Shantae and the Seven Sirens

Better than Half-Genie Hero, levels are not stage based, but are more Metroidvania style, like some of the older games, this game has a proper map, and a proper warp system. Heart squids are also back, meaning you no longer get heart holders handed to you like they're candy, and have to actually earn your heart holders. The max HP capacity has also been reduced by 2 I think, but you do start with 3 instead of 2, like you usually do. Enemies seem to hit harder in general, although there is a heal dance, and the usual infirmary in your inventory if you heed well to stock up. This game is certainly harder than the last one, although some of the harder parts are still some platforming hazard areas, although thankfully the game doesn't throw a fairly hard platforming obstacle at you near the end like these games usually do. One of the harder obstacles was actually early on in the 2nd or 3rd dungeon, with the timed spiked blocks and falling platforms. Then you got your new monster card system, which provide passive benefits. You probably want to play on rule breaker mode though, to equip way more than 3 cards, as most of the effects are relatively minor (Hint: One of the best cards is from after defeating the 2nd or 3rd boss, you trade for it at, Tree Town was it? For a magic regen card, very useful.) The dances are used for attacking, healing, revealing invisible objects, and activating certain objects, or opening areas. The actual transformations are not tied to dances like they usually are, but are part of a instantaneous moveset granted by fusion coins. They're used instantly (other than the horizontal turtle attack) and feel kind of like the items from Pirate's Curse. You can dash through projectiles and climb on walls, do a body slam, attack horizontally like a spinning top, going all over the place at high speeds, swim in deep water, and eventually double/triple jump. And Squid Baron is a very silly man, as usual.

This is an awesome game no doubt, I bought it on release and besides what I considered a long loading time in between sections I haven't had any issues at all, the game ran very well. Hardware requirements are a way too high, I think that is for 8K. The gameplay is fast but easy to learn, the game is not pretty hard unless you go without upgrading you may get a more challenging experience. The music has this 8 bit like tone added to it, it's not bad but I was expecting more like 1/2 Genie Hero, now I like it. Now the cutscenes, they look cheap, to be honest, but considering the game's theme, it makes sense that they use a more cartoonish scheme. This game worth the try, It's not a big AAA release or a Symphony killer but it's fun to play and that's what's matter, Shantevania for the win.

Shantae And The Seven Sirens brings the series back to its metroidvania roots, yet maintains the gorgeous hand drawn visuals and animations of Half-Genie Hero. This time with fully animated cutscenes by Studio Trigger! There's not much to complain about other than Jake Kaufman didn't work on the soundtrack, so his themes are absent, the game is WAY too easy, and finding all of the hidden collectibles is a SLOG. Other than that, the game is a lot of fun, and still contains all the charm, excitement, and waifus of a Shantae game, and introduces new mechanics that enhance the experience. Full review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZRwWhqBxKA

I skipped the last Shantae game because it was linear and didn't resemble the games of the past. With Seven Sirens Wayfoward has returned to the classic Metroidvania style that fans have grown to love. Why they went linear is beyond me, but I'm glad they had enough sense to get back to true Shantae style. This game is packed with style and charm, as usual, but it is accentuated now by the cartoon art style. The anime style opening doesn't seem to fit the rest of the art style though. The classic gameplay is here and intact with towns, finding squids and earning money to power up Shantae as much or as little as you like. There is a mini game that I didn' t see the point of and was pretty difficult, but at least they tried. For as great as the game is though, it feels like a rushed game by the bare bones nature. There is only one special mode and very few unlockables, and the unlockables are tied to clear time which is a bad idea since not many people are into speedrunning. The game lacks that little bit extra attention that would have gotten it a full five stars, but it a great romp in the lovable Shantae wolrld that I hope we'll see more of soon.

While the Shantae series has always had a solid foundation in the Metroidvania genre, this entry is much closer to the classic formula than the previous two entries. In Shantae and the Seven Sirens you help the titular half-genie make new friends while saving the day after disaster strikes at a half-genie appreciation festival. And while she has seemingly forgotten every dance she learned in Half-Genie Hero, she learns some new transformations that work in a similar fashion. The dances she picks up are used to reveal hidden items, heal herself or deal damage to the entire screen. As per usual Shantae fare, all of her abilities are used in puzzle solving to access new areas and bosses as well as finding all the collectibles. The various secondary spells from previous games are back (purchasable in the three stores), and while only really useful for combat they work well for that. But the hair whip is still the bread and butter of combat. The music is good, but the absence of Kaufman's work is a bit of a letdown in comparison to the previous three. I do have two minior annoyances with the game. The first one being the dance parlor minigame, which takes way too much time and effort, but you need to ace it to 100% the game. A bit more player agency in that would have been very welcome. The other annoyance is the lack of what is known as Coyote Time (the ability to jump of a platform just as you walk of it), more than once did I press the jump button half a second too late. But the game is still fun with those two things. One thing it does a lot better than the previous entries is the final dungeon. Or rather the difficulty of the final dungeon compared to how it scales with the game up to that point. I have always felt that the previous titles had a major difficulty jump between the penultimate dungeon and 100% collectibles and the gauntlet to the end boss. But Seven Sirens offers a more smooth progression in challenge, with challenges that are just a bit tougher.