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[3DS] Senran Kagura 2 -Shinku-

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    [3DS] Senran Kagura 2 -Shinku-

    I approached Senran Kagura 2 Shinku as I did with previous SK titles on the 3DS: a scrolling 2D brawlers with well-endowed female ninjas, so he game actually surprised me. Wheter the surprise is good or bad is up to debate, however.

    SK2 ditches the traditional 2D beat'em'up structure of previous 3DS games and goes for full 3D environments akin to Shinovi Versus, the PSV game. The choice struck me, as I found Shinovi Versus a bit too chaotic, with its combat mechanics not as tight as in Guren no Shoujotachi, and the first impression I got from Shinku is exactly that, although some deficiencies in Shinovi Versus have been corrected: the camera is more distant and the point of view from the side, rather than behind the shoulders, allowing a better view of the battlefield; Indoor environments do not have as many obstacles to deal with and navigation isn't as problematic as before.


    Controls, along combat mechanics, have been reworked: some missions can be tackled with a partner, so what was the homing button now switches between the two playable characters; the homing button is now R, which I find particularly uncomfortable, but it might be due to what I'm used to. There's more emphasis on air combat, and now all shinobis can jump indefinitely to continue combos. While it's still possible to build up 500+ hit combos, it's not as easy as before, mostly due to the switch from 2D to 3D. Unlike Shinovi Versus, there's no "hard" lock, the game automatically locks the target you're attacking; essentially all attacks move the controlled character forward, and when facing single opponents the same size as you, it feels as you character is not doing what you want, but rather trying to aim away from the target.
    Developers added arrows to indicate where locked target are, but those arrows only point left or right, which is pretty useless in a 3D environment.
    Movement controls feel "floaty", and never give the impression you have absolute control over your character: it's a definitely different feeling than the previous 3DS Kagura games as well as Shinovi Versus, and after a couple of hours with the game, I don't think I'll ever get fully used to movement and combat.

    Combat feedback is made worse by the fact that only few attacks are able to stagger someone (either you or your opponent), and in a lot of fights you'll find your character flying around, clothes destroyed, for no apparent reason.
    All fights are much more chaotic than before, even than Shinovi Versus, and in 2VS2 battles it's hard to focus on a single opponent at a time; your partner is very active, thankfully, and once you get into the switching mechanics, it's asctually fun to juggle an opponent, in the air, by constantly switching controlled characters.
    It doesn't help that the game shipped with rather severe bugs, and more than once I got Senran Kagura's infamous clothes destruction sequence out of nowhere. Marvelous are working on these bugs, and a patch is expected by the end of the month.

    On the plus side, this is the most ambitious Senran Kagura yet. Story and characters are better fleshed out, and there are a lot of boss encounters that are not 1VS1 battles. Environments are much more varied than before, and Marvelous really show they know how to use the 3DS' hardware: graphics are richer than before, with better detailed enemies (now everyone has destructible clothes, even popcorn enemies), less basic interface, and improved animations.
    Playable characters from previous games have been rebalanced once again, with some being able to switch between two modes.
    Aside story mode, there's also a secondary single player mode that I haven't tried out yet, and there's multiplayer, I think local, because everything's in Japanese.

    Unfortunately, as it stands now and based on how much I've played, Senran Kagura 2 Shinku feels unfinished and rushed, and comes out as the worst of the series despite its intended scope.
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