Make love and war

Last year, Senran Kagura producer Kenichiro Takaki pledged to continue making games with tenderness and his unchanging love for boobs. After spending several hours with Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni, I can say?? he kept his word ??because the boobs here are fantastic.

Maybe next year he ca?n pledge?? to make a game with a decent story.

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni (PSVita)
Developer: Marvelous
Publisher: PQube
Released: September 20, 2016 (EU), October 11, 2016 (US)
MSRP: $39.99

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni is for Senran Kagura fans who feel that series has become a bit too prudis??h. With its big bouncy breasts, skimpy outfits, and throngs of thongs, Marvelous has thrown subtlety out the door in exchange for in-your-face sexuality. These big, busty brawlers are ready to strip down, grab each other by the breasts, and beat down some serious ass. With seven playable characters, I found it was a mostly good mix of combatants. There isn’t much variety like that other series, but they are well put together.

Except for Mana and her bow and arrow. She sucks.

Like Senran Kagura, the combat in Valkyrie Drive is easy to pick up and extremely fun to master. With just three buttons you can unleash a variety of combos, juggle enemies, and lay waste to anything that stands in your way. The ??circle button can send foes flying. You can give chase with a combo, smash them into the ground, or hit them higher and higher with perfectly timed presses of the circle button. The X? button is jump, but if you hold it down you can charge up a dash that will quickly send your character directly at whichever enemy they’re locked onto.

Bhikkhuni's combat is pretty flawless, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t just mash buttons from time to time. Mostly during the dull, damage-sponge boss battles. The only real issue I had in? battles was with the dodge button. Dodges don’t activate right away but after whatever combo you’re already in. I can understand why that decision was made, but I was still able to find ways to avoid injury by using both dodges and well-timed dashes.

The big draw of combat is “Drive.�Most b??attles have you paired up with a partner (who doesn’t participate in battle), and when you’ve done enough damage, you can activate Drive. This will trigger a cutscene ??where the girls “interact�with one another, and your partner will transform into a stronger version of your weapon. As you level the girls up, you’ll be able to activate higher levels of Drive, leading to more titillating transformations.

There’s a lot of titillation to be found here. The girls look amazing, in and out of their clothes, and you’re encouraged to try on as many skimpy outfits as possible. A lot of the underwear crosses the line from sexy into trashy, but the variety is so huge I’m sure anyone throwing these girls into the dressing room will be able to find something they like. I know I did! The girls aren’t the only eye candy as the game is overall really outstanding visually. The? framerate does tend to dip when either there are many enemies on the screen or when?? I was facing particularly large bosses. The dips were never bad enough to hurt the gameplay, but noticeable nonetheless.

If the framerate dips and the boring boss battles ??were the only issues, this would be easy to recommend. But in-between all of the fighting is an abundance of poor dialog, undercooked characterization, and pointless plot. For a game with giant-breasted women making out and turning into w?eapons, it sure does take itself seriously.

Bhikkhuni is the name of the island where the game takes place. It’s where they send girls infected with the VR virus, one of three viruses mentioned in the game though the other two don’t really matter. The VR virus is what gives the girls their ability to transform into swords, gloves, and spea??rs, and the only cure to the virus is to have the girls fight one another. There’s also a school the girls attended, a village for stronger characters, deities, and much more.

There’s simply too much going on. Not to the point where it’s hard to follow, because it’s not, but it got to where I stopped caring about any of the girls. The conversations between them are drawn-out and entirely unin?teresting. None of the girls have an ounce of originality to their personalities, which could be forgiven if they once had a memorable conversation.

Issues with the story do bleed over into the action. Because the plot is set up where the girls have to fight each other to cure their VR virus, and because?? the cast is so small, so much of the story is spent repeatedly fighting the same girls. These battles are enjoyable but tend to ??blend into one another as the story progresses along.

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni reminds me a lot of Senran Kagura Burst in that it feels like a rough draft of greater things to come. The combat is there, and the game looks amazing, but with an overabundance of uninter?esting plot and a lack of original or compelling personalities, I found myself skipping over more of the game than I should have in order to keep myself entertained.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni appeared first on Destructoid.

Probably not safe for work, definitely not safe for Australia

It's not long now until Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni, the new weaponised lesbian-themed brawler by Senran Kagura creator ;Kenichiro Takaki, is released in Europe and America. As such, the game's western publisher, PQube Games, have finally releas??ed an English trailer for it.

The trailer, which you can view below, mostly emphasises Valkyrie Drive's&??nbsp;hack-and-slash gameplay and fanservice. Say what you will about it, at least it's clear that PQube Games knows precisely what fans of the game are after.

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni is set for release on September 30 in Europe and October 11 in the U.S. for the PlayStation Vita. If you live in a country that believes the game may "...offend against the standards of morality," expect it to already be? on the list of prohibi?ted imports.

The post Check out this plot-heavy Va??lkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Delaytoid

Remember three months ago when September was looking like an epic month for gaming? Those were good times. Now, it seems like every other day there's a game getting delayed and pushed back. Yesterday is was sexy punishment simulator Criminal Girls 2. Today, it's the beat'em up, strip'em down Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni. 

Publisher PQube Games confirmed today it has been pushed back two weeks due to technical issues. Now, Valkyrie Drive will release in Europe on September 30 and in North America on October 11, sharing the date with Criminal Girls 2. Both of those games on?? the same day? It'll be like Christmas for perverts.

Meanwhile, fans in Australia can still expect the game... oh that's right, never.

The post Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhun??i is t?he latest game to abandon its release date appeared first on Destructoid.

'Against the standards of decency'

It’s hard being a Vita owner in Australia. Not only has the console been all-but-abandoned by Sony, but for the second time this year, a new release for the oft-negle??cted handheld has been ?banned.

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni, the new brawler by Senran Kagura creator Kenichiro Takaki that features weaponised lesbians, has been Refused Classification by the Australian Classification Board. This is to say that the game has been banned, as a title that has been Refused Classification “&hellip??;cannot be sold, hired, advertised or lega?lly imported in Australia.”

As mentioned previously, this is the second PlayStation Vita game to be banned in Australia this year, with the Idea Factory-published dungeon-crawler MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death being the first. The reason stated for the Australian Government’s banning of Valkyrie Drive was that the game depicts sex or sexuality in a way that may “… offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable a?dults to the extent that they sh?ould not be classified.”

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni is slated for a Western release by PQube Games on September 16. Ther??e's a trailer below that's well wort?h checking out.

I’m somewhat saddened by this turn of events, as I was act??ually looking f??orward to this one.

The post No weaponised lesbians for Australia: Valkyrie Drive refused classificati??on appeared first on Destructoid.

What a time to be alive

2016 has been kind of a shitty year. Between all of the celebrity deaths, the Presidential campaign, constant shootings and Gods of Egypt, it's been difficult to find a silver lining. They say it's always the darkest right before dawn, and I'm happy to say I can see ??some light peaking over the horizon.

PQube Games, publisher of Gal*Gun: Double Peace, announced it's bringing Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkuni west. Created by the father of Senran Kagura, Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkuni features busty brawling action between lip-locking lesbians with t??he ability to weaponize their women by getting it on.

And the anime version:

Released in Japan this past December, Valkyrie Drive&nb?sp;boasts seven playable characters, 28 story missions, online multiplayer, destructible clothing, and a dressing room feature that lets you level up your girls by rubbin??g and touching them.

No release date has been announced, but it has been c?onfirmed the game will get both a physical and digital release on the Vita. I wonder what will be in the inevitable special edition...

PQube Games [Twitter]

The post Lesbi??an brawler Valkyr??ie Drive will bare it all in North America and Europe this year appeared first on Destructoid.

Out next week on Vita in Japan

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni, from Senran Kagura creator Kenichiro Takaki, is a game where g??irls kiss their ??partners to transform into battle weapons.

It is coming ?to PlayStation Vita in Japan on December 10.

The post ??Lesbia?n weapon brawler Valkyrie Drive gets steamy trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Zen distilled stories

This week I was tempted to do all Bloodborne all the time, because we had so many Bloodborne stories go up that got a ton of attention. Instead, I collected them all into one little Bloodball and turned the abundance into a story itself.

In this series, we take a look at the stories that gathered the most attention of the pas??t week, and distill each one down to its essence. Here are the to??pics that the surly D. Takeshi Nakamura takes on this week:

• Marvelous, Senran Kagura creator launch new series
• Review: Bloodborne
• One of Evolve's monsters gets nerfed in new patch
• Review: Life is Strange: Out of Time
• Ori pays a ?nice homage to one of the best platformers o??f all-time
• Grand Theft Auto V graphics are worse in recent update
• Final Fantasy: Record Keeper is out today, and it kicks the crap out of All the Bravest

The post Game News Haikus: Bloo??dborne, Grand Theft Auto V, Evolve, and more appeared first on Destructoid.

Valkyrie Drive multimedia project announced at AnimeJapan

Marvelous is launching a new franchise that appears to be more salacious and sexually-charged than Senran Kagura, if that even sounds possible.

The publisher revealed a new mixed media project at this weekend's AnimeJapan expo in Tokyo. Titled Valkyrie Drive, the ?undertaking involves an anime series, PS Vita title, and mobile game.

The stor?y involves a number of young women who can transform into weapons, though the whole bit appears to be a vehicle for Kenichiro Takaki's special brand of ecchi.

Takaki (Senran Kagura, IA/VT Colorful, Half-Minute Hero) is producing the PS Vita game, Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni, with the help of Meteorise, the studio behind Senran Kagura Bon Appétit.

The mobile app, Valkyrie Drive: Siren, will be a free-to-play tie-in to the o??ther game and show.

Marvelous hasn't announced any plans for a western release, but this seems like ex?actly the sort of thing the publisher's western localiz?ation studio XSEED is interested in these days.

Valkyrie Drive [Marvelous via 4Gamer]

The post Marvelous, Senran Kagura creator launch new ser?ies appeared first on Destructoid.