Gal*Gun Returns (English) · Test

Back to the Roots on the 10th Anniversary!

Warning: Gal*Gun Returns is just like Gal*Gun 2 and Gal*Gun: Double Peace and comes with lewd angles, although it’s much tamer here with the naked skin. Even Pantyshots felt relatively rare.

Gal*Gun fans know that the first part was never released in the West. Before that, it was available in Japan on PS3 (including PSMove support) and Xbox 360. Unfortunately, this time both platform owners have to do without it (for certain reasons). Instead, Nintendo Switch and PC owners are feasting on it for its 10th anniversary.

Ergo, it turns out that only the PC will have the full series available (minus the original version of Gal*Gun)! Gal*Gun Returns is a remake of the very first game and comes with many graphical updates. The gameplay has been carried over for the most part.

Two games later, the original returns, but how does it compare to its successors?

One day to find eternal love or be a doomed single forever

It was supposed to be a beautiful day for Tenzou, but angel Patako had a little accident during her final exam. With an arrow of love should be activated a magical experience in which the shot should find his love for life.

Unfortunately, he got an overkill of 16 arrows due to an accident. Although this makes him extremely popular, the aftermath comes with extreme consequences. He has one day to choose one of the 4 candidates to swoon her heart before the entire world hates him, including animals. Together with Patako, they both embark on a mission to save him from a life of eternal solitude.

There is only one problem, the arrows don’t work on his sweethearts. They are protected for unknown reasons and therefore immune. In short, our hero Tenzou will still have to go to great lengths to persuade them traditionally and unravel the reason for their protection. Who knows, maybe he has a connection with them that he has already forgotten.

Unlike its sequels, it has a linear progression by choosing one of the heroines at the beginning. You work towards one of the 3 endings which go from Bad, Normal to True Good Ending.

The story is a simple romantic comedy and is done within a day. The heroine is introduced right after the decision is made with no crossover between them except Doki Doki Carnival.

Despite the short story, the romance between the two characters is well-grounded and shows that this is not brainwashing or anything like that.

Besides, the conversations are lighthearted and often bring a smile to the face.

The Doki Doki Carnival is an epilogue and deals with the consequences of the 16 Arrows and how it can be neutralized. Here the mood takes a 180° turn and everyone but the heroines hates Tenzou. Get ready for some devastating comments as it is exaggerated to get the comedy effect. Masochists will probably find something good here...

Gameplay & Steuerung

Gal*Gun Returns is a remake that sticks to the original, i.e. it is a graphical remake. You'll notice pretty quickly that the gameplay is very simple compared to its successors.

The controls are also extremely simple. You can slow down, speed up, zoom, shoot and activate Doki Doki Field.

Who is Tenzou?

Before you get into the action, you have to determine some stats: Intelligence, Fitness, Style, and Lewdness.

It is always best to keep the first three values in the upper range while Lewdness is something negative. They have no meaning in active gameplay and rather help in sympathizing with the heroines. If you want to know what stats are preferred just take a look at the Character Select screen.

Ha! Kyun! Bikku! Dokki! 4 Hit Zones and Critical Hits

The 4 hit zone system is back and is just as ecstatic as ever. There are two ways to find these critical hit zones. Either you go through the zones with the crosshair or you simply remember the character's specific spots since all of them are recurring.

To be more specific about finding them, as soon as you pass over them, you hear a special sound and see Japanese characters that represent the sound in writing. The color of the characters is another aid as each zone has a specific color.

With Ecstasy Shots, you get a lot more points and the Doki Doki bar builds up faster. As soon as you got the hang of it, you'll be able to land one critical hit after another like a boss.

Another interesting mechanic of the critical hit is that after a normal hit, the zone seems to be completely turned off. Ergo, you only have a shot to land the attack correctly. This is because the characters react to your attacks and it’d make it easy to get them in.

I don't know if it's me, but sometimes it seemed to me that the recognition was activated in the wrong places. Could be a bit annoying at the beginning if it happens, but you get used to it.

Doki Doki Field

Aim and pull one of the girls into your powerful attack that consumes one Doki Doki Gauge and hits all enemies in sight. It is not only an attack but also changes your status points depending on who is hit by it. Another function is the recovery of life. You build up the gauge with successful hits. It depletes slowly at activation, which means that the more you have the more time you have to send them into a special ecstasy.

The Doki Doki Field is a mini-game where you shoot the enemy with pheromones at specific areas This includes the back, head, and a few other points that are a bit more... intimate.

Each character here also has their individual "favorite zone" and thus fills up the ecstasy bar differently. Another important mechanic is the aiming because it's completely automatic and it's simply a matter of selecting the zone. Furthermore, the strength of the hit depends on the Zoom time. Hold it longer and the stronger the shot becomes. If you hold it too long, the opponent will protect herself.

With a full hit (duration + zone) comes a short extra ecstasy animation. When the ecstasy bar is full, you can end the mini-game and activate the Doki Doki Bomb.

This mechanic is a jack-of-all-trades and affects almost every point of the gameplay. The only drawback is that the game pace comes to a complete halt.

It also has a collecting function. All enemies have small details in the gallery, and if you manage to successfully get them through the field three times in one run, you unlock all their information. To make the collection easier the game shows how far you’ve unlocked them already with up to 3 Stars to the right of their name. If you see 3 grey stars then congratulations you’ve done the full deed.

The antagonists in love and their attacks

This time there are no demons in the game, so only two types of enemies are present: schoolgirls and teachers. The schoolgirls can be knocked out immediately with an ecstasy shot and can otherwise withstand about 2 or more hits. Teachers are tougher and critical hits are only possible after they have been softened up a bit, though it’s not visible when they are available for an ecstasy shot.

Both of them are vulnerable to the Doki Doki Field with no exception.

Their attacks are split between near and far. Veterans already know these. Attacks at close range are instant hits with a little bit of windup. While those from a distance fly towards you as Japanese letters. The letter marked in red neutralizes the entire attack. Defeating an opponent also stops it dead in its track.

Boss fights

Here lies the most creative part of the game. Each heroine offers several special situations that are comparable to boss fights. In one, for example, sheep must be shot down to avoid falling asleep. A more complicated example is helping one of them to search for information in the library, where a ladder must be held and while you gun books of interest on the shelf. The crosshair must stay in a certain area to stabilize the ladder while glowing books must be shot. Stay away from the stabilization area and a storm of books will fall on you.

Some are more difficult than others. At the very end, a relatively standard boss fight awaits, where the heroines are actively engaged in combat that shouldn’t be too difficult as they are simple.

Levels

Not all of them are individual. It often happens that they are repeated among the different heroines. For example, the last mission is the same for all of them.

Some are character exclusive. Many enemies are mandatory in design, but in some places, there are a few bonus enemies built-in that disappear quickly and don't even attack. So if you want to make a hunt for the highest score you have to be ready to play through the levels several times to get those difficult shots down.

Small side note, if you take into consideration how Tenzou moves, you'll sometimes notice his extreme athleticism. For example, he manages to climb up a rain gutter duct. Since it's a comedy, it fits the atmosphere very well.

Doki Doki Carnival

This particular mode offers a special version of Doki Doki Field is used. Normal shooting is completely omitted. You fight multiple opponents simultaneously instead. The biggest change is that the enemies with a full ecstasy gauge slowly recedes. To get the best score you have to send them all together into absolute ecstasy, i.e. fill up all their bars evenly, keep them in the pre-ecstasy state, and hit them all with a clean sweep activation.

Furthermore, there is another small hidden extra function. When targeting, the other enemies are now visible in the background and when to hit, their gauge is also filled up. It's a good idea to always have a second person in sight but make sure it’s not somebody who’d get a full gauge when you don’t want it. They must be in the crosshairs. To line up these attacks easier you can move the camera while Focusing on a point.

The Doki Doki bar recovers with every defeated enemy so make sure you take your time and get everything lined up for the maximum amount of points. You’ll need that for the best ending.

Score Attack

The Score Attack is extra for players who like to have a challenge with a difficulty level comparable to Normal and major changes to the Doki Doki Field. It only recharges a small amount of health, the Doki Doki bar drains completely after use and it leads to a special state where the Doki Doki Gauge recovers faster. It lasts until you miss a critical hit or get hit.

You can select Levels individually or by theme, including an all-stages option. This mode is especially suited for collecting data in Doki Doki Field.

Collectibles and Light Feathers

In the Collection Vault, you can find artwork and a certain extra that can be unlocked at the cost of Light Feathers. You obtain this currency by playing through the story (over 100 per character) or simply in Score Attack. Since it's the 10th anniversary of Gal*Gun, a lot of artwork is available. A majority of them only costs 5, so if you’re going after all the endings you should have no problems unlocking everything.

Gameplay summary

As a predecessor of the Gal*Gun series, Gal*Gun Returns is understandably a bit simpler. But is it worse for that? No, just different. People who like the traditional Railshooters without much fluff will certainly like it. It is also much easier to play the different endings. Considering there are 4 characters (1 hour each) it clocks at about 4 hours but if you’re gunning for all endings, you get to clock around 12 hours with the normal main game. If you add Doki Doki Carnival and its multiple endings, you get at least 15 hours.

Perfectionists and competitive players can then look forward to the pure gameplay offered in Score Attack.

Doki Doki Field and the reused levels are where I get a little conflicted. Doki Doki Field, as mentioned earlier, consumes too much time and takes the wind out of the sail, and the latter is simply there to extend the playtime.

PC players have it a lot easier with the mouse in this game. It's much faster and more precise than the typical controller. Fortunately, there is a difficulty selection so that everyone can play through the game.

Graphics & Sound

Gal*Gun has always been technically modest, and since the game also runs on the Nintendo Switch, the graphics are naturally limited. Accordingly, it is stylistically on the simple and clean side. By clean, I mean the lack of complex textures. The surfaces consist of one color and leave a simple kind of anime look.

The devil is in the details with over 400 panty designs and over 70 individual characters.

And yes, all of these characters are voiced, some with short conversations in Doki Doki Carnival. Overall, they are in no way inferior to the main characters and bring them to life very well.

There isn't much to write about the music, as a majority of the levels use the same piece of music that fits as background music. What’s notable is that each protagonist has her song that she sings herself.

PC players with an SSD can look forward to fast

Verdict

Gal*Gun Returns is a fun rail shooter with a special meaning in that it brings us something that was previously denied and stays true to the original. The game is by no means less special just because it has already had two sequels and stands in stark contrast. The lack of additional elements makes it more of a classic rail shooter where you just shoot, except for Doki Doki Field.

Since the game is already released with a medium-budget price of 49.99€, it is a recommendation for rail-shooter fans who are looking for some lighthearted fun.

Another thing worth mentioning is the comparably milder lewdness when it comes to the other games. Even the Doki Doki Field is rather tame.

Wertung

7.5 Gut

Kaufempfehlung

70% Kaufempfehlung

70%Empfehlenswert