to using the HD Rumble and gyro-controls of the Joy-Cons. We’ve aimed down imaginary sights with triple-A first-person shooters, pulled off many a routine with dancing simulators and even performed open-heart surgery/clinical murder. Well, now we can say we’ve given a high school ninja a thigh message as well. So there’s that box ticked.
Yes, the Senran Kagura series has finally made its way to Ninty’s latest hardware generation, but we’re a long way from the side-scrolling/visual novel days of Senran Kagura Burst on 3DS. All pretences of making this anything other than an excuse in ogling overdeveloped schoolgirls have departed, and what you’re left with is Senran Kagura Reflexions. For all intents and purposes, it’s a ‘romantic massage simulator’, where you meet Asuka - one of the main heroines from the wider series - and run your virtual hands across her body. It’s presented as a love story, with your reflexology sessions supposedly designed to help Asuka ‘find herself’. Ahem.
We should point out this game isn’t designed to be all-out porn - even the liberated Nintendo of today has its limits - but rather a part of a Japanese subculture of sexual identity known as ‘Ecchi’. Games that fall into this category are usually meant to represent flirting and barely-contained sexual tension, rather than represent the act itself. Be that as it may, that doesn’t stop this dating sim from really pushing the envelope when it comes to content on a ‘family friendly’ console. In other words: this game is definitely NSFW.
Let’s all be honest with ourselves here. Any game that enables you to play a scene where a high school student wears a costume worryingly-titled ‘Gift Wrapped’ gives you some idea where this is all leading. It all starts out innocently enough, with Asuka asking you to massage different parts of her hands. By either moving the Joy-Cons in different directions - or moving the cursors on-screen with the analog sticks - you can then unlock different potential scenarios where Asuka is dressed up in various costumes.
You can see which ‘scenarios’ you’ve played before thanks to a thought bubble Asuka shows as you focus on one area of her hands. If it’s one you haven’t played before, you’ll see a silhouette. Next, you’ll need to start massaging her body. Depending on where you massage her, you’ll be able to read her mood based on the changing colour of the musical notes and love hearts she expresses. Light blue means unhappiness and red means, well, the opposite of unhappiness. Repeatedly massaging her arms, thighs or wherever will eventually unlock a ‘Glorious Reflexology’ mini-game session where you can use your hands (and a variety of massage tools you periodically unlock) to help Asuka relax into a state of zen. Eventually, you'll fill a vessel that represents her Heart’s Desire.
Depending on the exercises you’ve performed, this vessel will change colour, revealing new sections of a heart-shaped image. Fill them all and you get to enjoy an even more ‘romanitic’ scene with your virtual ‘friend’. Each one of these reflexology sessions is represented as a ‘dream’ or Arc, which is presumably why one such ‘dream’ sees you role-playing as brother and sister with so much sexual overtone it’s not even funny anymore - it’s just plain creepy. There are plenty of others, all unlocked by massaging a particular part of her hands, but all of them just boil down to overt male power fantasies. It’s presented as romance, but we all know it’s just cheap titillation.
Outside of this main ‘story’, you can also perform freeform massages, should your ‘heart’ so desire, or head into the Dress-Up mode and customise Asuka with various revealing costumes that show off a cleavage that defies all laws of physics. You can even turn her into a Diorama and adjust everything from her expression to the angle of her posture. Progressing in the main story unlocks more items for customising Asuka, and with DLC planned for additional characters from the series, there are hours of ‘fun’ to be had.
Conclusion
So Senran Kagura Reflexions is a thing, and it’s out now on Nintendo Switch. If you’re a fan of the series, this entry won’t be of any great surprise - after all, we’ve had a water gun third-person shooter and a rhythmic cookery game under the Senran Kagura banner - but if you’re new to the series this title might look like the kind of thing you'd not normally find on Switch. As innocent and silly as it all pertains to be, it’s just a tame excuse to get a bit of cheap sleaze onto a Western games console.
Comments 142
You had me at 'cheap titillation', but 'cheap sleaze' was the climax I came for.
I have the feeling the reviewer hated it because it's erotic in nature.
This isn't a "male power fantasy". Male power fantasy is bulging muscles and slaying monsters while women fall all over the hero – think He-Man or Rambo. This is more about intimacy and desire for gentleness. It's a different kind of fantasy, get your buzzwords straight.
I'll give you creepy though. That's usual for Japanese ecchi games. Especially the apparent age of the girls or incest scenarios.
Being friends with a chesty massage girl means I'm happy to stick to the real thing. OK she doesn't have HD Rumble but I can live with that.
What utter crap
Bag review. I’m personally not interested in this kind of game. But this is a condescending review. I have no idea after reading the review why the game got a bad review other than its sleaziness.
@roboshort Could have scored it lower. 4 means there must be some... redeeming features.
Oh no! Boobs and naughty bits in a M rated title! Let's give it a bad score, bunch a hypocrites! Why not score Wolfenstein 2 and Doom low for the gore and violence!!
I wonder if there's anyone in the universe who would be able to play this type of game and not have the slightest bit of shame.
What happens if you touch her naughty bits?
@SmaggTheSmug So wait, He-Man is male power fantasy? My childhood is ruined.
I’m just here for the comments managing to be more offended by the review than the reviewer was by the game.
I've never played any of these games, but I don't know what's all the fuss about. From what I've seen, aside from giving them massages anything doesn't really happen. I mean, can players actually touch their breasts? I don't think so, even with clothes, let alone seeing them naked.
Sexist as it is, and it is, I think it's kind of cautious. No HD rumble? Seriously? Again, what's all the fuss about?
By the way, does this one come censored too? If I'm not mistaken, 3DS ones were censored in things like less cleavage, but as anything 18+ really happens anyway, I find it stupid.
That's a personal opinion about the game itself from what I've understood, without playing any of the series, so maybe I'm mistaken. And I won't be playing them, but I'm curious about these contradictions.
@TJWorks I'm hoping to find someone on my friend list playing it with 100+ hours logged.
@Moroboshi876 As far as I'm aware you can massage the girls anywhere you please and there is HD Rumble where you expect there to be HD Rumble.
@Damo How could a jokey guy in a pink shirt turning into a musclebound barbarian in leather straps and not much else shouting "I HAVE THE POWER" be anything else? Filmation actually wanted Prince Adam to be small and scrawny, but decided to cut budget on animation and make him buff as well.
"Toys That Made Us" has the creator stating that they wanted their toys to project "Power", to compete with Star Wars' "Force". That's why they made the toys so impossibly ripped and went with a barbarian theme.
Of course these days anything that appeals to boys is considered "toxic" or "exclusionary". That's probably why Thundercats look like formless blobs rather than (cat)men and (cat)women and He-Man has been passed over for She-Ra for a reboot (though he had one in 2002).
It's "Asuka"! At least get her name right and pretend you paid any attention to the game before rubbishing it.
EDIT: Okay, fair enough, you fixed it.
Not once did you spell Asuka's name correctly.
@OorWullie OK, someone wrote a comment saying there wasn't HD rumble.
Thanks for the info. Anyway I'm not going to buy these games, just as I won't be playing SNK Heroines Frenzy or whatever it's called. It seems that it's not even a great game.
@SmaggTheSmug - dressing/undressing a girl, posing her... yes, for a certain type of man this counts as a "male power fantasy".
It's not just about chest beating pumped-up fighty, shooty pow pow stuff, the objectification of women is also a male power thing.
I admire your innocence though!
Who came he to read the comments section for a laugh?
Seriously though, the concept of a game for people to ogle cartoons when the Internet exists seems an odd business proposition- yet they keep making them so people must keep buying them!
Given that this review was done by the same person who considers "Gone Home" a masterpiece, it's absolutely no surprise that he hates Senran Kagura Reflexions.
I'm not sure why he decided to review a game he knew wasn't meant for him and he was going to hate from the very beginning based on politics alone.
@gcunit Yeah at least two redeeming qualities I suppose.
If you ever wanted a girl as a pet, this is the game you dreamed of. Nekopara and Gal Gun 2 has a new competition.
@Moroboshi876
The main Senran Kagura games are beat-em-ups, in which while the hook is the destructible clothes, most fans stay because they grow to like the characters, many of which have pretty good stories written behind them. But the games have many spin-off titles, and this one of them. In no Senran Kagura game, is there actual nudity. At most in any game, you see censored nipples and crotches via a white light.
Average westerners are triggered by this game. They need to go back to HBO and Netflix to watch traditional sex scenes in every episode and then complain about how Japan is a nation of perverts.
From what I understand, this game is poor not because it's perverted, but just because the idea is so forced.
I take it the pure fanservice was... ecchi element.
I'll see myself out.
these comments are golden
@AlexSora89 omg xD
No mention of HD rumble which is a key point of this game... it's supposed to simulate the jiggly feel, a sensation missing from 1-2 Switch Milking game.
Any chance y'all can get a reviewer who's not giving a review that can be summed up into "it's a lewd sex game and I'm uncomfortable with that"? You don't give five nights at freddy's to the guy who detests jump scares.
I literally just want to know about the game and this review tells me minimal about the qualities and their execution.
@ScorpionMG
If my pun managed to make someone laugh, the apocalypse might be closer than I expected.
I'm a bit surprise they didn't manage to put more "game" in there.
The Japanese usually find a way to do that with even the sleaziest of settings, unless they're deliberately making a VN.
@Mii_duck LOL, innocence?
I must be living in a "male power fantasy" world since couples do this all the time... At least me and my partner do.
I find "objectification" to be a separate issue, though one related to the power fantasy (since those usually revolve around being extremely attractive to the opposite sex).
Desire for quasi-romantic intimacy is pretty far from a power fantasy IMO. I mean, it's a game about giving handrubs, not something like the high-testosterone sex scenes from older God of War games.
@Dom you might want to change the text in the conclusion...
Fans of Senran Kagura WILL be surprised by this game. It has absolutely nothing that makes/made the franchise great. It's a barebones tech demo in a genre that doesn't even fit Senran Kagura, as a huge part of the games are about the story, the fleshed out characters and the struggle within the ninja world. Not to mention the fact that all the other titles are about fun, frantic action and silly mechanics.
If nothing else, the other titles you mention had at least one of those four ingredients firmly established.
Heck, even the upcoming pinball game seems to have the frantic action part down.
This is nothing but a tech demo, and Senran Kagura fans aren't just mindless blobs who see boobs and press purchase. Some of us might have started out that way, but you'd be surprised how much we tend to focus on character details, personality and storyline.
Yeah, it's a hate review alright. This is why I only buy games based on my perception of it and never listen to what reviewers say.
Bought the japanese version and all the DLCs when they came out and the game is fun. Sure, it's not for everyone, but how about not giving it a bad score based on what genre the game is?
It's a different approach to the Senran Kagura series, it's basically more visual novel-like and it's based on massage minigames.
I found all the character scenarios funny as hell and I liked getting new outfits, dressing the characters, posing them and making screenshots.
Also the character reactions during touch-parts before the massage minigames are damn cute.
Okay, it's not perfect, but then again, which game is? It's all in our mind and our perception. I'd give it at least a 7/10.
Now if only we'd get the main games too, that'd be great, but I know I'm hoping for too much
Between the terribly written and super predictable reviews, the copy&pasted tweets masquerading as news, misleading articles that get facts wrong, top X lists being divided over as many pages as possible to maximise page hits and click-bait videos with no worthwhile content, my urge not visit this site anymore is definitely growing.
Disgusted by this kind of thing, has no place in modern culture.
Reflexology is 'alternative' medicine, unsupported by scientific evidence!
(... But yeah, it is also sexist creepy tripe)
@DarkKirby Totally true. I had to review "Burst", but was surprised that behind the obvious fanservice the gameplay was quite solid (with flaws like framerate, but still good) and appealing characters.
Of course the spin-off games are more obvious in their saucy nature. I still want "Waifu Splatoon" though!!
At least now the game engine is ported with this to the switch.
This game annoys me, switch gets this and that pinball game while PC and PS4 get the real game later this year.
It really pisses me off as a Switch player because after playing 2 full fledged SK games on the 3DS and 2 full fledged SK games on the Vita + a pretty fun cheap spin-off, the Switch gets this...
Give me the REAL Senran Kagura games on the Switch Marvelous!
P.S. I know what this game is and it's fun enough to be worth more than a 4, really it does.
But I would prefer this as a extra SK game on the Switch next to the regular ones, not as the only SK game on the Switch.
I don't hate this, but I'm angry about how they treat the Switch.
@GameOtaku because these types of reviewers hate anime games, remember the score Burst got on this website and the score Deep Crimson 2 got? Yeah and that while both are solid SK games.
@Moroboshi876 they were not censored in the west, they look so by design.
@Heavyarms55 exactly
Well it can't be that bad if you have scored it a 4, for cheap sleaze that is good, especially when you had three other options.
This sort of ridiculous excuse for game playing found its way into Final Fantasy on the 3ds. And while reviewers try and justify it Japan will keep on doing it. It must it be a cultural thing.
Reviews are not there to praise the things you enjoy [2].
If you've already made up your mind on buying a game, by all means go ahead and press purchase. I got everything I needed to know about the title here and I'm confident it's not for me.
@bratzdoll reviewers should be neutral and should keep their personal agenda at home, review a game for what it is and not for what their personal agenda says.
This is the reason a lot of japanese games get bad reviews, because anime and japan = automaticaly bad.
Doesn't change the fact this is not a regular SK game, but still a sad fact.
And meanwhile while they bash a japanese game here, they praise a NBA game with a 9 that got a lot of expensive microtransactions, a game where 2K nerfed stuff so much grinding is a hell so they hope that forces you to buy ingame money.
I played one of these before. It was not bad. Poor Senran Kagura, It gets no love from the moral police.
@Rayquaza2510 You lost me at "SJW agenda"
i wonder how all the people who are here to defend sleazy porno games have posted regarding games like Gone Home or Her Story
@Equinox lol "Spending money to own the libs" as if anybody cared.
Ah Japan. Super liberal with its sexuality. I can see my wife asking me why I would play that when I have her. Lol
@Nincompoop I have had girls as pets so I see no need for this game lol if it was cheaper like a couple of quid I'd get it
@Equinox
Yup, gonna buy a copy for both me and my cousin.
@boatie
Eh, you have libs and then the crazy libs. I've been a lib for 20+ years and voted Demo just as long.
I own Gone Home on Steam, terrible game and a not a good comparison for what you were going for tbh.
@boatie you clearly don't know what porno is then, because even while this is meh game it's by far no porn.
If this was porn it would never end on consoles to start with or get a PEGI 16 rating, console makers have specific rules, also in japan where such games are not allowed, PC is the ONLY place to find such games and SK is not such game.
No mention of the HD Rumble implementation? Dont make me buy it just to satisfy my curiosity on that front!
Wow, seriously, screw off Nintendolife with the attitude in these kind of reviews
Either give it to someone who likes these kind of games or don't review them
@TurboTEF why is it terrible when a onanism enabler is good?
You did a pretty good job reviewing it without resorting to Polygon-like moral peacocking.
It looks so lazy compared to some of their other games.
@boatie Dunno, I'll let you know after I play it.
@Dezzy Now this is a pretty level-headed response I can agree with. I agree that the main games should be on Switch as well, but I kinda don't mind either since I just buy em on Steam.
@Rayquaza2510 I bow down to the porn game expert
@boatie troll elsewhere
@Rayquaza2510 Allright then tell me why would you buy the game if not for the sexual stimulation. No it's not a porn game but it's pretty explicit on what it wants to convey.
@Equinox What a childish behaviour:
"I buy a product because some people don't like what it stands for."
I bet you also buy the new doom game because a joke in the trailer offended 2 or 3 liberals.
So many hot takes in the comments, I'm sweating.
@Rayquaza2510 I'm not trolling, but I am getting a perverse pleasure at seeing all the weirdos come out because their pervert game got a bad review on a website.
I actually like the SK games that focus on combat. I'm all for fanservice in games, but this is another level. Definitely not for me, but the developers know their audience and know what they're doing. It's not a game I'd ever get, but I figured the review and the comments would make for some nice entertainment... was not disappointed.
Horrendous
@roboshort
It got a bad review because it does nothing interesting beyond the erotic stuff.
He starts out by distinguishing it from Senran Kagura Burst, which suggests that he's not in principle against the genre.
There are definitely some erotic games that are actually good games in their own right (Bible Black is very good), but a lot of them are clearly just shallow pandering for the sake of keeping the budget low.
These games suck with or without the bewbz
They're generic beat em ups.
@Equinox
Are there people who actually care what you buy let alone get pissed off?
@TJWorks I have no shame playing this game. I've had it since the Japanese launch. It's a good laugh and is what I expected from an Senran Kagura game. It is a very particular style of game that has a very Japanese "Otaku" stance.
@Damo seriously go back and watch it again. It was just not He-Man for Teela. More He-Man for Duncan
I just had to see the review for this, and more importantly I had to come for the comments and they have not let me down one bit LOL! Oh how nice there's 69 comments... Well here's number 70, sorry!
Not gonna lie, this game getting such a low score while Gone Home was praised makes me a little bit sad.
@boatie how can I take someone like you even slightly seriously while you don't even read my comments and who call everybody a pervert who play such games.
In that case I'm a murderer and pervert because I like japanese games like Senran Kagura and Doom...
So I will repeat myself, I like the REGULAR figthing SK games, the fun ones and not this.
This game is meh even for the fans, and my only issue is not that this game got a bad score but the fact that like many other japanese games reviewed on this site, no matter if they are good (like SK:2) or bad (like this one) they get a bad score because the reviewer doesn't like such games and very unproffesional can't make a neutral review.
It's not about if this game is good (it's not) but about most reviewers in the west (not only this site) having a anti-japan/anime agenda they push and not making neutral reviews based on the game itself but their "it's anime and japanese so it's automaticaly bad" attitude.
And I say it again out loud specially for you, I don't like THIS game and I want a regular SK game on the Switch, this game is BAD and my problem is the anti-japan/anime attitude of many reviewers.
And YOU should stop calling people perverts for what they play, you don't know the people that play these games so stop pushing YOUR agenda by trying to make a fact out of your mere opinion based of what YOU think about people playing such games.
I might get some funny looks playing this on public transport...
@Rayquaza2510 Don't worry, I don't take you seriously either.
I think it's fine if you want to play this or any other porn game, I think it's funny you're upset about a review
@boatie damn you really are childish.
Grow up first, I don't do discussions with kids.
sarcasm mode on
No wonder you don't know what porn is (considering how childish you act).
sarcasm mode off
And this is not porn + again console makers don't allow porn on their systems worldwide.
@sikthvash
LOL. Yeah you might ought to find one of those VR headset things that fits a Switch. Then as long as you don't talk out loud, no one will know!
Plus, did anyone else expect this title to be the true successor to where you play with Mario's face on Mario 64 title screen?! =0p
@rdrunner1178 might give the game away with all those hand gestures haha! 'I'm playing ten pin bowling, I swear!'
Male power fantasy? Lmao betas gonna beta.
Why would anyone get this? No internet porn?
@Tsurii my dude.....really?
@Equinox
If you buy games uncritically for that reason, you might win a battle but you will lose the war. I mean, what if the game really isn't very good?
You'd be enforcing the idea that you can make bad games but sell them to a crowd at a different pretense altogether.
Sounds pretty much like my high school......
Is anyone surprised a Brit would review this so prudishly? Britain has a long history of publicly prudish attitudes (which is where we Yanks inherited it). Yet I recall reading that the UK was the most over-sexed country in the industrial world...... So in PUBLIC, Dom hates it. In PRIVATE, Dom owns the collectors edition in 3 languages.
He's probably playing. Right now.
Enjoy your coffee everyone!
@Bensei I believe the first words I saw on Reddit after the original E3 reveal of Splatoon was "Pre-teen tentacle porn!"
@Heavyarms55 Every Westerner knows that people randomly tearing each other's clothes off and going at it like rabbits is a completely adult way to handle sexual content, unlike those pervy Japanese with their hours and hours of massages but never getting further....
The Japanese version is a lot more realistic....
@NEStalgia You don't know much about Britain obviously. We've got a long history of being obsessed with low sexuality
https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB793GB793&biw=1920&bih=949&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=DWyaW-OZBYHPgAaNz7TgDw&q=donald+mcgill+postcards&oq=donald+mcgill+postcards&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24k1.4445.7635.0.7763.23.14.0.9.9.0.107.779.12j1.13.0....0...1c.1.64.img..1.22.786...0i67k1j0i30k1.0.DfQT2DAmI1g
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On
Is it me or are the people saying the reviewer is offended is acting more offended by the low score.
@Toads-Friend I think this is "udder" crap.
Look which reviewer just lost all his credibility to me. Talk about biased, condescending, and close-minded.
I expected this review purely on the concept alone. However, judging by the current state of the western internet culture, surprised it even got reviewed, let alone scored.
This game always felt like it was going to be a forceful joke idea for the sake of using the HD rumble for cheeky perverted reasons. If you didn't see that coming from his first tease of the game, that's on you.
@SmaggTheSmug
Same guy reviewed Bayonetta and b*tched about the stuff in that game too. Any game that has a woman in an even slightly suggestive clothing will get docked 3 points by him. Tiring reading some of these reviews from hyper sensitive people. We all have our opinions but there are plenty of games on the market that boil down to nothing more than 'murder simulators' that people let slide. It's getting f'ing ridiculous but that's the state of game journalism and the industry right now.
Wellp, can’t say that Nintendo isn’t diverse on what games come on the Switch (especially outside Japan).
I was interested in learning more about the HD rumble & gyro-controls and how effective it is since it's 2/3 of the game's main draw, but the review seems to gloss over that.
So the review's language does have tones of mean-spiritedness and uses buzzwords of the day that induce eyerolling (how many more times will we hear "male power fantasy" before it goes out of style?), but it doesn't seem that unfair...
I am a fan of the series and I have no plans on buying Reflxions as it seems like nothing as far as it being an actual game is concerned. The main entries have fun beat-em-up/brawler action (which I say unironically as I have a fondness for that genre and rather love Warriors games), Peach Beach Splash has fast-paced team shooter action with some unique mechanics, and the cooking one has some decent rhythm play boosted by a pretty sweet soundrack.
I will readily admit I jumped into the series because I ran across some internets that showed me the second game had DLC that included boob-size settings allowed characters to be even bigger than they already were and, well, that's pretty up my alley. I knew nothing of the destructible clothing or whatnot, but reviews said that they were decent enough beat-em-ups, so I gave a try. And I'm glad I did; while the "mature" content is surely a part of what I like about them, it is the fact that I actually think they are legitimately fun to play that keeps me and the story parts, while definitely trope-y and campy anime do elicit "the feels" for me and the localization is hella-well-done.
Reflexions seems to be a departure from the trend of the rest of the games in the series in that it is not, actually, a game so much as a virtual novel broken up by sections of massage-giving. And nothing I've seen indicates otherwise. It seems as much not-game to me as this game I got free with PS Plus where you play a girl (?) who got back to her parents' mansion from college or something and nobody's there so you just walk around picking up things that trigger parts of a letter from her sister or something (I think the name was Gone Home or something like that). There's no challenge, no *game*play, as there are no stakes of losing or failing and no skill or luck required. And that's not what I'm about.
And an interest in the sexier side of Senran Kagura does not instantly a pedophile make; the fantasy for me is not that I, at the age of thirty, am "with" these girls but rather how awesome would it have been to be around and involved with them when I was thir age and how awesome would it be to continue being around them through the years to the point where they are thirty right alongside me. And I also get the appeal of virtual girl "games" that are pretty much just interacting with the virtual girls in ways that result in them telling the "player" that the "player" makes them happy. Call me a bleeding heart cuck beta, if you will, but I think everybody deep down desperately wants that level of validation; to get affirmation that they and the things they do bing happiness to someone they have fondness/adoration for. And to that end, I'm sure Reflexions would deliver. (I just don't consider it a game nor do I need that icon and stuff showing up on a Switch that other people also use.)
Can we get another Alex Let's Play of this game? That "review" video was hilarious!
@Balchad Do you even know what credibility is?
Would you rather have him lie about what he thought of the game?
He clearly stated what is political opinion towards this game his and thus gave it a bad review score.
If you don't like his opinions then don't read his reviews. After all reviews are subjective.
No offense, but this particular review doesn't seem to give much reason WHY it's 4/10 outside of "Meh, boobs." Were graphics horrible? Gameplay too short or interactions laughable? UI sucky?
@Ensemen I can't even begin to tell you how wrong that is. What does a person's political view have anything to do in this? That is biased. If you can't review something without being biased then your opinion is no different from being unreliable and you should just stop being a reviewer. People come in here seeing if they should get the game or not but all they see is opinions. I not saying that opinions are wrong but the basics of a review should be factual first, biased second. I don't like Mortal Kombat that much as I don't enjoy fighting games but hell even I know if it is a good game or not without putting my opinions in there.
It's like the far cry 5 situations all over again. "wha I don't like it because of politics". But is it a good game though? "wha I don't care, POLITICS!!!".
Scrolling down the comment section I see no positive comment about the game is out now. To be honest who cares what other people think the Japanese are targeting men who single and fantasize about having a girlfriend or any of the sort. You can't have everything in the world that means there are guys out there who never dated or never been about to score a girlfriend because that's how messed up this world is, I'm one of those guys by the way. I'm grateful for Japan for releasing these games for us guys who loves anime & cant seem to get a relationship. At the end of the day we have our own opinions.
Plus please support this game if your one of those people. Tell Japan that we're interested in there Simulation games, Romance Visual Novels so we can have more release out here.
GOTY
So, is it a fun game, other than the boobs?
Meanwhile every other system out there is getting actual Senran Kagura games.
@Balchad I don't think so. I think a reviewer should be clear about their preferences and biases. So if one doesn't like rpgs he should tell that to his audience. And if one doesm't like overly sexualized games because it conflicts with his political opinion he should state that too.
I agree though that he should have more talked about what the game actually is and the more technical aspects.
But i don't thinl he should change his review score if he truly didn't like it.
If you don't agree with his opinions then watch another reviewer. You should find one with the same biases and preferences than you to best know what you will like.
That's my take on it.
Videogamedunkey from youtube made a really good video on this. Check it out.
So THIS game is the one where you make a stand and actually criticize? Not the 100 million indies you guys give 9 out of 10... no THIS ONE is the one where you display your moral virtue...
@Rayquaza2510 yes we are but not because we like Japanese games.
People need to learn that those two things are not mutually exclusive.
@Ensemen On that, I can agree. I steer away from those who put too much of their own opinions on a game. This reviewer and Dunkey are examples of reviewers that I don't watch or avoid.
@Balchad Ah okay i suppose i'm on the other end of the spectrum. Well actually i can enjoy both. I think the more objective way fits these news outlets better like nintendolife or ign because there is just too much people to keep track of.
I do however think they should have had a guy make this review that actually likes these games.
I just think your wording with "credibility" was a little bit off.
There is HD rumble. You can feel the heartbeat when holding Asuka's hand. The most explicit item in the game also goes pretty ham. I unlocked everything. Coincidentally the score came out to 6.9.
Check my profile if you want to know more.
You know what else is pushing the envelope of contents on family friendly consoles? Bloody violent games! Personaly I have had this game since it launched on the Japanese eshop. While I can agree its not the best introduction to SK as a franchise, if you like any of the girls aviable itsa great game. And the only way its cheap is the price. I would gladly have paid more for it. The game is not perfect but really really fun.
"Western console"
The only western console I see right now is the XBONE.
@Ensemen Fair point.
@ReaderRagfish I think the game is great! I think you would like it if you like any of the girls in the game
Like many others here I am confused as to WHY the game is 4/10... which is actually what I wanted to know before I started reading.
Also not mentioning that HD-rumble is enabled for it seems like a grotesque oversight - has the reviewer even played the game? Weird.
OH WHAT?! This guy is the one who bragged how good Gone Home is? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Author, keep your SJW stuff to yourself and give an unbiased review of this game or quit your job. We don't wanna hear your opinions and feelings, ok? Just review the game like a good little journalist you are.
Also what's up with all the quotation marks in the review?
Awesome review, day one and i’ll see you fellas on the register!
I feel for Dom, writing this review was a lose/lose situation. I was under the impression Chris Scullion was going to write this review. I’m honestly surprised it was reviewed.
@Pod To be fair, even if @Equinox read this review he'd still have no idea how good or bad the game plays as it never goes into that at all - it only sums up what the game consists of (never how it plays though) and morally grandstands about how "creepy" and "wrong" the game is. Dualshockers only gave it a point higher than a 4, but at least they did it on the basis that there isn't much of a "video game" to this video game (which, fair enough) and the fact that the motion controls didn't work very well (though unfortunately they didn't elaborate much on that point).
And it's obvious that this reviewer isn't penalizing this game for not being much of a game, as other commenters have pointed out that he gave a rather high score to Gone Home, which is about as much of a non-game as this game is.
@MysticMask nicely summed up my feelings toward the review.
sounds like this game is very problematic, it's 2018 right now. cheap sleaze certainly isn't my thing as i respect women far too much. sounds like you guys need to get on the reviewers level, lol.
@MysticMask
I understand that the game should be judged on its own artistic merits. And I'm not saying this review manages to do that.
I grow tired of unsubstantial reviews that really just sound like a feature summary too. At the time of release, it was impossible for me to find a Wii Sports Resort review that mentioned anything at all about whether Golf had been expanded/refined. They just mentioned that it was still there. Same happened with Wii Sports Club.
And really, finding any ACTUAL reviews of LABO was a right hassle. Most were either "this is what it does, and that's FUN!" or "this is what it does, and that's dumb/uninteresting/laughable/tragic/embarrassing."
@Pod I feel like I did come across some reviews on YouTube that went in-depth on how Labo actually played, though I can't think of them off the top of my head. GameXplain maybe?
ACG goes into GREAT depths with the games he reviews. The only issue with him is that he's just one person and so can only review so many games. And he tends to stay away from Nintendo games because Nintendo has a tendency to be very copywright-claim happy with regards to gameplay footage of their games on YouTube.
@MysticMask
Sure, by now there are a LOT of reviewers out there, so LABO was in some regards in a better state than Resort. But it felt like a lot of the traditional gaming site either deliberately ignored the product, or hadn't been sent a review copy at all. Or worse, had been put under embargo from reviewing it (and under NDA in regards to mentioning the embargo), because Nintendo wanted only the opinions from sites they considered more "open minded" to the idea.
I can appreciate an in-depth review, though 15-20 minutes of video is a little too long for me to pay attention without knowing what's coming next in the analysis. I'd rather read, so I can skim, and hit the spots that really take my interest.
There are minigames in other games that do what this whole does as its schtick. What. A. Waste!
Has anyone considered that maybe this just isn't a quality title, though? There's 8 reviews on Meta, and nothing goes above 50/100. Some mention sloppy controls, lack of content, actual things that some of you wanted to know about.
i've got games that let's me have a digital girfriend on PC, so i'm good for now.
The real reason it's 4/10 is because it's only Asuka and Yumi. Where are my Murasaki, Rin, Yagyu, Haruka, Mirai, and Ikaruga at?
@NEStalgia I mainly get annoyed because people we attack Japan to no end about the perverted things Japan might like, without ever acknowledging just how perverted western culture is as well. And both sides treat sexuality as far far more taboo than violence. Someone get's their head blown off in a game? Meh, teen, maybe mature if it happens a lot. One shot of a topless women? Adult Only, can't publish on Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo!
@Heavyarms55 The weird thing is people react like that in the entertainment industry, and yet the top 3 sites on the internet by recent ranking are all porn/porn search engines. There's a clear disconnect with what people say publicly to save face, and what they actually think, apparently. I'm betting this game sells far better than it deserves, actually. It shocked me to see it at the top of the "recent" tab in the eShop!
@Pod I can somewhat understand that. For me I prefer the video reviews, as seeing the gameplay along with the review helps give me a better sense of what the game is about/how it plays than just reading it would. I know with ACG he always goes visuals, then audio, then story/gameplay, then the "fun-factor", and there's sometimes a comment that lists the time stamps of when each of those start.
Labo is weird though in that it's less a game and more of an interactive experience. Which is fine - I just think that nowadays the category maybe should be treated as different from a tradition gaming experience. That distinction has definitely been made in the PSVR reviewing world. Like, I'd consider Labo, this Senran Kagura game, and Gone Home to all fit into that interactive experience category separate from more traditional, actual video games.
@HobbitGamer Sure, it's a possibility. The issue is that this review in particular never touches on any of that. Instead it morally grandstands about it...which really doesn't tell anyone anything about it, unless I guess your morals line up perfectly with his.
@Equinox I saw that review! Though it was more or less right after visiting this site and leaving said comments. And I'd agree with your logic. Or, best of both worlds I guess, a website offering both types of reviews for a single game. But that's obviously asking for way too much.
@NEStalgia This game deserves to sell. Its not perfect but what it is, is good.
To be honest, I’m surprised it even got a 4.
I’m still curious about the HD Rumble. How does it actual work in this game?
This looked like trash from day 1.
@GameOtaku Because Doom and Wolfenstein have fun and compelling gameplay. A simple massage simulator like this does not.
What ever happened to unbiased reviews? You're supposed to review the game, not try to enforce your Liberal SJW opinion to your readers. For 1. It's "Asuka" we all saw you edit it when you were called out, and 2. Nintendo is not a "Western" console, it'Japanese, how about learning more about your company's namesake before making a fool of yourself.
Let's hate on a game focused on a specific audience facepalm
And we get complaints of censorship in the West lmao
I don't care and never will listen to any reviewers and comments that don't like the game. If they don't like it, they don't have to buy it.I've been waiting forever for a Senran Kagura date simulator. I also bought SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy and am enjoying both titles. If I like a game that's all that matters. No critics and opinions are going to influence me. The same should go for everyone. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you like it. buy it. You don't have to let everyone's opinions affect you.
@NEStalgia "Waifu Splatoon" was the name play-asia gave to market Peach Beach Splash, which is kinda fitting, I think
@Rayquaza2510 No offense bro but trying to argue back with @boatie isn't helping your case about him being childish. Trying to make him look stupid only makes you also look childish. If you were actually trying to avoid discussions with childish people, you wouldn't have replied altogether.
@Yasaal Most of the complaints of censorship in the west are probably from the kind of crowd this game is focused on.
@Toads-Friend To think I spent $100 on a used physical version .. Crap to one is treasure to another I suppose
@Tobiaku I got the physical version for $100 off EBay.. And that was the cheapest I could find, lol .. Special Edition of Clannad is $200+
@JustMonika Hopefully you end up enjoying it then
Its a great game
@Tobiaku I wish they'd release Peach Beach Splash on the Switch
@JustMonika me too.
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