Overview – developed by Zoo Corporation and published by Eastasiasoft, Pretty Girls Escape is a new type of puzzle game in the popular series of games. In this release, players destroy block and shift the play field left/right to guide the portraits of the girls to the exit. This title is available on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation systems, with links to each version of the game available at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Eastasiasoft for providing the copy of Pretty Girls Escape used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. I will be skipping the story segment as this title doesn’t have a plot, so I will be going directly into discussing the gameplay.
Gameplay – Pretty girls Escape is a single screen puzzle title with a simple premise, clear out blocks of the same color in sets of 2 or more and guide the character block to the exit. To achieve this goal, players are able to shift the blocks on the play field left and right, moving all blocks at the same time. When blocks are erased, those above if any, will drop down and fill any gaps that are open.
There are 8 girls that the player can select from each with their own set of stages, individual style and obstacles (or combination of several). The difficulty of these challenges will gradually increase if each girl is challenged in sequence, however, players may choose to approach the stages out of order. If this is done, then there may be difficulty spikes that the player is not prepared for, making the stages harder to clear.
The core objective of clearing the blocks and getting the character to the bottom isn’t the only challenge for players. There are secondary missions that can be completed in each stage, which include deleting all of the blocks of a single color, clearing the stage in a limited number of moves or within a time limit. Each of the completed challenges earn the player points, which can be used to unlock new costumes for each girl.
Alongside the standard puzzle mode, there are two additional modes that the player has access to. This includes the challenge mode which offers an extra 20 stages for players to take on, with an increased difficulty and usually a single solution. The other option is the Dressing Room, where players can change/unlock outfits and arrange the girls in dioramas. The costumes unlocked can only be used in this mode and not the main game.
Now with the gameplay covered, let’s get into the other aspects of this game, starting with the controls.
Controls – the controls for this game are very simple, with the option for simple three button inputs to control the in game UI, delete blocks and shift left to right. There is also the option for touch screen controls, which offer a simple and more casual approach to the game. Both gameplay styles are comfortable and work very well with this game, but touch is preferred when playing the game in handheld mode.
Difficulty – this isnt the most challenging games in terms of mechanical difficulty, however, the challenge comes from the puzzles themselves. Depending on the approach that the player makes when tackling each stage and challenge, they may find a puzzle to be fairly easy or incredibly difficult. It is recommended to start the stage mode with the first girl, as rushing ahead to others can make it harder for newer players.
Presentation – this is a rather simple game visually, with anime style portraits for the girls and minimalist look to the play field so that everything can be seen clearly. The artwork is pleasing to the eye and is of the same quality as the other games in the Pretty Girls series. The sound for this game has a good mix of compositions on the soundtrack, alongside Japanese voice lines for each of the girls that will play during the game.
Final Thoughts – I have played and enjoyed several of the Pretty Girls games, which you can find on this site. This is another simple yet engaging puzzler, with a premise that is easy to pick up but can take some time to get 100% used to. This release has plenty of content that for the budget price, just like the others and I can easily recommend it to anyone that likes puzzle games. The only issue is that some of the challenges can be overly complex to artificially extend play time.
In the end, I give Pretty Girls Escape a final score of 4/5. This is another fun and easy to pick up puzzler in the Pretty Girls franchise, which offers a good amount of content and play time for the rather modest asking price. If you want to check this game out for yourself, links to each version of the game are below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
W.Kohaku Media 