3.5/5 - Good
After reviewing Risky's Revenge, Pirate's Curse, and Half-Genie Hero, my Shantae marathon comes to an end with Seven Sirens. I've heard this game talked up a lot - and I enjoyed it greatly... But also had quite a few issues with it, and consider it inferior to the previous 2 entries. After doing a different kind of review for each game, I'll finish this off by simply reviewing this one normally, as this just fits what I have to say the most.
I'll start with the positives, as there are plenty:
The controls - I am very happy to see they actually solved the dance problem! I often see people beg for the Pirate abilities to return simply because they are more convenient to use than slowing down and dancing - and while I agree, Shantae is known for transforming into animals, not being a pirate, that gimmick made sense as a 1-time thing. Seven Sirens actually solves the problem by mapping transformations to direct commands, and this makes the game totally snappy and smooth to play! Although, I found the fusion dances they did include to be rather annoying, even if mostly optional.
The music - I see people often say it's forgettable and I really don't see it. It isn't as good as Jake Kauffman's work, but the songs here had a great energy to them and plenty of wonderful melodies to jam out to, with their own unique style!
The story - while this game can't match up to the silly and endearing writing of Pirate's Curse, I found it to definitely beat HGH with its story that actually managed to have some decent twists and surprises and fun character interactions. Nothing amazing but I enjoyed it. Although, I was bothered by some odd characterizations, particularly how infuriatingly whiny they made Sky, and the fact that Shantae is just... TOO nice to Risky, treating her like her best friend, even though unlike PC she shows absolutely no such connection back and is entirely evil the whole way...
The dungeons - This is where the game shines the most. I especially enjoyed the even-numbered ones, with the 6th likely being my favorite, all combining creative platforming challenges, interesting puzzles, and fun combat! Even the battle tower was actually a really great challenge. Although, I found the first one to be a bit too simple, and the third one, while strong in some ways, had frustrating elements.
And now we get to the issues. I already pointed out half of them - you could see that every positive point I presented also had a small caveat holding it back. But I'd still be loving this game if not for it's single greatest problem: the world itself. One of the most frequently praised parts of this game is the return to a full-on Metroidvania structure, and I agree... in concept. In practice, this is one of the more forgettable and basic Metroidvania worlds I have seen. This is a product of 2 factors:
First, the visuals. Almost every single underground area relies on the metallic-looking tileset for its geometry, simply recolored and with some extra details added in, but it just isn't enough. The sheer aggressive amount of asset reuse here makes every area completely blend together for me, only really remembered for its music.
And this gets worse due to the second factor, the level design. It seems almost all of the unique gimmicks and designs were reserved for the dungeons, as with some minor exceptions, almost every area is made of simple platforming and enemies, without much special happening at all.
Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad at all - platforming around using all of your cool transformations, fighting enemies with your magic skills, exploring for secrets, it's fun at its core, but that's entirely a result of the good core gameplay, while the world design itself is extremely bland and uninteresting. I remember a lot more of the levels of PC or HGH and it's been much longer since I've played those. This issue is what brings this game to being very good, but not quite great.
And that's it, every Shantae game reviewed! Except for the first one, maybe I'll check it out one day. I enjoyed the romp! Excited for Risky Revolution!
After reviewing Risky's Revenge, Pirate's Curse, and Half-Genie Hero, my Shantae marathon comes to an end with Seven Sirens. I've heard this game talked up a lot - and I enjoyed it greatly... But also had quite a few issues with it, and consider it inferior to the previous 2 entries. After doing a different kind of review for each game, I'll finish this off by simply reviewing this one normally, as this just fits what I have to say the most.
I'll start with the positives, as there are plenty:
The controls - I am very happy to see they actually solved the dance problem! I often see people beg for the Pirate abilities to return simply because they are more convenient to use than slowing down and dancing - and while I agree, Shantae is known for transforming into animals, not being a pirate, that gimmick made sense as a 1-time thing. Seven Sirens actually solves the problem by mapping transformations to direct commands, and this makes the game totally snappy and smooth to play! Although, I found the fusion dances they did include to be rather annoying, even if mostly optional.
The music - I see people often say it's forgettable and I really don't see it. It isn't as good as Jake Kauffman's work, but the songs here had a great energy to them and plenty of wonderful melodies to jam out to, with their own unique style!
The story - while this game can't match up to the silly and endearing writing of Pirate's Curse, I found it to definitely beat HGH with its story that actually managed to have some decent twists and surprises and fun character interactions. Nothing amazing but I enjoyed it. Although, I was bothered by some odd characterizations, particularly how infuriatingly whiny they made Sky, and the fact that Shantae is just... TOO nice to Risky, treating her like her best friend, even though unlike PC she shows absolutely no such connection back and is entirely evil the whole way...
The dungeons - This is where the game shines the most. I especially enjoyed the even-numbered ones, with the 6th likely being my favorite, all combining creative platforming challenges, interesting puzzles, and fun combat! Even the battle tower was actually a really great challenge. Although, I found the first one to be a bit too simple, and the third one, while strong in some ways, had frustrating elements.
And now we get to the issues. I already pointed out half of them - you could see that every positive point I presented also had a small caveat holding it back. But I'd still be loving this game if not for it's single greatest problem: the world itself. One of the most frequently praised parts of this game is the return to a full-on Metroidvania structure, and I agree... in concept. In practice, this is one of the more forgettable and basic Metroidvania worlds I have seen. This is a product of 2 factors:
First, the visuals. Almost every single underground area relies on the metallic-looking tileset for its geometry, simply recolored and with some extra details added in, but it just isn't enough. The sheer aggressive amount of asset reuse here makes every area completely blend together for me, only really remembered for its music.
And this gets worse due to the second factor, the level design. It seems almost all of the unique gimmicks and designs were reserved for the dungeons, as with some minor exceptions, almost every area is made of simple platforming and enemies, without much special happening at all.
Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad at all - platforming around using all of your cool transformations, fighting enemies with your magic skills, exploring for secrets, it's fun at its core, but that's entirely a result of the good core gameplay, while the world design itself is extremely bland and uninteresting. I remember a lot more of the levels of PC or HGH and it's been much longer since I've played those. This issue is what brings this game to being very good, but not quite great.
And that's it, every Shantae game reviewed! Except for the first one, maybe I'll check it out one day. I enjoyed the romp! Excited for Risky Revolution!