Senran Kagura Peach Ball review for PC

The Senran Kagura series has a bad rap in the west. Largely dismissed as a fan-service title, those who actually give the titles a fair shake will know that when their clothes aren?t bursting into shred, the ladies whose tales are chronicled in the titles are oddly interconnected with strong themes revolving friendship and honor. Besides being serviceable action titles, the IP has seen side titles in genres such as rhythm games, 3rd person shooters, and reflexology simulators. Senran Kagura Peach Ball (also recently reviewed for the Nintendo Switch) is another one of these side titles which deviates from the main genre of the core games, this title puts some of the girls of the series into a pinball game in the most convoluted way known to man.

Haruka a ninja whose specialty is chemical weapons and puppetry has taken up a part time job at a local arcade. While a normally quiet and easy job, the arcade is rather busy today because they are hosting a tournament for the newest entry of Shinobi Fighter. Among the participants are members of the various students of the ninja academies. The tournament proceeds without a hitch until one of the ninja girls is accidentally exposed experimental chemical in the arcade?s bathroom which turns her into a beast (well a beast girl which is still showing ample skin). The other ninja girls are infected as well and Haruka recruits you a random bystander to cure the afflicted ninja girls of problem and return them to their normal human forms…by playing pinball.

The game features 2 tables with several variations (daytime and seasonal). The kunoichi you choose will be perched in the middle of the table. There are very few differences between the two. The object of the table is to complete peach missions to fill up the bar so you can partake in ?sexy? challenges which will help return the girl to her senses. These missions are run of the mill things like hitting bumpers or a target, hitting ramps or hitting the girl a specific amount of time. The sexy challenges are anything but a challenge. It will be very difficult for the player to not get the highest rank available. After completing enough peach missions to fill the bar 3 times, the player will be able to partake in the ?Super Sexy? challenge, which usually involves hitting the girl on her breast or butt with the peach ball. Completing that challenge will result in the girl coming to her senses. That?s pretty much the loop of these tables. In story mode you will go through one loop and move on, in free mode you can repeat the process until you run out of balls. Story mode also features level specific challenges which will unlock items in the store.

Besides 2 very plain pinball tables, the game also has a dressing room mode which is a staple of the IP. This is where you can change the girls into outfits that you?ve unlocked and purchased from the in game store or purchased via DLC. After dressing the girls up you can go into Intimate mode where you can pan, zoom, poke, prod and even spray (with water you perverts) them to your desires. Diorama mode allows you to pose the girls and snap pictures. Unfortunately because this title?s cast is limited to 5 girls, the options you have will be severely restricted when compared to the main line titles.

When push comes to shove I will gladly defend this series from their detractors, but unfortunately Peach Ball provides another bullet for those who feel these games are nothing more than fan service software. I?m starting to see a pattern where the titles from this series which I find rather disappointing seem to originate from the Switch. Both this and Senran Kagura Reflexions started out on Nintendo?s platform. However to be fair, at least Peach Ball is a functional game…I still have no idea what purpose did Reflexions serve. That said, If you want pinball, there are plenty of alternatives on the steam platform, if you want fan service or straight up porn…steam has that too! Sadly Senran Kagura Peach Ball only necessary for those completionists which need to own every title in a series.

Note: XSEED Games provided us with a Senran Kagura Peach Ball PC code for review purposes