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Recent reviews by "Delegation"

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Showing 1-10 of 43 entries
1 person found this review helpful
6.2 hrs on record (6.1 hrs at review time)
Dark Siren is basically a game where you get chased by the said character. Basically you have to avoid being caught by her, and if she does, she will snu-snu you (implied, as it is not shown). You just play one part of the story to unlock the next part, which basically just unlock extra scenes and so on. In general, there are two main parts for this game; the main cat and mouse game, where most of the time you will play the point collection mode to get points to unlock perks, outfits and some items; and the mode for people with the giant fetish, which is Giantess mode, where you can use items to summon more Sirens, resize them, for quick mobility, or just to lure them. Whichever mode you play, in the end, you WILL be snu-snued, regardless, its just a matter of time. The only difference is that whether you get snu-snued by a regular sized Siren, or get your hip crushed by a gigantic Siren.

You can customize your Siren, depending on what outfits you have unlocked (no extreme nudity, just thongs and so). There are some limited customization on the Siren body appearance itself, such as body sliders, hairstyles and colours of hair and skin. Though do note that in point collection mode, the 1st Siren that appears will use the outfit of your choice, while the 3rd one is totally random. The 2nd Siren however, uses a fixed skin. Whatever outfits you have unlocked, you can use them in the Giantess mode, for your viewing (or snu-snuing) pleasure (her pleasure I guess, since she will be doing the snu-snu).

This game is pretty much that; replayability is mainly to get more points to unlock outfits. Story mode is pretty much like a tutorial mode (with the exception of invisibility mode, which is just for fun). Once you play each mode once, thats pretty much the entire game experience. Sadly some items that you bought cannot be used in point collection mode, such as the distraction props and invisibility potions (which however, is allowed in another game the dev made called Vampire Mansion). They did made some QoL stuffs, like actually boosting point collection, as it was incredibly slow previously, and removed stamina for sprinting, as the Siren walk speed can be extremely ludicrous later on.

Its dirt cheap, so if you want, feel free to get it. However I do recommend getting Vampire Mansion for something a little bit more (and really, just a little bit more) in terms of cat and mouse game, since it feels slightly more polished and refined than Dark Siren. However, if you are really into giant fetish, then feel free to watch the Siren sweep you with her breasts, and sit on your hips.
Posted 12 July.
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2 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
11.3 hrs on record
Bright Memory: Infinite is pretty much the final version of what Bright Memory is meant to be. If you bought the latter back when it was still in development, you pretty much get this game for free. You use Sheila, who's pretty much trying to investigate some convergences between worlds, while being pursued by General Lin and his army (what happened to Carter though...). Along the way she has to fight against enemies, whether its General Lin's troops, or some ancient Chinese warriors with strange abilities. She has various guns, each with secondary mode of firing, in addition to her exoarm that is capable of telekinesis, or just being able to land devastating blows. You will collect some orbs and reliquary to upgrade Sheila's weapons and skills, to boost their effectiveness as well.

Unlike Bright Memory, there is a clear Chinese theme here, from the character names, the environment, buildings and even the monsters here, which is pretty much given, as the developers are from China after all. There are also changes to some gameplay here, such as skills having pretty much have no cooldown here, instead they are kind of limited by your exoarm energy, which is a pretty nice change compared to the cooldown present in Bright Memory. Double jump here is done by tapping jump twice, instead of holding jump in Bright Memory. She also can parry attacks, which helps to refill her exoarm energy bar, and replenish ammo as well. Wall run are present in some places for manuevering purposes, albeit not much. Scoring system is no longer present here, and lastly, you can reconfigure key layout here. Finally.

Unfortunately, it kinda suffers from one big problem as Bright Memory; its too damn short! For a full game, you can complete it in 2 hours. There's also some weird checkpoint mechanics here where if you die, you will restart the checkpoint... with the amount of ammo you had left right before you died, instead of how much ammo you have when you reached the checkpoint. Some part also have unskippable cutscenes, as it may have some QTE, which is a bit annoying.

Despite that, I did enjoy this game. It's not too bad, and its quite fun. As in Bright Memory, the Japanese VA for Sheila is still Yui Ishikawa, which is a well known VA. Coupled with workshop mods, you can use a 2B mod for Sheila and it will fit really well with the voice. If you want to get this game, perhaps you wait for a Steam sale to try it out.
Posted 10 June.
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8 people found this review helpful
6.0 hrs on record
Bright Memory is a FPS game that was released as a demo run to Bright Memory: Infinite. You use Sheila, who in addition to having several guns, is able to use special abilities, such as telekinesis, time stop, electric attacks and able to slash through air like an anime character. All of these weapons and skills are upgradable, while you progress through levels against enemies. The plot is quite minimal here, since it's pretty much a demo run, thus its mainly Sheila trying to get a treasure and trying to go back to the real world.

Combat is quite fast paced, as you really need to dodge and jump around, while shooting and using skills against enemies and bosses. There is some kind of scoring system here, where the more you constantly hit the enemies, more points will be obtained. Even more points can be obtained if you can float them in the air, with the help of skills. Skills can further be comboed into another skill to just keep the enemies airbourne, rendering them helpless. In fact one of the achievement here is to get 15 seconds of air time on an enemy, which is quite challenging. One more thing to note is that the Japanese VA for Sheila is none other than Yui Ishikawa, who voiced popular characters such as 2B, Mikasa Ackerman, Violet, Asuma Toki, Morgan le Fay and many others.

As it is a demo run for Bright Memory: Infinite, it's really, really short. You can finish the game really fast, if you play at a fast pace. Sometimes skill combos can be a little bit janky, where instead of floating an enemy, they just won't refloat, landing onto the ground instead. Some of the enemies have lunging attacks, which covers ridiculous distances. Finally, as a demo run, you can't rebind keys; you are stuck with the default key layout.

Nevertheless, its a really well made game. Back then it was made by one person, which makes it even more impressive. I did enjoy it, but if you are planning to get this game, at least get Bright Memory: Infinite instead, since its pretty much the complete version of this game, and this version is not being updated. Do note that if you play this game, some contents may be quite different from Bright Memory: Infinite.
Posted 10 June. Last edited 10 June.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
5.0 hrs on record
Forest of Relics is a platforming game, where you use Ruby (or Spinel, the guardian of the ruins depending on which route you start with. Also everyone are named after jewels apparently) in getting the treasure. Spinel is basically a humanoid budget version of Ankha, protecting the treasure in the ruin (why is she getting the treasure in the ruin, that's for you to play to figure out), while Ruby is a treasure hunter (and a really striperiffic one to add in terms of outfit design) trying to loot them treasure for profit. Basically in this game you will jump, climb and dodge stuffs in order to get through the area. That's pretty much it. Outfits are unlocked on completing game mode (except the swimsuit, which is unlocked by.... reading the diary entries. For real).

Its a short game, and a really cheap one as well. You can complete the entire game in few hours, and complete everything as well within that timespan. Some of the outfits are very fanservicey, emphasizing a lot on the gyatt. When completing the game once, you unlock perks which also help speed up future gameplay as well, such as double jumps and sprint. However, there's pretty much only one map in the entire playthrough, with the exception of the hidden path mode, which is another map on its own. Some of the traps in the hidden path route are extremely annoying (laser grid with someone shooting at me? Oomph). Lastly, its just a minor annoyance, but unlike the other game from the same publisher, you can't really do much customization.

If you want to play a really short platforming game, you can give it a shot, its really cheap. Nothing to lose here after all. Just don't expect some kind of in depth platformer like Bloodstained or Shantae series though.
Posted 14 May.
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7 people found this review helpful
44.8 hrs on record
Haydee 2, like its predecessor, puts you in control of an extremely voluptuous lady, trying to escape from the facility she is in. She will need to get key items in order to do important tasks, while avoiding and taking down hostile beings, which is pretty much everyone else. To defend herself, she will find guns and limited amount of ammos. Some places are booby (heh) trapped, which can be bypassed with the right item, or even be used against hostile mobs as well (e.g. mines).

Unlike the previous game, Haydee 2 focuses more on combat than platforming. You can no longer jump and climb here, as its not needed to do so. As it is more combat focused, there are much more enemies you will encounter along the way, either pre-spawned, or spawned due to triggers. Its pretty much the same enemy types as well, which is the slow but hard hitting creeper, fast but fragile slasher, and the aforementioned mines, which can be used to your advantage if you can defuse them.

Difficulty changes also is slightly different compared to Haydee 1. For example, in Haydee 1, you get recoil and accuracy sway in the higher difficulty mode, but this is not present here. However, way less items will spawn now, with some items being replaced as save discs, as you can only save with them on higher difficulty. On lower difficulty, you are free to save as many times as you like, as you don't need the discs for it.

One thing you really need to note is that, you may need a guide here. You can get pretty lost on what to do on your first time, especially during the final sequence. Some stuffs, are elaborated in notes scattered here and there, but most of the stuffs require trial and error. Some people may also preferred the original Haydee model, as its ambiguous whether she's a human being, or an android, while in this game, she's clearly human. Mods for her also only applies to her; it does not apply to the other female corpses, unlike in Haydee 1. Finally, as an adult themed game, it shoves a lot of nudity right in front of you (e.g. female corpses, posters, vending machines), which can be censored in game. This is just my preferences, but I kinda wished it wasn't the case fully.

That being said, if you like the original Haydee, you can give it a shot, since it still retains similar playstyle. I did had fun doing it, and the achievements aren't too bad this time, even the speedrun one (I still cannot do the curve jump in the original game, which is crucial for speedrunning). There are mods that brings back climbing and jumping as well, if you want to have that kinda of platforming freedom, though its best to experience it in the previous game.
Posted 11 May. Last edited 11 May.
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4 people found this review helpful
2 people found this review funny
56.3 hrs on record
Onee Chanbara ORIGIN is the prequel to Oneechanbara Z2: Chaos, which was released earlier on Steam than the former oddly. Basically you play as Aya, the lingerie clad samurai girl with a cowgirl hat, slashing her way through hordes of zombies, trying to stop the source of this zombie apocalypse. Along the way you will meet some familiar faces, such as her sister Saki, and some other new characters, though you only get to use Aya, Saki and another unlockable character. Each of them uses different weapons, for example, Aya can single wield or dual wield katanas, while Saki uses her gauntlets and a nodachi as her weapon of choice.

If you played Oneechanbara Z2: Chaos, you roughly know how Aya's and Saki's playstyle is like, which is how this game is played. Despite the fan service provided in this game (mainly from Aya's outfits, though there are some really skimpy outfits from a certain boss character), its quite techincal gameplay wise. There quite some focus on perfect evade, where time slows down when you do so, or perfect parry, where there will be a huge blue glare effect, which will either stun enemies temporarily (indicated by the yellow highlight around them), or heavily stun them (indicated by the red heart like indicator above them). Enemies in the latter state can potentially be finished off with a Cool Finish, which is basically your finisher move. For bosses, this finisher only appears when their HP are close to zero.

Another focus is on just frames of combo strings, also known as Cool Combination. For this part, there will be a small UI with a blue bar at certain locations and varying length to indicate the timing for each string. Completing the entire string with the correct timing yields an additional string ender exclusive to performing a perfect Cool Combination string. You also get to use your Xtasy Combination, which is basically somewhat of your super moves. The more you kill, the more bloodstained your weapon will be, making it dull and unable to severe parts well. This is where the "reload" mechanic comes in, which basically cleans your weapon up. The more you get stained, the more you will enter a state of blood fueled rage known as Berserk. Getting stained even more transform you into another state known as Xtatic, where Aya and Saki will be clad in only blood, while looking more demonic. You will hit harder here, but your HP will be drained over time, thus you need to constantly kill to heal up.

I kinda liked the cell shaded art, its quite unique compared to Oneechanbara Z2: Chaos realistic design. The JP VAs here do a very good job in voicing the character,s especially Aya's VA, which is none other than the Baba herself, Yoko Hikasa. Some of the combos look satisfying to look at, especially Saki's Cool Finisher, which is a powerbomb that can pretty much one shot anything except actual bosses. Did I mentioned how fanservicey Aya's design can be?

Sadly, when I got this game on my older PC, I had an issue where the audio was terribly desynced. It was solved in a weird way, where I actually have to run an Android emulator in the background to rectify it. Granted, I no longer have to do this on my newer PC, but the audio feels a bit.... laggy. There's very little stuff to do after you finish the game, as the only alternative mode to play, barring DLC missions, is the survival mode. Through this mode, you get to unlock the final playable character..... or you can just buy the DLC to unlock it. Yes, this game has LOADS of DLCs, though most of it are outfits. However, in game you don't really unlock many outfits, so most of the nice outfits are pretty much DLCs only, and many of them are the same, but different colour. The DLC missions..... can be finished in 5 minutes. You heard that right, its super short! Whatever playable stuff here is actually less than what Oneechanbara Z2: Chaos offers. Even in the latter, you get to use more characters than what is offered here. For some reason, this game also does not have a Steam Cloud save (why?). Finally, some of the quests or achievements are ridiculously hard to track. For example, the Xtatic and Berserk ones, the only way to track it is by counting it yourself.... or let the Steam achievement or in game quest completed message pop up for you.

Despite that, I did have some fun with it. Though in overall, I would recommend getting Oneechanbara ZD: Chaos instead, if you plan to try out the Oneechanbara series, simply because its much, much cheaper. If you do want to get this game, get it during a sales, with a heavy discount, because at its current price, it not worth it due to how little it offers.
Posted 22 July, 2023.
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19 people found this review helpful
110.1 hrs on record
Haydee is a deceptive game. Behind its T & A appearance, its layered with platforming and survival gameplay. You use the title character herself in navigating her way to escape the hellish puzzle maze she is trapped into, while avoiding and destroying hostile bots that are in her way. This maze like dungeon are divided into several sections, which are colour based. Depending on the areas, some may require more platforming action, while some are more action based.

You can find guns to defend yourself, and tools as well. Some tools are crucial in navigating certain areas or avoiding death traps, while some are optional tools, but allow you to potentially find more items. There's only two difficulties here; softcore, which is pretty much normal mode, and hardcore, which is the hard mode of this game. In hardcore mode, your guns start to get recoil and accuracy sway, thus making it harder to get headshots, along with heal no longer healing your health to full for a single usage.

Haydee herself is clad in a thong like bodysuit (think of Cammy froms Street Fighter), with a huge booty, and quite a jiggle physics for her top as well. I guess this is pretty much the main attraction of this game from first glance. But beneath that initial appearance, it has quite a solid gameplay. You really need to plan ahead on higher difficulties, as to whether you need to kill the hostile robots, or can you run past them, but potentially taking damage in the process. This is really important for speed runs or certain achievements. There's a lot of mods for this game as well, for Haydee and custom campaigns to try out as well, in case the default map may get too boring.

Despite that, Haydee model herself may look..... weird at times, depending on angles. Her arms may seem to be quite short than normal design, if you view from certain angles. Once you die, you just get to view your mangled corpse, there's no "game over" screen or so, you will need to reload or start a new game from the menu manually. You also may need to fall into some of those death traps for the first playthrough in order to actually know how to progress pass it, thus your first playthrough may be a bit rough. Some of the achievements are really rough if you don't know some of the tricks to it, especially the speedrun one. Lastly, there's pretty much no in game hint or tutorial; everything must be discovered on your own.

Despite that, I actually enjoyed this game (with mods of course, but its great without mods as well). I highly recommend getting this game. Even if you aren't comfortable with seeing a scantily clad lady on your screen., there should be some relatively SFW-ish mod to replace the default Haydee design.
Posted 16 July, 2023.
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61 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
2
41.6 hrs on record (41.6 hrs at review time)
Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is the fourth installment in the Fatal Frame series (technically it came out before Fatal Frame 5: Maiden of Black Water, but the remaster came out later than the former). Like Fatal Frame 5, you use your special spirit camera to exorcise ghosts. Unlike Fatal Frame 5, this game emphasizes a lot of keeping locked on to the ghost for maximum damage, while the former emphasizes on taking pot shots to build up enough for a highly damaging shot. Time the shots right before the ghosts attack yields a Fatal Frame , which deals the most damage, while able to repeatedly take picture again during that time period for more damage and stagger. Ghosts also get to enter a state called "Blossomed" (or "Bloomed", if you are using the old term), where they will hit much harder, while having their face distorted. On higher difficulty, a single hit from them means death.

In this game, you use several protagonists, where they try to explore Rogetsu Island, trying to solve the mystery that occurred quite a long time back. Depending on the protagonists, you use either the aforementioned spirit camera, or the Spirit Stone Flashlight, which is basically a spirit torchlight that can also take pictures (don't ask how). Some mechanics may be different when using the torchlight, for example, you don't get Fatal Frame chance nor the ability to dodge, in exchange for much more damaging shots with it. Along the way, you get gems to upgrade your camera and torchlight. Unlike Fatal Frame 5, points can be used to buy items at the shop, or unlock new lenses, costumes or upgrades. If you are concerned about grading, fret not, grading for story mode does not matter, unlike in Fatal Frame 5. Only grades matter when completing mission mode, which is unlocked after the main story, as a challenge mode.

Characters look quite pretty here, due to the DOA engine, from the living and the non-living.... though some of the non-living ones looks a bit too pretty to be scary to be honest (looking at you Shie Sonosaki, while your colleague Fuyuko looks like something from Ju-On). Gameplay wise, its really rewarding to get Fatal Frames, as you do so much damage. Coupled with damage lenses for overkill, you can pretty much defeat a ghost with a single Fatal Frame, even on the highest difficulty, though you may need to get the timing right. Unlike Fatal Frame 5, save lanterns exists, where you can save your progress. Thank goodness, no more relying on auto saves. Death animations for the protagonists exists, while a simple one, at least makes it feels more complete, unlike in Fatal Frame 5, where if you die, it just shows the game over screen without any animations. Some random stuffs exists, while spooky, kind of make it a bit funny, for example a ghost appearing on your menu screen if you idle on the menu for too long, and the spooky jumpscares when taking a picture of a Hozuki Doll. :cursedoll:

Unfortunately, while the characters looks graphically better due to being a remaster, however, the environment weren't touched up to that level. The environment looks very pixelated, like a PS2 era graphic, when inspected up close. While a dodge button exists, it is not shown on screen to dodge a ghost attack, unlike in Fatal Frame 5. Ghost hands make a return (or originated here to be precise). They are much easier to dodge here, as you can interrupt your grabbing attempt as it comes out (and there's an audio cue from your character when it happens), and continue taking the item once its avoided without restarting the animation. However, coming from Fatal Frame 5, the ghost hands left a sour taste in my mouth. There's pretty much no random ghosts spawns here; everything is prescripted. Sometimes they do spawn, but its very rare.

Which leads to another problem; ghost list hunting. Some ghosts only can bloom in certain areas and chapters, and some of them are random spawns. If you fail to get it, you have to either reload or do it on the next playthrough. This is very prevalent with the torchlight, where it hits so hard that they are defeated before they get the chance to do so. Unlike Fatal Frame 5, there's no chapter select, so if you miss something, you need to reload, or again, get it on the next playthrough. A lot of fights takes place in cramped, narrow area, which if you are not a fan of, you will hate it. There's no English dub, so those wanting to hear the casts speaking in English, sorry you are out of luck. Finally, if you come from Fatal Frame 5, you may find the movement way slower here, as your running speed isn't an actual run, but brisk walking instead. Shout out to one cutscene where the main protagonist sprinted in it, only to not be able to do it in actual gameplay.

Despite that, I still enjoy this game. To be honest, while some fights were actually much harder than any fights in Fatal Frame 5 on the highest difficulty, most of it is pretty straight forward if you are familiar with the combat mechanics. If you are a Fatal Frame fan, I would highly recommend getting it, since its way more spooky than Fatal Frame 5 (and less fanservicey too). In fact, I would highly recommend getting it over Fatal Frame 5 since its actually cheaper, for some reason. Weird huh?
Posted 23 April, 2023. Last edited 11 October, 2023.
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26 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
26.9 hrs on record
Neptunia x Senran Kagura is a hack and slash game that features both Neptunia characters (more preferably the main CPU characters) and Senran Kagura characters (mainly the leader of each school), in addition to two new characters. Here you are basically trying to save Gam*nin*justri (not Gamindustri) from the forces of the Steele Legion.

You battle familiar mobs from the Neptunia series such as dogoos, mushrooms, neko mobs and others, in addition to Steele Legion exclusive mobs. You can slash, or use throwable weapons that can be recharged over time, or use your ninja skills against them, which requires the usage of your stamina meter. When you have a full Shinobi meter, you can unleash the Shinobi Extreme, which is basically a super skill. You also have access to the Fuurinzan Drive, which is basically this game version of Drive mode. You will infuse yourself with specific element, granting certain bonuses to attack, defense or even getting HP regen, though this mode can only be used 5 times in a single battle. If things get too hot, you can tag out for your partner.

Voice acting is top notch, along with the music. All the JP VAs who voiced the Senran Kagura and Neptunia characters make a return here, in addition to VAs to the new playable characters and NPCs. Shout out to particularly Chiwa Saito, who voices an NPC that uses a LOT of Engrish. If I remembered she uses an Engrish word or phrase in almost every line she speaks. Visually, the characters look pretty good as well, in comparison to old Senran Kagura and Neptunia games. I really liked the shared XP between all your characters, regardless of them being used in combat or not, since I don't have to grind XP for a particular character if I want to use her.

Unfortunately, the gameplay is quite a mess. You only have one melee attack string, and its only guard cancellable at certain points. The guard itself doesn't guarantee damage negation, since you will take chip damage, though if timed right, it will allow you to fully negate an attack, while replenishing your stamina meter. Sounds great, except parrying does not stop an enemy's attack string, nor can it negate damage from another source appearing at the same time. So in an event where an enemy is attacking continuously, all you can do if parry everything, or if not possible, block them, which can still inflict a huge amount of damage regardless. In terms of gearing up, all you need to change are your throwable weapons. That's it. No bangle, no armor, no melee weapon, nothing. Instead you get this gem system, where equipping gems boost you stats, and you need few gems to start gaining some bonuses. You can craft higher level gems, but usually people will just wait to complete the story, since the best gems are only available in a mode that is unlocked after the story is completed. The gameplay is also very repetitive as well, though there are some missions where you need to collect stuffs only, which is slightly different from the "clear all enemies and boss" objectives.

If you think modes like Re;birth 1 Colosseum mode was bad, the post story mode content is terribly designed. There's 9 levels, with each levels consisting of 3 rounds. Every round rewards a gem for your effort, and at the end, there's a boss you need to defeat to complete it. However, the catch is that each round bars the usage of a specific stuff. For example, one level does not allow you to tag in your character. Some of it becomes extremely hard if you were playing a particular style (e.g. parry and use Ninja skill) and not knowing about how stupidly good the throwable weapons are, in addition to the time limit imposed in most of them. To add salt into wound, you cannot quit halfway, since if you do, you need to start the whole level again. Scratch that, you need to start the whole level again even if you fully cleared the level OR lost a single round. What's with this ridiculous need for a grind? Let's not forget, the bosses here can easily wipe you, if you get caught in a single barrage (I am looking at you Guardian Yoh Gamer) or handled wrongly (yes, you, Affimojas, with your ridiculous attacks).

Also, why is the throwable weapons so good? There's some levels where it was almost impossible to play via melee style (or if you have to resort to only auto attacks), and the throwable weapons just blows it out of the water completely. If you do finish all the levels, you will get the best throwable weapons in the game, which is even more stupidly good. Its so stupidly good, you don't even need to consider using ninja skills or Shinobi Extreme anymore. Just parry and throw them, everything will just get KOed instantly. Playing the previous Neptunia games, I was extremely disappointed with the character sprites. Its just a loop of them blinking and opening and closing their mouth in a uniform cycle. No variation in mouth movement, nor timing in mouth movement at all. Oh if you are expecting customization for the characters, there's pretty much none. You can change the colour of the CPU outfits, or use the casual outfits for the Senran Kagura girls, but that's about it. No customization hairstyle, armor, clothing nothing. No clothes ripping too, which is pretty much a trademark from Senran Kagura series.

Overall, if you really, really want to see ninja Neptune and gang, or you just want to experience the crossover, you can try this game. However, I would really recommend playing other games from their respective universe instead (e.g. Neptunia Unleashed for the Neptunia series and Shinovi or Estival Versus for the Senran Kagura series).
Posted 18 February, 2023. Last edited 18 February, 2023.
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3 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
60.5 hrs on record
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, or also known as Fatal Frame 5, is basically a horror game where you need to banish ghosts by not magic, garlic, cross, but with a camera instead. The camera you wield is a special type of camera that is capable of taking pictures of the departed and spirits. In this game, you play as three protagonists; Yuri, Ren and later Miu (there's one more protagonist from one of another Koei Tecmo games here), which have their own stories, but they intersect with each other occasionally. The entire story takes place on Mt Hikami, a haunted mountain where people go to end their life there. As you progress through the story, you will get to know the backstory about Mt Hikami and its surrounding, and what caused its haunted nature.

The mountain and its surroundings are infested with spirits and ghosts, from the ghosts of the pasts, such as samurais, priests, retainers, traditional kimono girls and Japanese shaman girls... I mean shrine maidens; ghosts of the presents, such as office workers, school girls and regular dudes; and finally, urban legends such as Hasshaku-sama. Each of them comes with their own haunting sound effect, waiting to rip the life out of our dear protagonists. To defeat them, you can either take pot shots until you get enough to do a Shutter Chance for massive damage and stun, or wait for the right moment when they are attacking to perform a Fatal Frame, which allows consecutive photo shots while stunning them during that period. Bonus if you get a Shutter Chance during that Fatal Frame timing.

The characters look really good in this, as expected from Koei Tecmo, though every female characters, be it dead or alive (heh), is a bit too.... well endowed (save for the grandmas and kids though). Does shrine maidens of the past have beauty and diet regime, which allows them to keep their hourglass figure while having quite a bust? You do have a Snap mode, which is a panorama mode where you can craft whatever scene you can imagine between the living and the dead (perhaps in a non hostile manner). Gameplay is quite fun, as sometimes you really need to do that Fatal Frame shot, since some ghosts can come hard and fast. You could dodge them, but thats more like a last resort, if you fail to get that Fatal Frame timing. Also, the side story offers a very unique style of gameplay, where you will be mainly trying to avoid ghosts instead of confronting them.

As mentioned earlier, each characters may interact with each other, and some of their paths are crossed together. Which means that you will be covering the same area again and again, but with different characters, which can get quite tiresome. Free roaming is basically blocked here despite the area seem open enough to do so, with characters themselves blocking such intention with "This person is not here, I need to check further", though you actually get to do some free roaming in the final chapter of the main story. Some fights can get really annoying due to the area you are fighting ghosts; sometimes you will be fighting multiple ghosts in waterlogged area, hampering movement. Sometime you will be fighting ghosts in a tiny room or corridor. Sometimes, it could be even both, which can get infuriating (I am looking at you, Halls of Flames, and that CCTV room). This is very prominent in Ren's route, where almost every single encounter he has is a fight in a tiny area.

Most importantly, ghost hands. This mechanic is utterly silly, time consuming and irritating. Every time you pick an item up, there's a small cutscene that plays. During that cutscene, a ghost hand has a chance of grabbing you, and if you are slow in dodging it, it will damage you, while trying to free yourself. You will then not pick up item and worse of all, wasting time. You can bait it until you see the hands come out, but as mentioned earlier, its chance based of occurrence, which makes this tactic even more time wasting. This mechanic was introduced in the upcoming Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (aka Fatal Frame 4), thus you will be encountering it there again as well if you are going to play it as well. Do note that some skimpy outfits are removed from this version (you get some replacement, but its very conservative), though you can easily mod it back in. Some parts are quite cheap too, as it will spawn a ghost that will immediately attack you if you are not aware of it for the first time (I am looking at you, Shadow Touched). Finally, Miu's story is a bit... weird, as there is some weird stuffs going on, which is quite incestous. From Googling, it kinda screws up the character development for some of the older characters as well.

Overall, this is my first foray into the Fatal Frame series. Sure some stuffs are a bit annoying (and quite some jump scares too), but I did enjoy the game (and the..... jiggle physics). I can recommend it, though do get it on a sale (not this current 2022 Christmas sale though, for some reason it has no discount.)
Posted 30 December, 2022. Last edited 30 December, 2022.
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