In the land of Pultima, there exists an ancient prophecy. It tells of five sisters who can combine their immense power in order to destroy the evil Seytan. Sure enough, as if to fulfill that prophecy, five sisters, each one possessing considerable magical power, were born. The people of Pultima waited to see if the sisters will unite to defeat Seytan and fulfill the prophecy.
There's just one problem, however: they all hate each other's guts.
Not wanting to spend at least five seconds with each other, each sister went her own separate way to get as far away from each other as humanly possible. Needless to say, the entire populace gave up hope over that... at least, until one day, each sister reunited with each other for a common goal. The people of Pultima were overjoyed! Were they finally going to fulfill the prophecy?
Nope! They were all in fact going to compete for the man of their dreams, an angel named Yashin. To say that everyone was NOT happy to hear about that would be one heck of an understatement, to say the least...
Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire, or Sisters Royale for short, is a Bullet Hell Shoot 'Em Up developed by Alfa System, makers of the Castle of Shikigami series and their first game to be released since 2006, and as part of the company's 30th anniversary. Players choose one of five sisters and guide them through various stages filled with hazards and enemies for them to contend with, each one ending in a battle with another sister. Since each sister is going on foot, they will have to deal with environmental hazards such as windmills and slippery ice that can and will send them into harm's way if they're not careful. Ability-wise, each sister has her own unique abilities consisting of a regular shot that can be temporarily strengthened via grazing past bullets as well as a familiar that accompanies them and acts as their secondary attack and which can grant them bonus points when grazing past several bullets while used. Bombs are also present for the sisters to use should they start getting overwhelmed.
The game was first released on January 30th, 2018, on the PlayStation 4, with ports on the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One coming out later. It would later be ported to the west in January, 2020. A PC port was also released via Microsoft Windows 10 store, with a Steam version following soon after.
A spin-off game, Sisters Runner, has also been released for the Nintendo Switch. Gameplay for that consists of the five sisters in an Endless Running Game, navigating past obstacles and enemies in order to reach the goal.
Sisters Royale features the following tropes:
- Aerith and Bob: Out of the five sisters, we have Sonay, Nur, Ece, Lale... and Selma.
- Bifauxnen: Ece may not pretend to be a man, but her design is clearly aiming for this aesthetic.
- Big Bad: Seytan, an evil demon who threatens the world of Pultima and who the five sisters are prophesied to defeat, was sealed within Yashin, explaining why all the sisters are fighting each other for him.
- Big Boo's Haunt: The first stage, the Graveyard of Flame, is set in a cemetery filled with ghosts and gravestones. It also appears to be on fire, to go with Sonay's flame theme.
- Blackout Basement: Lale's stage, the Dungeon of the Soul, is dark throughout, requiring the player to shoot lanterns in order to light the way.
- Close-Contact Danger Benefit: Each sister has a regular shot that can be temporarily strengthened via grazing bullets as well as a familiar which can grant them bonus points once they graze past enough bullets while used.
- Elemental Powers: Each sister (and Ode) has their own element associated with them. In order:
- Sonay: Playing with Fire.
- Selma: An Ice Person.
- Ice: Light 'em Up.
- Nur: Blow You Away.
- Lale: Casting a Shadow.
- Ode: Shock and Awe.
- Excuse Plot: Five bickering sisters are facing each other in combat to win the love of the man of their dreams... and some other stuff.
- Familiar: Each sister has her own familiar that accompanies them in battle and does a certain attack depending on the character chosen. For instance, Sonay's familiar homes in on the nearest enemy and deals constant damage to them until they expire before moving onto the next one, while Lale's can suck up enemy bullets and send them back as a more powerful attack.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Of course! The only reason everyone's even fighting each other is because they all can't stand each other (and also want to lay claim to Yashin in marriage)! This eventually gets subverted somewhat in the endgame when they all team up to destroy Seytan and fulfill the prophecy, though after that it's back to business as usual.
- Guest Fighter: Ode, who's actually an Artificial Human being controlled by Odette from her own universe.
- Gusty Glade: The Temple of Wind stage mixes this trope with Ruins for Ruins' Sake, as it's filled with windmills that will blow you towards enemy bullets if you're not careful. It also serves to go with Nur's wind element.
- Improbably Female Cast: The only males who actually appear are Yashin, Seytan, and Odette's butler Munchausen in Ode's ending.
- Mirror Match: If a sister is going through a stage where they're usually the boss, then they will fight a doppelganger of themselves referred to as their "conscience". They're usually distinguished from the original by their glowing purple eyes.
- Ominous Cube: These appear as mid-bosses in each stage, each one having a certain number of phases depending on the difficulty.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Selma's stage, the Cave of Ice, is filled with frozen lakes that will make the player slide about and into enemy bullets if they're not careful. Ode doesn't have this problem since she's riding on a broomstick.
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Spiritual Successor: To Castle of Shikigami. Hell, Odette even appears as a playable character in this game, albeit via manipulating an Artificial Human from the comfort of her own universe. - When Trees Attack: From stage 3 onwards, treants start to appear as enemies. They will explode into bullets on higher difficulties, spelling certain doom for the player if they're not careful.
