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| A not-so-pleasant vacation. |
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the fifth and latest game in developer Wayforward's cult Shantae series. Released earlier this year, Shantae is back again on a new adventure with a new setting to explore. As a regular fan of the series having enjoyed the last two games, I thought I'd check out the latest game and see how it holds up.
It's another adventure when our friendly half genie Shantae and her friends are invited to a mysterious island to relax and participate in the Half-Genie festival, where she and other half-genies can show off their powers. Unsurprisingly, things take a turn for the worse when the other half-genies mysteriously vanish, leaving only Shantae behind. Thinking it's the work of non-other than her arch nemesis Risky Boots, Shantae must explore the island and rescue her new friends. The story was fun and engaging, with lots of twists to keep you hooked. I especially liked it more than Half-Genie Hero and the new characters were likeable as well. However, it's the series' signature humor and fourth wall breaks that kept me laughing and smiling throughout the adventure.
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| Shantae's back for another hair-whipping adventure. |
Gameplay-wise, it's the same as the previous games as you'll control Shantae as she whips her hair to beat enemies, using dance moves to transform into various creatures, explore long dungeons, and beating a boss at the end. New mechanics to the game include Fusion coins, that offer Shantae new dance moves by combing her powers with that of a half-genie's. The likes include the ability to see hidden platforms, unleashing an earthquake attack, restoring objects back to life, and using electricity to power up machines. Shantae can also transform into different types of creatures to get past some of the game's blocked areas too. There's a new Card system where by defeating a specific enemy a few times, you'll be rewarded with a card of said enemy, giving you a neat perk like extra attack damage and dash speed. It's a cool idea though I felt it was under-utilised given that the game doesn't even make mention of it.
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| The gameplay's relatively unchanged, aside from some new additions. |
The map design gets revamped this time around as you get to explore one giant map underneath the island, with each section being interconnected. Each area of the game is varied and has it's own theme as well as enemy types, so there's something to look forward to. I also felt that the boss fights are way more fun compared to Half-Genie Hero's okay ones. With that said, the map system felt basic as there isn't anyway to mark points of interest like collectables and blocked paths for later runs. That and you'll often lose direction on where to go next with vague hints at times -- especially with the part involving "nuts and bolts"-- making traversing through the map an unneeded chore. You won't be able to explore everything initially as you'll need certain power-ups to pass through, so you'll be doing a decent amount of backtracking. Thankfully, there are generously placed warp rooms that made things a lot more snappy.
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| You'll be transforming into a neat selection of creatures. |
Seven Sirens took me around 7 hours to beat with a 69% completion. In terms of replay-value, there isn't much aside from getting all of the Heart Squids, which increase your max health, and collecting gold nuggets, where you can trade them with other NPCs to get special cards. There's also a New Game+ mode where you can replay the adventure once again. Other than that, it's a bit lacking considering the $30 price.
As you'd expect by now, the Shantae games always pack an impressive visual style, and Seven Sirens is no different. The new anime-inspired cut-scenes were great to look at and give the game a more premium feel. The backgrounds and creatures designs are also worth noting since there's a nice variety of enemies and interesting locales as you explore the island to keep things fresh. I've played the game on handheld and TV mode on the Switch and the game ran smoothly on both despite some frequent load times. The voice work is good as you'd expect with some neat performances, my only gripe was that I wished the dialogue was fully voiced. The soundtrack is good, though series composer Jake Kaufman doesn't return to score the game. Still, the music is good and has some nice retro tracks as well. My favorite tracks were the opening theme, Beach theme, Arena Town theme, and the Warp room them.
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| It may come as no surprise but the presentation is a stunner. |
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is yet another great game in the series. The story was interesting this time around, the gameplay remains fun, and the presentation was impressive. The game has its shortcomings and I also feel that it could've benefited a higher difficulty setting and more content to justify the $30 price. All in all, it's a solid pick for those looking for a short 2D platformer and I also recommend checking out the other games as well, though I'd say wait for a sale first.
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