It’s kinda hard to believe that the Senran Kagura series has picked up such a following since its initial release here in the west. Looking back at the first game, it’s an incredibly clunky game, suffering from some very poor performance issues, long, drawn out missions, with some characters that were simply not fun to play as.

The appeal, however, came from a colorful and enjoyable cast with interesting backstories, along with a pretty solid plot to boot.

So when the time came around to play the sequel, I was cautiously optimistic, hoping that they would improve upon the formula they established. I think it’s safe to say that Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is not only a great sequel, but it blows the original out of the water in almost every respect.

The game begins right at the end of Senran Kagura Burst, with the Hanzo Academy girls’ Hebijo Clandestine Academy. After defeating each Hanzo girls’ rival, and eventually Orochi, the story then jumps a few months after the climatic fight. Homura and her squad, now renegade shinobi, have reformed under the banner of Homura’s Crimson Squad, working day jobs in order to get by their day to day lives.

One day the group win a trip to Kyoto, and after some hijinks, encounter a strange little girl accompanied by a women by the name of Naraku, who’s sworn her life to protect her. The little girl says her name is Kagura, which in the Shinobi world holds a lot of weight, which gives a hint as to why Yoma are chasing her and causing ha voc all over Kyoto.

On the opposite end, Asuka and her squad (who end up in Kyoto as well for a school trip), are then sent on a mission to capture Kagura with no explanation as to why. Questions about what it means to be a true shinobi are brought up, as both Asuka and Homura try to find the answers to this question, along with how to deal with the Kagura situation.

The first thing you’ll notice about the story that there’s only one path to choose from. Unlike the previous games in the franchise, which have you choose from one of several schools to play through, Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson opts for a more linear story, with the game jumping between the Hanzo and the Crimson Squad girls.

On paper this seems like a downgrade, but it improves the games pacing and cuts out some of the longer filler missions the original game had. That doesn’t mean the filler has stopped, as filler missions still pop up from time to time, but they are much shorter and far more enjoyable than those of the original.

The cast is still incredibly enjoyable, and they all maintain their chemistry which made them so much fun to be with in the first place. Character development isn’t as strong as the original, but it’s much more understandable seeing as they’ve grown since the last game. The game still makes room for it, so you still get those moments of growth, albeit in a smaller capacity.

The real character development is where it should be, with our two new characters, Kagura and Naraku. Although it’s towards the final act of the game, we get just enough of it to sympathise with them and understand their plight, which finishes off with a very touching conclusion.

Visually speaking, the game looks great on the 3DS. The improved framerate also adds to the visuals, making each action feel smoother and more frantic. The Shinobi Secret Arts also look great, with each one being very distinct and recognisable to the character.

The way the Secret Arts are presented has changed slightly, with no little cutscene playing for each art. This helps the game keep it’s fast pace, and is a welcome little touch up.

Some of the yoma designs were surprisingly very good. So good in fact that they almost resembled something that came straight out of a Shin Megami Tensei game. It can be a little jarring, especially if you weren’t expecting it, but ultimately they were such good designs I couldn’t complain about them.

The gameplay is where the game really shines.The terrible framerate of the first game is completely gone, allowing a much smoother and much faster experience to take control. The addition of a lock-on feature is much appreciated, seeing as how the previous game lacked one.

Gone now are aerial raves, which I initially thought was going to be a bad thing, however this ended up making the game a lot more balanced and less spam heavy, meaning you can’t simply spam aerial raves to your heart’s content until you win. They also changed how Frantic mode works.

Instead of activating it at the beginning of the level with it active until you beat it, you can activate it in the middle of combat for increased damaged until all the enemies on screen are defeated. The drawback is that you’ll slowly lose health the longer you stay in frantic mode, so use it wisely.

The stripping mechanic makes a return, with some minor changes. When you take damage and your clothes start to fall apart, you take more damage unless you use your Shinobi Transformation to get into the characters Shinobi costume.

The slight difference comes in how the stripping is presented. Much like the rest of the game, stripping occurs much more quickly, with you or your opponent spiraling in mid air with their clothes ripping off.

Most of the characters have been slightly retuned, with a couple of them (Haruka and Mirai being the most obvious) completely reworked.

Each character feels very distinct from one another, with no one character playing the same. In addition, some characters have an ability in which pressing the X button will put them in an alternate fighting mode, further increasing the character diversity.

One of the new features Senran Kagura 2 adds is the co-op mechanic. Certain missions in the game have you paired with one of the girls, which opens up your combat choices. Controlled by the AI, you can alternate between the two characters by simply pressing the A button.

You also have the option of playing co-op online. On top of your regular Shinobi Secret Arts, you’ll also get an additional Secret Fusion Art when paired up. Unfortunately, not all pairs get a unique Fusion Art, as it’s only reserved for certain pairs.

My only real complaint with the gameplay is that there are some random difficulty spikes littered throughout the main story. These can be found as early as Chapter 1, and later appear in Chapters 3-5 in against matchups I previously didn’t have trouble with.

Character customisation makes another return, this time touting a much larger costume pool. Unlike the first game, which had some costumes and undergarments restricted to certain characters, this time around all the costumes and undergarments are available to everyone.

There’s also the addition of weapon customisations. Each character can get a handful of alternate weapons that they can equip. The way to unlock them is through a new game mode called Yoma’s Nest. Yoma’s Nest is a very straightforward game mode in which you clear rooms of enemies of increasing difficulty.

I’d recommend playing these in co-op mode (AI controlled), as the later levels get near impossible on a solo run.

Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is a great sequel to the original, essentially keeping what made the games so enjoyable to begin with, while vastly improving upon the gameplay. If you’re a big fan of the Senran Kagura series, or even a fan of solid action games and can look past the game’s aesthetics, you’re in for a wonderful treat.

Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS using a retail copy purchased by Niche Gamer. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.