Pirates have got to be one of the most underutilized story settings. Which is a shame, because I love everything about the pirate aesthetic; the colorful characters, the eccentric costumes, the way they talk, the beautiful ships, the idea of freedom on the open sea. I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned salty sea tale, which is exactly why I picked up Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. This game scratched that itch and I'm pleasantly shocked by how much I enjoyed it.
For starters, I will say this game automatically gets significant brownie points from me because of the pirate setting. I really do just love being out on the open waters with a merry crew and this game offered a lot of that. If this exact style of game were made in a different setting, I don't think it would have gotten as good of a rating from me. In fact, this studio, Mimimi Games, have made other games with this same game design but they don't really interest me too much. A good pirate tale, across all storytelling medias, is so rare to come by and I always love when I'm treated to a new one.
By the end of the game, I had grown attached to my fellow cursed crewmates and my ship, the Red Marley. I rather enjoyed the little "crew tale" side missions; they were playful and had a lot of charm to them. The story was full of the good ol' classic pirate tropes that I love dearly. The villain was wonderfully detestable and the last mission was epic. I loved how each crew member got their own tales as part of the main story, as well, and grew as the journey went along.
I was enthralled with the gameplay. Mimimi Games' signature isometric stealth strategy design was in full force here. Each character had unique abilities from one other. Although, there were some serious balancing issues. Pinkus and Suleidy felt broken and I used them the most. They were also my favorite characters, so I didn't mind playing them all the time too much. I also favored Teresa and Mr. Mercury for their abilities. The gameplay had some frustrations to it at times, but it was helped by the time capture mechanic; it was both a cool tool to help the player while also being a part of the story and I love when a game combine these things.
Overall, I'm so happy I played this game. It could've been 5ish hours shorter and has some balancing issues, but these are relatively minor quarrels I had. This game thrived when you were hanging out in its rich setting with it's delightful cast of characters. I had a great time with this.
84/100
For starters, I will say this game automatically gets significant brownie points from me because of the pirate setting. I really do just love being out on the open waters with a merry crew and this game offered a lot of that. If this exact style of game were made in a different setting, I don't think it would have gotten as good of a rating from me. In fact, this studio, Mimimi Games, have made other games with this same game design but they don't really interest me too much. A good pirate tale, across all storytelling medias, is so rare to come by and I always love when I'm treated to a new one.
By the end of the game, I had grown attached to my fellow cursed crewmates and my ship, the Red Marley. I rather enjoyed the little "crew tale" side missions; they were playful and had a lot of charm to them. The story was full of the good ol' classic pirate tropes that I love dearly. The villain was wonderfully detestable and the last mission was epic. I loved how each crew member got their own tales as part of the main story, as well, and grew as the journey went along.
I was enthralled with the gameplay. Mimimi Games' signature isometric stealth strategy design was in full force here. Each character had unique abilities from one other. Although, there were some serious balancing issues. Pinkus and Suleidy felt broken and I used them the most. They were also my favorite characters, so I didn't mind playing them all the time too much. I also favored Teresa and Mr. Mercury for their abilities. The gameplay had some frustrations to it at times, but it was helped by the time capture mechanic; it was both a cool tool to help the player while also being a part of the story and I love when a game combine these things.
Overall, I'm so happy I played this game. It could've been 5ish hours shorter and has some balancing issues, but these are relatively minor quarrels I had. This game thrived when you were hanging out in its rich setting with it's delightful cast of characters. I had a great time with this.
84/100