Shantae is an old franchise. Having its first Game Boy Color title in 2002, the metroidvania series focused on character transformation has long been building one of the most solid titles in recent years, resurfacing with a slight reboot of the series. In its most recent title, initially released for Apple Arcade, Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the culmination of the franchise, masterfully mastering all its concepts presented to date, with an open and rich world of secrets to explore.
Seven Sirens starts with Shantae and his friends going on vacation to a mysterious island paradise. There, a “Half-Genius” festival takes place, in which Shantae is invited to participate. Bad things happen, her vacation is interrupted and she is convinced to rescue the new characters who have been kidnapped. Each “Half-Genius” has a different special power, in which, when they are rescued, they lend said power to the protagonist, expanding their skills and transformations, consequently opening new paths and exploring the island’s increasingly deep mysterious underground.
The game features a powerful cast of well-voiced characters by relatively well-known names like Karen Strassman from Fire Emblem, Cristina Valenzuela from Pokémon and Miraculous Ladybug and Laura Stahl from Promised Neverland. This cast is rich and charismatic, with characters of the most varied types whose presence in history is more than vital. Never before has Shantae been so expansive, both working on his old cast and on new equally important characters, these characters who came to life even with very elaborate cut animations, containing work even from the legendary studio TRIGGER (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann [yes], Darling in the FRANXX, Kill La Kill).
The art of the game had a slight redesign, mainly of characters and static works. The in-game art has remained relatively the same, with graphic improvements, but a little incompatible with the new conceptual art of the game (both arts are of the highest quality, but are not very compatible with each other). The artistic improvements of the game include more dynamic scenery, with greater movement of the map elements, in addition to beautiful light effects. The game occasionally features strange and poorly synchronized animations with sound effects, but they are at very specific times, where they can be improved with updates.
Speaking of art, it is essential to comment on the soundtrack of this title. Despite not having Jacob Kaufman in the composition (responsible since ALWAYS), Seven Sirens had Kentaro Sakamoto, Mark Sparling, Madeline Lim and Gavin Allen, bringing one of the best tracks in the series. With songs ranging from chiptune to sung, this game is frantic at all times, giving dynamics very compatible with the speed of the gameplay.
The gameplay remains the same, however it changes some dances for “fusions”, separating Shantae’s transformations in two categories. This brings a greater speed to the player to be able to explore the scene, going straight to the point in the most used transformations and giving a greater glamor to the most powerful transformations, which are shocking and very well placed in the game.
In addition to the main mergers, the game added an unprecedented new form of “transformation”. When defeating mobs, mini-bosses, bosses and other enemies, there is a small chance that Shantae will acquire cards from these respective monsters. These cards are collectible, can be exchanged or sold, and passively improve Shantae’s pre-existing skills. It is allowed to equip 3 simultaneously and the variety of cards is not small. This gives an even better dynamic to the game’s combat and resembles Hollow Knight’s pins, the ones that closer to the end of the game become indispensable.
The level design of this game is excellent. With countless secrets, the player can spend countless hours exploring the map and collecting cards, upgrades and more. The more skills the protagonist has, the greater the challenge of the game, starting with the fights against the “sirens”, the true villains of the mysterious island that chase residents and cause discord in the depths. For a long time there was a lack of enemies as charismatic as those in games of the genre, and the title leaves nothing to be desired. The game provokes the player with surprise pins that can weaken the progress of the unsuspecting. After getting all the available skills, the difficulty is raised to the extreme and presents a real challenge of run and guns, like Azure Striker Gunvolt and Megaman (including a kind of boss rush). Despite this, some battles in the game prove to be just a test of endurance and frustrate rather than challenge.
PROS:
- Renewed gameplay;
- Metroidvania with praise;
- Run and gun elements add to the challenge;
- New soundtrack;
- Varied ambience, well done exploration;
- Collecting.
CONS:
- Occasional bugs;
- Occasionally incompatible art.
PLATFORMS:
- Apple Arcade (analyzed platform);
- Nintendo Switch;
- PC (analyzed platform, review copy provided by Wayforward);
- Playstation 4;
- Xbox one.
Score: ☕☕☕☕☕ (out of 5)
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the culmination of the franchise, accomplished with mastery extolling everything it has to offer. One of the most important metroidvanias of the last few years, it is a mandatory title for fans of the genre and an excellent entry point. All the improvements exalt the importance of the franchise and the special touches of hands like those of Studio Trigger only take Shantae to a new level.
