Nintendo Switch Exclusive ShinobiRefle Senran Kagura Will be a “Pure and Healthy” Game

Giuseppe Nelva April 19, 2017 1:09 PM EST

A few days ago, Senran Kagura series Producer Kenichiro Takaki revealed ShinobiRefle Senran Kagura for Nintendo Switch, and today he followed up providing a bunch of interesting information on the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu.

Takaki-san mentioned that he has been paying attention to the Switch for quite a while, as it comes with its new HD Rumble feature, and he has always tried new things with the Senran Kagura series. He’s very much looking forward to see what kind of things can be done and what kind of Senran Kagura game can be created with the Switch’s hardware.

The concept for ShinobiRefle was developed by Takaki-san while working on Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash. Full-scale development for the new game will begin now, and in parallel, he will continue updating Peach Beach Splash as well.

The Switch’s HD Rumble is interesting for Takaki-san since it’s so different from anything that has been attempted so far. He would like to create a game that can help spark interest in the feature.

Asked on whether he’ll be able to convey the sensation of touching the body of a girl with the HD Rumble, Takaki-san explained that he might be able to achieve that, but he prefers to leave it to the reader’s imagination for now. He’s aiming for a “pure and healthy” Senran Kagura game. The big theme of ShinobiRefle is to convey the character’s feelings with the HD rumble. The key artwork that has already been published (and that you can see above) was also drawn to communicate the idea of a pure love adventure game.

The key artwork shows Asuka holding the player’s hands, and Takaki-san believes that if the development team can manage to convey her emotions via the HD rumble of the Joy-Con controllers, it’ll be a point of pride to deliver an interesting game that is also different from the rest of the Senran Kagura series so far.

Talking about the story, it will have a lighter tone rather than serious. By holding Asuka’s hands her emotions intensify, and imagination expands in various ways. Players will be able to enjoy a different story from previous games of the series.

Asuka will be the only one among the Senran Kagura girls to be included in the game. ShinobiRefle isn’t a full-price game, and is positioned as a download-only concept title based on the HD rumble. It aims to show the series’ fans and Nintendo Switch users new directions and possibilities for the Senran Kagura series.

Asuka’s visuals are being developed anew, because Takaki-san would like to create new expressions. While fine details are being adjusted, the aim is also to be able to express the depiction of light more beautifully like in the concept art showing the classroom at dusk.

Speaking on the other features of the Nintendo Switch, Takaki-san would like to use all of them, but at the moment he’s in a stage where he has a lot of ideas, so other features on top of the HD Rumble are still under consideration.

In conclusion, Takaki-san mentioned that the Nintendo Switch is an interesting console to develop for, so he thinks the team can try various things with it. In fact, in addition to ShinobiRefle, he’s thinking about other games that could use the console’s features. He also teased that he plans to keep pushing the Senran Kagura series this year, so fans should look forward to more information.