Shantae Review (MrShadowseer)
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a major improvement over the previous title. Let's explore the ups and downs of the game (+, +/-, -, ?):
+ The art style is beautiful. I think this might be the best-looking Shantae so far, even though I adore The Pirate's Curse.
+ That opening animation kicks so much ass. The same goes for all the 2D animated stuff in the game.
+ I love these new characters. Harmony is probably my favorite. I mean, anyone who can switch a bra holder's side in a flash is top tier, right? Lobster Girl is so damn cute! Love her! Tubeworm and Empress Sirens have some "step-on-me-queen" energy, in a positive way.
+ Thank god, the transformations are all good here. No flappy bird style horror! The platforming feels awesome, and I'm so happy this game scrolls so smoothly.
+ The OST is as great as it's always been.
+ The story is given enough time to be meaningful. I liked the story*, even though the plot twist wasn't much of a twist at all.
+ This is the longest Shantae title. Oh hell yes! This is a blessing for us non-speedrunners.
+/- Some gauntlet rooms are painful. Dodging all the attacks, when there are 5 to 10 enemies on screen, is kinda hard you know.
+/- Enemies might respawn instantly when you move forward in a stage. Also, there are some endless spawning points in the game. Not sure if these are intentional, but it makes farming for stuff easy. Especially at the final dungeon of the game. Golden crabs everywhere.
+/- The weapons are pretty good, but, as always, I only used some of them.
-*The story is great, yes, but Risky's "this island is a ship" plot is so meaningless. It barely plays any part in the story, and is probably here only because it justifies Risky being in the game. Yes, it is the final dungeon , but still...
- There are some enemies early on that use a homing attack. When you barely have any hearts, this can be really annoying. Also, the enemy attacks are way too powerful towards the end of the game. It's weird when mobs are way more dangerous than bosses.
- I don't really like the monster card system. Some of them are really useful, but, I ended up using maybe 5 of them. I also somehow managed to miss about half of the cards.
? The NPCs are moving like they're on double speed. It's a bit odd.
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a great Shantae title. It's a satisfying journey, even though there are some minor faults here and there. This is a great platformer for all you cool peeps out there. Dance, whip your hair and beat ass! 9/10.