Product Info

Platform

Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC

Publisher

eastasiasoft

Developer

eastasiasoft, ZOO Corporation

Genre

Action, Arcade, Puzzle

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

307 MB

Release Date (NA)

Nov 4, 2021

Purchase From

eShop

PSN Store

Steam

Pretty Girls Panic! PLUS is a new, spin-off puzzle game from Pretty Girls Panic! but with additional content and not at a sunny beachside scenario. While there’s more to play, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a big improvement. Still, for a price tag of $5.99 USD, it’s fine if you are into active puzzles and pretty anime girls (waifus).

Pretty Moves

Like Pretty Girls Panic!, Pretty Girls Panic! PLUS is a simple puzzle game that requires players to move around, cut pieces, and avoid enemy contact. Players will move an avatar that resembles the Monkey King, a Chinese folklore character, around an empty board. Your goal is to cut out the shapes to reveal the hidden graphic while avoiding enemy contact.

While moving, a red line follows you until you connect to an edge or other revealed content. The bigger the piece cut out, the more points you earn. The goal is to finish the stage with at least 80% of the image revealed.

Controlling your character feels stiff as you are only able to cut vertically and horizontally. If you move yourself into a swirl, you can easily get stuck and have to wait for an enemy to hit you to get out. You can take out enemies by cutting around them and completing a section. Doing this will also give you bonus points. Additionally, there are some power-ups that’ll aid you.

Movement is quite slow, but you’ll be able to speed up for a limited time if you pick up a “fast-forward” icon. However, if you are hit by an enemy, you’ll lose that power-up along with a life point. Players can also pick up an invisibility and enemy freeze power-up, but those also only last for a short time. In arcade mode, you can pick up an item on the board that will increase the number of remaining lives by one. It comes in handy because you have fewer lives offered in arcade mode versus the game’s normal mode.

Not So Pretty Enemies

As you play, avoiding enemies and their projectiles becomes increasingly challenging, and the game’s board doesn’t do you any favors either. In PLUS, some stages have elements that cause your movement speed to decrease or increase, cause instant death when touched, and prevent you from moving to certain areas. It creates new and challenging ways to play.

The enemies themselves vary in their attacks. Some are drawn towards your cutting position to take you out, and others shoot bullets or fireballs, or even place landmines. The hitboxes are a bit off, though, so you won’t always get hit when you think you will. Also, the majority of enemy attacks can be dodged when stationed in a corner. Enemy designs aren’t as interesting compared to the beach-themed creatures in Pretty Girls Panic! In fact, some foes look quite awkward, like the bouncing acorn with a sinister smile. Still, however they look, they do the job of antagonizing you on the board.

More Pretty Options

The normal mode has four levels, with 10 stages each. Each stage has five different waifus with two alternate outfits. Completing the stage will let you view the waifu in the game’s gallery section. Once you’ve completed a level, that level becomes available in the arcade mode. Before playing a board, you can choose between “Challenge” and “Easy.” Doing the Challenge option gives you four lives and lets you put your scores on the game’s online leaderboard. Complete the stage in Challenge mode without losing a life, and you’ll be granted a gold star on the stage to show how much of a perfect player you are. With Easy mode, you’ll have six lives to use and your score does not go online.

Arcade mode is a new feature in PLUS. The majority of the rules are the same as in the game’s normal mode except that you have a fixed number of lives. Additionally, you’ll play 10 stages consecutively. These stages become available once you complete the level on the game’s normal playthrough.

Pretty Waifus, Bland Backgrounds

With 20 different waifus, along with an alternate outfit, there’s more to play and uncover. Additionally, you now have two pretty girl partners to help you play, giving you more waifus to look upon. When cutting out shapes, though, you need more than just a pretty face to make a complete board.

The board designs themselves have generic shapes behind each waifu such as dots and lines. Some designs make it troublesome to know what pieces you’ve cut, such as times when the shapes change from gray to color. The background themselves remain in white regardless, and it’s not exactly helpful. Additional visual contrast would go a long way in helping players.

Choose a Pretty Partner

As previously mentioned, a new feature to the game is the option to choose between two waifus as a partner to complete stages: Asahi and Yu. You can level up your partner’s friendship level by completing stages. Increasing their friendship level unlocks costumes that can be selected in the game’s dressing room. Also, you can choose which costume that character will wear while playing.

This addition is a good start, but it’s not enough. The character doesn’t actually do anything to help you complete the board. Instead, a picture of them from the waist up appears at the bottom-right of the screen and their expression changes. That’s it. It would have been interesting if, for example, by choosing Asahi, she threw more power-ups on the board and by choosing Yu, your movement speed increased. There’s room for growth here other than just gaining outfits.

Somewhat Pretty Finale

Pretty Girls Panic! PLUS improves what its predecessor lacked and continues to make a cutting board puzzle game entertaining. However, the extra content only goes so far and ultimately feels unfinished. It’s a plus minus, instead of a plus plus.

A PlayStation 5 code provided for this review and gameplay footage.