I like Senran Kagura. I've reviewed almost every Senran Kagura game for Weekly Shonen Jump. Senran Kagura Estival Versus is the newest installment in the franchise, and it's also the first installment to be released in high definition. There are two ways to pick up Estival Versus: either on the PlayStation 4 or the PlayStation Vita, and I've tried both! Both versions have some advantages and disadvantages. But barring minor differences, they're both the same game, so whichever version you decide to play, you won't feel cheated for missing out on the other.

If you've never played a Senran Kagura game before, lemme give you a short synopsis. Senran Kagura is about young nubile female ninjas who risk their lives fighting other young nubile female ninjas in their hometowns. The fighting gets fierce enough for their clothes to get ripped into pieces! If that doesn't turn you on, then I can't recommend Senran Kagura because the focus on the girls' assets is very pervasive. However, if you like your action games with speed, weapon variety and plenty of bounce, then you'll enjoy playing Estival Versus.

Estival Versus is a 3D action beat-'em-up style of game, not unlike the Dynasty Warriors games but with more emphasis on speed and not having to defend and take over bases. You'll have 27 different girls to play with from the start, with a few more that are unlocked if you purchase DLC. Each girl has their own play style. Whether it's swordplay, gunplay, kung fu fighting or hammer time, there's lots of variety in defeating waves of enemy mobs. No two characters play the same. New to Estival Versus are bombs you can throw such as freeze bombs that freeze your enemies, electric bombs that stun, poison bombs that slowly saps hit points and even summon bombs which summons small mobs of your own that will gang up on the enemy mobs. And later in the game, you can even control mechs, Mega Man X style. Just remember to escape when your mech sustains too much damage, or you'll go up in smoke!

The plot of Estival Versus is pretty simple: all of the playable characters from Shinovi Versus are teleported to a mysterious summer resort where time flows differently from the real world. They've become the reluctant participants of the Kagura Millennium Festival! To go back to the real world, each faction must destroy their rivals' festival platforms to attain a shot at becoming a Kagura, the highest rank of ninjutsu. However, not all girls are gung-ho about fighting each other for various reasons. Brawling? Butt touching? Dead relatives? This isn't your typical summer vacation! As you play, you'll learn the truth about why all of the girls have been summoned to the festival and for a bouncing boobies brawler, there are some feels and life lessons to be had.

While much of the game is spent beating up billions upon billions of baddies, each stage is separated by vignettes that play out like a visual novel, telling the story as you play. Thankfully, the full-text sections of the story are far in few, especially compared to earlier releases like Burst. The core gameplay itself is refined from the Shinovi Versus engine, with each stage filled with more mobs to mow over and some stages even allow a helper to join you, in which you can even beat scores of shinobi up together with a simple press of the touchpad. 

Regarding cosmetic features, wet clothing is a new mechanic in Estival Versus. Given that it's set in an endless summer beach resort, it's not a surprising addition, but it's a welcome one. The clothes-ripping mechanic is back in full swing, although you can also disable clothes-ripping altogether in the options menu if you're not into that kind of thing. I guess some people were satisfied with bouncing boobs brawling but decided that stripping was a wee bit too much. I believe that giving the player options is better than removing a mechanic altogether. Everybody wins!

If the primary campaign isn't enough, don't worry! There are missions laid out for each girl, mainly for leveling them up and letting you get to know them better. The dressing room is back, too. There's a heck of a lot more options than the previous releases. Aside from making your favorite girls look cute, you can now have them strike a pose and also add backgrounds so you can take a snapshot and pretend you're a modeling photographer. Entire dioramas can be set up to create some silly or very perverted scenes to photograph and share with the world at large via social media, and every costume purchased as DLC is cross-buy if you have both PS4 and Vita versions. 

Speaking of, the PS4 version of Estival Versus runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, and it generates a lot more characters on screen compared to the Vita version, which runs at 30 frames per second on average. It's on par with Shinovi Versus regarding performance. There are fewer characters that can be used in the Vita dressing room dioramas and also fewer players can join on multiplayer. If these limitations don't bother you, I'd recommend the Vita version of the game. While the PS4 version is a lot prettier and runs a lot smoother, Estival Versus is designed for portable gaming in mind with its short missions and risqué material. Unless, of course, you have the cojones (or lack of shame) to play this on a living room television set. 

Senran Kagura Estival Versus is the best Senran Kagura game released to date, and the only problem I can find aside from the usual character grinding is the fact that both the PS4 and Vita versions each have a separate trophy list. While this sounds cool for trophy hunters, be careful if you want to platinum the game if you're using the cross-save feature. You might miss out on some key trophies, especially when playing through the main story.

Hint: See these “!” signs littered throughout each stage? Try and defeat a boss character nearby one and see what happens. Enjoy. ;)

by Ray n.