When two series of games are played cross over, fans of each of them can expect something as explosive as the two series combined. However, for the fireworks to succeed, it is important to manage to find a common basis for the two series, but also to adapt the whole in a common style. It is often on this last point that many cross overs fail.
The game we are going to explore together today will try to combine the Senran Kagura Saga with that of Neptunia in what qualifies as an Action-RPG...
But Action-RPG it is not, since the game has nothing RPG. Concretely, we're more on Beat Them All against a backdrop of Light Novel with big-breasted protagonists, like Utawarerumono: ZAN released a while ago.
But unlike the above-mentioned game, Neptunia x SENREN KAGURA: Ninja Wars offers a less, or even not perverse formula, and plays the card of humor rather than that of perversity, despite the overdeveloped breast attributes of almost every character in a world where the men are not far from being extras.
Contrary to usual and because of its characteristics, we are not going to treat this game on a Good/Average/Bad scale, but on a different measurement scale. And on this scale, we are on a weak game. Not that the game doesn't have good points, because it does. Just as it has bad aspects, but because the title is not what it claims. For an Action-RPG, if I had to judge the game classically, which it is not, the game is clearly not very good. But for a Beat Them All, the way I decided to consider it, the whole thing would be passable.
The Compile Heart and Tamsoft title takes place in missions, like a Dynasty Warriors for a very short story, since 10 hours were enough to complete everything, side missions included (about 60% of the life of the game). I will spare you the uninteresting scenario, a pretext for our heroines in each of the two series to make a truce in their conflict to face a powerful common enemy who threatens the balance of all.
10 characters will be playable and, apart from the very limited combos, the handling and the gameplay are more than appreciable: the animations are fluid, the characters reactive, apart from a small lack of reactivity when changing characters ( the missions are done with two characters among the 10 and can be used at any time). Each character has a noticeably different style from the others, but more diversity would have been nice.
But then why is Neptunia x Senra Kagura Ninja Wars weak?
Well, the content in fact! We have already seen the short lifespan, the lack of diversity in the gameplay, but to be brief, everything is puny in this game. Whether it is the number of different types of enemies less than 10, bosses included, (we will not count the variations of colors which do not change much in their style of combat), the many repetitive side missions because of few types of objectives, and especially the indecent ease of the title. Not even bother to bother with the store to buy items, or even to worry about the system of gems supposed to upgrade your characteristics, and even less to worry about shurikens and kunaïs. You don't need to worry too much about dodging and defending because the opponents are the opposite of you, soft and unintelligent. Some bosses will just be boring because they travel distances instantly quickly and by the time you reach them, they will have done the same thing again, making the fight tedious for not much. There were many points to fix to make the fights more interesting, such as allowing interruptions or setting up a system indicating which type of attack cancels which other. There, we take damage, even when we attack because the enemy also attacks, but your blow does not react. Yes, despite the damage you will unfairly take, the game is disconcertingly easy.
Worse still: all your characters level up at the same time (unless you equip gems that affect experience gains), which means that you can focus on only 2 characters and the others follow in the same way movement. Another blow for the lifespan on this kind of game.
In the end, we end up, disappointed, by quickly losing all the interest and enthusiasm garnered at the start of the game, but we still want to persist in continuing.
Visually, the protagonists are well modeled and animated in-game, while the enemies and backgrounds are really weak. Their Light Novel counterpart is, on the other hand, heavier with its endless dialogues to say nothing and without any choice, much less animated, as if the budget for the 2D drawings of each character more than limited had passed in something else . We have to be content with silhouettes in the same posture and animations that look very ridiculous, even the animation of the lips during the dialogues is less elaborate than in anime from the 80s. The bonus scenes are not even entitled to dubbing audio (the story though, fortunately). By the way, the game is in Japanese with English subtitles. No texts in French, so if you do not master the language, this point may be a strong obstacle, because the story is perhaps anecdotal, but there are some funny passages, with 4th wall breaks by here and there, rather pleasant.
So, yes, the game is weak on so many points that its strengths end up being greatly reduced. And it's very unfortunate because, despite the first impression of the first tens of minutes more than strong, in 2 weeks maximum, I will unfortunately have completely forgotten Neptunia x SENRAN KAGURA: Ninja Wars.
- PlayStation 4 - 49,99€
