Senran Kagura Burst

Senran Kagura Burst[lower-alpha 1] is an action beat 'em up video game developed by Tamsoft, and the first entry in the Senran Kagura series. It was originally published for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan as Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows[lower-alpha 2] in 2011; an expanded "director's cut" version was released in 2012, and received Western releases in 2013–2014. A remake, Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal, was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2018.

Senran Kagura Burst
European Burst cover art
Developer(s)Tamsoft
Publisher(s)
SeriesSenran Kagura
Platform(s)
ReleaseSkirting Shadows
Nintendo 3DS
  • JP: September 22, 2011
Burst
Nintendo 3DS
  • JP: August 30, 2012
  • NA: November 14, 2013
  • PAL: February 27, 2014
Burst Re:Newal
PlayStation 4
  • JP: February 22, 2018
  • PAL: January 18, 2019
  • NA: January 22, 2019
Microsoft Windows
  • WW: January 22, 2019
Genre(s)

Gameplay
The beat-'em-up sections of the game feature side-scrolling action gameplay. Here, Yagyū faces off against a group of enemy lesser shinobi.

Senran Kagura is a side-scrolling "beat-'em-up" action game.[1] The player assumes control of one of five female ninjas. The more the game characters are damaged by enemies, the more their clothes are torn off. The information for each character's back story, major plot points, and general information on the universe of Senran Kagura is displayed in what is called the "novel", and is structured similarly to a visual novel. The novel is introduced at major plot points in the game story.

The main gameplay consists of battling through the world of the story. As the game progresses, the player's character levels up and gains new moves and abilities, and in-game content such as art work, achievements, music, costumes (of which there are 180),[2] and new characters are unlocked. The game is split into 5 chapters, with each chapter containing a number of main missions as well as optional missions. Once a story mission is complete, the mission can be played again with any of the unlocked characters. At the end of a mission the player is graded according to the player character's health, attack, and speed in completing the mission. Burst has two different routes to play through, instead of the one of the original.

Plot

Kept secret from the rest of the world, high school girls are secretly trained in the art of ninjitsu. Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows revolves around the trainee shinobi of Hanzō Academy; Asuka, Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yagyuu and Hibari, as they complete missions and battle against rival ninjas. Crimson Girls on the other hand follows the students of the dark academy, Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy; Homura, Yomi, Hikage, Mirai and Haruka.

Senran Kagura Burst includes an additional story, The Crimson Girls.[3]

Development

Producer Kenichiro Takaki's original inspiration for Senran Kagura was from a desire to create something that was very easy to understand but also very deep and detailed for those who appreciate beautiful female characters.[4] He had the idea for the game in April 2010 when he decided to develop a game for the then newly announced Nintendo 3DS. When thinking about what type of game to make for a 3D handheld, he decided that one of the things people most wanted to see in 3D were breasts.[5] He began making Senran Kagura's design document, and created a budget, characters, a plot and decided upon gameplay elements, after which he met with character designer Nan Yaegashi and scenario writer Yukinori Kitajima. The games feature character designs by Nan Yaegashi and scenario work from Yukinori Kitajima.

The game was originally released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS on September 22, 2011, as Skirting Shadows.[6] Senran Kagura Burst, an expanded director's cut version[7] containing both the Skirting Shadows story and a new story titled The Crimson Girls,[8] was published on August 30, 2012 in Japan,[9] and digitally through the Nintendo eShop on November 22, 2013 in North America by Xseed.[8] In Europe, Burst was released digitally on February 27, 2014 by Marvelous AQL, and physically a day later. Zen United also released a European limited edition of the game on the same day, titled "Life & Hometown Edition", which includes a t-shirt and a lenticular poster.[10]

Ken Berry of North American publisher Marvelous USA stated in early May 2013 that they had considered releasing Senran Kagura Burst digitally outside Japan, but that it was a "scary proposition due to the subject matter and difference in attitudes between Japanese culture and the more conservative culture ... in the U.S."[11][12] On August 6, 2013, Xseed Games officially announced it would release the game digitally via the Nintendo eShop in Fall 2013.[13]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic3DS: 62/100[14]

Senran Kagura was met by a wide range of reviews, from negative to positive.[14]

Multiplayer.it appreciated the story and combat, as well as the many quests and secrets that were available to unlock, but took issue with the variable framerate and the repetitive gameplay.[15] Metro criticised the game as sexist, but admitted the characters were a "likeable bunch". It also described the gameplay as "unbearably bad", but did appreciate the variety that the different player characters provided.[3] GameZone's Mike Splechta gave the game a 7.5/10, stating that if one liked "[their] anime chicks badass with a healthy dose of jiggle physics, Senran Kagura Burst satisfies on those levels" but warned that there were "painful framerate dips".[16] Gamestyle characterised both the visuals and dialogue as "creepy", but stated that the game was a "solid, if basic, side scrolling beat em up".[17] Pocket Gamer described the game as "an unabashed, tongue-in-cheek romp that will have you smiling and button-mashing from start to finish".[18] Hardcore Gamer appreciated the game's combat, customization options, and "wealth of unlockables and content", but warned those who would not appreciate the sexualisation of the game characters to stay away.[19]

The PC version of the remake was among the best-selling new releases of the month on Steam.[20][lower-alpha 3]

Notes
  1. Known in Japan asSenran Kagura Burst: Guren no Shōjo-tachi (閃乱カグラ Burst -紅蓮の少女達-, "Crimson Girls")
  2. Known in Japan as Senran Kagura: Shōjo-tachi no Shin'ei (閃乱カグラ -少女達の真影-, "Portrait of Girls")
  3. Based on total revenue for the first two weeks on sale.[21]
gollark: 3 years? How apioformic.
gollark: Wait, is all they're saying that you're getting a "free resource" which is probably a 10-page guide inferior to random ones on the internet‽
gollark: > military academyHow apiohazardous.
gollark: You must be one of those people in the "US", where there are more than 150ish universities.
gollark: Solution: go to college early.

References
  1. campbell, evan (2014-09-19). "Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus Release Date Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  2. Holmes, Jonathan (2011-07-05). "Senran Kagura media blowout talks everything but gameplay". Destructoid. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
  3. Hargreaves, Roger (2014-03-07). "Senran Kagura Burst review – booby prize". Metro. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  4. https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/the-designer-behind-senran-kagura-explains-why-his-games-are-full-of-barely-clothed-women
  5. Ashcraft, Brian (14 April 2011). "What This Man Really Wanted Was To See Breasts In 3D". Kotaku. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  6. https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=20860
  7. https://gematsu.com/2018/04/senran-kagura-burst-renewal-coming-west-ps4-pc-fall
  8. http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/08/senran-kagura-burst-will-north-america-next-week/
  9. https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=27113
  10. http://www.siliconera.com/2014/02/13/senran-kagura-burst-gets-life-hometown-edition-europe/
  11. "Marvelous USA Considers Senran Kagura Burst's Digital Release". Anime News Network. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  12. MacGregor, Kyle (2013-05-07). "XSEED: Localizing Senran Kagura a 'scary proposition'". Destructoid. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
  13. "Xseed Games Secures Publishing Rights to Senran Kagura Burst for Nintendo 3DS". Anime News Network. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  14. "Senran Kagura Burst for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
  15. La Via Colli, Christian. "A letto i bambini". Multiplayer.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  16. Splechta, Mike (18 November 2013). "Senran Kagura Burst Review: Schoolgirl romp". GameZone. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  17. Gulliver, Adam (2014-02-26). "Senran Kagura Burst Review". Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  18. Diener, Matthew. "Thanks for the mammaries". Pocketgamer.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  19. Bradley (2013-11-14). "Review: Senran Kagura Burst". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  20. "Best of 2019: New Releases". Steam. Valve. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  21. "A Look Back - The Best of 2019". Steam. Valve. 2019-12-26. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.