Dark_Tzitzimine
Member
Special thanks to Pariah64 and HawthorneKitty for their OT on Senran Kagura Estival Versus and Senran Kagura 2 from which this OP's format is based.
All Banners and text done by Dark_Tzitimine
- This game is considered NSFW
- Let’s try to keep discussion on topic so mods aren’t compelled to lock the thread.
Developer: Meteorise
Publisher: Marvelous AQL (JP); PQUBE (NA&PAL)
Genre: Action, beat-'em-up
Release Dates:
- Japan: December 10, 2015
- PAL: September 30, 2016
- North America: October 11, 2016
Price:
Physical (EU) £34.99 / Digital £34.99 / LE £59.99
Physical (NA) $39.99 / Digital $39.99 / LE $79.99
Size: 3.2 GB
Limited Edition
"Liberator Edition" Exclusive to Rice Digital
- Copy of the game
- 8x Art Cards featuring art from the game
- Vita Peach Skin Case
- Official Soundtrack
- Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni Artbook
- High quality presentation box with exclusive art by the game's artist Mana Wara
Game's Website
A mysterious illness suddenly broke out on girls in their teens and twenties, enhancing them mentally and granting them the ability to turn their bodies into extremely lethal weapons. The cause of the illness was a particular virus currently classified into two types: “A-Virus” and “V-Virus”
The World Government enacted a law to care for patients infected with the virus. Five secret artificial islands were established to quarantine the infected patients.
One such quarantine island: Bhikkhuni.
The island famous for successfully controlling the “V-Virus”. Girls who enroll in Bhikkhuni’s school can overcome the viru. And thus, it is a school with many hopeful applicants. Among them is a pair of sisters infected with the “V-Virus”.
The elder Rinka Kagurazaka, whose innocent graces hide her power within.
The younger Ranka Kagurazaka, whose outgoing energy belies her frailty.
They are still unaware there is only one way to control the virus.
And that is…for infected patients to battle each other.
Gameplay proceeds over the course of two phases: adventure parts and action parts.
In the Adventure parts you will unravel the secrets behind Bhikkhuni’s island by following the Kagurazakas on their quest to find a cure for their afflection. The story is told in a VN style not unlike EV’s own story mode.
However is important to mention that unlike EV, Valkyrie Drive actually has two different ending routes –Chaos and Order– unlocked in accordance to your performance through the game.
Action parts are conducted within fully polygonal gameplay fields, with players tasked to defeat enemies as they work to achieve the objectives at hand.
Hidden Collectibles
In certain stages you can find hidden collectibles –called Fragments- that unlock on the in game’s store new accessories or lingerie. These fragments can be found laying through the stage or hidden inside stone blocks that you have to chisel to set them free.
In addition to the fragments you can also found special interactable elements like the aforementioned Chestguards or Teleport Pads that take you to secret missions not unlike those you can find on the DMC games.
Combat
There are three important elements to know regarding Bhikkhuni’s battle system: the Driving, Dodging and the Phantom mechanics.
Driving
In this game you’ll always pick two characters before jumping into action but you will only control one through the stages. This playable character is identified as “Liberator” on the character select screen. Her partner –whom you will only see during the initial and driving cut scenes–, is called “Extar” and she literally becomes the weapon for your Liberator.
In practice, Driving is quite similar to the Shinobi Transformations on the Senran Kagura games with two distinct differences: there are four different levels of driving and the Extar determinates the moveset and stat bonuses for your Liberator.
Your character’s Special Attacks (Called Drive Breaks) is also determinated by your current Drive level. The basic Drive Attack is unlocked on Drive 2, the middle tier in Drive 3 and the Ultimate tier in Final Drive. Just like in EV all the Drive Breaks are ground based.
At the start of the game you will only be able to access Drive 1 but as you raise the Extar level of the characters you will unlock the remaining tiers. At Extar level 10, all the Drive levels are unlocked.
Dodging
Pressing R alongside a direction on the analog stick will prompt your girl to roll towards the direction pressed. This is the only way to cancel some attack animations and also if you dodge an attack in the nick of time, there will be a brief slowdown on the combat while your character safely avoids damage. Doing this will earn you a small amount of power for your synchro gauge (shown on screen as small balls of pink light)
Phantom Mechanics
In lieu of a running mechanic, Bhikkhuni counts with something called “Phantom Jump” You trigger this mechanic by pressing and holding X until your character’s feet shine, then they will propel themselves forward (or towards any targeted enemy). If the targeted enemy is currently stunned, it will be launched into the air by the Phantom Jump where it will lie defenseless to your attacks. When this happens you can trigger four different Phantom Maneuvers:
- Phantom Dance: By pressing square multiple times your character will hit the enemy with an air combo.
- Phantom Blast: Pressing and holding circle and then releasing it will cause your character to release a burst of energy.
- Phantom Strike: Pressing circle will cause your character to launch the enemy even higher with a single hit.
- Phantom Fall: Activated by pressing triangle, this attack will prompt your character to launch a strong attack that will cause the enemy to come crashing down into the ground. Unlike the other attacks this will finish your combo.
Each attack needs specific timings to work but successfully landing them will give you a small attack boost, by combining them in your combos you can multiply your base attack power in amounts as high as 400%
Aside of these offensive maneuvers you have two defensive ones: Revenge and Phantom Delude.
- Revenge: Triggered by unleashing a Phantom Jump in response of being launched into the air by an enemy attack. This will allow you to recover and immediately launch a counter attack.
- Phantom Delude: Activated by Phantom jumping into an enemy attack and dodging in the last second. This will allow you to safely avoid any attack and will also reward you with a bigger attack boost. However, the timing for this one is so strict that you can’t really use it in battle against most enemies.
There are three different multiplayer modes:
Liberation: Damage your opponents.
Strip: Damage your opponents' clothes.
Melee: Basically Smash Bros.
Each mode can be played with 2 to 4 players. Both in teams or in Battle Royal.
Videos
Action Trailer
Launch Trailer
First Hour Playthrough
Screenshots
30-09-2016 Week (Europe)
HQ Sound Files
Favorite Underwear Free Set
Vita Theme
Mirei & Mamori £4.99
Swaying Accesories Set
Above Set Includes:
11/10/2016 America (Thanks to Zonic for the links)
Vita theme ($2.99)
High Sound Quality Pack
Favorite Underwear, Color Variation
DLC coin ($0.99)
DLC Coin 10 + 1 ($0.99)
Momo's Scarf $ 1.49
Swaying Angel Wings $1.49
Swaying Cat Tail $1.49
Swaying Fox Tail $1.49
Paradise Swimsuit Set ($12.99)
Senran Kagura Huge Accessories Set ($9.99, adds 58 accessories)
Cat-Eared Hood
Corsage
Cyber Cat Ears
Droopy Elf Ears
Earring
Flower Crown
Fox Ears
Reviews2Go 8/10
Playstation Country 7/10
The SixthAxis 8/10
Tech Gaming 82%
Hey Poor Player 4/5
The Inner Circle 7.5
The Gaming Ground 4/5
Third Strike 7.0
Cubed 7/10
Sumikai (German) 77.7
Meristarion (Spanish) 8/10
IGN Spain (Spanish) 7.5
Nerdeable 6.6
Q. Is this game Vita TV Compatible?
A. It is
Q. Does Gamestop/BestBuy carry this game?
A. In the west the game is only carried over by Amazon on the US and Video Game Plus in Canada.
Q. We'll get all the DLC?
A. Yes, all the 162 items
Q. I heard having a Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit save on my memory card will unlock free accessories on this game. Is true?
A. Is true. 29 Items in fact.
Q. How do I unlock the Bon Appetit freebies?
A. They have to be bought in Echigoya's store.
Q. Do I need to see the anime beforehand?
A: The anime and the game tell separate stories so no, is not necessary.
Q. How do I unlock the characters' hair styles and hair colors?
A. Those are unlocked by raising each character Rack Rank in the communication room.
Q. I got the notice I unlocked accesories/clothes/Music/CGs after ending a mission but they don't show up on the Gallery/Communication Room!
A. Everything has to be purchased first on the in game store.
Q. How do I activate the Heart Catcher minigame? Pressing Triangle doesn't do anything!
A. You have to raise first the character Rack Rank to 20, then the minigame will be unlocked for that character in particular.
Q. How do I use the healing potions?
A. Press and Hold left on the D-pad and then press L
How do I trigger Phantom Delude?
A. You need to have good reflexes to get the timing down. For reference, take a look at this video
Q. How do I unlock the Order Route?
A. You need to get SS rank on these missions
1B 1C
2B
3B
4B
12A 12B 12C
13A
14A 14B
15A
16A 16B 16C
Q. Help! I got Order route on my first playthrough, am I locked out the Chaos Route?
A. No, you can select the Chaos levels on the Mission Select menu.
Q. I can't find this game anywhere in Germany/Australia. What gives?
A. The game was refused rating on those countries and thus, and since not rated games can't be stocked nor sell, it wasn't possible for PQube to sell it there. However, you can still import the game from foreign retailers like Amazon. Just keep in mind that this will lock you out of any DLC unless you set a new account in the region your copy is from.
that've now mysteriously vanished...
