Turret Girls Review | Roguelite Shooter, Anime Fan Service
Turret Girls is an on-rails roguelite shooter mixed with tower defense and plenty of anime fan service. You take the role of “Girl,” a lone soldier who fights off endless alien swarms while defending power generators. Between battles, you unlock upgrades, weapons, cosmetics, and accessories. At its best, it’s intense and addictive. At its weakest, it can feel shallow and repetitive.
What makes Turret Girls stand out is its mix of roguelite progression with character customization and an unusual “clothes as health bar” system. Whether that appeals depends entirely on the kind of player you are.
Gameplay Overview
Each run is broken into “days,” short waves where enemies rush your generators. Runs can last as long as you keep your defenses intact. After every wave, you shop for new turrets, generators, or upgrades before moving into the next fight.
Combat is fast-paced. Girl can shoot, slide, or even melee, though melee feels weak compared to ranged options. You start with two main weapons but can unlock more across runs, with six weapon slots available. Weapon variety is strong, from machine guns and shotguns to tesla turrets and black hole launchers.
The catch is RNG. Shops don’t always give useful upgrades, and rerolls get expensive. That means runs can end early if you can’t get the defenses you need. Some weapons, like the shotgun, are also poorly balanced, making progress harder without lucky rolls.
Roguelite Progression
Every run earns resources used to unlock permanent upgrades, cosmetics, and more weapon options. Girl herself has tons of customization, including underwear and accessories that provide small stat buffs.
Her clothing doubles as a health bar. As she takes hits, pieces tear away until nothing is left except flower censors. You can disable this feature if you prefer a more straightforward HUD, but it’s clear fan service is baked into the design.
There are currently only three stages. They can be cleared in about 30 minutes each, but endless mode adds replay potential. Unlocking all gear and cosmetics requires grinding, so long-term progression exists even if the stages themselves are short.
Performance and Presentation
The art style is crisp and colorful. Girl is expressive, with plenty of voice lines and animations. Her personality carries much of the game’s charm.
Performance is stable most of the time, though large swarms or flamethrower effects can cause drops. Settings are barebones, with no custom keybinds and limited resolution options. It runs well on Steam Deck and similar handhelds but drains battery quickly.
Music is catchy enough, though it can loop repetitively during long sessions. Weapon effects and alien designs keep fights visually busy, if sometimes overwhelming.
Replay Value
Turret Girls lives or dies on how much you enjoy its core loop. If you like short, intense bursts of alien-slaying mixed with fan service, you’ll probably stick around. Unlocks, cosmetics, and mods via Workshop give extra reason to come back.
If you want deep strategy, story, or variety, the game will wear thin quickly. With only three maps and no lore, it leans heavily on repetition. Fans of titles like Nikke or Senran Kagura will likely enjoy the atmosphere, but traditional roguelite players may find it lacking.
Final Blurb
Turret Girls is part roguelite, part tower defense, and part anime fan service showcase. It’s fun in short bursts, crazy in combat, and charming thanks to Girl’s animations and voice lines. At the same time, it’s shallow in content, light on polish, and limited in progression depth. For its low price, it delivers exactly what it promises: a turret and a girl.
Written by Andrew Hammel
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