Impressions are based on the Japanese version (called Senran Nin Nin Ninja Taisen Neptune), the western version is already scheduled for late October this year.
It's puiblished by Idea Factory and Compile Heart, and developed by Tamsoft.
I don't care about Neptunia but I care about Senran Kagura, and I bought this game just for the four girls from that franchise. The game starts off with just the Neptunia crew playable, but you get Asuka and Homura within the hour...if you skip some of the dialogues. As typical of Idea Factory/Compile Heart games, cutscenes are a bit too long for their own good, but are not as long as other titles. Multiple characters from Neptunia make their appearance as store owners or similar, while SK's contribution is limited to the four playable characters only.
But hey, they do introduce youkais as enemies, like in Senran Kagura! Uhm, no, in SK they were youma, and the spirits they use as enemies here are nothing like what's used in SK. For a crossover there's much more Neptunia (and new characters) than Senran Kagura, and that goes for the combat system as well.
I'm playing this game after going through YS IX again, Utawarerumono Zan 2 on the PS4 (another Tamsoft title), and starting DMC5 on PC, so I as kind of spoiled in certain aspects...for example movement, it's a bit too slow here and you need to go around rather large stages defeating group of enemies before reaching the goal, which ends with a boss fight. You can dash, but that expends the dodge/special attack meter, and the boost in movement speed is modest. Controls don't feel bad but they do feel a bit stiff, and not that suited for nimble shinobis. I haven't played any of the action Neptunia spinoffs (developed by Tamsoft too), so I don't know if Ninja Wars controls the same as those, but surely it doesn't feel like a SK game, even when controlling Kagura girls.
All characters, beign them from Neptunia, Senran Kagura, or brand new, feel the same; they might brandish different weapons, but so far I haven't felt any difference in attack power, speed, recovery time, or reach. All of them have a basic 5 or so hit combo that ends with a rather large recovery window, which you cannot cancel unless you swap out with the secondary character, but upon entering combat that character executes an attack with the same large recovery window at the end, so it's more useful to deal extra damage than cancelling out animations to dodge. Right now all unlocked playable characters are at level 10 (they thankfully progress together, whether or not they take part in missions) and the combos are always the same.
Holding down the L1 button opens up a menu with the special attacks, which slows down time, and...I don't like this choice. Utawarerumono Zan 2 used the same mechanic but didn't slow down time, and so do many other games (Fate Extella Link 2 comes to mind), and here the choice to slow down time feels rather intrusive and flow-breaking.
These special attacks are what separates all characters, but it's not like some of them are game changers...some specials come out faster and others have longer windup times, but that's about it.
You can spam special attacks as long as you have meter, which is shared with dashes and dodges, and it recharges almost immediately when hitting enemies with standard attacks.
Or better, standard attack. One attack button. There's a second attack button for ranged attacks but they are rather slow to execute and recover, and it's way more effective to dash towards an enemy and attack with your sole physical attack button. There is a guard, but barely used it. You can also jump, but so far never faced flying enemies or platforming in levels.
Holding down the R1 button opens up a menu to power up your character with one out of four elements to grant some extra effects (burn, poison, shock, freeze...rather standard fare) and this is one of those mechanics you go "oooh, right, I have that, I should use it once in a while", because so far enemies haven't been particularly difficult to dispatch, bosses included. Charge up the ultimate attack meter for both characters, hold onto it until the boss fight, unleash it once and most bosses are down to 10% health; swap character, ultimate attack, fight won.
One thing I absolutely don't like is that neither you nor enemies flinch from incoming attacks, unless ranged, which gives no real feedback or even the most basic tactical element in fights. Combined with long recovery windows you can't cancel, it makes fights feel sluggish and stiff; you want to zip aroudn the battlefield delivering fast blows to your endlessly repeated and colourswapped enemies but instead you need to approach them and mash that lone attack button until the mission is over.
You health goes down fast, and at times you don't notice it because you don't have any visual feedback from enemy attacks, nor enemies break theirs when you land a blow first. Despite that, thanks to the two characters you have, it's very hard to die, and you even get healing items should you find yourself in dire straights. Levelling up completely heals you, and before bosses you get a healing point. Oh boy another game without challenge, and there aren't even difficulty modes here.
There is no combo counter, no grading at the end of a mission, characters all play the same, and there's very little from SK: for example, why not having Asuka and Homura change into their ultimate forms when using the elemental powerups? Instead all characters just change colour. Cut-ins before ultimate attacks are nice, and this were I noticed that SK character models look straight from past PS4 titles...or maybe are leftovers from Senran Kagura Se7en, who knows.
Production values are middling at best, cutscenes are carried by 2D portraits that look fine for the Neptunia girls but not quite for Senran Kagura, and I don't mean for the clash of style, but due to how rushed they feel. When voices are playing there's lipsyncing with a grand total of two lip statues (open/close), and it looks hilarious. Or rushed. Your choice.
Yesterday I witness one of the new characters jumping from a waterfall, and for that they used a static waterfall background with that character's (Yuki, I think) full-body key art being dragged over it...that's the Idea Factory/Compile Heart quality everyone raves about, people.
So, after three or so hours, Ninja Wars doesn't look bad, but like many other IF/CH titles, it feels it just does the bare minimum to deliver a game. More than a crossover utilising elements from two franchises, the game feels like a half-finished skeleton of an action game dressed up as a Neptunia game with SK characters thrown into the mix because the licence was cheap.
I don't know, maybe I'm biased against IF/CH and I'll see this game to completion, probably I was hoping for much more and a stronger SK presence, but so far Ninja Wars simply forgettable.
It's puiblished by Idea Factory and Compile Heart, and developed by Tamsoft.
I don't care about Neptunia but I care about Senran Kagura, and I bought this game just for the four girls from that franchise. The game starts off with just the Neptunia crew playable, but you get Asuka and Homura within the hour...if you skip some of the dialogues. As typical of Idea Factory/Compile Heart games, cutscenes are a bit too long for their own good, but are not as long as other titles. Multiple characters from Neptunia make their appearance as store owners or similar, while SK's contribution is limited to the four playable characters only.
But hey, they do introduce youkais as enemies, like in Senran Kagura! Uhm, no, in SK they were youma, and the spirits they use as enemies here are nothing like what's used in SK. For a crossover there's much more Neptunia (and new characters) than Senran Kagura, and that goes for the combat system as well.
I'm playing this game after going through YS IX again, Utawarerumono Zan 2 on the PS4 (another Tamsoft title), and starting DMC5 on PC, so I as kind of spoiled in certain aspects...for example movement, it's a bit too slow here and you need to go around rather large stages defeating group of enemies before reaching the goal, which ends with a boss fight. You can dash, but that expends the dodge/special attack meter, and the boost in movement speed is modest. Controls don't feel bad but they do feel a bit stiff, and not that suited for nimble shinobis. I haven't played any of the action Neptunia spinoffs (developed by Tamsoft too), so I don't know if Ninja Wars controls the same as those, but surely it doesn't feel like a SK game, even when controlling Kagura girls.
All characters, beign them from Neptunia, Senran Kagura, or brand new, feel the same; they might brandish different weapons, but so far I haven't felt any difference in attack power, speed, recovery time, or reach. All of them have a basic 5 or so hit combo that ends with a rather large recovery window, which you cannot cancel unless you swap out with the secondary character, but upon entering combat that character executes an attack with the same large recovery window at the end, so it's more useful to deal extra damage than cancelling out animations to dodge. Right now all unlocked playable characters are at level 10 (they thankfully progress together, whether or not they take part in missions) and the combos are always the same.
Holding down the L1 button opens up a menu with the special attacks, which slows down time, and...I don't like this choice. Utawarerumono Zan 2 used the same mechanic but didn't slow down time, and so do many other games (Fate Extella Link 2 comes to mind), and here the choice to slow down time feels rather intrusive and flow-breaking.
These special attacks are what separates all characters, but it's not like some of them are game changers...some specials come out faster and others have longer windup times, but that's about it.
You can spam special attacks as long as you have meter, which is shared with dashes and dodges, and it recharges almost immediately when hitting enemies with standard attacks.
Or better, standard attack. One attack button. There's a second attack button for ranged attacks but they are rather slow to execute and recover, and it's way more effective to dash towards an enemy and attack with your sole physical attack button. There is a guard, but barely used it. You can also jump, but so far never faced flying enemies or platforming in levels.
Holding down the R1 button opens up a menu to power up your character with one out of four elements to grant some extra effects (burn, poison, shock, freeze...rather standard fare) and this is one of those mechanics you go "oooh, right, I have that, I should use it once in a while", because so far enemies haven't been particularly difficult to dispatch, bosses included. Charge up the ultimate attack meter for both characters, hold onto it until the boss fight, unleash it once and most bosses are down to 10% health; swap character, ultimate attack, fight won.
One thing I absolutely don't like is that neither you nor enemies flinch from incoming attacks, unless ranged, which gives no real feedback or even the most basic tactical element in fights. Combined with long recovery windows you can't cancel, it makes fights feel sluggish and stiff; you want to zip aroudn the battlefield delivering fast blows to your endlessly repeated and colourswapped enemies but instead you need to approach them and mash that lone attack button until the mission is over.
You health goes down fast, and at times you don't notice it because you don't have any visual feedback from enemy attacks, nor enemies break theirs when you land a blow first. Despite that, thanks to the two characters you have, it's very hard to die, and you even get healing items should you find yourself in dire straights. Levelling up completely heals you, and before bosses you get a healing point. Oh boy another game without challenge, and there aren't even difficulty modes here.
There is no combo counter, no grading at the end of a mission, characters all play the same, and there's very little from SK: for example, why not having Asuka and Homura change into their ultimate forms when using the elemental powerups? Instead all characters just change colour. Cut-ins before ultimate attacks are nice, and this were I noticed that SK character models look straight from past PS4 titles...or maybe are leftovers from Senran Kagura Se7en, who knows.
Production values are middling at best, cutscenes are carried by 2D portraits that look fine for the Neptunia girls but not quite for Senran Kagura, and I don't mean for the clash of style, but due to how rushed they feel. When voices are playing there's lipsyncing with a grand total of two lip statues (open/close), and it looks hilarious. Or rushed. Your choice.
Yesterday I witness one of the new characters jumping from a waterfall, and for that they used a static waterfall background with that character's (Yuki, I think) full-body key art being dragged over it...that's the Idea Factory/Compile Heart quality everyone raves about, people.
So, after three or so hours, Ninja Wars doesn't look bad, but like many other IF/CH titles, it feels it just does the bare minimum to deliver a game. More than a crossover utilising elements from two franchises, the game feels like a half-finished skeleton of an action game dressed up as a Neptunia game with SK characters thrown into the mix because the licence was cheap.
I don't know, maybe I'm biased against IF/CH and I'll see this game to completion, probably I was hoping for much more and a stronger SK presence, but so far Ninja Wars simply forgettable.
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