Criminal Girls Invite Only by NIS America is a dungeon crawler with a genuinely unique premise that grabs your attention the moment you start playing. As a Program Instructor on her first day of work in Hell, your job is to take care of Delinquents (women who went to Hell after dying) and rehabilitate them. Your team Orientation Officer, Miu Manase, explains that you are working on the bottom floor of Hell, and that it’s your job to ‘take care’ of the dead criminal souls that arrive.
Basically, it’s your job to lead and consult the four Delinquents in your care. Since they died young, these Delinquents never had the opportunity to commit their crimes as destined. The ‘program’ you work for reforms these souls before they are returned to the mortal world, but only when they overcome the Four Trials and reach the tower’s apex at the center of Hell itself.
The gameplay is relatively straight-forward, as you explore countless levels (i.e. cell blocks) for treasure chests and doors that lead to other areas. Along the way, you will encounter purple, glowing orbs that double as infirmaries and portals. Using the portal feature will send you to the last portal (i.e. purple orb) visited. The Infirmary is where you can save your progress, rest your party (i.e. to heal) and torture members of your group to make them cooperate during combat (more on this in a moment), Without the assistance of your delinquents, your adventure is over before it even begins.
The combat system pays homage to classic RPGs of yesteryear, as enemy encounters are random events that occur while you explore the cell blocks of Hell. When confronting a group of enemies (i.e. convicts), you are presented by a series of still images — your party is displayed in pairs on both sides of the screen, while enemies are shown in the center. When a party member attacks, a still image of a melee attack or spell is displayed on screen. The same thing occurs when an enemy retaliates, limiting the impact of the encounter.
The options that are available for fighting are limited by the status of your delinquent’s current behavior. A small, purple word balloon appears next to each party member, indicating their mood and/or requirements for combat. Understanding the meaning behind the comments said in these balloons will determine the outcome of each battle. For example: if one delinquent expresses doubt by saying, ‘Uh’ or “I’m not sure…”, it’s almost a guarantee that they will perform poorly (i.e. inflict less damage than normal). If you don’t pay attention to these subtle changes in behavior, your time in Hell will be far more frustrating than it needs to be. But when things get difficult, you can press the Right Shoulder button to access the item menu. From there, you can select a health potion to heal a party member; cure poison with an antidote; and resurrect a fallen comrade after they die.
As mentioned earlier, the Infirmary serves a dual purpose that is beneficial to your team. Aside from saving your progress, resting your team, and buying/selling items, you can also use the ‘Motivate’ feature to torture your delinquents. Somewhat revealing and very sexual in nature, you are presented with a near-naked female, as you move on-screen cursors with the PSVita’s touch screen technology to whip body parts that are highlighted by icons. Once you are finished torturing a delinquent, she will level up based on the amount of torture inflicted.
EdgePlay is another form of torture where an electrical switch is used to cure the delinquents of any temptations; it’s also how they obtain new skills for combat. During this sequence, a foggy haze slowly dissipates as you run your finger across switches that appear on-screen. It’s an odd mini game to say the very least, especially when you consider the subject matter. It’s not especially entertaining, but it’s a different way to improve characters in an RPG.
Criminal Girls: Invite Only is a decent RPG that doesn’t demand much from the player. When you’re not crawling the halls of Hell for CM (money) opening chests and following the main story, you’re punishing your inmates in the Infirmary. It’s a simple formula that works well, even though it caters to a niche market. It’s definitely worth a look, but don’t be surprised by what you find.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: PlayStation Vita
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher: NIS America
ESRB: M (Mature)
Price: $29.99
Criminal Girls Invite Only Official Website: Click Here
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Colorful 2D graphics that look great on the PSVita. | |
| Sound | |
| Great voice acting and sound effects. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Combat can be a grind, but it's well worth the effort. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| While not perfect, Criminal Girls Invite Only is one more reason to continue playing on PSVita. | |
