KILL la KILL -IF

59%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,237 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
KILL la KILL -IF Game Cover
Kill la Kill's modest first game adds something new to the series, but leaves a little more to be desired.
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"KILL la KILL: IF" is an action game based on the popular anime series. Play as Satsuki, Ryuko, or other characters in 1v1 battles, using unique abilities and combos. The game features a original story supervised by the anime's creators, and offers multiple game modes including story mode and online multiplayer.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Play​Station
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

59%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,237 reviews
story94 positive mentions
optimization16 negative mentions
  • The game captures the art style and spirit of the anime very well, with beautiful visuals and animations.
  • Combat is fun and engaging, with a unique fighting system that allows for creative combos and character interactions.
  • The story mode offers an interesting 'what if' scenario for fans of the anime, featuring original voice actors and a decent amount of unlockable content.
  • The PC port is poorly optimized, leading to frequent crashes, frame rate drops, and resolution issues.
  • The character roster is limited, with only 10 playable characters, which may disappoint fans looking for a more extensive selection.
  • The story mode is short and heavily reliant on cutscenes, which can feel tedious and detract from the overall gameplay experience.
  • story538 mentions

    The story mode of "Kill la Kill: IF" is a mixed bag, with many players noting its short length (approximately 3-4 hours) and reliance on cutscenes, which can detract from the overall experience. While fans of the anime may appreciate the adaptation and the "what if" narrative, newcomers often find the story disjointed and confusing, as it assumes prior knowledge of the source material. Overall, the story is seen as enjoyable but lacking depth, with some players expressing disappointment over its execution and the limited character roster.

    • “A 1:1 match to the anime with its own original spin on the story.”
    • “As a fan of the Kill la Kill anime, I loved the original story they were trying to tell, which has the same charm as the anime and how it ties into it.”
    • “The story mode is honestly a massive highlight in this game for me.”
    • “The story has barely been touched and that was arguably the whole point of this game (hence the name 'if').”
    • “They axe all of the character progression from actual Kill la Kill but instead of creating new scenes to make this game stand out since it follows an alternate story, they just play the most impactful scenes from the anime with no buildup, and really no rhyme or reason.”
    • “The story mode is long and filled with cutscenes which I can only assume you will like if you liked Kill la Kill.”
  • gameplay277 mentions

    The gameplay of "Kill la Kill: IF" is a mixed bag, featuring a simple yet responsive combat system that allows for creative combos and character-specific mechanics, appealing to both newcomers and veterans. However, the inclusion of a rock-paper-scissors mechanic, known as "bloody valor," has drawn criticism for its reliance on luck, potentially undermining player skill and balance. While the game captures the anime's essence and offers enjoyable visuals, many players feel that the overall execution of gameplay mechanics leaves much to be desired, particularly in terms of depth and content.

    • “The combination of beautiful visuals with tight gameplay mechanics and a unique roster provides a fun gameplay experience for newbies and veterans of the genre.”
    • “This game makes combos fun that can be advanced but also beginner friendly; all the characters ooze personality in their gameplay and are all unique in their mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay is finely tuned and deceptively rich and deep; hands-down the best simple-combo 3D arena fighter I've ever played.”
    • “It's not all good though, the very literal rock paper scissors bloody valor mechanic makes it difficult to take the game seriously at times.”
    • “Firstly, the gameplay of this game is too button mashy; there aren't any intricate, hard to pull off combos.”
    • “Overall I'd like to say my experience was barely positive, and Kill la Kill is one of my favorite anime, but it's really disappointing how the gameplay side was structured.”
  • graphics156 mentions

    The graphics of "Kill la Kill: IF" are generally praised for their vibrant art style and faithful adaptation of the anime's visuals, capturing the essence of the source material with impressive animations and character designs. However, many users note issues with resolution, pixelation, and a lack of comprehensive graphics settings, which detracts from the overall experience. While the visuals are considered beautiful and engaging, some players feel that they fall short of the high standards set by other titles in the genre, leading to mixed opinions on the game's graphical performance.

    • “The crazy visuals and fast-paced action are a real treat; while at first the hand-drawn look seems cheap, once you realize the attention to every movement and dedication to the anime's style, it's gorgeous.”
    • “Graphically, the game is really beautiful and faithful to the anime's visuals.”
    • “The visuals are incredibly good and faithful to the original show, recreating scenes, moves, and ultimates straight from the source.”
    • “Terrible game, runs like garbage, story is everywhere, the character selection is too small and the graphics are not great for the year this came out.”
    • “The art style is also sadly marred by ugly, jagged outlines and a limited resolution.”
    • “The game doesn't have borderless fullscreen, doesn't allow for use of the d-pad (and in turn doesn't allow fully customizing controls), forces you to play the story before playing any other modes, has sub-par graphics that show just how low budget this game was.”
  • music82 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and alignment with the anime, featuring both original tracks and familiar themes from the series. However, players have reported significant audio glitches, including overlapping tracks and music that continues to play during transitions, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the soundtrack is considered one of the standout features, with many noting its uniqueness and appeal.

    • “The music doesn't sound generic and there are even some songs from the anime featured in the story.”
    • “The game has a killer soundtrack and is chock-full of unique voice lines recorded just for the game.”
    • “Presentation is top-notch, with a similar approach as ASW's cell-shaded anime 3D graphics in Guilty Gear and DBFighterZ, and same can be said about sound and music, with the cast returning to voice out favorite heroes and all the hype music from the show returning, from the thrilling synths to the epic choirs.”
    • “Hell, I muted the music because it all sounds so similar that I legitimately thought there was only one track in the game.”
    • “It has a really annoying glitch that causes songs to overlap and turn into an assault on the senses, which can only be fixed by shutting the game off or ignored by turning down the background music.”
    • “I sometimes get a bug where music will keep playing forever, and every song that starts to play will overlap everything else, until about 20 songs are playing at the same time.”
  • optimization64 mentions

    The game's optimization has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players reporting frequent crashes, frame rate drops, and poor resource management. While some users managed to achieve better performance by adjusting GPU settings, the overall consensus is that the game suffers from significant optimization issues, making it frustrating to play despite its enjoyable content.

    • “In regards to performance, the game runs pretty much flawlessly on my GTX 1050, which is certainly not anything fancy.”
    • “Make sure to set your GPU (accessible by start window and typing GPU) to high performance, restarting your computer followed by going back into your GPU after installation of the game. Browse your files for this game and set to high performance when this game starts up.”
    • “Have seen some complaints about PC performance, but I have had zero issues.”
    • “Game freezes and crashes constantly, poor optimization, and this is long after the game stopped updates.”
    • “Poorly optimized with really annoying frame drops constantly.”
    • “Constant fps drops, low usage of computer resources (poor optimization) and terrible netcode.”
  • stability46 mentions

    The game's stability is severely criticized, with numerous reports of frequent crashes, freezes, and poor optimization, particularly during cutscenes. Many players experience significant lag and audio glitches, rendering the game nearly unplayable for some. Overall, the consensus is that the game requires substantial fixes and polish before it can be recommended.

    • “Game freezes and crashes constantly, poor optimization, and this is long after the game stopped updates.”
    • “I don't know if I get to have an opinion as the game basically freezes when I get to the first cutscene. It just freezes the screen but the sound keeps going like the game is still running. I can't do anything, and as I've seen on the internet, it's a problem that so far as I know there is no way to run it and have it work on my laptop, so yeah please fix.”
    • “Literally has become unplayable for me. Every single time I open it, go through the first cutscene, the screen freezes, audio cuts out, and then it closes itself. Each and every time I try reopening it, changing settings, etc., it always does the same issue. Not sure if anyone else is having this issue, but I personally wouldn't recommend spending money on it until its issues are proven to not happen.”
  • humor10 mentions

    The humor in the game is described as hit-or-miss, with some players finding moments, like the transformation of the primordial life fiber into a baby, genuinely funny. However, there is a sense of disappointment regarding the overall comedic execution, particularly given the developer's previous work on a less well-received title.

    • “Funny but dead unlucky.”
    • “The only funny part is when the primordial life fiber turns into a baby.”
    • “It's just very funny.”
  • monetization10 mentions

    The monetization of the game is heavily criticized, with users labeling it as a blatant cash grab due to poor optimization and lack of fun. Many reviewers advise against purchasing the game, suggesting it feels more like an unfinished early access title rather than a polished product. Overall, the sentiment is that the game prioritizes profit over quality, leading to disappointment among players.

    • “Horribly made game, that's not fun and it's just so badly optimized/ported that it feels like a cash grab 1000%.”
    • “Don't buy this game, don't reward another broken PC port cash grab.”
    • “Let's go through what I just said one by one and explain why this could use more polishing to seem like a full game rather than a quick early access cash grab.”
  • grinding8 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in survival modes where the lack of challenging AI leads to boredom. While the long combos are enjoyable in theory, the overall experience can feel like filler, detracting from the excitement of combat.

    • “Fighting the 'suits' or whatever you want to call them, as well as the final boss, is so tedious that it felt like it was just filler for the game.”
    • “The long combos are fun in theory, but not being able to do anything for half the match gets really tedious.”
    • “There are some fun extra survival modes where you fight multiple enemies on screen (including endless mode with hundreds of mooks), but they can become tedious and boring quickly due to the lack of a more challenging AI.”
  • replayability8 mentions

    Players express disappointment in the game's replayability, citing a lack of variety with only 10 characters available, which leads to repetitive gameplay. While the online mode is praised for its stability and accessibility, many feel that without engaging online competition, the game lacks sufficient replay value. Overall, there is a strong desire for updates to enhance the experience and increase replayability.

    • “Playing the same 10 characters over and over again is boring; there's no replayability for me.”
    • “And there's no replay value without online competition.”
    • “They really need to hurry and update this; it's too late for me to refund, so now I am just going to have a $60 game in my library until they patch it to make it somewhat more playable.”
  • character development6 mentions

    Character development in the game is largely criticized, as characters lack meaningful introductions and growth, leading to a disjointed narrative. However, the game does faithfully reproduce the high-quality character design and personalities from the source material, effectively representing the anime's aesthetic.

    • “To top it off, the source material's top-notch character design and personalities are reproduced faithfully, with high-quality subs and dubs.”
    • “It represents the anime very well with the character design to the story mode.”
    • “No one's given anything resembling character development; the characters aren't even given much introduction, and things just happen with little rhyme or reason.”
    • “The characters lack depth and growth, making it hard to connect with them throughout the game.”
    • “There is a noticeable absence of meaningful character arcs, leaving players feeling detached from the story.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Players express significant emotional distress when engaging with the game's labbing mechanics, describing the experience as frustrating and upsetting. This negative emotional response highlights a disconnect between player expectations and the game's execution in this area.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

57% average critic score

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Play time

5hMedian play time
5hAverage play time
5-5hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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