Shantae and the Seven Sirens

If you were let down by HGH and wanted something more like the other entries in the series, this is what you want. It does feel kind of cautious in places, but that might be somewhat expected here after HGH. Seven Sirens is also easier than say Pirate's Curse, but I personally don't play this series for the challenge. Do note that Jake Kaufmann did not do the music for this game if you were looking forward to that. I still think that the OST for this one stands with the other games, but you may want to check it out before buying the game if that is a sticking point for you. The animatics are rad but don't add too much in the way of substance. As far as technical issues go, the only complaint I have is load times between areas can get noticeable. I did not experience any crashes or other game/immersion breaking bugs. All in all Seven Sirens is a very solid entry. It will probably be remembered better than it actually is because of the previous title but it is still good enough to stand on its own.

I have played all of the games in the series, and I believe this is the best one out of all of them. Each entry so far seems like it has one annoying flaw that holds it back from being really fun - the map being either too confusing or too simple, backtracking, selectively useful abilities, gameboy technical limitations, etc. But I finally feel like this entry has it all perfect. Even coming off the heels of Half-Genie Hero, as soon as you start this one you'll notice it feels different. The controls are somehow even tighter. The animations and backgrounds are fantastic as always. Voice acting is done for many of the characters. Fully animated cutscenes! Enemy and character variety is huge. And I think the balance of game mechanics is just about right. Mechanically, here is what there is: - The mostly linear layout of Half-Genie Hero is gone. The map is a single interconnected overworld with a lot of verticality, like classic Metroidvania. Fast travel is provided between the main regions to reduce tedious backtracking. - From the overworld are gates to self-contained dungeons designed with the classic Zelda formula. Go in, explore, fight the midboss, get an ability, unlock the dungeon, fight end boss. - Abilities are instantaneous transformations that work like the pirate tools from Pirate's Curse. They are very fast, versatile, and fun. - Dances are done for more "specialized" actions (not transformations), but even then there are a surprising number of ways that each ability gets used. For example, Rejuvenate will heal you, make plants grow, damage undead, and purify water. - Monsters drop cards which function a bit like the soul system from Aria of Sorrow, letting you choose a set of specific buffs you can equip to match your play style. My main complaint is the somewhat lackluster boss encounter design. There are multiple Risky encounters which are virtually identical, and the main bosses felt like awkward pushovers. Still, I highly recommend this game.

Gameplay wise, this is on par with Pirate's Curse. Additional movement progression stacks with AOE spells and purchasable weapons to create an ecosystem of fluid movement/platforming. Bosses, however, aren't all that intuitive and while they can be challenging are simple to learn. The larger issue, however, is the monster cards. I literally broke the difficulty by equipping a card that regenned mana and another that boosted the healing spell and spammed melee at all the bosses (and most of the enemies) until they died. Besides that, however, I did get a good kick out of playing for the most part. Presentationwise, again there's ups and downs. It looks beautiful- with the new cutscenes and continually good art style it's the best one yet. However, there's a lot of issues. The story is near moon logic when you break it down to the beat by beat- and not in the normal quirky way Shantae is. The returning cast has been boiled down to their worst quality (for example, Squid Baron is selfish and apperantly an otaku?) New characters are equally bland (for the most part) minus the new genies and come out of nowhere for the most part. It doesn't feel bad to play through given how each beat leads to new areas that are genuinely fun to play- but reflecting on it feels hollow. Maybe if this were an anime that didn't have to tie gameplay sections together this'd have been better. But Pirate's Curse remains, sadly, the magnum opus of the franchise so far.

The new Shantae is here! It returns to the connected world map the first few games had before they went for a more level-based design. You control Shantae, a half-genie that ends up having to rescue a whole bunch of other half-genies. Each one gives you a new ability, and you learn a few extra utility abilities (activated via dancing!) throughout the game, such as healing yourself or making hidden things visible. You can also equip and cycle between multiple sub-weapons using up your mana. As far as progression/collectables goes, there's heart-containers to gather and there's cards enemies drop that you can mix&match (up to 3) to enhance your abilities, in a manner reminiscent of Castlevania Order of Ecclesia (to a degree at least). The graphics are extremely cartoony and colorful, but also very well crafted. The cutscenes are straight up cartoon scenes. There's no serious tone at all, rather it's all slapstick and silly overdone cliches, but given the art style it fits in well. If I had to criticize something (and hence only 4/5 stars) it's the technical issues. The game freezes the entire machine on swapping areas when it has to load a new tileset. The title screen won't remember the set language until you get to the savegame select. There is no borderless windowed mode. The cursor isn't hidden when using a controller. And so on. It's all minor stuff, but there's a lot of it. Other than the technical issues, fully recommended.