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Short Reviews - Kawaii Deathu Desu

By: RJ (@rga_02)

• Kawaii Deathu Desu
• Developer - Pippin Games
• Publisher - Top Hat Studios/EastAsiaSoft

Late one night when I was catching up with emails, this game popped up. “Game Announcement: Kawaii Deathu Desu,” said the subject line. The game’s title made me roll my eyes but it got me to bite. 

And look where I’m at now.

Originally released on Steam, Kawaii Deathu Desu is one of the many games inspired by the One Finger Death Punch. But instead of faceless blobs, you take control of Japanese idols who are incarnations of supernatural beings such as the Grim Reaper and a Succubus. The idols take part in a world tour in which they have to fend off overzealous fans rampaging through the stage. 

The gameplay is next to mindless yet oddly satisfying. Depending on the direction of combat, you endlessly spam the L or R buttons (you can also use the touchscreen of the Switch) beating up fans up to their demise. 

As you maul your way to stardom, it fills up a bar that will grant you a stronger weapon depending on the character you have chosen. For example, with Death-Chan, who is stylized after the grim reaper, her scythe becomes larger allowing for more multiple kills. 

Once you complete the stage you are awarded the number of souls that you sent packing to the afterlife. These cheery-faced souls can be used to purchase additional characters, increase stats and of course costumes - which is essential in any idol game. 

There are three modes in each stage -  normal, hard and insane. Normal unlocks the other modes and stages. Hard is… hard and insane is fight until you die. 

That is pretty much it. 

Other than grinding out to unlock other idols and costumes, there isn’t much to this game at all. That’s not to say this game is bad per se - like I said earlier it is mindless fun. But that could only go so far.

The same goes for the overall aesthetics. It isn’t bad. It is charming and nice to look at. The character sprites are well done, and despite drawing on silly caricatures, the world stages are also pleasing to the eye.

The only thing I found to be lacking in the presentation was the music. It felt so generic that I ended up muting the game. I also suggest muting it from the very beginning because there is an annoying grating voice that spouts out “KAWAIII DEATH DESOOO.” I hope they are taking the piss because of the pronunciation. 

If you are looking for a good distraction then look no further. However, once you get past that, you might not stick around for the encore.