Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire

Bringing unique mechanics from the Shikigami no Shiro series to present day, Sisters Royale is a worthy successor of the vertically scrolling shmup series. Some players might feel reluctance towards the “moe” anime-style characters, but the bullet-hell gameplay itself will satisfy hardcore fans of the genre.

Visually dowdy vertical shmup with a motivating score system and highly annoying characters.

It is difficult to recommend Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire, especially when the Switch has many solid bullet-hell shooters. The level design feels basic, and the combat isn't exciting. Even if you take the terrible cut scenes into account, the game is woefully short for something without an arcade origin. This may still be enjoyable for bullet-hell shooter fans, but most people won't be missing out if they pass on this.

It's regrettable that we have to be dismissive of a new shmup release, especially one inspired by Castle of Shikigami that does seem to be sincerely trying to offer up a fun experience. With that said though, when it comes down to the basic fundamental aspects of the genre – visuals, music, stage design, gameplay flow – Sisters Royale feels unfinished. It’s hard to care about the scoring system when the structure it is built upon doesn’t satisfy enough to encourage players to spend hour after hour routing and experimenting.

Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire isn’t a bad game by any means. It struggles to impress, however. It’s just too light on features and content, and its gameplay doesn’t excite on the same level that many of the other shooters currently available do. If you’ve exhausted every other shooter in your library and want something new to play, you’ll find some enjoyment here, but it’ll be short-lived. This a game best put on your ‘wait for sale’ list.