Joubutsu Saseko Rororo is a 2D Beat ‘em Up set in an alternate version of ancient Japan where evil spirits roam. We play as a nameless shrine maiden who has set out to stop a sudden influx of the undead plaguing nearby villages. This is about as much information I possess about the unfolding events, as the story is not a huge focus here, and it is entirely in Japanese. It is the type of game where being unable to read the language will be a barrier. With only four buttons needed to play, it is easy to grasp, yet the menus are not intuitive enough to play without some way to translate what’s on screen. Of course, this is not a slight against it. I just wanted to be upfront about this hurdle before showing the unique art style Joubutsu Saseko has and people possibly going right for the Buy button.
I’m uncertain what to call these graphics. They look like a combination of old-school 1-bit graphics and a manga-inspired illustration. Whatever the case, we have little time to ponder about such things as we kick things off by needing to rescue a woman under attack. Unlike what I did, hopefully, you’ve been coming to grips with the controls rather than staring at the environments. I rushed right into the action and ironically made things worse as I pulled more enemies toward her while spending most of my time getting smacked to the floor. It turns out I got too cocky for whatever reason and assumed this would be an easy title. This wake-up call was a mercy in disguise. Joubutsu Saseko pulls no punches regarding the enemy count in later levels, nor is there a way to heal. That makes any mistake permanent for the rest of the remaining stage.
Death is not the inconvenience it may seem at first. Our character keeps any souls gained from defeating her enemies, so even if failure is inevitable, you may as well go down fighting to your fullest. This is where the hentai aspect comes in. Whether from restarting a level or proceeding to the next, you can offer your body to demons in exchange for power. We have control over which spirit to have sex with, can progress or reverse the animations at will, and choose when to orgasm. This would be a Gallery Mode in most other hentai titles. I love how they seamlessly integrated it into the core experience itself. It’s all too easy to spend a good chunk of time seeing what it has to offer, even if there is no further benefit after you’ve run out of souls. The pixel animations and CG are just that adequate.
In some ways, the early section of this title may be the most difficult, given that we don’t have much health or MP bars for our special attacks. A skilled enough player could get through it without leveling up. Such a handicap would make for an exciting challenge once the player gets better at the game. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. Allow me to explain the basics of combat first. Our scantily dressed shrine maiden may not be able to take much of a hit at first, yet she is more than able to hold her own against any foe. Most of the moveset is available to us from the get-go. This involves dashing, shoulder charges to knock down enemies, and diving to punch anything nearby. Our basics are a kick, useful against tricker foes you’d rather keep at a distance, or a close-range punch that turns into a combo if you keep pressing it.
By far the most crucial trick up our sleeve is the ability to charge a Dragon Ball Z-style energy ball. It is your only ranged attack and packs quite the punch. The cost is a single bar from your MP, which can only be refilled by gathering souls from slain enemies. I suggest saving it for the boss fights, yet sometimes it can be worth using it to clear a group of foes quickly. Many levels will have neutral or ally NPCs that are a massive target for evil spirits. If they go down, not only do we lose a valuable set of hands to fight alongside us, but we also lose a chunk of MP. The plus side is that they die happy. Each NPC has a unique sex animation and starts busting (into) ghosts before they ascend to heaven. Or possibly and hopefully straight to hell, considering they just cost us some MP.
Jokes aside, it is challenging to keep anyone alive. Leveling up does not increase your attack power, and the skills you unlock aren’t great offensive choices. For example, one of them is to cast a gust of strong wind to knock back nearby foes. We do gain the ability to charge our energy blast for added range and damage, yet it is not enough to change the tide of a battle on its own. The primary issue for crowd control is how often you or the enemy spend on the ground. It takes far too long for either to get back up, and many attacks result in a knockdown. I’d go as far as to say that I’d exchange an MP bar to get myself off the ground quicker. And the fact that there is no way to attack a fallen opponent is just as unfortunate. You either wait several seconds for him to get back up or move on. The latter results in an unenjoyable loop of getting four hits in before they fall on the floor, leave and repeat the process until they die once done enough times.
Moving on from foe to foe is not so straightforward. Joubutsu Saseko is very picky about what it considers a hit if you’re on a different plane than a foe. If you attack either from slightly below or above an enemy, it will not register. You need to be perfectly horizontal from what you intend to fight, or it’ll end with you simply swinging at the air. Nowhere is this more felt than when trying to shoulder tackle someone after a sprint. Rescuing people would have been far more manageable if I could accurately knock a spirit away before it attacked an NPC. I don’t think the gameplay is bad by any means, but they may be demanding more from it than what is viable enough to be fun. Luckily for us, we don’t even have to save people. Neglecting to do so will get you the bad ending and a hit to your MP when they are slain, yet that’s about it. No content aside from the good ending will be missing from your experience should you go the heartless route.
There are several enemy types to face off against throughout your journey to stop this spirit invasion. I adore many of their designs. Very few resemble your traditional ghost or Japanese Yokai. These monsters feel more Eldritch in nature and have a threatening aura to them. Even the most basic that you’ll encounter is a genuine threat if not handled in the correct manner. Learn their range and when to retreat. There is no healing after all, not to mention many of the stages are lengthy. By the fourth level, I often thought to myself, ‘Oh god, there’s more’ as the screen tilted to the right to reveal further danger. And the fear you are likely to feel when you reach a boss for the first time is palpable. After all that trial we endured, the biggest threat yet is now in front of us. The high difficulty benefits Joubutsu Saseko a ton and really sells its grim atmosphere.
After upgrading our character to have a ‘power level’ of seven, we have reached our peak. There are no further improvements to our stats or additional abilities. Now, it just comes down to the skill and perseverance we can muster. The fact that we can’t simply grind our way to victory was a pleasant surprise. It also means that any further souls we collect have no other use. Depending on how well you play, reaching this state may not even occur until your second or third playthrough. This brings me to new game plus. Once you’ve finally taken down the final villain, there is a choice to start fresh or to carry over all your experience into a New Game Plus. It’s nice to be able to retain all of your skills and go to town on stages that were once giving you trouble. There is no change to difficulty or any hidden content. It is simply starting your journey over again with all that you’ve earned, and it can be done indefinitely.
If you’ve been wondering all this time, there is controller support. Another thing to note is that you need to press the 1 key to enter fullscreen or just the good old Alt+Enter combination. You’d be surprised how many Doujin games I’ve covered without a fullscreen mode lately, so it’s good to see it here. The music featured here is decent and has an appropriately retro sound. A special shout-out to the track for the graveyard level. It was an absolute banger. I was captivated by the art style and am pleased to say the game ultimately delivers. It has hit detection issues, and it can feel like an eternity for a character to get back up after a knockdown, but is otherwise a memorable adventure. Joubutsu Saseko can be a lot of fun. The hentai content will not disappoint if you enjoy the horror-like art style. For its seven-dollar price tag, I am more than content with this purchase.
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