Shantae and the Seven Sirens PC Review
Summary: Shantae as a series has really exploded in the last few years, from its humble beginnings as a very late Gameboy Color game in 2002 by Wayforward to the more modern releases in the past 5 or so years. Now we are onto the fifth game in the series Shantae and the Seven Sirens.
3.9
Metroidvania, Action
* Please note this is a review of the PC port, Gameplay and overall playability may differ between versions.
Shantae as a series has really exploded in the last few years, from its humble beginnings as a very late Gameboy Color game in 2002 by Wayforward to the more modern releases in the past 5 or so years. Now we are onto the fifth game in the series Shantae and the Seven Sirens.
Story
Shantae gets invited to a Half-Genie festival on Paradise Island. Whilst there she befriends the other Half-Genies. On performance night the other Half-Genies are kidnapped! Now Shantae must traverse the Island and rescue her friends whilst her Arch-nemesis Risky Boots lurks around hoping to find the secret lost treasure.
This game follows the formula of the third game, meaning an action platformer with Metroidvania exploration. Shantae has the ability to whip her hair to defeat enemies along with the classic jump on the head on the enemies Mario Bros style.
Once enemies are defeated they have a chance of dropping a Monster Card. Monster Cards can be added to Shantae to increase her abilities like movement speed, magic refill etc. Three Monster Cards can be activated at any one time which means you will have multiple different combos to go for. You will have plenty of cards to collect; 50 in total, if you are able to collect all 50 cards you will be rewarded with game art with your completion time and % completion.
Along with monster cards Shantae has the ability to dance this allows secret areas to become visible this will help with dodging enemies as well as collecting the valuable cards.
You also have access to the map which slowly uncovers the more you explore.
Aside from the exploration there are NPC towns where you are able to buy health items and new spells for Shantae to learn to progress the game.
Style wise Seven Sirens really borrows from the previous game and at times this game can look beautiful, especially with the Anime Style opening sequences which in my opinion are a real treat. But unfortunately a lot of the areas end up looking bland and too similar to each other. I would have liked to have seen more 2.5D backgrounds, which could have added the more needed depth that this game needs.
Final Thoughts
Overall if you like the recent Shantae games you will like Seven Sirens. Do not expect anything game changing from this game as it is more of a follow on continuation from the previous game in terms of style and substance.
If you are looking for a Metroidvania game to play this may not quite scratch that itch. The collection process can feel laborious at times but it does add towards the replay ability of the game.
Once beaten Shantae does have a “NEW GAME PLUS” Which can give you a harder challenge and something I wish more single player games had.
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