E3 2017: ‘Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash’ Is Much Better Than It Has Any Right To Be
You probably know the deal with the Senran Kagura series by now. If you need to be brought up to speed, the series is typically a hack and slash action game staring four groups of high school kunoichi, or female ninja. As they tear through their opponents, the one thing that surely won’t survive their battles are their clothes, since the game’s gratuitous slow motion zoom ins under their skirts and at their chests as their outfits disintegrate makes sure to alert you every time a new inch of skin has been shown. After all, this is the game that infamously started out on the 3DS as an attempt to get 3D boobs onto the system. Yet despite the very obvious gimmick, the games somehow managed to be solid games behind all the behinds.
No one can hide from my sights.
Shifting the focus from boobs to butts slashers to shooters is Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash, the latest spin-off for the PS4 that trades in the girls’ swords and kunai for water guns. In the three-on-three mode that was featured in the demo, we were thrust into a fast paced third person arcade shooter where the goal was to douse your opponents in water until their health drained. Tying the mechanics back to the series’ roots are slower melee attacks that allow you to knock opponents away with their traditional weapons, one example being Shiki using her scythe between her legs to deal extra damage. Once the enemy is downed, rather than stomp them before they can be revived like in Gears of War, approaching them switches to a first person perspective where you proceed to spray their boobs or butts until that piece of clothing comes off, forcing them to flee in shame. Of course, if you want to be a gentleman about it, you could douse their face and keep their clothes intact. The winning team was the first with a certain amount of KO’s, so using special items, coordinating with your team to back you up as you finish off wounded enemies, and having them protect you when you need to refill your water all comes into play, giving Peach Beach a layer of depth that you wouldn’t expect on the surface.
But most of all, I was taken aback by how much fun the game was. Honest to God, it was probably the most fun I had with a single game at the entire show! Feeling like a weird cross between Tracer’s gameplay from Overwatch with the fast moving dual pistols, Splatoon‘s focus on spraying your opponents into submission and Senran Kagura‘s trademark presentation, and I’m finding myself very interested at how well this game turns out. Will it be the next eSport spectacular where gamers from around the world can watch South Korea strip the opposing countries naked in giant arenas? Probably not. But if the game develops a small following of cooperative teams, I could see this being a blast online. With guest character DLC, a full single player story mode and multiple ways to customize your ninjas, I’m hoping that the final version lives up to its promising start. But me? I just want to be reunited with my Renka.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash is set for a summer release.
