Game Review: Pretty Girls Escape PLUS

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

We've reviewed several ecchi-themed games on the Nintendo Switch in the past here at A-to-J, and we just might have another one for you all today. Pretty Girls Escape PLUS is a bit different though, as its release on PlayStation consoles implies that it can't be nearly as lewd as the other games we've looked at previously. It's a puzzle game, and it does feature a handful of pretty anime girls, so there's more than likely some fun to be had here no matter what. We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today, and hopefully see if this game is more than just well-endowed anime girls. Enough with the intros, let's get right into it!

There isn't any story to speak of in Pretty Girls Escape PLUS, so we're going to jump right into discussing gameplay. This is a puzzle game that tasks you with getting a 4x4 block representing the currently selected girl to the exit of the level located on its lowest line. In the way are all sorts of single-space colored blocks, and several stage obstacles that can quickly spell disaster. The main game features nine girls, each having six puzzles to complete. Most of the girls' stages introduce new hazards and gameplay elements, but the core mechanic of escaping remains the same. Since the character block starts at the top of the screen, you're going to have to cut a path to the bottom. This is done in two ways, first you can clear colored blocks that match by touching them, and second you can shift the entire puzzle to the left or right to shake up and fill any loose spaces. The character block can very easily get stuck on top up of a bunch of single-color blocks, so it's best to have a plan of action before you make your first move. If you get stuck, you're forced to reset the entire puzzle and start again. While the main gameplay mechanics are rather simple, subsequent puzzles add in new elements like spiked blocks that mean a game over if the character block touches them, solid black blocks that never disappear, boxes that require two sets of nearby blocks to be cleared before they are destroyed, and even pistons that move up and down with each movement you make. There are also key blocks which you'll need to use to unlock the escape, and sometimes the path to escape can be limited to just one corner, or the number of character blocks needing to escape can be raised to two or three. Players might go in expecting a rather simple puzzle game, but it can be a rather deep and challenging experience once you get into it.

Completing all the main puzzles is well and good, but there are also things like score and missions to worry about. Score doesn't really matter beyond maybe bragging rights, but you do get bonuses for completing puzzles in fewer moves, or even clearing the screen of each and every block. Missions are more important though, as it's these that give you points that you can then spend to unlock outfits and backgrounds for your each of your characters. The missions are things like beating a level within a certain time limit, clearing it within a low move limit, or making sure you clear a certain number of blocks before reaching the exit. Each stage has two missions to complete, and you have to do both of them in one shot in order to get the associated point bonus. This can sometimes be easier said than done, but it does give you something to work towards in the main stages since there's only 45 of them. While those are pretty easy all things considered, the real challenge comes in the aptly named Challenge Mode stages. These are far harder puzzles that throw just about everything at you at once, and they pretty much exist just for the sake of offering hardcore players an extreme experience. There's no points given in these stages, but the sense of accomplishment was more than enough for me. I wasn't expecting the puzzles in a game like this to actually stump me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the game is a far richer experience than its screenshots might imply.

The dress-up mode is where you'll be spending all the points you've earned in the main game, and it's also where you'll be able to create diorama scenes that mix and match the various art assets you've unlocked. This mode was far more featured than I was expecting, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time creating scenes that only exist on my Switch's memory card. I did find the miscellaneous word bubbles to be very random, but that also added to their charm. It took me a while to realize that you could place more than one girl in a scene, and I actually don't think that there's a limit to how much you can add to any one scene, at least I didn't encounter one during my time with the game. Admittedly this is a rather throwaway feature, and there's no way to save the creations you've made beyond taking a screenshot, but it's the only time you'll see all the girls in one place, and it's worth messing around with at least for a short while. My only gripe with the mode would have to be that it has some oddly confusing controls, but you'll probably get used to them since this isn't an action-orientated part of the game.

I went into Pretty Girls Escape PLUS thinking that it would be a generic ecchi game that only offered a mid puzzle game to keep you from getting to the lewd content too quickly, but I was surprised to find it was a game that I really enjoyed playing. I managed to clear the main stages in a single couple-hour session, and I've been working at the Challenge Mode levels since. This is by no means among the best puzzle games on the market, but it's very much worth giving it the time of day if you're a fan of the genre. The problem comes with the aforementioned lewd content. I'll admit that this isn't one of those Switch titles that blatantly throws the word "hentai" into its title, but I think that some players might go into it expecting to get far more lewd content than this game has to offer. Let me tell you know that you won't find anything beyond anime girls in bikinis here, and you'll want to look elsewhere if you want more. That said, the girls never felt distracting, and the diorama mode was fun in its own way, so maybe give it a chance nonetheless. While I personally didn't care that there wasn't a bunch of nudity in my anime-themed puzzle game, I understand that some people might come in expecting it. You'll get the pretty girls promised in the title, but don't expect to see them naked anytime soon. Unless you make fan art of them I guess. (In which case be sure to send it to me!)

While I will admit that there were times when I felt that things in Pretty Girls Escape PLUS felt a bit too generic, I did enjoy the art and graphics for the most part. There's the usual disconnect between the anime style characters and backgrounds versus the gameplay elements, but that's probably to be expected at this. At least everything was bright and colorful, and nothing ever felt confusing or poorly depicted. The backgrounds felt like they were taken from a stock manga reference book, but they are neat representations of all the anime tropes: a bedroom, a cloudy sky, a convenience store, a pool, a city street, etc. The girls are all well-designed, and I'm sure it won't take long for people to find a favorite. There's also several archetypes here too, and you'll have characters who are students, idols, housewives, and so on. I'd have to say that Aoi and Ayari were my favorites overall, but that's neither here nor there. I guess the only complaint I have with the art would have to be that all the girls technically only have one illustration each. They do have several outfits, but said outfits are just placed over their base character model. This means that each girl only has one pose, and the only thing that ever changes are their outfits and facial expressions. I'm not sure if this is truly a negative, but it's worth pointing out nonetheless. I already mentioned earlier that this game is very light on the ecchi content, so once again don't expect to find much of that here.

Sound probably fares a bit better than graphics overall, but I do have some similar points to make. I found all the music to be upbeat, cheery, and totally fitting for the style of game, but I could never shake the feeling that it all sounded like it came from a stock music library. While I don't want to imply that this means the music was bad, it does mean that much of the music has that vague "I feel like I've heard this somewhere before..." vibe to it you get when music is trying to hit a specific sound or vibe, rather than simply being good music in general. I talk a lot about "visual novel music" in my reviews for games in that genre, and I'm starting to think that there's a certain style of music that goes with arcade-style puzzle games. All that aside, I was surprised to realize that the game includes some limited voice acting. This only really comes in the form of a line here or there when you're doing good or bad in a puzzle, but it was a nice touch. I do wish that there was more of it, but what was here did a great job fleshing out the characters.

While I had far more fun with Pretty Girls Escape PLUS than I thought I would, it isn't exactly a game that will keep players occupied indefinitely. It only took a couple hours for me to complete each of the girl's stages, and though I still have yet to complete all the Challenge Mode puzzles, I don't think it'll take more than a few more hours to do those either. This is a pretty short game that's rather light on content. The nature of the puzzles being ones where you must escape from a pre-determined situation means that there isn't anything new to experience once you complete all of the game's stages. Short of cleaning up any unfinished missions, or playing around with the dress-up dioramas, there isn't a lot of reason to go back once you've completed it. Not every game has to be a long-lasting affair though, and at just $6.99, Pretty Girls Escape PLUS feels like offers up a decent amount of content compared to its price.

I honestly never imagined I'd be saying this, but I think Pretty Girls Escape PLUS is a decent buy for puzzle game fans. It's challenging, introduces lots of new mechanics that change up the general formula, and the titular pretty girls are fun to place in wacky pictures in the dress-up mode. If you're looking for more ecchi in your games, you may want to look elsewhere, but everyone else is sure to find something to enjoy here. Grab it on whatever console you can and free those girls!

Check Out Pretty Girls Escape PLUS on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/pretty-girls-escape-plus-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: A

Overall:  B+

Pros:
+ A surprisingly fun puzzle game that has dozens of challenging stages.
+ The art and presentation are nice, and you do get some good-looking anime girls to look at.
+ The in-game missions provide goals that you'll want to meet if you're looking to unlock everything.
+ While the main puzzles are fun, the challenge mode stages are sure to give even the best puzzle game players a run for their money.
+ The diorama drees-up mode is decently featured. You can create some funny images with it once you've unlocked everything.

Cons:
- Though it might be an odd complaint, there were times where the puzzles felt extremely unfair.
- A rewind feature would've saved countless minutes going back to fix a single bad move.
- If you're going into this expecting to get some extreme ecchi content, you'll be disappointed.
- Can be completed fully in a handful of hours if you know what you're doing.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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Aoi is best girl!