After several months of waiting , the most loved half-genius in the world returns with a new adventure in a land still unknown to us. Fifth chapter of the platform saga developed by WayForward , Shantae and the Seven Sirens represents a new step in the evolution of the indie production house, which this time has decided to take a path in a bit different from the last games.
The premises of the title are very simple: our heroine will go on “vacation” to Arena Town , a town built on the mysterious Sunken City , where she will meet five other half-geniuses like her. Later, during a dance show organized by the town, they will be mysteriously kidnapped and it will be up to you and Shantae to save them and shed light on this mysterious event.
The eye also wants its part (and the ear too!)
The first detail you will notice as soon as you turn on the game is how colorful and hectic it is from the first frame. In fact, you will be immediately introduced to the story with a movie by Studio TRIGGER , which you will remember for anime like Kill la Kill , Little Witch Academia and the most recent Promare . And the rest of the game is no different!
The full body sprites made by Inti Creates are very beautiful
Although the style of the previous Half-Genie Hero chapter is still used , this title has a very special new look all its own. Although there aren’t a lot of movies other than the introductory one, those few present are very nice and well made and the drawing style fits perfectly with that of the series.
Even the environments, although they may be a little anonymous at first, soon become varied and interesting, with some flashes of genius. Also, unlike Half-Genie Hero, the backgrounds are 2D and hand-drawn, in stark contrast to previous 3D models. Although some players have not appreciated this change, I personally think it works very well with the cartoon style of the sprites and the various menus.
Look at how evocative these handmade wallpapers are
On the other hand, from a purely technical point of view, the game runs at 1080p in dock, 720p in portable mode and 60 frames per second , which is really pleasing to the eye. I did not notice any drop in framerates during my laptop session, while in the dock the game had a few very small hiccups. In particular, a boss towards the end can cause heavy intermittent drops in framerate if a certain spell is used, but this only occurs in docked mode.
Honorable mention also goes to the audio sector, with a bit of voice acting scattered here and there and a very good soundtrack that accompanies the various locations very well. Although the dubbing is relatively sparse in quantity, with only a few complete sentences along with various lines to recreate the overall mood of the scene, I still appreciated those few lines, which are well acted.
For the soundtrack there is little to say: it’s Shantae and it’s WayForward, you know what to expect. While Jake Kaufman will not be conducting the hut and puppets on this tour , the new composers have done a good job this time too. The style is more chiptune oriented and there are some intriguing environmental traces that accompany the scenographies of the caves and the seabed well. It must be said that there are some memorable melodies missing, of which for example Half-Genie Hero was definitely full, but the music is appreciated without problems.
Arena Town & the Shantae gang
As mentioned above, for the first time in the series we will no longer be in Sequin Land but we will instead visit a brand new area called Arena Town . This town will obviously only be a very small part of the game world but, like all hub worlds, it will play a very important role.
Hidden under Arena Town is Sunken City , a mysterious ancient city sunk in past times. This hides a mystery passed down in legends and it will be up to you to discover it, exploring and continuing the game plot. However, the places of interest don’t end there, but I’ll leave it to you to find these other locations.
I see what you did there …
Obviously a game is not only made up of places but also of those who live there! In addition to our dear old friends Uncle Mimic , Sky and Bolo , we will meet many different secondary characters, all accompanied by irreverent dialogues and always able to tear a smile, as typical of the series. Among these we will have for example the other five half-genes, all characterized in a different way and which will prove to be crucial for the continuation of the story.
However, if you want to fully appreciate the dialogues and the campaign in general, you will have to play the title in English since the Italian translation not only spoils many details but, unfortunately, also contains very serious errors , as you can see in the images below. I sincerely hope that WayForward, which is no stranger to scandalous translations to say the least , can hire someone who cares about such a job next time.
I ran around empty for half an hour due to a wrong translation …
A return to the origins …
As for the general gameplay, Shantae and the Seven Sirens does not differ from the old episodes. Shantae always attacks with her hair, upgrades, transformations can be used and the classic platforming mechanics everyone knows are returning. At every corner you will be attacked by hordes of monsters ready to make your skin, but do not worry because the difficulty of the enemies will never be exaggerated compared to your power level. The game is in fact relatively simple and you will find the biggest obstacles in the various puzzles to solve and in the platform phases that will keep you glued for hours. This does not mean that you can sleep when you are up against enemies, but keep your eyes peeled!
However, if there is one aspect that in my opinion stands out particularly of the title, this is definitely the way in which the game world has been thought in function of the gameplay. While elements like the power-ups and transformations, which underpin the series, make their grand return, the exploration and overall feel of the title are much more like the very first Game Boy Color episode than any other game in the game. saga: the classic purely metroidvania formula .
We are not faced with various and separate levels to choose from, but a real, unique, large game map to explore and revisit once you have the necessary tools to continue. In addition, to overcome the problem of the size of the overworld, the game will also offer various Warp Rooms , which will help you move quickly between one area and another on the map.
And this is only a very small piece of the entire game world
Speaking of maps , for the first time in the series we have one made as God commands, quickly accessible from the main menu. Although some small tricks are missing such as the lack of customizable tokens and other indicators that certainly would not have done harm, it is still a well-made and indispensable tool for exploration. On the other hand it reminds me a lot of that of Hollow Knight , who knows if it’s just me …
But the game world isn’t just what you see on the main map! In fact, in addition to the overworld there will also be several dungeons and each of these will contain various puzzles and special maps to facilitate exploration. Unfortunately it must be added that towards the final bars the game stretches in a way that I found a bit forced and the final dungeon in particular seems almost endless. Last little note of demerit of these dungeons are also the bosses, which I personally found particularly subdued and not very memorable, really a shame.
Ah, yes, the Dagron Ball
… With a pinch of novelty
As mentioned earlier, the core elements of the series have certainly not been removed. Around the world we will find many collectibles such as the classic Heart Squids or nuggets that can be exchanged with various NPCs. In addition, there are various shops where various items can be purchased to upgrade our heroine. Among these we have passive upgrades, such as Shampoo to increase the damage and attack speed of Shantae’s hair, or even weapons such as the iconic Fireball , Pike Ball and even the Scimitars directly from Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse .
Magic and transformations are also returning, revisited to give them a more modern and fluid touch. Instead of stopping time to transform, Shantae now has access to all of her animal friend power-ups , here called Fusion Magic , directly with the press of a button . On the contrary, the iconic magic dance will serve to offer other spells with different effects of which I do not want to reveal anything.
Did anyone say TCG?
Last, but not least, the new mechanic introduced in this game: the Monster Cards. As the name suggests, these are collectible cards depicting the various monsters present in the game. These will be obtained, at least for the most part, as random drops from enemies and will offer different power-ups, more or less strong depending on the rarity. Some will be activated immediately, while others will require multiple copies of the same card to be equipped. While it’s an interesting mechanic and some powers are really nice, I found it a little too secondary, at least for the first two thirds or so of the story. I think it could have been implemented better, giving it more prominence, perhaps alongside other purchasable items, which are much more useful.
Overall, Shantae and the Seven Sirens therefore tries to please everyone a bit, bringing mechanics from previous games, especially the improvements made in Pirate’s Curse and Half-Genie Hero. However, the core gameplay and the essence of the game world have been developed from the older games, namely the original for Game Boy Color and Risky’s Revenge for the Nintendo DS.
Considering also the narrative structure and the different citations within it, I would define it almost a reimagination of the first chapter , but without the limitations of hardware and budget. After all, the similarities between the two are many: the narrative with the dungeons, the very similar transformations (but with different animals!) And many other little goodies that you will discover by playing it. To conclude, I’m very curious to see if future DLCs will further expand the content with new challenges and maybe playable characters, also because those of Half-Genie Hero were not bad at all!
