Training the Next Mahjong Princess: Another World Mahjong Girl Review

By Manuel

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

Another World Mahjong Girl (Hereafter referred to as simply "Mahjong Girl".) is a one-on-one mahjong game that uses the popular riichi variant of the game. It's somewhat reminiscent of the hit mobile game Mahjong Soul, but with no gacha elements, far more ecchi elements, and a release that's only on consoles. You can pick it up now on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, and we're going to be taking a look at the Switch version today. I like to consider myself a fan of mahjong, so this should be perfect game for me. There's a lot to go over in this one, so let's get right into it!

Though Mahjong Girl has a story, it's one that I'm not really sure is worth retelling in full here. It's apparently is an isekai tale where you find yourself in another world (hence the title) taking on the role of a mahjong teacher for a possible demon girl named Bedoal. Bedoal is currently on a journey to become the Mahjong Princess, and it's up to you to teach her the ropes and make her the best player in the land. Even though she's your main character, she's oddly the only member of the game's cast that you never properly learn the full backstory of. Nevertheless, her goal of becoming the Mahjong Princess requires that she defeat several other players, each ranked according their skill. Most of these other players are simply opponents for Bedoal to conquer, but two of them eventually join your team. Joining Bedoal as your student is the equally demon-looking Kalali, the vampiric Vampire, and the very pink Valkyrie. All three players have stat differences that make them unique, and they also each have their own "storyline". I put that term in quotations, as you basically only get a couple cutscenes for each of them, and those mainly consist them celebrating their win streak. While the story isn't exactly the strongest aspect of the game, I'm honestly surprised that it has one at all. Besides the main story, each of the characters has several paragraphs that tell about their background, goals, and other details that help flesh them out. Admittedly this sometimes comes off feeling like pointless flavor text, but it was a nice touch nonetheless. Besides, we're not here for a story. We're here for mahjong!

Not only do I think I'd do a poor job explaining how to play riichi mahjong if I tried, but it's also not the form of mahjong I play much outside of video games. For those that aren't familiar with the game at all, mahjong has countless variants that are often tied to a specific region or culture. The version I usually play with friends (when we bother to get together for such things) is the Hong Kong variant, which is one of the more popular versions. There's also an American variant with ever-changing rules, a solitaire variant that some gamers might come across in other mahjong releases on consoles, and the Japanese variant which is more commonly known as "riichi mahjong". This version is what you often see in Japanese-produced video games, manga, and anime, and it's the version you'll find in Mahjong Girl. It makes sense that it's as popular as it is, but its specific rules (many of them pertaining to discarded tiles) are just too much for me to wrap my brain around most of the time. While I won't go much more into specifics than that, I have to admit that Mahjong Girl does a decent job of easing players into the game. Even though most of the rules are thrown at you via several text windows, you'll find that you can coast along rather easily on the anything but the hardest difficulty. Things may seem confusing at first, but most players will probably get the hang of things after a few games. It's also worth mentioning that mahjong is traditionally a four-player game, and Mahjong Girl only has a two-player variant. Though this might make things a bit more difficult if you're looking to practice actual play within this game, it does at least simplify things a bit. Four players means more opponents, and the one-on-one nature of the game makes keeping track of the rules a much easier task. While there are probably easier ways to get into mahjong if you're totally new to the game, I do think that this game can be used to teach one how to play from scratch.

Considering that this is a video game, it makes sense that certain liberties are taken when it comes to gameplay and presentation. Each opponent in Mahjong Girl must be defeated before you can take on the next, and you have to beat each of them in at least two matches. Each match actually can take several individual rounds as it's not a simple one-win type of game. Your actual goal is to bring down an opponent’s "life" by scoring high in a series of mahjong games. The score you end a match with is subtracted from your opponent's "life" count, and you repeat that process until they're defeated. Each consecutive player requires a higher score to defeat, and those same rules apply towards you when the opponent wins a match. Each match wins you money, and this money can be used to raise your stats and level. This is very important as some of the late-game opponents become marathons of whittling down high score goals. Each of the girls on your team can be "disciplined" in order to raise their level. While the term obviously is meant to go hand-in-hand with the ecchi elements, it actually means that you'll be giving them stat-boosting items. These affect their life total, their ability to use shuffling skills, and more. Shuffling skills are the other big addition here, as they give you an early game advantage. These are triggered at the start of each match, and place a pre-determined set of tiles into your hand before shuffling occurs. These bonuses seem to matter less later on in the game, but they are a neat trick to use if you find yourself really falling behind. Shuffling skills are learned at set levels, and you can use them as many times as you want within a match as long as you have the power to do so. Since multiple wins are needed to beat a match, it's best to strategize about how to best reach your goals. Even though a high score can get you a quick one or two game victory, sometimes simply winning is enough. An effective strategy I found was to simply take any winning hand you can early on, and beat even the toughest opponent by way of attrition. Naturally you can aim for the rarest of hands too, but you may find yourself in a losing situation if you go too far into that line of thinking. That may sound a bit much for those not familiar with the game, but the fact that this game allows for those strategies at all is a good thing.

I find myself struggling to relay how much I enjoyed play Mahjong Girl, as I found that it really got me to enjoy riichi mahjong for the first time. There was a big learning curve involved, but the game's charm helped me along. There's so much to take in and enjoy here that goes far beyond mahjong. The descriptions that come before you face each opponent, the randomness of the draw, and even the discipline system, were all things that kept me invested in the game. You can even take any defeated girl, or those on your team, into the hot springs for some ecchi interaction if you want. Though I felt that the ecchi elements seemed to be more tacked on than properly integrated, I didn't dislike having them around either. They were a fun distraction and added a lot of flavor to what otherwise would've been a very bare bones experience. That last bit also lays out my only real problem with the game: its general lack of content. Though I think the mahjong aspect of the game is more than enough to draw people in, it's literally all you do. Besides the discipline level-up system, there's really nothing for a player to do except go through hundreds of mahjong matches. Besides the addition of the shuffle skills, there's not even a lot of in-game variety. You never get to see the "true" four-player version of riichi mahjong here, and there's not even a simple multiplayer mode to extend the game's longevity. The latter seems like it would've been so easy to implement too, and its exclusion feels like a giant missed opportunity. I personally think that the game has a decent amount of content for what it is, but I can see how some might find it to be rather lacking.

Even though I think that Mahjong Girl has a sort of "mobile game" vibe going on when it comes to its visuals, I have to admit that it was the game's graphics that drew me in and kept me playing. Most characters only feature a single illustration/model, but they're all animated in a Live 2D sort of way. They don't have full motion, but the way they move really brings them to life. It also adds to the ecchi elements, as everything that you'd think would bounce, does.  I wasn't a fan of the game zooming in on their faces during the shuffle skill sequences though, as that showed how limited the graphics really are, but that's a small complaint. There's a lot of variety in the characters, and there's a decent level of detail to the entire game world. Actually, the variety in the visuals is something I think is worth examining a bit closer as I found it to be rather confusing. Each opponent you face is wildly different from the next, and it made me wonder if they were all taken from other places. Also, most of the cutscene backgrounds are only seen once in the entire game, and that too made me think they were probably created for something else. While I can't confirm either the characters or background illustrations were borrowed from other games or projects, it did leave me questioning how much of this game was truly original. Even though it's very likely that all of that is just me overthinking, I thought that it was worth mentioning anyway. Other than that concern, I enjoyed every minute I had with the game and that was mainly thanks to everything being lively, eye-catching, and colorful. This won't push the hardware limits on any platform it's on, but it truly is a great-looking game. Though I personally don't think it's worth picking up if you're solely looking for ecchi content, it does deliver on that front too. It's rare that I think a game this focused on lewd visuals can operate on multiple levels, but I think that Mahjong Girl pulls it off.

Similar to the visuals, Mahjong Girl really shines when it comes to music and sound design. While the music probably isn't of the type that will make players run out and buy the soundtrack, it does complement the game well. Every track is lively and energetic, and there were several throughout that kept things interesting. Games like this often get away with only using a handful of tracks and over and over again, but there's real variety on display in Mahjong Girl. While I wouldn't say that any of the tracks are earworms, there were several that I found myself happy to hear again, and some that are stuck in my head even as I write this review. Besides music, there are good sound effects and voice acting too. The sound effects are all on point, though I always wonder how games can ever screw up something that seems so simple. Voice acting is a bit of a different topic though, as the game only features a small amount of it. Said voice acting pretty much only comes in the form of vocal quips or gameplay-related terms, but it's a nice touch that it's there to begin with. Though I can't really confirm that all the voice acting is unique to each character (I swear that some of it sounds repeated!), it's good enough that I didn't bother to look into it more. Though not perfect, Mahjong Girl really hit it out the park when it comes to sound design.

I'm not sure it's proper to talk about how long it takes to "beat" Mahjong Girl, but I was able to crown Bedoal the Mahjong Princess in a bit over five hours. I admittedly switched back and forth in difficulty settings, and I was already somewhat familiar with the game, so my time probably isn't standard. It's also worth pointing out that you can take on any opponent you've previously defeated again for more money. Said money can then be used to level up your characters so they're actually viable in late-game matches, so you'll probably spend a lot of time doing that too. Speaking of late-game matches, there were several towards the end where I won only through sheer luck. I'm currently in the middle of playing through the campaign with the other two girls, and I've raised the difficulty to the highest setting so I can have a proper challenge this time around. The reason I mention all this is because I think Mahjong Girl is going to stay in my rotation for quite a while. It's not the best version of virtual riichi mahjong I've played, but there really aren't many other options on consoles. Even though I wish the game had some sort of multiplayer component, the novelty of playing mahjong on the go (outside of gacha mobile experiences) is quite alluring. The game even comes in at a very affordable $9.99. Picking it up almost feels like a no-brainer, as it's sure to provide hours and hours of entertainment if you too are looking for a similar on-the-go mahjong title.

Though I have to admit that the fan service may put off some players, I think Another World Mahjong Girl is definitely worth picking up. It may not be a completely accurate version of the game, or even very feature rich, but it's good simple fun of a type you'll be hard pressed to find outside of a mobile game. It almost plays like an arcade game, and the many hour-long sessions I've had with this game already are definitely just the beginning. I recommend getting it on the Nintendo Switch, but grab it on whatever platform you can and thank me later! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get Kalali to become the next Mahjong Princess!

Check Out Another World Mahjong Girl on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/another-world-mahjong-girl-switch/

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Story: A (It actually has one!)
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ An interesting, arcade-like, take on riichi mahjong.
+ Does a good job simplifying the rules and calls for those not at all familiar with this form of mahjong.
+ The backstories and ecchi elements aren't very deep, but they're there for those who are interested.
+ Though I barely used them, the shuffle skills change up gameplay a lot.
+ The difficulty settings properly adjust the gameplay for players of all skill levels.

Cons:
- Two-player riichi mahjong is very different from the standard four-player version.
- There are times when it feels that the game is playing itself, especially on the lower difficulty settings.
- Much of the ecchi content feels like an overlay and it isn't properly integrated into the game.
- Really could've used a multiplayer mode.

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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Me and Bedoal all the way!