Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire (English) · Test

The return of Alfa System

CORRECTION: The Maniac options are unlockables.

The developer Alfa System is celebrating their 30th Anniversary with their very own game after 12 years! The “Castle of Shikigami” developer presents you with the spiritual sequel: Sisters Royale.

While it doesn’t have anything to do with “Castle of Shikigami”, it does inherit some of its Gameplay.

Today's review will be from the view of a newbie when it comes to Alfa System’s style of Shoot’em Up so please keep that in mind. Interestingly, the predecessor is known to have some unfortunate localization issues across its history. Publisher Chorus Worldwide brings us the game in its whole glory, so that’s some good news!

So no cuts and a game from Veterans who know what they are doing sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Fighting for their potential hubby: Sisters Royale!

The land of Pulma has an interesting prophecy that says that 5 sisters will work together to free the world from the evil Seytan.

At some point, these 5 sisters really did get born and each of them has incredible magic powers representing one specific element each: Fire, Wind, Ice, Light and Darkness.

The people of Pulma are elated to have finally found their saviors. Little did they know that the prophecy might possibly a sham? Why?

Because none of the sisters actually care about defeating Seytan and bring peace to the world. In fact, they hate each other's guts. They even did the opposite of the prophecy! Instead of uniting they scattered themselves into the world.

Until one day they miraculously are meeting once again…

Is it finally time to fulfill the prophecy? Have they awoken to the evil Seytan and put an end to it? Afraid not! Unlike expectations, it’s actually a meeting to squabble over the Angel they all want to marry: Yashin.

To settle this once and for all they have decided to meet and fight it out. May the Sisters Royale commence.

Interim Conclusion of Story

The Prelude you’ve read in the summary is pretty much the whole story. The game itself is more about the journey of Sisters talking to each other when they are about to fight. It’s always pre-level, pre-boss and post-boss.

You’re practically getting to know the characters than there being an actual story playing out, except the ending and even then it’s only a little twist.

Overall it’s an extremely simple setup and is more a fun thing in-between as the game makes it clear of its comedic intentions.

Special Note: If you prefer to skip the story segments then you're in luck. Alfa System has thought about you and implemented a story skip in the options menu!

Gameplay & Controls

The Levels

There are five levels in the game. It doesn’t matter which character you choose, the sequence is always the same. Each of the levels is representing the element of the boss character. Therefore you can expect some level-specific twists like icy slippery patches, stormy windmills and reduction of sight by darkness.

Let it be known that there are no random elements in the game. The game is definitely designed to be studied and mastered.

Two types of Attacks

Each character has two completely different attacks. Normal attacks are projectiles you shoot out and are pretty standard though they also vary depending on which character you choose to use. One is about rapid-fire while others can penetrate objects or have projectiles with guidance.

The biggest difference is the second set of Attacks: The summons. Each of them is vastly different ranging from auto-targeting Fire Demon, Double Tornadoes or Triple Iceblades to name a few. While it can sound very strong, you will also have to make some concessions and most of the time it’s your movement speed. In general, expect a 50% loss of movement speed when the summon is active.

Another point of interest is the fact that summons is generating coins per defeated enemy.

It doesn’t matter which character you choose. You will be forced to approach each situation differently.

Life Points, Bombs, and Continues

Ok, it does sound quite different from your usual Shoot’em Up but there’s more. In the beginning, you will always have three life points and bombs loaded up.

Both of them are getting filled over time and sometimes faster depending on your performance. Not getting hit is rewarded double-time as you can see.

Bombs make you invincible and erase all enemy attacks while dishing out some heavy-duty attacks. It’s extremely strong but it’s probably not something you’d want to use for Hiscore chasing.

Where there are rewards there are penalties. Each time you’re getting hit you will lose hard-earned coins that help you create a High score. When you’ve run out of Life then there’s the final safety net awaiting you: The Continue. These are infinite so there’s no fear of not making it to the end of the game. The penalty for using the continue is losing all your points. Certainly not something you want to use once you’re going for the Highscore.

Three Difficulties

At first glance, there aren’t many differences as they are subtle most of the time. The biggest standout is the Hard difficulty.

The mid- and bosses come equipped with their maximum amount of phases for you to survive. Mid bosses have three while Bosses have four. The more you go down the difficulty ladder the fewer phases they have.

On top of that, there are chests strewn around the level for you to shoot some coins out of them. This adds another layer of strategy whether on how to approach the enemies and how to get the best score.

High replayability for Hi-Score hunters

We’ve been talking about scoring a good result which is why we take a step into what the game provides in features and mechanics.

Leaderboards

Local and Online Leaderboards are pitting you against the best of the best. Character and difficulties have all their very own separate Leaderboards.

Points Systems

It might seem like a simple Shoot’em Up at first but there’s much more to it than the first look shows. As there are many things that go into the scoring system.

The Tension Bonus System (TBS)

The closer you are to danger the faster your points will go up. Additionally, you will also unlock the buffed versions of your normal projectiles that come in red color. Faster fire rate or speed are just a few of the perks.

Pros will find their match with this. The thrill of dodging death by a hair is part of the experience of chasing the best score. Your skills in learning the levels and executing plans will be put to test to the limit.

More points to be made

The TBS is the main stage of the game but there’s more to pay attention to with the inclusion of Coins and Fairies. These Fairies require a 2x count on the TBS within a certain time to appear. Each stage has 5 so make sure you catch them all.

Practice Mode

Fed up having to go through every stage before reaching your problem point? The Practice Mode is here to offer the solution. With this you can decide on Level, Character, Difficulty, Coins, Life Points (infinite is also an option) and Bombs (infinite too).

Even more options on the way? (Unlockables!)

Within the Options, there’s a tab that is not available yet called “Maniac”. That tab lets you customize things such as Enemy Bullet Size, Speed and much more.

At the time of the review, it is not available. Therefore it’s not possible to render any judgment about it.

UPDATE: According to the developer, these are immediately unlockable under certain conditions. Playthroughs with them activated will not be viable for Rankings.

Additional Character DLC: Ode

As this is a new character, it comes with its own story and high score rankings. The DLC is priced at £2.29 and is not part of the review.

Interim Conclusion of Gameplay

Frankly speaking, after playing classics such as Gradius, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, R-Type and more I thought I’ve seen it all. As somebody who’s new to Alfa System and their “Castle of Shikigami” gameplay, I was pleasantly surprised at another different take on the genre.

The gameplay counts on the thrill of the TBS to make it a special experience. Having to be close to your own demise to score high is not for the weak-hearted. Though you might argue that it’s part of the Bullet Hell sub-genre.

The excitement of having to survive a screen full of deadly projectiles never gets old and it could look extremely unfair for somebody looking from the outside. The meticulous design makes sure that there’s nothing that can’t be solved by proper planning and technical skill. Even if it requires precision.

Just like the Soulsborne way of excitement and fun, Sisters Royale presents itself as an incredible challenge for you to master.

Graphics & Sound

Sisters Royale looks its part. It’s nothing outstanding but it also doesn’t need to be. Let’s not forget that this is a budget-priced 2D Shoot’em Up. Simple 3D models, effects and backgrounds are all it needs.

The biggest looker is the Summons because a lot of detail has gone into them to look special. With all the talk about graphics, there’s something more important to talk about: The Playability.

Some games tend to overdo it when it comes to effects and Sisters Royale is not one of them. At no point in time, will your vision be completely overwhelmed.

The few rare cases are when coins are coming into the equation and even then it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

The story segments are offering detailed Artwork of the characters, adding some needed characterization.

You’ll hear no complaints when it comes to audio. The music fits the absurd atmosphere of the game with a few serious bits and the sound effects of hitting your enemies are clear enough for your ears to register.

Unlike Its predecessors, Sisters Royale forgoes any kind of voice acting which means it’s all about reading.

The beginning of the game does not have an epilepsy warning and from personal experience, there are not many flashes. Zero full-screen flashes as a matter of fact. The only flash you will see is when you’re hitting the enemy, most likely the bosses because they don’t die as fast as the grunts.

Fazit

Sisters Royale is a long-awaited comeback of Alfa System to their established genre and it’s a good one. There’s a lot to like such as the level design and the variety it overall offers.

At 5 characters, 5 levels, 3 difficulties and separate Leaderboards you can expect some good replayability.

The story, on the other hand, is nothing special but it’s enough to get to know the characters.

At an affordable price of £11.69 (Switch) and £11.49 (PS4) not much can be said against it. Fans of its genre will find their fun for sure.

More casual ones who like to dabble into it will have to miss any kind of multiplayer but the option of infinite continues will make sure that the game is there for you to finish. In that regard, expect about 30 Minutes for each character which means at least a playtime of 2:30 hours.

Both console versions have the same content according to the publisher.

UPDATE: As the Maniac options bring a lot of new things to the table, it also means that the replayability is also skyrocketing. Therefore the score gets a 0.5 increase.

Wertung

8.5Sehr gut

Kaufempfehlung

70% Kaufempfehlung

70%Empfehlenswert