Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson Review

Outside of the main missions there are plenty of distractions to get up to in Deep Crimson. There’s a boatload of side missions, a neat dungeon that can offer huge EXP rewards to the talented player, a very in-depth dressing room where you can mix and match all your favourite outfits, and more. I never found myself running out of things to do in Deep Crimson, and whilst all of it is based off the same hack ‘n’ slash systems (that do begin to feel repetitive after a while) the amount of content is pretty impressive regardless.

Presentation:

For a series that constantly adorns its box art with the sweaty breasts of its protagonists, often nestling ninja scrolls suggestively between them, it should come as no surprise to hear that Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson continues the proud tradition of shoving boobs in your face. As you might expect from a game that seemingly took the baton from the Dead or Alive series and ran with it, developer Tamsoft have poured unparalleled amounts of effort into realizing this vision as beautifully as possible.

Whilst you might take issue with their focus, you can’t knock Tamsoft’s execution. Senran Kagura looks fantastic, and the 3D functionality of the system is used to amazing effect. There’s very little in this title that didn’t impress me visually, and the voice acting and traditional Japanese music made sure my ears were never displeased either. Indeed, everything looks and sounds great in Senran Kagura 2: Crimson Burst – but you probably already knew that.

Conclusion:

Let’s not mince words, “Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson” is focused almost entirely on boobs, butts and lady-bits, all things I admittedly enjoy – though your mileage may vary. Tamsoft know exactly what they’re doing here and what audience they’re going for, and it might just be that unashamed nature that saves Senran Kagura from itself. It’s a brave move for publisher Marvellous to continue to release the Senran Kagura games in the west – especially considering the climate of games journalism at the moment.

That said, I think there’s room in the videogame industry for titillation, and there’s definitely a market, so as long as it doesn’t misrepresent itself then this sort of content should find a place in videogames as it has done in every other medium that exists. Viewed as a piece of eroticism Senran Kagura is found wanting: there’s none of the subtlety or scope that makes that artform, well, art. But as a cheap thrill and a competent and enjoyable brawler, Senran Kagura 2 is a knockout. Deep Crimson isn’t a perfect 10, but it’s a damn good time regardless.