Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa

I love it when I come across a game I had no idea existed, and that is what happened here with Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa, and I fell in love with this game, pretty much as soon as I started playing it. While I like anime games, this is one anime that I had no idea even existed until I went on a deep dive of looking for anime games that I had never played before, and came across this, which was only ever released on the Xbox 360 and the PSP! I managed to track down the Xbox 360 version, and it is one of the most fun bullet hell shooters I have played in quite some time.

For The Fans

As I said, Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa is not a series I am familiar with, but the basics are we have these enhanced chicks who are witches, and they are fighting off some kind of alien invasion. If you are a fan of the series, you are no doubt going mad at my ignorance of the source material, but from what I have heard, it takes place between seasons 1 and 2 and is pretty faithful. If you like anime, you will get a kick out of this. It felt like there was a ton of stuff happening, and that I was supposed to know a lot of it before I started playing. To be fair, that is the case for most video games that are based on a license, so this is very much a “me” issue.

A Team For A Story

When you first play Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa, you have to do the story mode, and I am more than ok with this. The story is kind of fun, and you have a team of three witches that you need to select from. There are four teams, and each one offers a unique approach to combat. This is a bullet hell shooter style, and it is pretty damn tough. I would say that it is similar to another awesome Xbox 360 shooter in Deathsmiles. Only here, the three witches are a huge part of the gameplay. Only the main witch that you are controlling can be damaged, but you can switch between them to take advantage of what they have to offer. It is the kind of game that is easy to pick up and play, but it is hard to master.

Keeping Your Finger On The Trigger

Once you have played through the story mode, Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa gives you a few more game modes that you can enjoy. There is a time attack mode, a more arcade style game that lets you play through the stages without the story, and there is a practice mode too. One of the fun gimmicks outside of the story mode is that you can make up your team of three witches from any of the 13 witches that are in the game, which is fun. There is stuff to unlock, and in all, for an Xbox 360 shooter from 2010, the game is packed with content and will keep you busy for a long time. I well and truly got hooked on this one and found that while it was very difficult, it was also a great deal of fun, and I wanted to keep on playing.

A Blockbuster For Everyone

I am pretty ignorant of Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa, actually, you could have written what I know about the anime on the back of a postage stamp! However, I know great looking games when I see them, and this is one of them. The game is bright, the characters look amazing, and the game has a great soundtrack, and from what I understand, the voice acting is all done by the actual cast. Again, I know nothing about the show, but I am sure if you are a fan, you will be more than happy about how faithful to the source material this is. Actually, I was so into this that it has made me interested in checking out at least the first couple of episodes of the anime to see if it clicks with me.

Pros:

• I thought the premise of the story was fun
• The game looks and sounds amazing
• The bullet hell shooter gameplay is challenging, but fun
• This has made me more interested in the anime and series in general

Cons:

• The bullet hell shooter gameplay never really changes
• The story is insane if you know nothing about it