So I bought this expecting to have some fun with it but man its WAY better than I anticipated. Being a fan of what a lot of people refer to as "Character action games" like DMC, Bayonetta ect... I'm pretty picky on how melee combat systems are handled in games like this. Z2 Chaos might not be as complex as a Devil May Cry 3 but it still has a lot of depth to play with.

You have two girls on a team on each stage each with two weapons. You can partner and weapon swap however you see fit mid-combo the dodging feels responsive and fluid and the "chase" jump allows for you to engage enemies quickly. The movesets themselves for the girls aren't incredibly huge but the game encourages expert execution of moves. Perfectly timed combos will let you enter a "Cool Combo" state and if timed correctly you'll do extra damage and in some instances even extra moves. As for the fanservice elements they are believe it or not pretty tame outside of the default costumes for 2 out of the 4 girls being bikini's. The game primarily focuses its self on the action and not the bouncy bosoms.

Digital Version is only $40 on the PSN store. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes beat em' up style action games.

If anyone has any other questions ect... I can post more impressions and what not later on.

gaaaaaaah, I'm so sour my copy hasn't arrived yet

@babychoochoo: Hold in there. D:

The camera controls are a little weird to me, but I am having fun with it. Hoping the Quick Look (if they do one) will be a @austin_walker & Vinny joint.

I'd love to hear some detailed explanation of the combat mechanics if you have the time, like at any given time what are your options, how does comboing work, does the game rely on flashy special moves that you use an energy bar to perform or does it have a super mode ala devil trigger? stuff like that.

I DONT BELIEVE YOU

You know, @demoskinos, I think you're a swell guy and all, but I'm gonna have to take your opinion on weird Japanese bikini games that have been notoriously terrible in the past with a grain of salt.

I must be getting old if costumes where your genitalia and breasts are covered up by a banana and two strawberries respectively are considered "tame".

I've enjoyed some Dynasty Warriors style games in the past though, and from watching a trailer it did look better than that one they quicklooked years ago. Still not for me, but credit where it's due and all that.

Love me some Onechanbara.

I might buy a PS4 for this now.

@viciousreiven: So the core combat is similar to a lot of melee combat games. You have a lot of preset strings that you can preform to do moves with a bunch that are unlockable. These move strings are dependent on both the character and weapon you have active. So where it gets interesting is you can mid-combo change either your weapon or your partner on the fly. There is actually a specific system in the game that rewards you with a powerful finishing move if you tag in your partner on the last hit of a string.

Each character has two weapons and a sub-weapon (or in the case of Saki a parry) now stack all of this up with the fact that in a lot of missions you can have all four girls with you meaning any combination of 4 characters and 12 weapons are at your disposal at any given time. There are other things like the "Cool Combo" system that reward caclulated entry of combos rather than mashing combos out. If you time combos correctly you'll start flashing blue this lets you know you're doing what is called a "Cool Combo" time the rest of the string properly and you'll be doing way more damage and also in some cases score bonus hits in the combo string.

There is also a weird assist character function where you can have up to all four girls on the screen at once attacking in sync with the character you're currently controlling. Its also just super responsive. You can interrupt moves with dodges at ANY time on the ground or air and actually Saki has a specific function I think unique to her similar to Bayonetta's witch time where if you dodge something at the last moment you'll get a slo-mo shot of her dodging followed up by the ability to counter attack for massive damage.

I can't lie and say that some aspects aren't still laden with fanservice because there is and a lot of the stages and enemy models have pretty shitty textures that remind you that "Hey, this is a budget game" but if you're really into just having fun with combat systems and can either not let the more poorly produced elements of the game detract from your overall experience you'll most likely have fun.

I should also mention that even with like 100 zombies on screen the game seems to hold up at damn near 60fps the entire time which is nice. Not trying to say this going to shake up the beat em' up genre or anything but if you've been wanting a decent one of these sort of games for awhile at $40 on PSN I think you can't really go wrong with this.

@jacksukeru: That is also an entirely optional costume. If you just want to throw more covering clothes on the girls you have that option to do so. I'm not saying that kind of stuff isn't in the game I'm just saying you can actively avoid a good portion of it if you so choose to.

@demoskinos: I might actually check this out at some point in the near future....looks flashy, thanks for the heads up.

@demoskinos: That's a pretty impressive upgrade since the last Onechanbara that came out here, I was planning on checking it out anyway just because I enjoy some generic hack and slash games, but a potentially competent character-action game with combat depth is gonna make it a higher priority now, thanks for that!

@viciousreiven: Yup. Its nothing like the Wii/360 games that came out a few years back. This one actually has some chops to it. I know it won't be for everyone still but I wanted to try to do my part to get the word out on this thing. :)

I was surprised that Danny was squirming so hard during the GameSpot "quick look" instead of reveling in the cheesiness of it all. Not sure why nudity is still such a huge taboo in gaming. Granted this game is obviously catering to a very specific crowd and those outfits are specifically meant to be ultra revealing, but so what? It's meant to be campy as hell and I think it does alright with all the other stuff.

I had some fun with the 360 game when it launched, it wasnt terrible, just not very good. Sounds like this game is what i was expecting from the original so i'll definetly check it out, one thing though, do you get any more of the absurd battles like the zombie killer whale from the previous game?

@kagato: I think there are some pretty crazy boss fights but I haven't put a ton of time into it yet. Hearing good things from people over at NeoGaf though.

This looks a whole lot better than I would have ever given it credit for. Definitely looks like it has the kind of stilted combat animations of something like Senran Kagura, but none of the charm surrounding it. So probably a pass for me. At this point I'd probably just rather play more DMC4SE.

Never understood the use of the term "fan service" to describe the revealing nature of the outfits in these games (and others like it). Fan service to me was always stuff like how MGS4 had massive callbacks to the lore of the other games, winks and nods to the player to let them know that the creators were thinking about the long time fans of the series.

So if strawberry pasties and banana c-strings are "fan service", what exactly are you claiming to be a fan of? Seems like nothing more than pandering, and fuck pandering.

@bushpusherr:That's just what it's called in relation to Japanese media when a character or actor is sexualized for the audience to see. Yes, it totally is pandering, no one will deny that. The same sort of 'fan service' exists in Western media, too, it's just not called that so much. I guess if you want to break down the etymology it would probably have to do with being fans of the characters or actors in the show or game, on top of being a fan of the media itself. Perhaps it's more of a cultural norm in Japan to closely connect with characters than it is in Western culture, hence the desired fan service?

Anyway, I don't think fan service is any more or less appealing as a term to those who know what it is than the word 'pandering', it's just a very specific kind of pandering.

@tobbrobb: I guess depends on how much of a fancy you take to the kind of tropes found in B-movies. Its a very campy game and never really takes itself too seriously. Kagura has some pretty amazing Engrish lines that in the Japanese version that were then translated back to Japanese for maximum camp. Hearing her exclaim "Oi, mogra... koroshte yah-roo!" Is a chuckle worthy moment every time.

Well then, who would you believe?

I don't think there is anything foreign to Western culture about establishing connections or closeness with fictional characters in the media you enjoy, but I don't think the exploitation or sexualization of those characters is a necessary (or healthy) consequence of that. Seems like you could just as easily have the flagrant T&A regardless of the character it was attached to and it would appeal to the same crowd all the same.

@bushpusherr: If all you have to add to this is just drive by assertions of this games content and the people who like it then you're in the wrong thread. I made this thread for people who have questions about the game. So kindly take your comments elsewhere. I want to discuss the game not get mired in a fruitless discussion about sexualization and its place in media.

EDIT: Sorry @demoskinos, you're right. I was initially just defining fan service for him but, in this post, I started to engage and this isn't the place to do that.

If Dan said it was good, I'd have to rethink my preconceptions (also known as the poison pill defense).

How about ROBERT LOGGIA?

The game definitely looks more like a Dynasty Warriors than a DMC.

I would love to see a quick look of this game!

Felt like this game deserved some sort of arena-fighting mode.

Most of the advanced combat options, you'll never use (nor will you even remember them), and will just revert back to button-mashing, which totally gets the job done.

I will try to remember this when I see the game on sale two years from now.

This just came out over here in Europe and MAN this game is a ton of fun. Combat feels fast and smooth and the game succeeds in being silly rather than creepy, imo. First Onechanbara game I've played and I'm definitely on board.

theoretically, if a person could get ONE free game from gamestop and it had to be either this OR transformers devastation, which would be the better free game?

@youeightit: Transformers if you have the nostalgia. Onechanbara is probably longer, although I can't speak to the quality of the levels, and it has more dress-up going on if you're into that.

Yeah I got this for $3 on the black friday psn sale and it's pretty fun. Haven't played this kind of game since the ps2. Onimusha,blood will tell,ect.

I should mention that the game was on sale for $20 and I had earned $15 in psn credit from a promotion and used the 10% off coupon code so I only ended up spending like $3 of my own money for it.

This game is $20 on Amazon US. Deal lasts until the 20th of December if anyone is interested!

it is coming to steam

That it is! Still taking my stance that everyone should check it out.

If its a decent port I am picking it up.