Shantae and the Seven Sirens First Impressions (Insert I whip my hair back and forth joke here)
No spoilers? Well ok, I'll try. I suck at knowing what is or is not a spoiler though. I'll give it my best go.
… or should I say my best Ret-2-Go!
First some back story to frame this:
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is probably the game that I've been looking forward to playing all year and it was about a year ago now that we first got the teaser trailer/opening for this game too. I've watched that trailer over and over. on my birthday I saw the Studio Trigger movie Promare and the Shantae and the Seven Sirens trailer (also animated by Studio Trigger) was shown with the other movie trailers. Its really good, both the movie and trailer, so good that after seeing the trailer my wife asked me if the games were based off the anime (They didn't know that Shantae isn't an anime at the time.) This was also after spending pretty much the whole summer of 2019 playing Shantae Half Genie Hero again and again. I think I mentioned that on my last video game related post about that game, where I was essentially shilling for Wayforward for free.
I'm typing this out on a keyboard on a Shantae and the Pirate's Curse desk mat.
On my right by the mouse is a very enthusiastic Rotty Tops.
My current wallpaper is Shantae.
I like this series, a lot. I think about this series a lot. I hold myself back from going on tangents when talking to others except for Tumblr and perhaps one day I will make a Youtube video (previously I had made one out of my last post for Half Genie Hero but it won't render correctly. I think it is corrupted so I essentially have to make a new one, maybe at a later time)
Basically I'm a huge tool or as some others would say I’m a huge fan of the Shantae videogame franchise.
I could also write about how now how Games with Gold has Shantae and the Pirate's Curse available for download, since it is available to claim until June 30th, 2020 but I'll mostly touch on that game later. Lightly.
I pre-ordered the physical version of Shantae and the Seven Sirens for the Switch, I got the Collector's Edition with all the bells and whistles and I was going to wait for it, but I caved. I just couldn't wait for the release so I got the digital version on Xbox One back on May 28th, 2020. I paid for the same game twice. I don't do that often, I can't even think of any other time that I've done that except for maybe with remakes or re-releases, but never for a new game. I think. I justified it as the Xbox version has achievements that I can get to show off my digital e-Peen. I also have digital versions of Pirate's Curse and Half Genie Hero on Xbox One while I have physical copies of the games on Switch but those digital versions were from Games with Gold. While I did pay for the Gamepass Ultimate Service, $1 for three years, its not really the same thing.
Well the other day at around 3AM I finished my first play through of the game clocking in about 10 hours and 40 minutes and these are my first thoughts.
I think the most succinct comparison for this game to another is Tomba! For the Playstation One. There's “comparisons” between the two – like Tomba! has seven evil pigs, Shantae has Seven Sirens, both are platformers and while Shantae is a Metroidvania Tomba! is … kind of one too, I guess?
The main comparison to Tomba! that I can think of being that you get directives with spoken keywords and you go to the corresponding area on the map to complete the objective and along the way you get power ups to better help you explore and fight bosses.
Unlike the other Shantae games I've played, there isn't a real central hub. I think that the first town you go to is supposed to be the de facto hub, Arena Town, on Paradise Island but they did away with that for a teleporter room to make fast travel easier. You no longer have to talk to Sky to grab a flight on her bird but you feel like an outsider visiting these towns. And hey, that makes thematic sense since you are visiting the island on vacation but the other games had that home HUB level. That feels like a weird point to mention missing when I played the game because for one it fits the universe a lot better and two it makes actual sense to do that but what I've come to expect in a Shantae game something about it just doesn't feel right.
I think that's the best way to describe this game, its not bad it just doesn't feel right. A lot of this game just doesn't feel right to me. This is my first take of this game and is why I wanted to specifically make this a first take and not a real “review” review. I just to say that something about Shantae and the Seven Sirens feels off. I don't know how else to describe it so I don't want to imply there's some kind of quick fix rather this is an issue with the heart and soul feel. I've talked to friends when discussing media in the past – video games, movies, etc. and when dealing specifically with sequels and prequels - I think that it's really hard to make a good sequel. A game, movie, book, etc can be great on its own and sometimes even better than the original but how it fits in as a sequel can be its undoing or even a miss-step. In that way its almost easier to make a new intellectual property. You have to put enough of your IP in the game (or whatever media) so that it feels like it fits in the universe and that's the long and short of what makes this game not feel right. To be fair this is very much a Shantae game. You've got Shantae, Bolo, Risky Boots and the others, you've got familiar enemies, you have dances and genie powers, you collector heart squids to make heart containers and there's in universe references to things that happened in the previous game, heck you are there on vacation as mentioned you would at the end of Half-Genie Hero but I just don't feel that magic, that Shantae magic. Its frankly kind of unfair to describe my biggest issue as a feeling and describe it in terms of magic. How is that fair to say or any kind of constructive feedback at all? Well I will try to break down and it is what I kind of missed from what I expected going into the game.
First thing is my problem with the transformations. That Studio Trigger trailer (that I mentioned earlier) shows Shantae turning into a monkey. Shantae even mentions how she can turn into a monkey at the beginning of the game. But all those animal forms she had previously are gone. Poof.
That in and itself isn't a problem since this game does have new animal transformations that are pretty cool and satisfying to use like a Newt, a Tortoise, a Squid, a Gastro Drill (think a hermit crab that can drill through the earth/sand) and a frog but my dumb brain up until the end of the game was expecting to unlock some of her classic animal transformations. Like I was expecting to fly around as the harpie and shoot up walls as the monkey and swim around as the mermaid in addition to dashing around as the Newt or barreling into enemies as the Tortoise. These new forms sounded like they were going to be bonus: both in the sense of what Shantae says at the beginning of the game and how they are presented to you as gifts when you save the other half-genies. Same with the dances. This game has four dances that you acquire from Fusion Stones. The dances don't transform you into an animal but you get dances that do things like heal the surrounding environment and enemies or charge electrical devices. And that’s neat, but more on that later. That’s a positive. I’m in my nit pick section now.
My next issue is: What does Shantae do? I don't mean the character in the avatar sense because you need someone to control, but specifically why am I Shantae? You have your hair whip and the ability to dance but none of the power or transformations are yours. I think part of the reason my brain was like “Cool, I can't wait to get the mermaid transformation to use in tandem with the squid triple jump” is because all the powers you get are borrowed from the other half-genies but it doesn't come across like you won't be able to later use your classic abilities. Is it another being on vacation thing, like Shantae just didn't pack her harpie form? Other than Shantae being the main character of the series and possessing the ability to use magic as a half-genie, what is the reason why it is Shantae we are playing as? What in particular is important about Shantae having this adventure? I worry if I have conveyed what I mean here since it does sound a bit unclear.
I don't want to be too hard on Shantae and the Seven Sirens because this isn't just a Shantae franchise problem, to be fair, take Metroid for example. In a typical Metroid game it starts with the protagonist Samus Aran tripping and she then will lose all her powers as they roll out of her and fall down a sewer drain for example.
The idea that you were previously powerful canonically but have to start again at square one isn't always framed smoothly in video games but with Shantae and the Seven Sirens it makes it a point during a few times to tell you that your powers are all borrowed especially at the end. But to go back and contrast that with a Metroid game - I feel like the power-ups still fit Samus Aran and are hers to use (until presumably the next game), and sure someone else could use them - they generally fit to what we understand the character to use for attacks and abilities. I think that's why in this instance it sticks out so much in my mind. I feel like any of the other half-genies could have done this adventure just the same. Zapple could have gotten Fusion Stones and borrowed the other half-genies powers for example to save the day.
At the end Risky tells you that she got Shantae specifically to go along as a contingency plan in accordance to what happens during the ending but like, what happens is ultimately a mistake involving one of Shantae's non-magical friends. I assume from the towns that I visited in game that the other half-genies have non-magical friends too. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to have a similar happen stance occur.
The other big problem, and maybe this is a for me problem, was Risky Boots role in this game. Risky Boots just oozes a larger than life villainess personality - I absolutely love Risky Boots as a character. In Half-Genie Hero though, Risky wasn't really in the game. You thwart her in the beginning and she doesn't show up again until the end game. In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Risky Boots is there for pretty much the whole game and you develop a really good frienemy rapport with her. This was a hole that I thought that this game would fix but it doesn't … at least not really.
What you get is there is a lot more of Risky Boots on screen in this game than Half-Genie Hero (and you realize there was even more once you get further in the game) and yet it feels like there was a lot less Risky Boots in this game. You see Risky Boots time and again and you have multiple fights with her (they are set up and paced like the mini-boss) and she will tell you something about why she is there. But then run off, rinse and repeat. There are also a few other moments where she shows up and at the end of the game but its an issue of quality over quantity. Like you de facto see Risky Boots more in this game but its always in short doses to advance the plot. She also has a moment at the end of the game (which is kind of lackluster in my opinion) that feels hollow. Like she's there but not really and without spoiling too much its because she is unconscious. I haven't played this game through a 100% and I assume that maybe she has something to do with the better endings that I haven't unlocked yet but first time through she feels like an afterthought to piece together what is going on with the Sirens more than anything. Like, oh hey Risky Boots is in Shantae, remember? Much like with Shantae, I wonder why is Risky Boots in this game other than that its because it is a Shantae franchise game? It kind of breaks my man-child heart.
Also Jake Kaufman didn't do the soundtrack which kind of explains why none of the in-game tracks really got stuck in head. I liked Arena Town and the Dungeons theme, Armor Town's music is ok too. But while Half-Genie Hero and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse soundtrack really wowed me with noticeable tracks that stuck out, this was more “It's ok” with a few noticeably less meh tracks.
If I had to guess why this game feels the way it does, its this one review I saw on the Xbox Marketplace inadvertently nailed it on the head but I think what they found as a positive, I took as a negative. Shantae and The Seven Sirens mixes Pirate’s Curse with Half-Genie Hero, but I think they took what was wrong and mixed it. Its from a review by ExcitedData11 entitled Good stuff!
That is ultimately what I think lead this game to be what it is – it's trying to fix Shantae Half-Genie Hero by mixing in what it was perceived to be missing. On the one hand, I totally get it. When Shantae Half Genie-Hero came out it got some less than charitable reviews. Thankfully it was successful and overall praised by those fans who Kickstarted it. Shantae Half-Genie Hero game was coming hot off Shantae and the Pirate's Curse which is to a lot of people – the best Shantae game. And I honestly think that falls into what I was saying earlier – its hard to make a good sequel especially since the previous game in the series was the most beloved. Its really hard to capture lightning in a bottle the same way again so they did something different.
Now this is just my opinion (Duh! the whole thing is, but I want to re-iderate here especially since I'm extra talking out of my butt in this part) but to me with Half-Genie Hero they didn't put as much emphasis on the story as with the Pirate's Curse, and in a way went back to the drawing board. The in-game jokes about the game being a soft re-boot of the Shantae series specifically call this out - Shantae and the Half-Genie Hero was largely about who Shantae is and where did she come from? Who is Shantae's mother? What happened to the Genies and the Genie Realm? The games dances and transformations were all of Shantae's classic animal forms with some new things mixed in too.
When I wrote earlier about Shantae and the Seven Sirens and how its a Shantae game but why does it have to be Shantae I feel like Shantae Half-Genie Hero in stark contrast HAD to be about Shantae, its all about her. In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse I feel like it had to be about Shantae too, the real main character of that game was Risky Boots but her relation to Shantae as Shantae's rival was important to understanding Risky Boots. Shantae is important in that way. That's why in Shantae and the Seven Sirens, Shantae just being on vacation story continuity alone doesn't really do it for me. Its also why Risky Boots wanting the power of the Island and falling back on Shantae as a contingency plan doesn't do it for me either. Mixing what is wrong with Half-Genie Hero also mixed out part of what was right with the game.
But at this point, I feel like I've been way to uncharitable to this game. Its mean. I'm kind of being a big meany and misleading you. “Well why don't you just say it? This game must be terrible! -3000 out of 10!”
I feel like I'm saying this game is bad and pointing and prodding over essentially an intangible essence. This game is actually good but if I lead with just that and didn't say my other piece I feel like it would also be wrong. Its super easy (and popular?) to just lay into a game as being bad on the internet. This is the post video game review culture that we have for better or for worse from things like the Angry Video Game Nerd (the better) and Gamer Gate (the absolute worst.) Despite my earlier comments - I did like this game. Really, I enjoyed playing it and I think over time as I replay it I will like it more and more or at least I assume that I will based off of my previous gaming tastes and experiences with this franchise in particular.
Like sequels, reviews are tricky. For me I think I realized this when I was in the 5th grade and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time got a perfect score from Gamespot. It still kind of irks me but at the time I felt like that was big mistake, a HUUUGE mistake. Especially now when looking back at the game, its faults are a lot more glaring but at the time I can now think – This was a 3D Zelda, the first grand adventure of its time. People were waiting for this forever it probably felt.
In contrast I also think of games I really like that when I first played them I didn't really care for – namely No More Heroes. I really enjoy revisiting that game and its probably in my favorite games of the 2000s decade but I first played it, meh. I didn't really like it. Now a days I could go on and on talking about it.
Tastes change, initial impressions change, where we are in the world changes things and our relation to media too. I've seen a few reviews really laying into this game and then give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. That is kind of bizarre but I also feel like maybe right? Numbers seems inherently trivial to me now. This game could be a 6/10 but it also feels like it could be an 8/10 too based off of my impression. What I can say that is more concrete is that its good. I would recommend you play this game
Ok first impression is over -
First off, though I want to say that the game mechanics are more streamlined for play. I love the animal transformations but stopping to dance pulls you out of the game play and immersion especially since that is so pivotal to playing the game especially when more than one is used in tandem. This also gives the other dances more of an ump especially since they have powerful effects on the stage/level/enemies. In Shantae Half-Genie Hero you have the destruction dance that blows up the whole stage but it takes some time to get to. With the dance function, you cycle through about 4 sets of possible dances to get to it. You are essentially just waiting to use a really powerful move, which I feel like if you need to use it, you probably want to do it right away and in the meantime you are a sitting target. You also have to wait to use the monkey transformation or harpie or mermaid transformations. That's kind of a pain when you use them just to move around. Its not long a long waiting time, its not like a load screen where you are doing nothing but still you have to wait. Its a lot of waiting. You had to wait to use anything. The game does sort of correct that with a metronome power up to speed up the time between available dance cycles but you still wait.
With only four dances total you still have to wait a beat to get to them but then all of them are available to use at once. And outside of that as previously mentioned each one of the animal transformations is used in tandem with a button press and the environment. While something like the frog requires water for use or sand for the Gastro Drill, you can also dash whenever you want as the newt or charge up and smash into things as the tortoise the same. None of the animal transformations seem out of place or missed and they flow better this way with the game play. I never once missed a platform, hit or moving around in any of the animal forms except on rare occasion which every time was from my own input. Shantae is a platformer too so ease of mobility is definitely something you want while you play.
Expanding on the point of mobility - travel between points on the map is also easier. No longer do you have to walk to Sky and ask to fly to a location. As you play you uncover warp rooms and you can warp at will to any of the open locations to fast travel around the island. As previously mentioned I do miss the HUB town from Half Genie Hero but this is markedly an improvement that also thematically makes sense too. While I miss Scuttle Town that decision was good.
I also like the characters in this game a lot. Outside of the series mainstays (Risky Boots ♥_♥ ) we meet other Half-genies (Well... more on that some other time) such as
and ...Fillin (or Ima Goodgirl or … hmmm?)
I also have to say that I was totally de-lighted to meet Armor Baron. Any adjective less than delighted undercuts this character and I absolutely had no idea going into this game that he was in it. My reaction was pretty close to Skys in-game reaction. Just trust me your going to love Armor Baron.
While the meetings with Risky Boots are less than my ideal, I really, really like how the fights play out similarly to how you fight Risky Boots at the end of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. It feels like a genuine Risky Boots/Shantae battle and I really like that level of polish. Going back to my point of why is this a Shantae game and the difficulties of making a sequel this is really a tick in the good sequel feel column. I just wish I felt this more.
Lastly when talking about characters and maybe this is a spoiler or not (Sorry. Maybe sorry?) Bolo is voiced by Ross. More specifically the Newgrounds/Youtuber Ross O'Donovan also known as Rubber Ninja (formerly Rubber Ross uhm... errr, I guess that's his Gameplay channel on Youtube now? So maybe he is still Rubber Ross?) and also a former Game Grump. I don't know Ross personally but from what I do know about his personality from reading his Tweets and watching his animations and videos from when he was on Game Grumps
that is a perfect choice Wayforward. 10/10 and that's keeping up with all of the other characters voices too. Christina Vee (Valenzuela) returning portrayal of Shantae and Risky Boots (and also Harmony) is also very good. This series has always brought a lot of talent in that department.
Aesthetically this game is gorgeous, the high definition character sprites/graphics from Half-Genie Hero all return and there are new character portraits that look really nice like the next step in terms of polish. Studio Trigger did the opening animation and the other in game cutscenes put together in house look really, really good.
This game is wonderful, truly. I don't want you to take away anything else. It is absolutely worth your time and you will have a good time playing it but it just misses the mark. I would love to say that this game is Shantae perfected but its not. Not yet anyways. It is some combination of a step forward and a step back. I think I still have more to experience and definitely more to say. My first completion was way over the time limit for a notable clear time and I didn't complete the item collection 100% either. I am reasonably sure that once I finish this game with a faster time, higher completion, on new game plus and a combination of all 3 of those criteria combined I will find out more about the story. I'll get the “Good ending” -s and I'm also sure I will also get better and more efficient with playing the game. Maybe then some of my not great first takes will change too. Shantae games (and Metroidvania games in general) get better with replaying and when you learn the in and outs. I still have a pretty good memory of Half-Genie Hero even though I haven't played it in a few months.
Maybe I'm a sucker but I also want some DLC. Give me a version where you play as Risky Boots (please, I miss her) and what could also be fun is a game from the perspectives of the other half-genies in game where you switch between them all at each point before they are captured and play a sort of soft redesign of each dungeon and boss and the end can be the lead up with a particular Siren.
There's a lot that I look forward to this game and this series future. I plan to look up the achievements I missed and collect them. I also need to go back and play the original and Risky's Revenge sometime too. I would like to do a proper review of this and the other games in the future.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Speedrun of Shantae and the Seven Sirens that I have to go fail a few times.
(Note this post originally had pictures and GIFs for visual aid/jokes but after trying to post it about 5 times with no luck and coming back, I just deleted them all. I’ve come back and edited some things that look weird and I think I’ve gotten them all, but apologies if I missed some. WOMP)
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