Shantae and the Seven Sirens (Nintendo Switch)

Shantae is a name that has been growing and growing over the years, starting life as an ambitious and curious Game Boy Colour title, Shantae is now the female equivalent of Shovel Knight, highly regarded and everywhere. Will this new adventure be another tale to tell or could it be a bump in the road to superstardom for the Half Genie Hero? 

Shantae and the Seven Sirens sees our favourite Half-Genie accepting an invite to attend the ironically named Paradise Island. While there she meets other Half Genies and performs a show with them, some trickery happens and they all go missing bar Shantae, it’s up to her and her hair whipping abilities to save the day once again!. 

As with all the Shantae games, while the main narrative is perfectly engaging it’s all about the crazy cast of characters that go along with it, and Seven Sirens is certainly no exception!. You’ll see the usual cast of Bolo, Sky & Wrench, even Riskyboots and the pesky Tinkerbats are back for another go at making Shantae’s quest a lot harder than it should be!.

Visually Shantae and the Seven Sirens is an absolutely stunning game, it’s like playing an animated cartoon it’s that smooth. From the brilliantly drawn intro all the way through the title you can’t help but be taken back by the use of colour and just how good everything looks. It’s worth pointing out that Studio Trigger created the intro, famous for Kill la Kill, Darling in the Franxx & Promare, it really sets the tone visually of just how good this game looks.

The island is an utter joy to explore visually and the areas all look diverse enough, the character models are brilliantly drawn and the enemies all look outstanding, there really isn’t enough praise I can throw at just how good Shantae and the Seven Sirens looks, Half-Genie Hero looked good but this just manages to edge it out!.

The music is on par with the rest of the Shantae series, there are some right catchy earworms and it’s always something Wayforward really nail with there games. The music always manages to make me feel like I did when I would play a classic SNES adventure game and just get lost exploring worlds, here is no different. The Voice Acting is brilliant for all the characters, it really manages to bring out the character of each member of the cast, it’ll make you laugh more than a few times and thankfully very intentional!. 

The gameplay is Shantae & The Seven Sirens is that of the Metroidvania genre, you’ll explore the island, you’ll unlock a magic dance or solve a puzzle which will allow you access to another area to explore further, you’ll fight monsters along the way and take on towering bosses, it’s nothing new but it really doesn’t need to be. 

The controls in Shantae are buttery smooth, the combat while not the most in-depth is serviceable, you’ll go from whipping hair to using some of Shantae’s magic but don’t expect anything in the realms of deep combos or equips. In this title Shantae can use her animal magic in her Genie form, this speeds up the game quite a bit and it’s good to see that WayForward is interested in making the way she uses her magic different in each title. 

For the collectors amongst you, they have introduced Monster Cards, these are RNG based loot drops and will have you grinding out each enemy to collect them all, it’s a little addition but goes along way to push your completion time should you want to achieve that 100% completion on your file, it also helps that the cards do have some effect on Shantae throughout her adventure. 

Shantae and the Seven Sirens should see you around 10 hours on your first playthrough depending on how much % you want to collect and see throughout the game. It is always good to go through the games afterward and see just how quickly you can get the game done again, it’s a very pick up and play quality title so it should easily surpass that initial 10 hour time. Currently, there is no plan for DLC like the previous title but this could always change in the future. 

This title is a no brainer for fans of Shantae, Platformers or Metroidvania games, while there isn’t a whole lot going on here that previous Shantae titles haven’t already done it is just more of the same adventure you love, the characters you love and that buttery smooth control married with an overly explorable world. If you’re looking for a title to brighten your mood, let Shantae and The Seven Sirens sing and dance its way into your library and you’ll feel so much better, what’s even better is it doesn’t require and magic lamp or monkey paw!

3

Summary

A brilliant title and another notch on Shantae’s belt. Doesn’t do much to change up the formula but for fans of the genre or the character there is enough here to love 

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Straight from the streets of SouthTown, all Dunks Powah'd and ready to Bust A Wolf. Catch me on Twitch/YouTube.

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