Onechanbara Z2: Chaos Review – Ichiban Wa Me

Never underestimate the value of a good old guilty-pleasure game. Sometimes it’s nice to switch off with a flashy spectacle of a game without much effort required to play. Dynasty/Samurai Warriors seems to be a perfect example. So, if you up your game and throw in some scantily clad young ladies and the classic theme of zombies, you’ve got the makings of a winner on your hands.

Introduction

Onechanbara Z2: Chaos is a 2014 hack-and-slash game developed by Tamsoft. Part of the Oneechanbara series, it is the sequel to the 2012 Japan-exclusive OneChanbara Z ~ Kagura, and the first game in the series to be localised since Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad and OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers in 2009, neither of which would be released on PlayStation consoles.

Onechanbara Z2: Chaos is the newest title in the long-running series of B-movie-style zombie-slaying bikini-clad slash-a-thons, and the second act of the ongoing ‘Chapter Z’. All launch editions in North America came packaged as the ‘Banana Split Limited Edition‘, which included an 80-page art book, soundtrack CD, and a controversial costume pack.

Story

The Banefuls and the Vampirics are two ancient rival demonic bloodlines. After the numbers of both factions dwindled to almost nothing, it was thought that the blood feud was over. Previously, the Vampiric sisters Kagura and Saaya defeated their treacherous adoptive mother, the Vampire Queen Carmilla, at the end of the last game, aided from the shadows by Aya and Saki, two legendary zombie-hunting sisters of Baneful blood.

Sadly, their truce comes to an abrupt end and the two sets of sisters can restrain themselves no longer. Carmilla’s throne room becomes a battleground once again as the two pairs of sisters battle for supremacy. The battle, however, is undecided, as the floor beneath them collapses, sending the four into the perilous abyss below, but not before glancing a mysterious, slender, green-haired woman now sitting in Carmilla’s throne. Now, the girls will have to forge uneasy new alliances to survive.

Gameplay

New actions and new game mechanics have been added this time around, however the biggest plus for fans will be that old and new characters can now fight together for the very first time. Beginning with the addition of ‘Cross Merge Combinations’, where players are now more in control of the series’ main protagonists than ever before and can switch them out when required.

The gameplay has been compared to Dynasty Warriors, Bayonetta, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and revolves around hack-and-slash combat. Throughout the game, two sets of playable characters can be swapped out on the fly, each boasting their own unique attacks and abilities. The two characters at hand will depend on the given stage and story conditions.

Players will battle a variety of enemies, mainly zombies, werewolves, monsters, and demons. In order to defeat these foes, weapons such as swords, chainsaws, and guns are available. Slaying enemies will result in rising destructive combos and the graphic dismemberment of limbs.

Later, each girl will unlock the ability to transform into a bestial mode (which somehow manages to show off even more skin) by expending a full ‘blood gauge’. This will give you a temporary attack and speed boost and allows for devastating, uninterrupted combos for a limited time. These are best saved for the colossal bosses with hefty life bars. Each boss will usually end with spectacularly cinematic quick-time event finishers.

Throughout the game, players will earn yellow orbs which represent a form of currency. These orbs can be exchanged for new combat moves, items and equipment. Additional costumes can also be unlocked through play or via paid DLC, allowing for a bit of sexy customisation.

Graphics/Sound

The graphics are in full HD with a smooth frame-rate. These beautiful girls will cut down the undead with sexy style and an action-focused camera to really highlight all of that tasty on-screen chaos. There’s a welcome layer of HD paint added to the previously low-resolution characters and locations, which is a very welcome addition, though unlikely to make your PS4 break a sweat.

The game features dual audio support between the original Japanese voice cast and an all-new English voice cast, featuring some top talent. The cross-cultural nature of the various settings actually bleeds into the dialogue, as occasional scenes will see banter between the girls switch between English and Japanese phrases, sometimes even mid-sentence. It’s a quirky touch, and surprisingly educational. Sadly, the lip-syncing isn’t great though.

This mixed use of languages is even utilised in the soundtrack, as you’ll notice straight away with the absolutely epic theme song, ‘Ichiban Wa Me’, which deserves a place in anyone’s playlist. The rest of the soundtrack also offers a decent mix of styles and themes, each working rather well.

Replayability/Trophies

After completing a level, the player is graded on their performance throughout the stage. Factors such as combo length, items used, damage dealt, and damage received will affect this score in a positive or negative manner. These scores can also be submitted to the worldwide leader boards.

The trophies are going to take a lot of dedication since you’ll need to finish the game four times. Normal, Hard, Violent and Berserk difficulty modes all have associated trophies attached to them which can’t be stacked, though first timers may be tempted with Easy mode but this one doesn’t offer up a trophy reward. Therefore, platinum trophy hunting could potentially quadruple your playtime.

Conclusion

Admittedly, Onechanbara Z2’s plot is a little thinly spread. In many ways, it exists as the sexy demon-girl team-up that its elusive predecessor should have been. There’s a definite structure to it; there’s an anarchic beginning, a rather filler-heavy middle, and a conclusive ending, but in terms of actual locations, we don’t really cover much ground here.

Nevertheless, Z2 makes the effort to reintroduce Kagura and Saaya who most will have likely missed from the last game, what with it never leaving Japan. We’ve also got a couple of decent references to older games including Bikini Samurai Squad, though we sadly don’t have a main villain who’s quite as intimidating as the likes of the legendary Himiko.

So, the story misses the mark a bit, but it’s the fun factor that counts, and Z2 absolutely strikes gold here. The fan-service is unapologetically intense and unashamed, and anyone who managed to snag the ‘Banana Split’ DLC costume pack will most likely be wondering why the developer didn’t just go the whole hog and have the girls run around completely naked. If you’ve seen the costumes, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

There’s a decent hack-and-slash action game here that’s surprisingly pleasing to look at even before the barely-covered boobs start stealing your focus. It’s probably not going to end up being a game in your collection that you’re proud to show off, thanks to the heavy focus on all that fan-service, yet it’s a game that’ll have you hooked from start to finish.