Senran Kagura: Estival Versus

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus continues the series forward momentum of compelling character-driven narrative and addictive and accessible combat in the best-looking entry to date. The light-hearted tone pairs well with the brawler gameplay x musou meets visual novel. Don't buy into the hate and give this one a shot.

While the gameplay in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus can grow repetitive after awhile, the series' signature humor is present while new features like the bombshells and creative finishers help to shake it up just enough to make the game feel like a natural progression and what the series should strive to be moving forward.

Estival Versus continues to build on a formula that's working for the franchise, but is starting to wear thin on its fanservice schtick. The gameplay is really hitting its stride now and has quite a bit of good additions this time around, with plenty of characters and variety. The excellent localization also helps strike a good balance between the comedy and touching story bits. Anyone who's interest in Senran Kagura game though, should opt for the portable version, because there's almost no way you can explain owning this on PS4.

If you’re a fan of the series, or have ever had a passing interest, Estival Versus is definitely a title to check out. If you’re not, the game still provides enough mindless beat-em-up fun that makes it worth a second glance. If you’re averse to blatant fanservice, though, you may want to stay far away.

Senran Kagura Estival Versus's gameplay is definitely more solid than the boobs, but the boobs are a huge plus.

Senran Kagura Estival Versus is the first time that the series has bounced onto a home console, and in many ways, it's dressed itself up for the big occasion. Estival Versus exudes a level of polish – particularly in terms of presentation – that previous PlayStation title Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus simply didn't possess. Sure, much of it looks the same, and the art direction is identical, but there's a neat and tidy quality to this latest entry that makes the game a colourful and flamboyant visual feast – even when you're sitting on the main menu.

The team developing Senran Kagura games have been hard at work bringing their older PS Vita titles to PC for quite a while, as we've seen with Shinovi Versus and Bon Appetit! slowly coming to the platform. Estival Versus however plays significantly different from Shinovi despite sharing the genre, so let's dive right in.

If you can forget about Senran Kagura: Estival Versus’ unhealthy obsession with mammaries, then you’ve got a flawed but somewhat enjoyable game on your hands. Unremarkable in every way apart from its unique selling point, which is obviously its assortment of jiggling breasts, it’s certainly not going to appeal to the mass market. To sum it up then: If it’s boobs you’re after, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus will provide more than your fair share, but if you’re wanting actual gameplay, it doesn’t deliver anything you won’t find better done elsewhere.

As a 3D action game, Estival Versus manages to tick most boxes, but it fails to deliver anything which could be labelled as ground-breaking. While in no way poor or unenjoyable, it does little to put this franchise on the map. Still, for fans of previous entries, there’s plenty of meat on the bone, bundled together in a respectably polished brawler.

The main story is as such lacking however the game tries to make up for this with its character centric mission series. All of which is designed as light hearted comedic pieces which are entertaining enough. It won’t win any prizes for storytelling but it is still a lot better than the main story. In terms of replayability, the game has a decent enough number of missions which can be replayed in 3 different difficulties and after the first time completing a mission can be done with any of the cast.