My WayForward retrospective has finally paid off as I got to play Shantae 5 at last. It’s very good!
This latest chapter in the Shantae saga (perhaps that’s too grand a word for this cartoonish world) had an odd release. “Part 1” was released early through Apple Arcade, and when development was completed this was updated to the full game at the same time as its cross-platform release. It’s all moot now as whatever platform you choose will have the full experience available.
But what is that experience? Shantae game are usually exploration/adventure sidescrolling platformers. There’s no better word for it, I’m afraid. Half-Genie Hero was an exception, broken up into linear levels. Seven Sirens reuses many art assets from its direct predecessor, but plays more like Pirate’s Curse. It’s got one big interconnected world, which opens up to you as you gain new powers. In this case the setting is an island paradise built on top of a vast steampunk labyrinth. There’s a few towns on the surface of the map with NPCs, shops, and such, while underground/underwater are the dungeons that host the game’s bosses, the eponymous Sirens.
Apart from these monstrous women and their origins, the other expansion to the Shantae world is a set of fellow half-genies, all with their own personalities and typical WayForward-style bouncy designs. Shantae has to rescue them, gaining their powers along the way. Animal transformations are now snap-quick, contextual movement abilities, which gives all the benefits of this mechanic that’s been almost a constant in the series, while allowing it to maintain the speed and flow that Pirate’s Curse achieved. Dances are still there but are now more situational one-off magic spells. A small criticism is that it can be hard to determine exactly which power you need to use, and where, to get some of the hidden collectibles in the game, but using an online guide map made it much more bearable to get to 100%.
Another cool new feature is the monster cards. Much like the DS Castlevania games, these are random drops that reward you for killing certain monsters. It lets you customise your set of passive perks for your preference or situation, as well as acting as a gallery of the fun monster types in the game. It’s a great idea!
As with the last two games, I found Seven Sirens to be fairly easy, with many restorative items stacking up in my inventory and an abundance of currency. That’s ok though, as the moment-to-moment navigation and combat was a fun challenge. Of course, the game looks lovely and is full of fun quippy lines and silly characters. The music unfortunately lacks Jake Kaufman but manages to be quite good regardless. The animated cutscenes were a marketing point but eh, they’re fine, they look a little cheap, and very brief. Overall it may be the best one yet, integrating transformations in the elegant way that it does. I don’t know, it’s close, Pirate’s Curse was also excellent. Anyway don’t miss it!