Mugen Souls: Not the Feels I Signed Up For

System: PC/PS3/Switch

Year: 03/22/2012

ESRB Rating: Mature

Genre: JRPG

So this is probably a title that if you look all over got a less that stellar rating from most rating sites, and I believe that is partly due to the fact that they didn't really understand what this game what even going for. I'm here to help with that while still giving you the honest review that you have come to expect from me. As always I will explain the basics of the game, so that if you plan on picking it up you will have some understanding of it but also why this game might have gotten the rating it did from those very sites.

So Mugen Souls is something I picked up because I recognized the style as that from those of the Disgaea Series of games. Players of the Disgaea series will find something in this game and its sequel, yes it has one, to love. I thought that this game was going to be nothing but laughs and stereotypes that were over the top, but I will regret to inform you happily that I was disappointed. Yes, I said happily as about halfway through the game, it decides to give you the player some of those wonderful feels that you nor I never signed up for in the first place. Now that I have that little intro out of the way, lets start back at the beginning with the basics of course.

In this game you take control of a lovely main character named Chou-Chou, whom doesn't have just one form but 7, yes 7 different forms each tided to a different side of her. You can change them whenever outside of battle, but inside of battle you have a limited number of uses that you can do this. Changing form can actually come in pretty handy because while sure you can win battles by just beating up the enemies, you can also use the Moe system to kill the enemies.

As shown above, the Moe Kill allows the player to pick 3 different options. Some enemies like different sides of Chou-Chou more than others and it says so right on the screen so the player knows which form to be in if they are going for that type of win. The reason you will want to go for that type of win is the rewards are better. Mainly the ammo for your ship, which are shown below; yes they are bunny-like beings, more are given if the player does a Moe Kill over the others. Also only the very basic one is shown below but there are a ton of different types. Also Chou-Chou's charm skill levels up quicker by doing this, meaning for those that want to 100% this game, you have to try and do this most of the time.

These cute adorable things are called Shampuru and they say their name just like a Pokemon would. They are not only used for your battleship attacks, but they are also used to upgrade those different attacks and defenses. It is vital to collect as many of them as you possibly can throughout the game. Like I said, the easiest way is just Moe Killing every enemy you come across in the game, but that does mean that the battles will take just slightly longer than normal. This also means that like I said earlier, Chou-Chou's charm gauge for her different sides will grow quicker as well.

Also the ship that is your home base has a variety of shops, like an general store/armory, clothing shop, hot spring, and peon salon. Yes, there is a clothing shop, so you can play 'dress-up', but more than that, the clothing does provide stat increases. This means you should take care to what you put on your characters in the game while making them look cute or amazing. The peon salon is where you can make different characters like a healer or rogue, not that you will really need one in the main game but to 100% the game you will need to make one of every class. There is also something like an 'Item World' for those that played the Disgaea Series. The Hot Springs will increase your stats for a short period. The general store/armory sells everything that you will need in the game. Lastly there is a teleporter that will be able to take you to whichever planet, yes I said planet, you have been to. It is the blue-haired character you are introduced to very early on in the game named Ryuto.

Now sometimes while traveling from planet to planet; don't worry I will get to the planet thing in a bit, you will have to have to do an airship or battleship as I like to call it battle. Its a rock-paper-scissors fight. You are given a hint by the Shampuru of what the enemy is going to do and then you pick Attack, Defend, or Special. You repeat the process until you win or lose. Most of these are pretty simple, but the rewards are well worth it. They also normally net the group a level or two, so that is also helpful. After that generally you touch down on the planet.

Alright so I keep talking about these planets, or should I say as Chou-Chou puts it 7 Shining Worlds. Yep, that's right 7 and she has decided after seeing them shining in the distance that she is going to rule them all. Now normally that would sound crazy, but trust me with this kinda cast she might just be able to do it because of a secret that I'm not going to spoil. Lets just say, it is meant from the beginning for her to find these Shinning Worlds and for them to shine a light on her.

Now as for the lovely cast of characters, yes they are stereotypes. That is because they are meant to be. This is what too many review sites seem to focus on. The characters are over-stereotyped because they are making fun of the stereotype in question. Its honestly not that hard to see when you as the player or even for me when I played it the first time when I visited the first planet. You meet Soul, the hero, whom is going into people's house, breaking things, searching everything, taking everything, etc. That is everything that we do as a player, and as the hero in a video game, it is poking fun comically at that. Then you meet Sandy, the princess whom is supposed to be prim and proper but in reality just wants a curly, tall, mistress to sweep her off of her feet. It even pokes fun at 'leveling up', as Soul says it out loud. There are so many other things like that in this game. And so many other characters, from the picture below that I'm guessing you can already start to figure out.

This game also shows that in the end, two people whom you would never think can be friend can truly become friends. I'm not going to spoil why, because that would spoil the fun of actual playing the game completely. This game is meant to take a look at all of the stereotypes given in a comical way, give them a laugh but also question why all of those things maybe have always seemed okay to us. Also with Chou-Chou, the main character and why she has different sides, they are different sides of her person. That I believe is meant to question why we show different sides to the world and why we consider it okay.

Trust me, this game has its flaws. Such as Moe Kills taking way too long, or there not being enough of a reward for doing the Peon Salon, but its end the end this game and its sequel are worth playing. And yes, I will do a review on the sequel sometime.

I give the game a solid 4/5 stars.