Since I still don’t own a PS Vita, and since I only played the game for like half an hour, I found just the right person to help us out and give us all a little overview of what to expect from this game. So enjoy this little guest post by fellow gamer-girl “NotATsun“. (Or as I like to call her “QuiteATsun” :P)
Let’s take another look at Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkuni. First of all, the game is actually A LOT more in-depth than just bouncing boobs everywhere (even if that is already super awesome). Well, from the mere look of this game, you might not expect it to be that way at all.
In my opinion, the game is really a hack n’ slash RPG with some added social simulation features. The story revolves around two sisters, a pair of Exter and Liberator (if that’s your kind of thing, enjoy!). However, there are a total of 7 characters to unlock, and you can pair each one as you see fit. Each pair has 5 stages of Drive, with each stage showing a more… sensual animation, so to speak. The final stage ends with a kiss. You have to level-up each character as both an Exter and a Liberator in order to unlock all stages of Drive.
There are around 28 Story Mode missions with 3 levels of difficulty, and there will be two different endings – the True ending and the Standard ending, depending on your scores for each level. There are also different modes such as Survival, Challenge, and Online Mode. Each character has a very unique fighting style, and let me tell you it’s a ton of fun to master! From bows, poles, swords, guns, fists, and others, it’s easy to find a fighting style to enjoy. It’s complex but doable.
The graphics are amazing as well, same with the music. The only serious downfall of the game is the lack of animation scenes. The social sim aspect comes into play when you want to increase the affection levels between certain characters in order to make that pairing stronger. As these affection levels grow, you’ll unlock cutscenes where there SHOULD be animation, but there isn’t, and instead you just read dialogue of some funny and sometimes flirtatious situations.
Outside of that though, the game has a ton of content to unlock. You can dress up your characters in ridiculous outfits (or you know, not, and just keep them in lingerie). But there are tons of extra shirts, accessories, dresses, swimsuits, and more to find or buy in the in-game store.
Right now, the game is about $40 for the U.S. version. If you’re a yuri fan and into video games, then it’s definitely worth the money. It’s an easy 80+ hours worth of content to be sure, and I’m not even finished with it in its entirety.
Pros:
– Gameplay is fun, addicting, and in-depth
– Lots of extra and unlockable content
– Impressive graphics and music
Cons:
– Minimal animation cutscenes
My opinion? Worth it!
Find out more about the game here.
YuriReviews and More 
While I did enjoy the game overall, this review oversells it by quite a bit. VD:B ends up feeling like a scaled back Senran Kagura in many ways with only the yuri focus and a tangible reason to replay stages (hidden collectables) really pushing it forward. The review mentions tons of in game dress-up options but the only area where this is true is the lingerie, and even that is mostly just different colour variations of the same style. Sadly, most of the actual clothing options in game are just allowing one girl to wear another girls clothing and the rest of the extra clothing is tied to cash store DLC purchases. Also, I ran into a frequent issue where the game hung on loading screens because, as far as I could tell, I had possibly equipped more accessories and clothing changes than the game was able to handle. It might not happen to everyone but the longer I played into the game, the more frequently it happened.
Overall VDB isn’t a bad game but it’s definitely not a step forward in most areas. If you’re really interested in Valkyrie Drive then it’s probably worth a try but if you’re just interested in the genre as a whole, the more recent Senran Kagura games would be a better purchase.
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Sorry, but you’re wrong.
VDB has a much more complex and deep combat system that is leaps and bounds better than anything SK has to offer as now. These improvements on the combat are due (as the review accurately points out) the unique and well developed fighting styles among the cast. This coupled with the extra missions, challenge and survival mode and collectibles hidden through the stages; turns VDB into a better offering as whole than EV.
While is true the game doesn’t offer many options regarding costumes, the sheer amount of lingerie and accessories available let you customize your favorite girl in such a way that doesn’t ask anything to SK’s dressing room. Just go to check the custom outfits on the leader boards.
As for the crashes, that is unrelated to the accessories (the game manage to keep a stable framerate, once again, putting it in advantage to EV’s Vita version) but some oversights from PQube during the localization process. Said oversights have been mostly taken care of via patch, anyways.
And as a huge fan of the genre, I can say with confidence that Valkyrie Drive is better than SK for a considerable margin.
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I just bought this game a week ago and I’m super happy with it. Haven’t played Senran Kagura yet, might as well pick this one up later, but I just feel like I might enjoy this one more.
Fighting seems fun, sometimes a little messy and hard to follow. But I’m mostly sold on the lesbian action anyway.
I recommend this game!
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Well sounds like this is a must buy for when I get a Vita, hopefully this December! 😀 I’m glad to hear the gameplay and content are great along with the awesome yuri action! on the note of yuri games, there is another game out there with yuri that is a must have, must play. though im sure not too many people know about it.
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Really, i should stop reading reviews of games i know nothing about.
Bought VD:B on a whim, now i have more than 70h of gameplay done. AND i’m still not dropping it. AND i don’t like fighitng games!
You guys rob me of my free time 😀
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^ sorry, forgot to leave my name.
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