Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire Game Sample - PS4

A low-budget but fun shmup from the good folks over at Alfa System to commemorate 30 years of their business legacy (which was originally released in 2018 and released thoughout 2019 and 2020). It's spiritually connected to their previous "Castle of Shikigami" games and a smidge like your ground-based scrolling shooters (Elemental Master, Guwange, etc. All but one character walks on the ground avoiding obstacles while the screen scrolls) and it has a silly premise: Five magically gifted sisters who hate each other are prophesied to save the world from evil and only reunite to destroy each other as they're all interested in the same man, a dreamboat and angel named Yashin who is just trying to live his best life... or is he? Is there more to Yashin than meets the eye? Why are all the sisters drawn to him? Pre-level / pre-boss banter ensues as you beat your sisters and fight your way into Yashin's heart! In typical bullet-hell fashion, the game is all about grazing bullets, learning attack patterns and manipulating scoring mechanics to achieve insane high scores, but there are a few things that make it stand out just a bit. For one, each character is of a different element and has an supplemental "summoning" ability besides their different basic shot patterns. They can be used indefinitely and vary greatly in their application, but they're all fun to use in different ways. For example, Sonay's fire spirit homes on enemies and Selma's turns into blades that spin around her as you move around (it's perhaps the most fun to use), and the game has a cool risk-reward system based on your proximity to enemies and how quickly you take them down, which can help restore your health, refill your bomb stock and determine your firepower. There are also fairies hidden on each level which temporarily increase you multiplier up to a maximum of 16 instead of the normal 8 count. The game actually encourages the use of bombs as they are offered up pretty liberally, though you can, of course, choose not to use them. The game also has a separate feature (maniac) that lets you customize nearly every aspect of your playing experience from bullet size, speed, scoring, etc., but actual extra features are near non-existent. It also doesn't help that the presentation isn't great and the music sounds like it's being gently smothered by a pillow in the recording studio, but for the game's price, you can't expect too much. The game's one DLC option includes "Ode" as a playable character who is "rumored" to be Castle Shikigami's "Fumiko Odette Van Stein" (though this is actually confirmed in the last line of dialogue in her ending and on her broom) and she's a nice addition to the roster as her story is a little different and her character exchanges are pretty funny. The game has a few rare stage quirks such as ice and wind, and the ice in particular has no effect on her as she's the only character who isn't grounded, and her summon creates a powerful circular explosion, but you have to aim it manually and she's immobile while you aim, so it has to be used wisely. Perhaps the biggest reason this game falls short (especially compared to the game it closely resembles, CoS) isn't based on its presentation or the quality of the soundtrack, it's the sheer lack of additional features. The game's lone campaign doesn't make room for a friend which means there's a great deal less plot and exchanges between characters... you would think that a shooter doesn't need a story to be fun and, normally, I would agree, but CoS was a little different (it even had a visual novel type of spinoff). The stages are also a little shorter than even your average shmup and there are only five of them, so you could clear the game easily in under half an hour as well. Well, the game does at least have the feature to change your screen orientation for Tate Mode purposes and as this game was also released for the Nintendo Switch, it's actually better suited for said platform (though it runs marginally better on PS4). Another silver lining is that even though the translation isn't perfect, it's a heck of a lot better than the various localizations of the CoS series (although their horrible Engrish was part of their charm). The game as a whole is far from exceptional, but it's at least worth the asking price for die-hard shmup fanatics . This is a video of the game in action illustrating different things. You can get the game at:

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