Overview – developed by Compile Heart, Idea Factory and Shade, with publishing handled by PQube Games, Gun gun Pixies is a third person action shooter, surrounding the mission of the Pixie Squad. As Bee-Tan and Kame-Pon, travel to earth on a mission to learn about humans, with their research critical to the survival of their own planet. This title is available on Nintendo Switch and Steam, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank PQube Games for providing the copy of Gun Gun Pixies that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Mature Content Disclaimer: This title is intended for mature audiences, with content featuring sexualised content, partial nudity and sexual themes. If you are under the recommended age for this release, or find this type of content offensive, then please click off this review and check out the other content on the site.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. I will be covering the core gameplay experience, as there are some surprises and secrets that I feel players should discover first hand.
Story – Kame-Pon and Bee-Tan have are members of the Pixie Squad, an extra-terrestrial research team that have been sent to earth. Their mission is to infiltrate a college girls’ dormitory, research their human behaviour and document their findings using their “Happy Bullets”. During their mission, they must explore different rooms, observe interactions and complete their mission, as their home planet of Pandemo depends on their success.
Gameplay – This release is a third person shooter with visual novel style storytelling, with the narrative experience broken down into episodes. The episodes are split into dialogue scenes, using anime style visuals and missions, taking place in full 3D environments that the player can explore. Before starting a mission, the player will be able to select a target and room that is related to the current episode story.
During a mission, the player can select either Bee-Tan or Kame-Pon, with the two girls having distinct weapons and combat styles. Bee-Tan has a handgun, with a faster fire rate in exchange for lower damage. Then there is Kame-Pon, who uses a rifle with slower but more powerful shots. These two play styles work well, giving a fun and enjoyable shooting experience when moving through the stages. New weapons can be unlocked and changed during play.
The Pixie Squad are tiny, only being a few inches tall compared to the humans, so they must use the environment to their advantage. This leads to the platforming and navigation system, where the player must use parts of the room to reach different areas. These include using stacked books, house plants and even warp points that will be hidden by outlets. To help with exploration, there will be a standard jump, a dodge roll and more to be discovered.
As the Pixie Squad make their way through the rooms during an investigation, there may be the research subjects going about their business. When they are present, they may be alerted to the presence of the little aliens, shown as a meter on screen. A field of view will be seen, that the player must do their best to avoid while on the ground. They may also see the pixies if they are in a higher position increasing the risks.
To prevent being caught, the player will be able to hide behind the different decorations around the rooms. In a pinch, the pixies can strike poses, pretending to be a figurine and avoiding detection. However, visual detection is not the only danger, as running can also alert the humans of the pixies presence. To mitigate this, there is the ability to crawl, eliminating the sound of running and allowing them to get under different furniture.
Exploration, stealth and efficient platforming will aid the player in the completion of their mission objectives. During their investigations, the Pixie Squad must shoot the humans in various parts of the body, including the more risqué areas. When doing this, a meter on the screen will increase for the area, with an event often playing out for successful shooting of the area. These events are usually tied to various plot points of episodes.
But the girls aren’t the only thing that may need to be shot at during a mission. There will be enemies that appear, attacking the Pixie Squad to try and stop them from completing their objective. These cute little cephalopods will appear throughout the game, with stronger variants appearing as the player gets further into the game. There will also be toxic feelings that spawn from the girls, which must be shot or they can damage the Pixies.
If the player takes damage, their clothing will be visibly damaged. There are three stages of clothing destruction before being defeated. The first is their outfit becoming torn, then reduced to their underwear. After this they will be rendered completely nude with a light covering their intimate areas, with further damage leading to defeat. To recover damage that has been taken, the player must find designated points in the room to restore their clothing.
These power points will also empower the Pixie Squad weapons, making them more effective in battle against enemies and the target girls. But be careful not to just fire wildly around the room, as the Pixie Squad weapons will have limited ammunition. If they run out of shots they will be unable to pacify enemies, or deliver euphoria to the target girls. To refill the weapons, the player will need to collect energy tanks, providing more ammo to the weapons.
The missions consist of several objectives, with exploration and enemy pacification being the most common. But there will also be additional side objectives that can be cleared, alongside the main mission. These will show up on the mission screen, allowing for some flexibility into the approach that players want to take. The player will also be able to leave the room and move to another, further shuffling the flow of action freely.
When set conditions for the episode are met, the player will be able to engage in a special mission, where the target needs to be pacified. These are called Maiden Suppression missions, where the player must shoot the different areas of the target. During a suppression mission, the areas that must be shot are expanded, requiring precision shots to the areas. There will also be an increased number of enemies, increasing the difficulty of these missions.
As the player hits their target, they will enter a state called Euphoria. During the Euphoria state, the target maiden will move and their attacks will increase. There are multiple stages of Euphoria that can be attained, each with their own little cutscene. Once maximum Euphoria has been met, the mission will be completed. In order to overcome the increased dangers and deliver Euphoria, the player must stay aware of their surroundings.
Away from the main game story, the player will be able to participate in a few different activities. These include free play of previous missions, a gallery and shop options. Inside the freeplay menu, the player will be able to replay previous missions, alongside some extra challenges and bonuses. While in the free play menu, players can try to improve the score rating that they received for the missions. This has no impact on the story progression.
The individual missions stages will function the same as their story counterparts. This can be useful for completionists who want to get the best possible ranking they can, while also acting as a way to practice general skills. Within the freeplay menu, there will be a special challenge mode with the difficulty greatly increased. This can really push the player skills to the test, but may offer some tempting rewards for completion.
Then there is the shop, where players can purchase new items to customise the members of the Pixie Squad. In the store, new weapons, upgrades and outfits can be unlocked by spending coins. The coins are earned by playing missions and side content, with coins as rewards and being scattered across the rooms. These coins have different denominations, with Bronze, Silver and Gold Picoins that can be collected during play.
Last to discuss is the Gallery, which records a variety of details for the player to freely view. This includes character models, both in 2D and 3D, alongside the different events and scenes that occur during play. This is a nice extra that gives players something to track their progress, which is satisfying to fill during the course of the gameplay experience. There is even a music options, acting like a jukebox for players to enjoy.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the controls for Gun Gun Pixies are a little cumbersome, but in general the feel of the game is responsive and intuitive. There is the option for both Mouse/Keyboard and Controller, with both offering a fairly good gameplay experience. The only issue that I have with the controls is the inability to remap them, or view a layout for them. This can make it awkward when trying to return to the game after an extended absence.
Difficulty – there is a mostly balanced difficulty curve for this title, with the general action stages being fairly easy to get to grips with. However, when it comes to boss battles, the challenge can really ramp up, as the target girls will launch multiple attacks. These difficulty spikes aren’t a deal breaker, as the player can immediately jump right back into the action after failing. But multiple defeats may become frustrating.
Presentation – from a visual perspective the game looks amazing, with 2D anime style visuals that really pop, alongside vibrant and colourful 3D environments. There is a large amount of fanservice to this release, with a significant amount of risqué material and undergarments. Then we get to the sound, which offers a mix of upbeat and heavy compositions, which work well. There is also a full Japanese VO that will play through the experience.
Final Thoughts – I had played this game on the Nintendo Switch a long time ago, so when I was given the chance to cover the steam version of the game I jumped at the chance to play again. The overall gameplay experience is a little bit of a mixed bag, as there are some awkward controls. But this is a fun and enjoyable game, giving players a good mix of fanservice and third person shooting. All of this is wrapped in an anime style that is pleasing to the eye.
There are some difficulty spikes, but the game isn’t overly punishing to the player. It can be frustrating getting defeated, but the satisfaction and fanservice from success can be worth it. There is also a pretty deep customisation system, which I really enjoyed looping stages and grinding out coins. This won’t be for those who don’t like fanservice, but for fans of the genre, it is an easy recommendation. It also works on the Nintendo Switch 2 flawlessly.
In the end, I give Gun Gun Pixies a final score of 4.5/5. This is a very enjoyable and fun action shooter, with a mostly balanced challenge, plenty of content to get into and a heavy amount of fanservice to it, which is worked well into the narrative. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
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