Bullet Girls Phantasia Review

Japanese schools are well known (in anime and videogame circles) for having a bunch of different clubs for students to join. Well, can you guess which club the students of Bullet Girls Phantasia belong to, before they’re sucked into another world along with their armaments? It’s the Ranger Club, and no that doesn’t mean they support a Scottish football team, they learn to use guns!

The characters are isekai’d and find themselves in a fantasy world, complete with people who use swords and those who are part-animal. They must join forces to get the Club back home, by shooting and/or stabbing everything in third-person action, while keeping their clothes on. While the story may not be revolutionary, it is perfectly paired with the dynamic interactions among the diverse cast of characters, with humorous exchanges between the ladies.

Missions are structured into chapters that offer a range of objectives from defeating enemies to boss battles and Drilling Sessions (which I’ll get to shortly). To add to the game's replayability, there is a selection of difficulty settings. Each character can handle up to three weapons, and not everyone can handle all of the types of gun, so strategic customisation is sometimes required. You can take two characters out on a mission, though one is controlled by the CPU so you have some help against the hordes of enemies.

Combat is fluid and intuitive, and the ability to switch between weapons mid-battle allows for tactical flexibility, encouraging players to adapt their strategies on the fly. Additionally, enhancement items and weapon skill trees provide a deep customisation system that caters to a variety of playstyles.

Bullet Girls Phantasia has a mini-game to break up the main gameplay loop, called Intense Drilling Sessions, which offers practical benefits like tons of money for some reason. To describe them succinctly would simply be “you tickle torture a character who is bound”. In less polite company I’d say that you poke, grope, and spank a character held in a suggestive position until they are satisfied. You can use items as well, including some that can be inserted in their mouth to buff certain aspects, some of which are phallically shaped. Then later on you unlock Double Drilling with two characters, and then Reverse Drilling where they do it to you. While you can choose to do this while their outfit is damaged or not, I’ll compliment the fact that you can’t do it while they’re naked.

Okay, so I’ve mentioned this twice now, and yes your characters’ outfits can be torn and destroyed, as can their underwear, if they receive enough damage. However, the female-presenting nipples and genitals are covered in light, meaning that they aren’t completely nude, just technically. You can, of course, just dress them in an outfit (including bra and panties) because you like how it looks, but some outfits give buffs, so destroyed outfits mean that you lose said buff.

The graphical presentation of Bullet Girls Phantasia is one of vibrant, anime-inspired art, which mixes quite well with the fantasy enemies. Character designs are well crafted, with some showcasing unique outfits and intricate details that reflect their personalities and combat styles. Furthermore, the game’s environments, ranging from lush forests to dark dungeons, unfortunately, get a little repetitive after playing for a while.

Sound design is an area where the game excels, with some high-energy battle tracks and calming interludes on the soundtrack. Each character’s voice acting is performed with a high degree of skill and emotion, breathing life into the dialogue and adding depth to the narrative.

There may be a few minor drawbacks such as limited enemy variety, repeating maps, AI intelligence, and load times, but they didn’t pull me out of enjoying the game too much. After all, most people are here to poke women, not slay countless orcs.

While it doesn’t affect my score, Bullet Girls Phantasia boasts a significant amount of downloadable content, with 30 items available. These include new costumes, extra weapons, and Drilling items, so are entirely optional, and you do get them as part of the Deluxe Edition. However, if you get the standard edition, you will have to buy them all separately, meaning they cost almost as much as the Deluxe Edition does.

While this is the third Bullet Girls game, it’s the only one released in English, so I’ve not played the others. However, it’s not an issue getting to know the characters, so while there is probably stuff in here that fans will enjoy more, there’s nothing that left me completely lost.

Bullet Girls Phantasia is an eye-catching and intriguing game, boasting well-developed character models and a plethora of costumes to discover and put said well-developed characters in. As far as non-18+ games go, this knows exactly who its audience is, and does well to cater towards them.