Okay, so people who have heard me talk for awhile know I love the Shantae series. Im crazy for them. I love the characters, the Action/Platforming/RPG combination gameplay, the ridiculous writing and world-building, the amazing artwork, everything. I thought the original was one of the best games on the GBC, the second game was one of if not the best game on the DSi-ware service, and I put more money into the Shantae kickstarter than I did even the Mighty Number 9 kickstarter. So if I were to now tell you guys that the brand new Shantae and the Pirates Curse game is rly good, you should know that Im coming from a point of deep personal bias. -but seriously. Seriously? Guys? Shantae and the Pirates Curse is REALLY REALLY GOOD. Ive only put about two hours in so far and I can already tell that this is shaping up to be a grand-slam. Yes Im a super-biased fanboy but Im also a pessimist who gets disappointed in things easily - I came in with high expectations and so far theyve been exceeded a number of times. The gameplay is spot-on and the controls are sublime. Wayforward games always feel right and this one is probably their best yet. Shantae has a perfect weight to her so that every jump feels so precise - you always know exactly where shell land to a pixel and thats so important in a platformer. The music is not just good but catchy and noticeable. A lot of games these days seem to strive for setting a mood and just being in the background, but the music here Pops and is an active character that demands you take notice of. I love it. The sprite art has always been one of the series high-points and while the 2D sprites couldnt really be improved upon too much from the last game, the animations have been. Nearly every action is animated in a hilariously overdone and almost Disney-esque way. Seeing a character wiggle and try to break free from a spider-web with a 10-second loop of animation when you can skip through the scenes dialogue in LESS than 10 seconds shows the level of detail theyve gone into this game. -but also, now for the first time the series is in relatively high-definition and wide-screen so we get hand-painted backgrounds that look just stunning and make even me want to turn on the 3D effects. The story/writing is the series standard tongue-firmly-in-cheek. For those unfamiliar, the series is a combination of self-aware fan-service and mockery. It actually has a fair few similarities to Skullgirls, but less Dark Deco and more Monty Python. Really though, it actually shares a Voice Actress with Skullgirls and theres two different Shantae reference costumes in SG, just as a fun fact. -and if youve just NO idea what to expect - heres the launch trailer. https://youtube/watch?v=cEUcZeNnlWo
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 08:07:26 +0000
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