My journey with the Shantae series didn’t start at the beginning on Game Boy Color, but rather a Kickstarter while I was attending college in 2013. It was an illustrious time for video games and Kickstarter – really, it was the golden age of success for the two. There were many games that launched on the platform during my time in college that I was excited to play, several of which that I backed (most notably Mighty No. 9, which I put $175 toward). Shantae Half-Genie Hero looked like a fun little Metroidvania, but it wasn’t until the PS4 port of Risky’s Revenge and The Pirates Curse on 3DS that I understood what I had gotten myself into.
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the fifth game in the series that started in 2002. It launched last year on Apple Arcade and has launched elsewhere this past week. In many ways, it plays things safe in terms of the delivery of content. You’re in an interconnected island that opens up more as you progress and attain powers, which include transformations as well as the powers of other half-genies. There’s A LOT to dig into with these, as seemingly every room has some sort of secret to uncover. Enemies will react differently to the spells you use, such as the undead becoming… well, perhaps it’s be better to say the living dead become living once more when you heal. And typically the animations that follow are amusing. This power will also cause plants to grow and petrified enemies to awaken from their stint as a statue – this is just one of the magical powers you receive, but it was the one I used most. The animals you transform into mostly assist you with getting around, such as a frog or a squid. To be honest, the squid’s power comes very late in the game, but is the most welcome of all.
If you’ve played the previous games, you know what you’re getting with combat. It’s not overly complicated; it’s best to upgrade your hair first, and everything else is up to player preference. I never even used one of the powers you can purchase, which is normal for me in these games. Much like the Mega Man games, I typically stick with the standard weapon. Most enemies you can easily just charge and beat into submission without thinking, but others will require you to consider your strategy. During one section of the game you’re on a timer with countless waves of different enemies, and it is here that your combat abilities are truly put to the test – in all likelihood, you’ll be using the last magic power you received quite a bit. In addition to powers, you’re able to collect cards this time around by defeating enemies or trading collectable nuggets. You can equip three at a time, and each have their own perk, such as doing more damage, faster movement, or not taking damage from something like falling down a pit.
Exploration around the island is simple enough, and despite not always giving you a blinking marker of where to go on your map, you’re directed well enough by the locals that you choose to talk to. Speaking of which, you’ll see many familiar faces and quite a few new ones as well. Sky, Bolo, and Risky all show up, and as I alluded to previously, you get to meet several other half-genies this time around. Even Squid Baron makes a triumphant return and monologues about his new venture. Admittedly, he’s always been one of my favorite characters because of his dialogue, and it’s no different this time around. Characters and humor aside, the series has always looked really good, thanks to WayForward’s approach to aesthetics. This is quite possibly the best looking game of theirs yet – the animations of the enemies and characters, whether they’re walking or idling are next level. And while we’re discussing the production of the game, the soundtrack has quite a few bangers – the level where you attain the frog transformation probably has my favorite tune. While it certainly has a similar sound to Jake Kaufman, looking it up, it appears he wasn’t available for this project per WayForward’s twitter account: “He was not available for this one. Shantae and the Seven Sirens has a team of composers this time around, led by Professor Sakamoto (@pskmt), a popular Japanese composer known for the Granblue Fantasy Chiptunes Remix among other projects.” The score is a blast nonetheless.
My complaints with the game aren’t in great excess. While the game doesn’t do much to reinvent the genre, that’s hardly a bad thing. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” as they say. Of course, there are some things that ARE broken in the game. Occasionally I’d be on an enemy with no discernible tell that I was taking damage, only to find out I had died and had to start where I last saved. Sound effects from enemies or environmental hazards would be gone completely now and then, but the most painful issue was a glitch where I was unable to progress the game. I was tasked with getting through a water area that was poisoned, and you’re supposed to be able to use magic to get by, but it didn’t work. I tried backtracking and looking for a way around, but with no luck. I turned it off and back on maybe five separate times before I uninstalled the game in anger. I reinstalled it about an hour later and came back to it after a few days. I tried the spell and what do you know, it worked. Here I was thinking I needed to stock up on healing items (I did try to make it all the way through with what items I had, only to die to some spikes near the end) or the invincibility spell before coming down here and almost started the game from the beginning. Luckily this wasn’t a true game breaking bug. Lastly, as I write this shortly after beating it, my right thumb is very sore from the final boss. Every boss is a bullet sponge, so to speak, and that means the faster you hit square, the more damage you’ll do and move on. I’d be surprised if I don’t need new controller soon with how much I was pressing the square button tonight.
If you’re a fan of Metroidvania style games, beautiful hand-drawn artwork, and humorous dialogue, it’s hard not to recommend this one. Is it my favorite in the series? Hard to say. Is it the most difficult? Definitely not. Is it worth buying? Absolutely.
8 out of 10
Pros
- Beautiful Art Direction
- Transformations and Fusion Magic
- Card Collection
Cons
- Thumb Will Hurt After Last Boss
- Occasional Sound and Visual Cues Missing
- Poison Water Glitch
Shantae and the Seven Sirens was developed and published by WayForward. It is available on Apple Arcade, NS, PC, PS4 and X1. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Shantae and the Seven Sirens, check out the official site.
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