Pretty Girls 2048 Strike, the latest title in EastAsiaSoft’s long running series, puts a slight fighting game-like twist on classic slide-puzzle gameplay. It is actually pretty creative.
This is one of those games where it is sort of difficult to explain but makes sense once you see it in action. The learning curve only takes a few minutes, and you’ll start to appreciate the strategy element the more you play.
All gameplay takes place from a top-down 2D grid. Taking up one tile on this grid is a picture of your opponent, who just happens to be an anime babe hence the name. The grid also contains tiles with even numbers on them. If you press left, for example, all tiles move to the left and will stop when they make contact with the border or another numbered tile. If a numbered tile happens to bump into that opponent tile, the opponent will take whatever amount of damage was posted on that tile. So if a “2” tile rams into the opponent’s avatar tile, then 2 damage will be received. However, if a “2” title connects with another “2” tile, that tile is converted into one “4” tile. Then 4’s can become 8s, 8s into 16s, and so on. The game is over if the screen fills with tiles so there are no more moves or your opponent’s tile energy meter is fully depleted.
Again, this might sound confusing but it is easy to understand once you play a round for yourself. While the early stages can be cheesed since the opponent’s health amount is low, the difficulty increases with each match. Eventually, the health of opponents will soar into the thousands, there will be multiple opponent tiles to defeat, sometimes new ones will spawn mid-match, grids can take new shapes, and garbage pieces can annoyingly block progression. There is even a super move feature that can be unleashed once enough tiles have been cleared, saving you in a jam. Be warned, the opponent can also launch special attacks so there is more depth than you might expect from a puzzle game based around sliding pieces like a marble on a board.
Pretty Girls 2048 Strike is on par with the other games in the series. Meaning, it offers some decently entertaining gameplay in the 1-2 hours it takes to clear all the anime babe stages and earn the Platinum Trophy. Other than an optional endurance mode, there are no other options, including multiplayer, to extend the replay value. No, the dressing room feature doesn’t count because looking at a non-animated figure drawing serves no purpose and carries no fun. The female anime presentation is also nothing in which to feel embarrassed as these fully clothed static drawings are just background art. There is nothing lewd here, at all.
If anything, the Pretty Girls series is consistent. The overall interface, visual presentation, and even the audio effects remain the same game after game. While the gameplay changes with each title, it also remains at a consistent level of quality, one that is mindlessly entertaining for about an hour before pointless repetition becomes apparent. However, the low cost and easy Platinum aligns with its fun factor and consistency.
SCORE: 5.5/10
Not As Fast Paced As: Pretty Girls Breakers! PLUS
More Creative Than: Pretty Girls Panic!
Much More Tame Than: Waifu Discovered 2: Medieval Fantasy
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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