Back in 2009, I was much more susceptible to the scantily-clad females wielding insanely sharp weapons on a game's box art, which is what introduced me to this strange and hyper-sexualized zombie/monster slaying game on the Xbox 360; Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. However, even in my younger years I recognized that it simply wasn't a good game. The claustrophobic camera angles, bland environments, boring enemies and horrendous combat. It's been six years since I've played this series, and honestly, wasn't expecting much from the current-gen sequel, Onechanbara Z2: Chaos. After all, that is the game where one character's name was Annna. Yep, that's the spelling. Turns out, the game is quite fun, barring you overlook some of the shortcomings. Oh and they finally started spelling Anna the right way.
The Onechanbara series, though fairly unknown in the West, is most notable for its hyper-sexualization and over-the-top violence and gore. You won't even have to boot the game up to know that as the game's box art clearly illustrates the kind of outfits you'll be seeing. If Dead or Alive taught us anything, it's that the more skin you show, the better your defense is right? Or at least the better chances you have at distracting your opponent while you punch them square in the face. I'm not sure whether that same tactic works against undead monsters, werewolves and other beasts, but hey, it's there. To top it off, the game comes with a DLC costume that quite literally makes each girl completely naked, with just strawberries covering the nipples and a banana covering the crotch. If you're the type to get offended by that type of stuff, this game certainly isn't for you.
However, putting aside the bikini-clad and schoolgirl wearing femme fatales, the game's combat system is actually quite a lot of fun, and it certainly helps that you can switch to any of the four girls on the fly, with each one having unique bonuses and weapons. At its core, it's a combo masher. What I mean by that is you'll essentially play the whole game by pressing combinations of the Square and Triangle buttons. There is a deeper system, at least for those willing to dive into it. A lot of the technique is based on timing. The game's practice mode allows you to see an otherwise invisible timing bar which shows you the ideal times to press the attack button again in order to pull off specific combos or more powerful COOL combos. The timing itself is quite difficult, even with the bar displayed on screen, but worth diving into if you're really interested in learning the ins and outs of combat.
Each girl also has a different weapon specialization, as well as secondary weapons that you can switch to on the fly. Kagura for instance specializes in dual Katanas, but can switch to chained Daggers which are slightly reminiscent of Kratos' blades from God of War. Saaya on the other hand wields a giant chainsaw and attacks slightly slower, though the strength of her attacks makes up for that, but she can also switch to Knuckles which completely shifts her attack style. Aya and Saki, who are the main heroines from the 360 title come with their respective weapons as well, Dual Katanas and Knuckles with each of them also having a secondary Katana to switch to.
It's certainly worthwhile to keep switching between them all, not only to conserve health and allow it to recharge while not in use, but simply because of the variety of attack patterns. There is also a bar that fills up which allows you to press the touchpad in and the other girls will join you on the battlefield for a set amount of time to do some crazy damage.
Your heroines can also go Berserk when their blood gauge is full for too long, which adds increased attack power, or they can fully transform, expending that gauge over time but gaining powerful new moves. Alternatively, your weapons have a blood gauge too though it works inversely to your character's. The more blood it accumulates, the less effective it is, meaning you frequently have to shake it off with the L1 button
While I'm generally not a fan of QTE segments, with the exception of a few titles that do it very well, I actually very much enjoyed them here as they we're extremely easy to pull of and generally unobtrusive. Where other games will have you press a specific button at a specific time, punishing you if you don't hit the right one, the QTEs in Onechanbara Z2 Chaos rely purely on the touchpad. When a QTE is initiated, you'll be prompted by an arrow telling you to swipe in that direction. It also somewhat adds to the satisfaction since your swipes correspond to the slashes on screen as well.
But Onechanbara falls flat when it comes to level design and even basic storytelling. The levels are extremely bland. Even though they're pretty varied, ranging from locales like the desert of Dubai, the streets of Los Angeles, temples of China, Peru and Japan, they look as if they were ripped straight from a PS2 game. Textures are flat and the lighting is boring and uninteresting. The trade-off is a smooth 60fps experience though, so there is a silver lining. But holy crap, the load times! Why are they so long?!
The cutscenes are relatively nonexistent, with much of the narrative being told through static comic-style panels. Though no one is probably playing this game for its story. I do have to say that the devs did give a lot of care and attention to the main character models though. They not only look really impressive but the fact that each of them can interchange costumes between one another is definitely a nice touch.
Speaking of costumes, the driving factor behind making you replay this relatively short experience (about 3-4 hours) is unlocking new accessories, costumes and hairstyles for your heroines. That means you can eventually put cat ears on their head, with a piece of toast hanging from their mouth, while wearing cool shades and having wings on their back. There is also a RPG style progression where you expend the Orbs you collect in stages on various new moves, weapons and items.
You can also take part in various Missions which will task you with getting rid of enemies in specific ways. For example you'll only be able to do damage while performing the Chase move, or while the other characters are on the screen with you. It's a neat way to revisit some of the stages with updated requirements for completion, especially since the story mode is so short.
If you're willing to turn your brain off and take a break from narrative masterpieces like The Last of Us or even more polished action games like God of War 3, then I'd say give Onechanbara Z2: Chaos a try, especially if you're OK with the extreme amount of fan service. Behind those skimpy risque bathing suits lies a pretty fun combat system. You just have to be willing to take a peek.
