Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad
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Onechanbara: Bikini Samaurai Squad
Bouncy, and not much else.
The Onechanbara series has been available overseas for some time now, and it’s finally making its way to North American shores on both the Xbox 360 and the Wii. D3 and Tamsoft have put together two entirely different games here, despite having similar mechanics and the exact same confusing and pointless premise. Having played both titles for this review, I have to say that for once, 360 owners are getting the short end of the stick, with Bikini Samaurai Squad. What is by a large a hack ’n’ slash game on both systems, just doesn’t feel fresh, exciting or fun on the 360. But hey, bikini-clad chicks slaying the undead has to count for something, right?
Gameplay
The story is by and large, poorly told here. The game opens with very little explanation about events that happened in previous games. This wouldn’t be so bad if at some point they’d go into a deeper tstory arc, but as it stands, they don’t. Being that the first few games never made it to North American shores there will likely be more than a few people who find themselves lost if they’re trying to follow any semblance of a story. It’s not that you necessarily need to know what’s going on here, as the story isn’t the main focus here, and the target market likely won’t care much about anything other than girls in bikinis, but a little understanding of past events would have added just a bit more depth to the proceedings. Essentially, all you need to know is that you’re in control of two sisters, Saki and Aya, who fight armies of the undead and fly into fits of rage due to an affliction they suffer from called the Baneful Blood. You also can have a third character who enters the picture later on, Anna. If the swordplay isn’t your thing, don’t worry, she’s bringing guns to the party.
From the initial opening, which starts with a shower scene, you aren’t really told much in the game. In fact, the instruction manual even fails to give you any information regarding the gameplay as it’s only 3 pages long, and simply gives you an overview of the modes and a very shallow explanation of what each button does. In game, you are given tips that pop up once in a while if the game feels you need it, but this usually comes after you’ve already died, or after you’ve already figured out what it is you’re supposed to be doing. Definitely not the most helpful system out there.
This is a simple hack and slash game that doesn’t strive to be anything but that. Simply mash a button until the hordes that surround you are vanquished, rinse and repeat. There are no puzzles to be found here, with the exception of figuring out how to take down certain enemies. While most will be straight forward affairs, there are others that require you to use specific combos in order to kill them. This wouldn’t be so frustrating if it weren’t for the fact that you’re not given a list of combos that you can perform. This means you’re relegated to tediously mashing the button in a series of patterns in order to find one that works. If you’re hoping for a little more variety in the controls between Saki and Aya’s swordplay and Anna’s gunplay, you aren’t going to find it. The main difference is the obvious the range differences. It’s unfortunate that more thought didn’t go into differentiating each character more here, because as it is, this is one shallow and boring set of controls.
The one ounce of depth that comes from the fighting system is actually a very cool feature that definitely works toward the betterment of the game. During your pounding of the X button the sword that you’re using becomes drenched in blood. A sword that’s covered in blood essentially becomes dull and needs to be cleaned. Hitting the RB button allows you to swing your sword downward, cleansing it. Failure to do this will cause your character to slow down and your sword to eventually become stuck in enemies, leaving you open to their attacks. This is a pretty clever mechanic overall, and adds a bit of depth to an otherwise terribly boring button masher.
In addition to your sword becoming soaked in blood, Aya and Saki will also become drenched in the sticky red life giving elixir. Smashing your way through a level will eventually cause the blood meter to rise, and when it fills, your character will enter rage mode. In "rage" mode, your characters attacks are fast, frenzied and powerful, but you lost health rapidly and will eventually die if you don’t find a statue to cleanse yourself. If you’re unable to find a statue, there are a few power-ups and items that zombies will drop that can lower your blood-meter, or give you more health. However, as it’s a random process there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be able to find them when you need them most. Thankfully there is the ability to tag out in most levels if you find that you’re being overwhelmed and low on health.
Another problem arises with the map system. You’re only shown a small portion of the map and not really given any sense of direction at all to help you find your way through the very similar looking areas. This can mean you’ll wind up backtracking needlessly throughout levels and wind up having to mindlessly hack your way back through hordes of enemies that you’ve already cleared as you trudge back to the correct area. Something as simple as taking the time to allow for a full view of the map would have done wonders in the long run.
There are a couple of different modes that you can pass the time with outside of the main story. Survival, Freeplay and Quest offer up a break from the barely there story, but don’t actually do anything to change up the barely there gameplay. To be fair, Quest isn’t actually a mode, but a series of challenges for you to try and complete during these modes. Unfortunately, and it’s really getting tiring saying this, but there’s no explanation of any kind telling you what you’re supposed to be doing. The challenges are often random and you never know what the actual challenge entails until you’ve actually completed it.
Graphics and Sound
One thing Bikini Samauri Squad did focus on is the animation and character models, but the visuals definitely could have used some work. The game moves relativley fluidly, but unfortunately suffers from slowdown and framerate issues. Even the cutscenes suffer from frequent screen tearing. There’s almost a tendency to think that they spent far more time on the character models and physics of the female chest than trying to fix the small visual issues that pop up, or even making the environments less bland and repetitive. Still, the fighting looks pretty good, and the blood that covers our heroines does give the impression that you’ve just slogged through a zombie apacolypse.
The games sound suffers from the usual premanufactured techno-rock that’s included in most fighting games. There’s no ambience that fits very well here, at all. It’s just the chugging guitar, electronic drums and generic synthesizers that you’d expect from every other fighting/hack and slash game from the ’90’s. The voice-acting is entirely in Japanese, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Considering the work that went into the rest of the game, I can only imagine how shudder-inducing an attempt at hiring English voice-actors would have been.
Value
The story mode itself won’t last you very long on the first play-through, but there are several difficulties that should satisfy the hardcore fanbase that will be able to tolerate playing through more than once. There are quite a few unlockables to be found throughout the game, and a ton of Quests to complete, but most won’t really take the time to do this as the only motivation to do so is to unlock articles of clothing for the girls to dress up in.
Conclusion
Guys, let’s face it, this isn’t the deepest experience out there, and in the end, your love of women in bikinis getting covered in the blood of the undead is really going to be the deciding factor as to whether or not you’re going to check this out. The premise works as great B-movie fodder, and based on the gameplay found here, probably should have been left as such.
Pros
+ Can be fun in short bursts.
+ Character models look good.
+ Tons of unlockables.
Cons
- Shallow gameplay.
- Framerate, screen tearing, and slowdown issues.
- Terrible sound.
- Absolutely no explanations given until after you’ve been killed on certain bosses.
- Environments look too similar.
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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