this game can be summed up with a scene about a third of the way through. After a really grueling long boss fight followed by a forced loss phase 2 the girls have their backs against the wall. they find it in their hearts or some shit to use a new power where they all fuse into one massive robot in a really flashy transformation sequence with exciting music. once youre in the actual robot, the most penisy music ever composed starts playing and your robot has to play rock paper scissors against the boss. when a tie occurs in RPS you both heal which drags out the fight more than normal RPS ties already would

i called this a AA game the first time i saw it but honestly the visuals are the only thing that are not AAA here. disgusting and wonderful amount of optional dialogue showing a radiant, infectious love for its cast, a soundtrack that lives up to its reputation of "an album that comes with a game", one of the most genuinely interesting and fun combat systems ive tinkered with in a long time (i played on the highest difficulty and i had a blast snapping this thing in half and riding the razors edge of knowing anything kills me in one hit. i cheered whenever i saw an enemy 20+ levels higher than me guarding a chest). it handles some topics i would trust pretty much no big studio to handle well with flying colors in ways that brought me to tears (gin's final few character episodes hit me really hard in particular). and god the seiyuu work in this! i cannot believe this is a cast of mostly unknowns because they all fucking nail it. such a good time. i think about it and already get so many warm memories