The Shantae series has had some amazing entries over the years, with its games moving less from its Metroidvania origins and more towards linear platformers. Shantae and The Seven Sirens takes the series back to its roots by creating a Metroidvania experience that fans of the genre will greatly appreciate. But how much new is done with the game. Quite a lot, actually. Shantae and friends have gone to a tropical island for a vacation, only to see Shantae’s new half-genie friends get kidnapped. Shantae sets out on a quest to save them and uncover the secret of the Seven Sirens.
As mentioned, the game returns to a traditional Metroidvania style gameplay, rather than selecting stages as in the last two entries, and requires a lot of backtracking in order to uncover everything. Shantae will once again use transformations, but they are done differently here. Rather than use the dance mechanic to transform, specific buttons and inputs will be used for transforming. The dance will instead use Shantae’s new powers she gains over the course of the game, in what may be the biggest changeup to the series yet. New abilities include electricity dances, life restoring dances that affect the environment and more. These add a lot to the overall experience and actually make backtracking a lot more interesting, because you will want to explore as much as possible using your new abilities.
The level design is great as usual, and enemies from past games show up alongside new ones. But there is a twist here, as the game introduces a card power-up system to give Shantae various boosts. This can include faster climbing, more powerful hair whips and more. You cannot just equip all the cards right away, as some require you to collect multiple versions of the same card before they can be equipped. This is a neat addition to the franchise and helps keep things fresh.
There is a good amount of challenge here, and while the game does give hints, it doesn’t hold your hand and a wrong move can lead to a quick death at the hands of certain enemies. There is a certain charm the series has, and WayForward Technologies has kept that charm perfectly preserved here. Exploring the world of the game is fun, and the music is some of the best the series has ever seen up to this point. I cannot say enough good about this game, and aside from some annoyance with certain puzzles requiring timing, I really liked what I played.
In conclusion: This is a great experience and I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided