Strip ’em up action is back on Switch with Waifu Discovered 2: Medieval Fantasy
We last looked at Waifu Discovered 2: Medieval Fantasy, follow-up to Waifu Uncovered, back in April of 2021. The Early Access version of the game for PC back then was looking pretty solid — and now it’s come to Nintendo Switch in collaboration with the ever-prolific eastasiasoft. So it’s high time we took another look at it!
Waifu Discovered 2: Medieval Fantasy (Waifu Discovered 2 hereafter) places you in the role of one of several different anthropomorphic animals who has been tasked with destroying the infected clothing of a series of fantasy world maidens. Should the infection not be dealt with, the girls will age rapidly, and as we all know, once you reach a certain point in your lifespan you can’t be an anime girl any more.
Accomplishing this noble goal is achieved by flying your miniaturised spaceship around the waifu in question, blasting enemies and collecting the runestones they drop. Collected runestones count against a numerical gauge at the top of the screen, with an item of infected clothing being destroyed each time this reaches zero. Every few items of clothing destroyed, a “heart” meter increases and the intensity of the stage goes up; conversely, take too long and the girl’s mood meter will decline, so keep the pace up!
Runestones come in various different sizes, with larger ones being worth more “points” on the meter, and collecting them in rapid succession also adds to a combo count. As such, you’ll ideally want to cluster enemies up together, blast them all at once and grab all their runestones — but at the same time you need to make sure you’re dodging bullets, grabbing coins and generally keeping yourself safe.
The enemies are enormously varied; there’s a marginally lesser focus on the rather testicular and anal-looking enemies from the original Waifu Uncovered, but there are still a few in there. On the whole they’re much better drawn than in the previous game, too, and full of personality; it won’t take you long to quickly recognise each of the main types of enemy and how they behave. This is good, as it gives the game a nice sense of fluidity to it.
You can grab occasional power-ups during gameplay, but the majority of your ship upgrades will come from the shop that appears between stages. Here, you can upgrade your ship’s various capabilities up to a particular maximum, with said maximum increasing if you “level up” the ship as a whole. Different ships have different initial stats and potential maximums, and the variety of gameplay styles that these ships offer is what gives Waifu Discovered 2 a lot of its longevity.
Your initial ship, for example, has a nice spread shot, reasonable speed and power, and is pretty well balanced. Other ships might start off slow and only firing a single, powerful shot but have greater upgrade potential. Some have the facility to summon “drones” to support your standard firepower, while others place an emphasis on speed and manoeuvrability, or perhaps simply being able to take a few more hits in exchange for having a larger hitbox.
The upgrade shop also allows you to purchase “Magic Coins”, which act as continue credits, allowing you to keep playing if your ship is destroyed. You lose all your points, but you can continue your progress through the game, allowing you to continue unlocking new ships and gameplay elements — such as the “one-finger mode” designed for play on the Switch’s touchscreen, in which your ship fires automatically.
Waifu Discovered 2 feels more like a refinement of the original game rather than a complete reinvention — but that’s fine. The differences in the upgrade system and the somewhat more deliberate pacing of the new game still make it feel distinct from the first Waifu Uncovered — and the medieval theming makes it stand out, too.
On the whole, it’s a much more polished package in general; one gets the distinct impression that developer One Hand Free Studios has been emboldened and empowered by the positive reception Waifu Uncovered received, and as such felt that they should step their game up with the sequel. It’s certainly paid off; the new game looks and sounds great, with the waifu art in particular being a real highlight of the game as a whole — and there are some great new music tracks, too. Vampire girl Ariella has an especially memorable theme.
Back when Waifu Discovered 2 was in Early Access, the developers were having some difficulties with implementing the game’s “Uncensored” mode in a way that officials in Germany found acceptable. It seems that they’ve managed to sort things out, because the Switch version features the Uncensored mode as an unlockable. This keeps flashes of light, fabric or conveniently placed leaves over the characters genitals, but features bare breasts and nipples — still a relatively rare sight on consoles, particularly in games with anime-style art.
The original Waifu Uncovered got a physical release through Funbox Media, which differed slightly from the digital download version in that it featured full uncensored nudity. At the time of writing, it’s not known if a similar version will be released for Waifu Discovered 2, but chances are pretty good; the company has continued to release uncensored versions of adult console games since Waifu Uncovered’s original release, so fingers crossed that Waifu Discovered 2 will get the same treatment.
For now, though, if you’re a fan of the “strip ’em up” subgenre — the origins of which we talked about earlier this week — Waifu Discovered 2: Medieval Fantasy is a fine use of your time. It’s a well-crafted, nicely polished game that is simply fun to play — and sometimes that’s exactly what you want after a hard day.
Waifu Discovered 2: Medieval Fantasy is available now for Nintendo Switch and PC. Thanks to eastasiasoft for the review copy. Disclosure note: my name appears in the end credits of the game under “Special thanks” due to our previous coverage of Waifu Discovered 2 and Waifu Uncovered; there was no compensation or any sort of special favour involved.
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