Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! – Full Course (PC) Review

Tastes kind of bland.

Look, I get it. There are people out there that enjoy Senran Kagura games. Obviously someone does, they keep getting localized to the North American market. While I enjoy the actual gameplay, it’s the visual content to really makes me uneasy. For those that don’t know, Senran Kagura stars multiple young women with overly large breasts usually wear or eventually not wear provocative clothing. While the last game I played in the series was a pseudo Dynasty Warriors game, Bon Appétit is a rhythm action game. Completely different game this time around.

Players taken on the role of one of the women on Senran Kagura as they enter a cooking competition for what they believe is a special scroll that can give them any wish they desire. Of course, this is not really the case, but they all enter in anyway.

senranbonappetit_07

MSRP: $29.99
Price I’d pay: I wouldn’t buy it.
Platforms: PC

Jiggle to the rhythm.

The game is basically a style of DDR or Rock Band, where players must push face button and/or directions on the D-pad in time with the inputs that come across the screen. This is all done to the rhythm of the song that is playing. As players do well, they will increase their cooking rating and possibly be able to beat their competitor. The game itself is broken into three rounds, with the final round being the most important. The third round is what actually signifies if the dish one is preparing will beat the other competitor’s. Missing notes will teeter the bar away from the player’s favor, so being accurate and consistent is the key to success. Not missing notes will fill up a meter that can activate a special move that allows for extra points.

After a single round, whoever has done the worst will have their clothes ripped off and they must continue with ripped clothing. If they fail all three rounds, they basically end up naked with something covering their nipples while standing there embarrassed. God, just typing that makes me feel horrible.

Don’t screw up.

While it all seems simple, and it sort of is, the game can be rather difficult. I could be doing perfectly in the first two rounds, miss a few notes, and all of a sudden I’m losing the match and having my clothes ripped off. Yeah. Imagine that for a second. Ok don’t, but still. It makes it feel a bit lopsided in that sense due to it being so easy to fail.

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While the actual gameplay is not bad, the music used for the rhythm action gameplay is actually rather bland. It’s a series of J-pop sounding tracks that all sort of feel the same in many aspects. I was really only paying attention to it just so I could hit the notes correctly. This is the “Full Course” edition which comes with all the DLC that was released for it back in 2014, so more songs and a few extras here and there.

Bon Appétit will still have its followers, and while not inherently bad as far as gameplay goes, the songs used don’t really do much for me and as we all know, the visual style and content makes me feel gross pretty much all of the time. Even if I haven’t swayed you to maybe steer clear of this one, I would still suggest to wait for a price drop. At $29.99 on Steam, I feel that’s a bit too steep for a rhythm action game where people can see all the songs within two hours of playing. If you’re still interested in this one, be my guest. No judging on my part. If you’re not, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t blame you.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Decent rhythm game play
  • Feels and works good
Bad
  • Visual style and content
  • Bland songs
  • Not much lasting power
  • A bit too easy to fail
4.5
Sub-Par
Written by
Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.