[Review] Panty Party (Nintendo Switch)
Shimpan , Briefs , High rise , Spotted, Brazilian , Lace , Midi, Bikini , Thong, Miami , Garter Bikini , Pantsu , Shorts .
They are all knickers and Panty Party , has got it’s fair share. Panty Party is a shooter/ arena fighter for the Nintendo Switch and PC. It’s not what you think it is, despite the anime looking characters, the game is rated 7 + on the PEGI system
Simply put there is no hentai in this game , neither is it even mildly ecchi. All you get is “funny and stupid panties”
The game being is an indie game , originally released on steam in 2017. Not much has changed for it’s switch release, we've got a theme song and multiplayer additions.
CHARACTERS/ STORY
This Game has you playing as Yurika , who because of her great love for pantsu is known as a “Warrior of Love”. Being a Warrior of Love she has the ability to transform into a pair of knickers. Ultimately, Yurika and her “Panty Party” have to save the world from Panzi, an evil pair of Pants who wants to turn all humans into panties.
The Story has made me laugh out on numerous occasions , especially characters like Cool Kuma Panty, and the fact he is a lolicon . Or the fact that Yurika keeps killing innocent panties by accidents during interrogations. The sick bastard even mentions it when you play as Panties she's ripped to shreds. (RIP Sailor Panty)
Character Design is great, honestly the artwork is beautiful in the visual novel style segments, however the same cannot be said about the stages. The level design is quite simple, low poly and low resolution. This isn’t noticeable when playing in handheld mode, but if you are playing this docked its clear that this game wasn’t really well optimised for the switch.
It’s worth mentioning that all of the pants in the game are all the same cut , even the more unique characters like “Master”. Maybe having more styles or cuts with unique moves to them would have been interesting. Imagine a thong that is faster than the other panstu , has higher attack speed but those attacks do less damage.
Or a pair of granny panties , that give you a larger energy bar to float longer in the air or dodge more.
GAME MECHANICS
Although the UI is simple and clean , the game mechanics seem to be confused somewhat. I refer to this game as a Shooter/ Arena Fighter , with Hack n Slash elements, because I don’t truly know what kind of game this is. I feel it’s trying to take on too much. I feel that if the developers focused on what combat system they wanted I think the gameplay would improve.
Frame Rates tend to drop , when some animations occur , for example the “Game Win” banner or even when characters talk on screen.
Some characters are long ranged only like Sailor Panty, and it makes it incredibly difficult to fight , a character like Rin who only has hack n slash style moves. Personally for me if it was only a shooter similar to games like Bullet Girls , that would have perfect.
Hack N Slash elements don’t work well when each stage has 15 enemies at most. They could have brought in more enemies per stage and it may have ramped up the challenge and made the game more enjoyable.
UNLOCKABLES
I must say the unlockables in this game are decent , you unlock new characters through playing the story mode , doing challenges within missions , like “no deaths” or completing the mission in X seconds.
The characters you unlock are mostly npc’s with recycled movesets , on occasion you can unlock characters who have diverse moves that look really cool and do a lot of damage. However this is toward the end of it’s story mode.
It would have been nice to see a levelling up system , similar to senran kagura where as you level up , attacks become more powerful.
Overall Rating
This game is pure silly fun , it has its problems but I really loved playing it and for it’s price I see it bringing a smile to people’s faces on dull day.
I’m excited to see if a second Panty Party will be in development , because I’m looking forward to it. That being said I’m giving this game a 6.5/10
6.5
Pros:
+ Awesome Character Designs
+ Vibrant colourful Stages
+ Hilarious Silly Story Line
+ Clean, Simple to understand UI
Cons:
- Awkward Combat System
- Character Clones
- Not Well Optimised for Switch (Frame Rate Issues)
- No Online Multiplayer
This review covers the Nintendo Switch version of Panty Party. Panty Party, Nintendo Switch Eshop and Steam. With a Physical Switch Release later this year. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Cosen & East Asia Soft for providing me with the opportunity to play this Hilarious game and write this review.