Sento Survivor: Slip, Grab, and Bathe in Glory is not an action roguelike. It’s a 1-8 character (and 1-4 player) arcade arena brawler that feels like it comes from 2002. Simplicity works best when the gameplay mechanics are strong, and Sento Survivor uses its Japanese bathhouse setting to add a few stylised twists into the mix to make it stand out from the crowd. It’s good old-fashioned arcade fun, for better and worse.
The Japanese bathhouses in Sento Survivor are slippery. That means when you pick from a variety of unlockable characters from the single-player campaign mode, and give them a water gun to take into battle, you’re going to need to get used to floaty controls. The entire game plays like it’s on ice, rather than shiny tiled floors. You’ll slide around differently arranged bathhouses, using the furniture to shelter from opponent attacks. Whilst each character has their own stats for health, speed, and power, it’s the water guns that make a bigger difference. There are three water guns in the game. A weak spreadshot, a middle-powered long-range narrow shot, and a bazooka-like heavy but slow shot. Each takes up a certain amount of water per shot, and that’s critical because you’ll need to refill your water guns at the dispensers that pop up around each level. The dispensers will appear in the same designated places, but you’ll not know which one, and that means a charge to get there first and reload to enact revenge.
Revenge is key in Sento Survivor for its scoring system. Most battle modes, whether all vs all or in teams, require you to reach a points threshold to win. Points are given per takedown of an opponent, but you’ll score an extra point if you enact revenge and takedown a player who recently took you down just before. This, combined with the water dispenser mechanic, means that the water cooler becomes a focal point in most battles as things get tasty. Each battle is timed, leading to late-battle takedowns scoring more as the stakes rise. The AI is very competent and will chase you as much as each other. They do like a bit of revenge, but will prioritise grabbing a power-up or special weapon to try and take out several opponents at once.
Playing the single-player campaign is critical to getting the most out of Sento Survivor. All the characters and power-ups, arena locations, and rule variants are unlocked by winning story battles. It’ll take a few hours to complete the campaign, which has a ditzy story and comedic tone. Everything unlocked can then be selected in the free mode, where team battles and up to 8 characters can do battle in the bathhouse. I’d say the sweet spot is around 4-6 players, because anything less becomes a chase-me, chase-me tit-for-tat, and sometimes the 8-player mode becomes messy as someone tries to launch a water missile at a water cooler. There is no online play, just local only, although Steam Remote Play works smoothly.
Sento Survivor knows what it is and doesn’t want to be anything more or less. The arcade thrills and spills are fun and chaotic. I love the aesthetic, and the gameplay is solid once you get used to sliding around everywhere. Whilst gameplay can occasionally end up feeling hemmed in due to the refilling of your water guns focusing action in tiny parts of the overall battle maps, it is still a lot of fun. Zoo Corporation continues to bring arcade action to us like it’s the year 2000, and Sento Survivor is no different. It’s time to get soaked!
Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.
