So I expected this to finish near the end of January based on my intentional rate. Then I had 1 night where everything I played was done quota wise and I didn’t want to start anything and so I ended up powering through almost the entire game. The game’s like 12 hours long.
Anyway, Shinovi Versus was the first entry in the series to leave the Nintendo line of handhelds and head to Sony. It is also the first game in the series I ever played and thus colored my impression of the series to this day. I like this game.
Gameplay-7
At it’s core, it’s the same as Estival. 3 forms, attacks shoot enemies away to be chased in the air for comboing, ultimates win most fights, etc. Except it’s way more fun to actually play.
It’s mostly the movement just feels way better then what Estival has that makes things feel better. Missions are also shorter on average, probably because the Vita was the focus console. This is actually an issue for me, since it’s actually fun to mow through enemies it’s kind of a disappointment that the longest mission in the game is like 5 minutes at best. Part of me wishes the ultimates weren’t in the game at all since actually fighting the girls in each level is fun until they start spamming them. They break the pace in this game do to each one getting a cutscene. There’s also a lot more clothes ripping them I remember from Estival, like top and bottom each get 2 rips per costume with different attacks and ultimates damaging different parts. For those who like clothes ripping, the only way to do the full set is the final ultimate, which in this game requires you to have 20% HP and 5 scrolls of energy to use. It’s basically never worth it.
The reason it isn’t worth it is that usually if you get that low, you are dead. While I enjoy this game a lot, it is definitely unfair at times. Lots of chaining and paralyzing and such. It’s part of the fun to me, but could definitely be an issue.
Story-4
Shinovi tells it’s story kind of like Peach Beach. Each school gets its own set of missions but they each follow the same overall plot. So when one school fights another, that other school’s story has them fight to. The banter is different(for some reason), but the main plot stays the same. For Hanzo and Gessen, it’s really just introducing Yumi’s team and making friends. Except I’m pretty sure Yumi kills Hebijo and Crimson.
So I’m pretty sure I’m wrong on that, but for some reason I remember Miyabi and Yumi’s stories feeling like they killed everyone else. It was mainly a guess based on the attitudes of the team and how everyone only showed up once. I probably read into the wrong content clues but since I skipped reading everything except Crimson I’m fine keeping that as my canon.
As for Crismon and Hebijo, their stories are fine until the final act, when suddenly the two stories cannot exist together. Hebijo becomes about Ryona and Ryobi’s true intentions and them finally becoming an actual team. Crismon is about breaking Hebijo out of mind control. Crimson is also technically the true end of the game, though playing Estival you wouldn’t think that.
Due to Yumi’s break out popularity the story kind of got switched up after this. So instead of continuing with the become Kagura by fighting youma and becoming a great ninja, the game falls into rituals and contests to become Kagura. This is also the game that explains why the good vs evil thing exists. Apparently ninjas fighting summons youma, including Shin who the shinobi want to summon to kill. Why summon the planet ending horror monster? Because apparently it’s going to show up either way, so might as well have people who can pose a threat. At least Estival is about preppign to fight Shin, Peach Beach is about keeping it sealed/running away from it which is actually the exact opposite of the actual goal.
Ecchi-4
Little. To. Nothing. Beyond the standard jiggling and clothes ripping, there is nothing here that Estival or Peach don’t do better. There is at most 4 cgs of the 48~ that I would call even slightly lewd. Makes a lot more sense on why I never thought of the series as that sexual overall since this game certainly doesn’t focus on that aspect much.
Verdict
Shinovi, Estival, and Peach Beach kind of create this trifecta of the series. Peach has the best fanservice. Estival has the best model fanservice and story(mostly because its linear). Shinovi has the best gameplay. If I were asked which one to start with, I’d go this one. It goes through everyone’s backstories enough to get an idea and is basically the start of the new saga that never got finished. Having the least fanservice means it’s also the easiest one to recommend people to the series that are iffy on titty girls.
Next up when I play a Senran title is Burst for the DS, time to see how the series actually started.
All cgs and missions unlocked. Store bought out, including the gacha panty machine.
Gameplay: 7/10 Eroticness: 4/10 Story: 4/10
Completion: Beat every missions, buy out store. The gacha machine is probably the most infuriating, so I cheated that part.