Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Shantae and the Seven Sirens
Developer: WayForward
Publisher: WayForward
Genre: adventure, platformer, metroidvania
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 28 May 2020
Price: $29.99
Also Available On: iOS, Steam, PS4, XB1
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the newest adventure of the beloved half-genie. I have only played one other game on the series, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse on the 3DS and I love that game and I expected to love this game as well. And I did. In fact, I think this is one of the best games I have played this year. Let me tell you why.
This game, like the previous games on the series, is of the metroidvania variety, my favorite video game genre as I have mentioned several times on my past reviews. The usual tropes of metroidvania games – exploring interconnected areas, gradual unlocking of abilities, platforming, etc. – are all here, and this game uses these tropes very well.
You play as Shantae, and on this game, she and her usual crew are on vacation in an island to attend the half-genie festival. Shantae along with five other half-genies are set to perform a musical number at the beginning of the festival when tragedy strikes: all of the half-genies, except for Shantae, got kidnapped as their performance begins, and Shantae begins her adventure to free her friends from the clasps of seemingly evil sirens who reside below the island. As you free the other half-genies one by one, they get to lend their abilities to Shantae which makes her transform into different animals, with abilities such as dashing, climbing walls, digging through soil, breaking rocks, swimming, and double jumping. These abilities open up the map gradually as you are able to expore more areas and unlock shortcuts to connect them together, making further exploration and backtracking easier. The game also has warp rooms that make traversing the map much less tedious, as you will be required to go from one end of the map to the other more and more as you progress into the game.
Aside from abilities, you also get to learn dances that act like magic skills. These dances are also learned from the other genie, but you will be required to present them Fusion Stones which you will have to search somewhere in the map. You will be given a clue on where you may find them then it is up to you on how to achieve that. Obtaining most of these Fusion Stones involve sub-quests from other NPCs, which are mostly fetch quests, some will even mark them on the map. Once you solve their sub-quests, you get the Fusion Stones, give it to the half-genie that required them, and you learn their dance. These further unlock areas and treasures and can even be used as wide area attacks that hit all enemies visible on the screen.
If the abilities and dances are still not enough for you, there are also the monster cards that defeated monsters would occasionally drop. These monster cards can be equipped and will give Shantae added buffs, like stonger attacks, faster dash, etc. You can mix and match depending on what you need or your play style. There is a wide variety of enemies in the game and this is a good incentive to defeat every enemy that you face. Defeating enemies doesn't earn you XP, but you get plenty of gems, and with these gems, you can buy upgrades, such as additional weaponry (which themselves can be upgraded to stronger ones) and stronger and faster attacks, in the form of Shantae's long hair. You can also search for and collect heart squids, which can then upgrade your HP. Similar to the Zelda series, you will need four of these to form one new heart container (you have to visit an NPC to do this for you). These heart squids are mostly hidden and often will require you to have already obtained specific abilites to get to them. They are not marked on the map, unfortunately, so you will have to remember where they are so that you can get back to them once you already have the required ability.
The map is divided into different sections which you will unlock the more you explore. With more and more abilities at your disposal, you wil soon find yourself doing more backtracking and having to go from one section to a farther one. Again, the warp rooms can make it easier for you to do this, but if you want to obtain more gems and monster cards, you may want to not use them.
Within some of these map sections lie labyrinths, which act as dungeons. Here, you will encounter lots of enemies, solve some area puzzles, encounter Risky Boots (Shantae's perennial nemesis and act as a mini-boss), and go head to head with sirens: the big baddies of the game. These sirens are huge and have interesting attack patterns and character design, but they are not particularly hard to fight. Their attacks are well-telegraphed and you will easily figure out their patterns. The fight may get finished soon, but you'll have fun the entire time. Upon defeating a boss, the chapter ends and a new one begins. You take your acquired gems to the shop, upgrade your weapons and attacks, and off you go again to explore further to solve the mysteries surrounding the island.
The more you get stronger, the more fun it is to defeat the monsters, and thus, making exploring better. Previously unreachable areas will be eventually reachable, and it is such a good feeling to accomplish that, especially in this game. It may only take you around 10 hours to complete the entire game on your first playthrough, but it is well-paced and very little downtime in action and story elements. There is a New Game+, with Shantae having more magic but less defense. A bit lame, but it could be an extra challenge. If you need more challenge, there are achievements to aim for, such as being able to complete the game on any % items, complete the game with 100%, complete the game at high speed, and complete the game on New Game+. You may need to play the game at least 2 more times to unlock all achievements in the game. You only unlock win screens, though, but that is better than nothing.
Overall, Shantae and the Seven Sirens is one excellent entry to the series. I think Pirate's Curse is a bit better and I did enjoy that game more, but this game is a close second. I should play the other games, to really see which game is the best in the series. Anyway, this game has amazing visuals, cood character design and animation, and solid 60fps framerate mostly throughout the game. Add to that the excellent soundtrack full of catchy tunes that make playing the game even more enjoyable. So if you are a fan of this adorable half-genie, do yourself a favor and go through another big adventure with her. Even if you are not, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy the game, as I did, and this may be one of the best games that you will play this year.
REPLAY VALUE: Very high
PROS
- Amazing hand-drawn art style with vibrant colors and cool animation
- Excellent soundtrack, with lots of catchy songs
- Solid 60fps frame rate mostly thoughout the game
- Quite a good story, with some twists and turns along the way
- Wide variety of enemies
- Cool boss fights, albeit on the easy side
- Beautiful animated cut scenes with good voice acting
- The entire game can be finished withing 10-12 hours, but it is well-paced and there is very little down time in terms of action and story elements
- Humorous dialogue with NPCs
- Very good use of HD rumble
- Ideal for handheld gaming
- Controls are very responsive
CONS
- Collectibles are not marked on the map, making backtracking to obtain them a bit tedious especially late in the game
- Loading times during Transitions in some areas could be a bit too long to be desired
- New Game+ could have been better
RATING: 4.5/5 hair slashes and belly dances
