Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors - Will you go to Hell for playing this?

Have a quick glimpse of the second screenshot I've provided below. You have now decided whether or not there's a possibility you'll play Criminal Girls 2. Bear with me for a moment though - it's not just a sordid affair of dodginess.

You play a Program Instructor sent to the Hell Spire, a place between Hell and the present, to reform seven delinquent girls who have "criminal DNA," but died before committing any crimes. So far so Japan.

The girls follow you around in a party of four, battling monsters (referred to as convicts) for experience and CM, the in-game currency. This can be spent on items or new moves at save points.

Things that make you go hmm...

It's not just a case of unlocking new moves though. You need to... "motivate" the girls to do so using bondage-based minigames that make use of the touch screen. This entails scrubbing, spanking, shocking, and even flinging goo at the scantily clad girls.

A certain amount of fortitude is required to take this remotely seriously. At best it's ridiculous, at worst offensive. Bordering on the obscene in either case, and this is after self-censoring to ensure the game passed certification in the West.

If you can look past all this, what you'll find underneath is actually a particularly interesting and fun battle system, that requires a fair bit of forethought for the optimal loadout to suit your playstyle.

Fight for your right to party

Each turn you can choose from four attacks randomly chosen from each girl's skillset, swap in one of the other three girls, and use one item. Coaching the girls is also an option, which will boost and / or hinder each girl's attack power.

Once you've unlocked a skill slot you can choose a sadistic or masochistic move for it. A girl with predominantly sadistic moves will react to coaching differently than one with masochistic moves, so there's quite a lot to factor in.

Beastly Display of Salacious Moves

On top of this, EX skills you unlock can be activated at the end of turns, meaning you can set off a chain reaction of attack and support moves to obliterate your opponents. There are times when some of the girls will split off, so it's best to keep everyone fairly balanced.

Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors is a slight improvement on the original Criminal Girls: Invite Only, but it's equally marred by its overindulgence in indecent minigames that will put off a large proportion of players.

Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors - Will you go to Hell for playing this?

If you're willing to try something a bit out of the ordinary, Criminal Girls 2 has a battle system at its core that just about redeems its shady veneer
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Danny Russell
Danny Russell
After spending years in Japan collecting game developers' business cards, Danny has returned to the UK to breed Pokemon. He spends his time championing elusive region-exclusive games while shaking his fist at the whole region-locking thing.