THE CALM BEFORE THE TRASH
Another chapter of this Trash-gaming saga.
Let's go with a more tolerable game to start with. I'm talking Waifu Impact.
What can I do, I'm a nervous wreck? There's girls everywhere, I better go and check. (Check it out)
I can't tell a diamond from a hole in the ground. They all got my head spinning round and round.
Planet of Women. Oh Yeah! The Planet of Women, Oh Yeah!
It's driving me insane.
Looks like the game got your attention.
I understand. We can't say "no" to anime girls.
Gears of Summer feat. Larami Super Soaker
The gameplay of Waifu Impact is a third view, open world gun game similar to the Gears of War series and Sandlot's Earth Defense Force series, and this game feels like it borrows elements from the second game along with a few of Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash. Starting off with the weapon mechanics, they might be water guns, but they fire and behave more like regular fire arms as they can inflict damage and even fly at high speeds like Yukina's "Sniper rifle". Each weapon has its own capabilities like rapid fire but weak-to-average damage (Haruka), Spread "Shotgun" fire (Sanae), and single bullet, but quick-killing like Yukina's gun. Like any other gun game, you can try to perform "Sniping" techniques with the default gun, this helps a lot when you want to attack while keeping a distance with a weak weapon. Like in the EDF series, you have unlimited ammunition, rather than emptying the gun and reload, the weapon refills as soon as you stop shooting. Your health behaves exactly like the "Shield" in Halo, it replenishes as long as you are not in combat, eliminating the need of finding health packs. The character controls are very acceptable as you can walk, run, jump and crouch if you want to be a smaller target or sneak and attack without being noticed. Too bad there's no melee combat which is also part of gun games (like Halo again). The first of many flaws with this game is that there's only one type of enemy: A girl in a white and pink bikini with a water gun. All what you have to do here is to destroy them with the water gun, and I say destroy them because when a girl is defeated she doesn't fall and die, SHE FALLS AND EXPLODES. ¿Why the girls explode?, it's like "¿who made this game? ¿Michael Bay?".
Apparently, you also fight Zentraedi Spring Breakers.
After eliminating 30 girls in the island, the game will notice you about the appearance of a "Superwaifu" which is an oversized version of the same girl (I forgot her name) that you killed over and over and over. This one fires rapid and powerful bullets and takes a lot of damage. But if you can kill her, you'll unlock the enemy character as a playable character. Killing more than 50 enemies will unlock images in the gallery, you'll have to do this with each character you unlock (50 Kills with Haruka, 50 with Sanae, etc.) The gallery isn't the greatest either, is just one 2D illustration and two CG images and to be honest, the 2D ones are the best ones of the game.
Feels like a demo of Super Mario 64
Gunfights aren't the only thing in this game. Since you're stranded in this tropical island for non explained reasons (Yeah, the game doesn't explain you that), you have another task along with shooting girls for no discernible reason. That activity is to collect stars. These are essential to unlock characters and their respective trophies, aside from that you can just walk around a large enough Island, and save your current position by standing on lightspots on beach chairs. The character response to the environment is quite acceptable as your girl clings on a platform in case of making a jump to reach a platform.
That was some "Jumping Hell" if you ask her.
Stars have their degrees of difficulty on finding them, and there's one in particular that involves a series of precise jumps on tall mountains, and if you miss the platform and fall, you have to make a quite long walk/run before you can try again.
Select your Triggerhe...Sorry, wrong game.
Since there's no weapon equipment screen or scattered guns across the island, the weaponry is unlocked with their respective character. That's a cheap justification for the easter egg hunt that is the Star collecting across the island.
It's you against hordes of identical girls.
Once you've picked all the stars and get the regular unlockable girls (7 by far), you'll unlock a hidden region of the island: The Arena. This one is a special level where you have to take 20 hordes of girls, from the regular ones to the "Superwaifu" until you reach the final gunfight with Kagura. If you can defeat her, you'll unlock her as the playable eighth character of the game and a new gallery. Her weapon fires short ranged Homing Laser-like water shots, and this might imply to get closer to the Superwaifu after the 30th kill. Sadly, unlocking Kagura doesn't give you trophies.
An unexpected victim of the Philadelphia Experiment.
No bad game is complete with flaws. There's some areas where the character can get "Bio-fused" with a rock as if the game didn't detect the obstacle correctly and you can walk underwater without entering on "Swimming mode" (a la Earth Defense Force 2) and without getting drowned. Also, there's no customization on the girls clothes. Anyone who played beach themed games like Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball will probably remember how the game allowed you to change the girls swimsuits for a more "personal" look. In Waifu Impact your girls are stucked in their regular two-piecers. For a game based on anime girls and fanservice, leaves a lot to be desired: Plot, character development, enemy variety, even a much wider "World" to explore than just a single island. Any gamer will unlock everything (including trophies) in an hour or two, and for a game that costs 5 dollars is just a complete waste.
Come to Rekall Incorporated. Where you can buy the memory of your ideal vacation.
Cheaper, safer and better than the real thing. So don’t let life pass you by.
Call Rekall, for the memory of a lifetime.
♫For the memoryyyy of a lifetime. Rekaaall, Reka-aaaa-all, Rekaaall♫.
Graphically, it feels like the demo of a PlayStation 2 game. The scenery looks decently made, almost like an EDF level but the girl models could be a little better. I know we're talking an indie developer (Mitsuki Game Studio) but this project had a lot of potential and it feels kinda rushed as if the game was around the 60% of its development. The theme of the game is more than obvious: Girls on the beach and water gun gunfights, which means we have anime styled girls on swimsuits running around with water gun in hand.
Also, why that sunset reminds me of this other one...
On this day, history repeats itself.
Yeah, the one from the opening and continue screen of Super Nova/Darius Force. It was one of the most beautiful sights in shooting history, yeah, and it fits quite well with the summer theme of this game.
The sound department of this game leaves a lot to be desired. The music itself the voice acting of the characters is horrendous and they sound as if one actress voiced all of them. They don't speak too much either, as they have a short talk as you unlock and select them, the rest is the "uh!" and "ah!", along with the annoying giggles of the enemy girls when they find you.
WAIFU CURIOSITIES
- The name is a nod to miHoYo's Honkai Impact and Genshin Impact.
Time go home I guess.
"More like a demo than a full game" that's the best way to describe Waifu Impact. While the controls are responsive and there's some interesting ideas, the minimal bugs and short gameplay leaves a lot to be desired making this play and feel indeed like a tech demo rather than a complete commercial game. If you want some trophies by wandering around an island, then this is the "light trash" game for you, the fanservice comes for free courtesy of Jandusoft and Mitsuki Game Studio.
Improving the game will need more than "Tech otakus" saving the world. Although this game is much better than abominations like Lizard Lady VS The Cats and Lady in a Leotard with a Gun by far, the best way to sum up Waifu Impact is with the Rank C quote of Margaret Whitetail from Ginga Force: "Tsugi wa mōsukoshi ganbarimashō" (Let's do it better next time).
Lea, I know it wasn't a great game.
But at least it was more enjoyable than the rest of trash games reviewed here.