Seven Pirates H

Seven Pirates H is not a title that wishes to be taken seriously. While there is a decent story and fun characters behind the fan service, the shallow combat can become tiresome after a few hours. It is fun and a lot of the humour lands, but the actual gameplay can be a bit threadbare. While the headline Booby Training mechanic is an interesting way to customise your party, it doesn't break up the monotony of the gameplay. This is a title that won't keep to occupied too long and is best enjoyed in in fits and starts, and very much within the privacy and comfort of one's own home.

While not exactly breaking new ground in the genre, Seven Pirates H knows all of the notes well enough to do a decent job of it. And with all of the immature humour you'll be laughing your tits off.

So long as you’re on board with the fanservice angle — and make no mistake, this is one of Compile Heart’s most fanservicey games of all time — then Seven Pirates H will keep you entertained for a good period. There’s plenty to do, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome, either — just the thing we all need for a palate-cleanser between more weighty fare!

While the differences between past games and this one may seem jarring at first, overall many of the gameplay tweaks come as welcome changes.

Seven Pirates H is a flawed but enjoyable game. An extremely unique system of leveling up, light-hearted plot, and cast of adorable characters somehow manages to mix charming and lewd in a surprisingly effective way. Unfortunately, the game is hampered by uninspired dungeons, combat that eventually grows repetitive (especially considering enemies tend to be far, far weaker than boss fights, which can be a slog), and an over-reliance on the booby training gimmick. Perhaps the game’s most damning flaw is my least favorite design choice ever: forcing players to revisit every single dungeon to fight a new boss as part of the story. Still, even with the obvious flaws, if you’re looking for a silly RPG with over-the-top fanservice, Seven Pirates H is very, very likely to scratch that itch.

What I suspect will become the biggest hurdle to conquer, though, is the subject matter being alienating. In no universe are people not going to criticize groping an unconscious woman – it’s revolting. Even if it didn’t include such a heinous act, the crashes are the perfect deterrent. Seven Pirates H is the equivalent of being egregiously creepy on main. Compared to others in the Genkai Tokki series, it’s also the weakest. I don’t recommend it.

Seven Pirates H is a simple and fun JRPG with unique mechanics, filled with absurd humor, with satisfying gameplay and an unabashed focus on fanservice as its selling point. On one side, this emphasis on eroticism can be uncomfortable for some people. On the other, it'll definitely please adults looking specifically for this feature. It isn't a game recommended for everyone, but it certainly has appeal for its target audience.

Overall, I have to say that Seven Pirates H has a lot of promise. There’s a solid basis for sea based exploration, the battle system is pretty fun, and the music is pretty catchy. Unfortunately, this effort seems undermined by how short the game is and how small the explorable areas are. If Seven Pirates H was more like the Moero titles in terms of dungeon length and bonus zones, I feel like Seven Pirates H would have fared much better. Even the upgrade system, where it allowed you to adjust your stat distribution, was an interesting idea, just falling flat against the backdrop of small areas with not much to them.

Seven Pirates H is a pretty okay turn-based RPG that mimics a lot of other Compile Hearts' other RPG series. Fans of monster girls and anime aesthetics will feel right at home. Dungeon crawling and map-building fans will be a little disappointed with this entry.

Seven Pirates H may not be a deep or challenging RPG but its unabashed approach to fanservice and great sense of humor make it a fun time best enjoyed in smaller bursts.