Marfusha:Sentinel Girls

Developer: hinyari9 | Publisher: hinyari9 | Release Date: 2021 | Genre: Action / Defense Shooter / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Defending one’s country from an invading army is already a fairly thankless job, but Marfusha: Sentinel Girls makes it even worse by ensuring that the soldiers responsible must purchase their own weapons using what remains of their heavily taxed salaries. It is a bleakly amusing setup for a compact defense shooter where cute anime girls stand between their homeland and an apparently endless army of hostile machines.

Players take control of Marfusha, a newly conscripted soldier assigned to defend a border gate. The country is losing the war, military resources are stretched thin, and the enemy continues sending increasingly dangerous machines toward the fortifications. Marfusha’s task is straightforward: move back and forth in front of the gate and shoot everything approaching from the right before it can inflict too much damage.

The story is presented through brief scenes between deployments, news reports, conversations in the dormitory, and multiple endings. Despite the cute character designs and occasional humorous interactions, the setting is thoroughly dystopian. The government continually takes more from Marfusha’s salary, supplies that should presumably be issued to a soldier have to be purchased personally, and even the girls risking their lives are treated as disposable resources.

This contrast between charming characters and a grim world gives Marfusha much of its personality. The dormitory scenes show the soldiers attempting to enjoy small moments of normality, while the endings reinforce how bleak their circumstances really are. The narrative is not particularly elaborate, but it is more effective than expected and provides enough motivation to see the 100-day campaign through more than once.

The gameplay is extremely simple. Players use A and D to move Marfusha left and right, while the mouse button is used to fire. This makes the game easy to understand almost immediately and keeps the focus on positioning, target prioritization, weapon management, and purchasing the correct upgrades.

Enemy machines enter from the right side of the screen and attempt to reach the gate. Early waves consist of small ground-based targets that can be dispatched quickly, but the game steadily adds flying units, armored machines, barricades, suicide attackers, and heavier opponents. For the most part, the enemies only target the gate, not the defenders, so there’s no need to worry about dodging enemies. 

Protecting the gate is important for more than simply surviving the current day. If it suffers more than fifty percent damage, part of Marfusha’s salary is deducted to cover repair costs. Apparently, asking the soldier to risk her life is not enough, so she must also help fund the maintenance of the military installation she is defending.

This becomes especially painful due to the game’s tax system. Marfusha receives a salary after every successful day, but taxes and other deductions remove an increasingly outrageous portion of it. The amount taken becomes almost comical as the campaign progresses, leaving players wondering why the government even bothers displaying the original salary before stripping most of it away.

The taxes are more than a joke, as money is essential for survival. Between rounds, players are shown three randomly selected cards and may purchase one of them. These cards can provide new weapons, permanent stat increases, temporary support equipment, defensive tools, or a new partner.

Stat cards can improve Marfusha’s attack power, movement speed, magazine capacity, reload speed, concentration, bullet velocity, and other attributes. Individually, the upgrades may not appear dramatic, but they add up over the course of a run. Improving reload speed and magazine capacity is particularly useful, as being caught reloading while a group of machines closes in on the gate can be disastrous.

Since the cards are randomized, players cannot always purchase exactly what they need. Sometimes the selection contains a powerful weapon and useful upgrade, while other days offer three things that are either unaffordable or unnecessary. Players can skip buying anything and save the money, which is often the wisest choice considering how aggressively the taxes reduce future income.

Weapons range from handguns and submachine guns to assault rifles, shotguns, light machine guns, sniper rifles, and grenade launchers. The standard handgun has unlimited use but is relatively weak, while purchased weapons have limited durability. Each completed day reduces that durability, and once a weapon breaks, Marfusha is forced back to her handgun.

The durability system adds a meaningful layer of resource management. Purchasing a powerful gun too early can result in it breaking before the campaign becomes truly difficult, while holding onto a weak weapon for too long can allow the gate to suffer unnecessary damage. It is usually best to use a weapon until its durability is almost depleted before accepting a replacement.

Unfortunately, the game does not always provide a suitable replacement at the right moment. A run can become significantly harder if a strong weapon breaks and the card draws refuse to offer a better replacement. This randomness is part of the challenge, but it can also make success feel dependent on luck rather than entirely on player decisions.

Partners are another major part of the card system. Marfusha can recruit one of several other soldiers, each specializing in a different type of weapon. These include Bion, the assault-rifle soldier; Belka, who uses an SMG; Strelka, an advanced SMG soldier; Felicette, who specializes in advanced sniper rifles; Enos, the light-machine-gun soldier; Lacia, who uses an advanced shotgun; and Alibina, an advanced assault-rifle soldier.

Only one partner can accompany Marfusha at a time. Hiring someone new immediately dismisses the current squadmate, which makes accepting another character a more significant decision than merely purchasing an additional gun. Some partners are more effective against particular enemy types, while others provide more reliable general support.

Having a second soldier present can make a substantial difference, especially during waves where flying and ground enemies arrive simultaneously. The partner fires automatically and helps prevent the player from becoming overwhelmed. However, the AI does not replace careful target prioritization, and some companions are noticeably more useful than others.

Compatible characters can also receive an affinity bonus in the Challenge mode. Pairing the right protagonist and partner triggers a short scene and provides a stat bonus. These scenes offer a little more characterization and give players a reason to experiment with different combinations instead of always selecting whichever soldier appears strongest.

The main campaign occasionally gives players a break from battle by returning Marfusha and her current partner to the dormitory. During these sections, one activity can be selected from a vending machine, refrigerator, or shower. Each provides different stat improvements, turning what initially looks like a simple slice-of-life interlude into another progression choice.

These dorm scenes are brief, but they are important for the tone. Watching the girls eat, relax, or attempt to enjoy a moment away from the battlefield emphasizes how young and ordinary they are beneath the uniforms. The contrast makes returning to the increasingly desperate defense operations feel a little more tragic.

Combat becomes steadily more chaotic as the campaign progresses. Fast enemies rush the gate, drones approach from above, and larger machines absorb a considerable amount of ammunition. Temporary items such as barricades, mines, support weapons, and turrets can provide assistance, but purchasing them means spending money that could otherwise go toward permanent upgrades or replacement firearms.

Some of the armored enemies are more annoying than threatening. Their vulnerable points are only exposed at specific times, forcing players to wait before dealing meaningful damage. This slows the otherwise brisk pace and can leave the screen filling with other machines while players wait for the armor to open. They add variety, but fighting them is not always particularly enjoyable.

The best battles are those that force players to rapidly switch priorities. A flying unit might be preparing an attack while a heavily armored machine approaches the gate and smaller targets swarm along the ground. Strong weapons and upgraded stats make these encounters manageable, but poor card choices or a recently broken gun can turn them into desperate struggles.

The difficulty is not especially punishing once players understand which upgrades and weapons are worthwhile. A strong partner, reliable firearm, and high reload speed can make many later waves surprisingly manageable. However, obtaining the best ending requires more than simply reaching the final day, which provides a reason to replay the campaign and improve overall performance.

The main mode lasts for 100 days and can be completed relatively quickly. Different endings are tied to performance and companions, so seeing everything requires multiple campaigns. Since the core loop is simple and each run is short, replaying does not feel as intimidating as it would in a much longer game.

Challenge mode provides the most significant content beyond the story. Here, players can select from the eight characters, each with different starting attributes and special traits, before attempting to survive as many days as possible. The same card-purchasing loop remains, but the focus is on endurance and earning a place on the score rankings.

This mode also gives the supporting cast an opportunity to become playable rather than existing only as AI companions. Their different weapon affinities and traits encourage slightly different upgrade priorities. Players who become attached to a particular soldier during the campaign can try building a run around her strengths.

The card system works particularly well in Challenge mode because there is no fixed final day. Weapon durability, rising enemy strength, and randomized purchases become more dangerous the longer the run lasts. Eventually, even a powerful build can be overwhelmed, which gives the mode a satisfying arcade quality.

Visually, Marfusha uses a 2.5D pixel-art style that is simple but very effective. The character sprites are small, yet their animations and portraits give them plenty of personality. The industrial backgrounds, border fortifications, dormitory, explosions, and mechanical enemy designs all suit the bleak wartime setting.

The battlefields change as the campaign progresses, which helps convey the shifting front line and worsening state of the war. The locations are not elaborate, but the pixel artwork remains readable even when the action becomes hectic.

The character art is one of the presentation’s strongest aspects. Each soldier has a distinctive design that matches her weapon specialization, and the event illustrations add more personality during quiet scenes. There is a clear contrast between the cute cast and the ugly realities surrounding them, which is central to the game’s tone.

The soundtrack consists of energetic electronic tracks that fit the fast defense sequences well. The music helps give the battles urgency, especially when a large wave approaches and gunfire begins filling the screen. Weapon and explosion effects are suitably punchy and provide clear feedback during combat. Unfortunately, the limited number of music tracks means repetition becomes noticeable over multiple playthroughs. Controls are intentionally minimal and generally responsive. Moving with A and D while firing with the mouse makes the game immediately accessible. The limited movement area also ensures that the action remains focused around defending the gate.

The simplicity naturally places a ceiling on the mechanical depth. Players are mostly moving, firing, reloading, and occasionally activating an item. Most of the strategy happens between rounds through card selection rather than during the battles themselves. Nevertheless, the short campaign and escalating enemy waves prevent the straightforward action from wearing out its welcome too quickly.

Marfusha is not a very long game, but its multiple endings, character combinations, unlockable gallery content, Challenge mode, achievements, and rankings provide good replay value. The randomness of the cards means no two campaigns unfold in exactly the same way, although players will eventually settle into familiar upgrade priorities.

The darker endings are also worth seeing because they reveal more about the world and the fates of the different soldiers. However, repeatedly completing the same 100-day structure to unlock every conclusion can become repetitive. Players who only want to see the main story can comfortably stop after one or two successful runs.

Overall, Marfusha: Sentinel Girls is a simple but addictive defense shooter elevated by its unusual economic mechanics and bleak setting. The act of mowing down mechanical enemies is satisfying, but the real tension comes from trying to stretch a heavily taxed salary across weapons, upgrades, repairs, and companions.

The game occasionally becomes repetitive, some armored enemies slow down the action, and randomized card draws can leave players poorly equipped through no fault of their own. Weapon durability can also be frustrating when a favorite gun breaks just before a difficult wave. However, these systems fit the theme of soldiers being expected to survive with inadequate support.

The cute pixel-art cast initially makes Marfusha look like a light arcade game, but the story gradually reveals something much harsher. Its girls are trapped in a war where even their wages, equipment, and brief moments of rest are controlled by a system that views them as expendable. The simple gameplay and short runtime make it easy to pick up, while the characters and endings give the experience more emotional weight than expected.