Developer: UNKNOWN GAMES , M2 Co.,LTD
Publisher: Degica
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Koihime Enbu – Review
In the last few months there was a sudden surge of 2D fighting games. Before that, is has been quite a long time since the genre was so popular. Most of these games were pushed out of the gaming market by their 3D counterparts, but with the failing success of Street Fighter V, it’s clear that ‘modern’ isn’t always the best option (also the fact they didn’t want an Xbox One release might have something to do with it as well). Today we get to plow through another all-female fighting game, which looked promising and ended up to be just that.
Story
As is common with the genre, there is no need to dive into the specifics of the storyline. Each of the characters will have their own little plot to wade through, while many of them are connected one way or another. It’s all about a fighting tournament and with that in mind, the personality of the characters of your choice will get a bit more clear. Other than that, things remain rather simplistic, but the fully voiced dialogues are a nice touch for a game such as this.
Graphics
It’s quite rare to see a fighting game such as this one, where the entire character base forms a coherent picture. Unlike many other games, all of the big chested ladies fit right in with one another, with each having her own minor quirks to make sure there is enough diversity. Many other games such as this one often throw a robot, undead, monster or whatever into the mix, hoping to cover all interested of potential buyers, so it’s quite refreshing to see a game that doesn’t follow the same typical formula.
Koihime Enbu looks crisp from the menus to the battles. It’s a rare feat that the sprites used are without any actual quality loss. It’s a common sight in the genre that the characters differ in quality when you take a look at the splash art and the in-game fighters. Here everything remains very crisp from the characters to the somewhat 3D looking special moves, with only a small increase in pixels. While the same can be said for the backdrops, it’s quite sad these miss a certain sense of activity, as they are mainly static images.
Perhaps one thing that looks a tad cheaper than the otherwise stunning visuals for a game like this, are the text windows in the ‘scenario’ mode. They look a tad more bland and rugged than the rest of the colorful and vibrant game.
Sound
The game has a rather ‘oriental’ soundtrack, that’s upbeat enough to match the game’s atmosphere. While the overall soundtrack might not be the best one you’ve heard in years, it does the trick. A fun detail is that the scenario mode and the arcade mode have conversations that are fully voiced and decently done. The overall picture is rather complete, but it’s rather low key compared to some other fighting titles on the market.
Gameplay
Koihime Enbu finds itself in the 2D fighting genre, and overall things stay on the simplistic side but this isn’t a bad thing at all. As expected, you’ll be fighting off other female fighters over and over, and even though the cast isn’t all that big, there are enough characters to try out and master. It’s clear that the game relies on the scenario mode as well as online play, seeing there are no difficulty settings to be found.
The scenario and arcade modes are pretty much alike, where a small story is presented to the player, in-between the different fights at hand. Simple as these said stories may be, it’s the battles that prove to be entertaining. Sadly, without the difficulty setting, you’ll have to go through that typical problem in fighting games. The first half of your playthrough of a single character will go smoother than one could image and then suddenly you either hit an impossible barrier to overcome or simply notice a huge increase in difficulty. While an increase in difficulty and such isn’t truly a big deal, it becomes rather tedious when it’s not happening at a subtle pace.
The control scheme of Koihime Enbu is rather simple and the moves are quite limited. Again, this isn’t a bad thing, as you’ll be able to learn all the different moves rapidly and as always, timing and mastery are something you’ll need to get the hang of. Most of the time the controls prove to be rather responsive and there’s a sense of balance between all of the different characters. The only system that was a bit weird at first was the mechanic behind pulling off your ultimate move. To do so, your victim has to be in a ‘stunned’ state, before you can actually activate it. Of course, you’ll need a full ‘tactics’ bar to do so, with the tactics bar simply being another name for a ‘special’ meter other games tend to use.
A small quirk this game has is that each of the fighters will always choose a support character, which grants them the use of one special move, depending on which support character was chosen. Each of the fighters will be able to choose between two support characters and while this gimmick is a rather small one, it does add a bit of variation to the mix.
Conclusion
Even though Koihime Enbu has a fairly high price tag attached to it, it’s a rather solid fighting game. The game does not bother with overly complicated moves and mechanics and for the most part this works great, as it allows players with different backgrounds in the genre to quickly learn the basics and then start working out the kinks. That being said, the visuals are simply outstanding for a 2D fighting game. If you’re looking for an old school experience in a rather modernized jacket, Koihime Enbu might be a worthy pick.
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