In Part 1, we collected 2 of the 3 seals and went on
our way to find the last one. We help zombies by giving them coffee, and in return they'll help her go inside that dungeon. We need a machine, beans and a rotten egg – because the zombies have no taste,
apparently. Coffee machine? Not far from the Lilac Fields. Beans? In a hidden
cave in the forest. Rotten egg? That's been dealt with.
The elephant is the least graceful of all her forms, but it's damn practical to smash golems and other rocky formations. |
By the way, each of Shantae’s forms can obtain a new
ability as well, all of which are required to beat the game. The monkey form of Shantae
can shoot itself from wall to wall like a bullet, the elephant can do a stomp to destroy blocks and the mermaid can blow bubbles. Just gotta
find those abilities hidden around the world map!
I needed to bring you this coffee so that I could continue on my quest. Of course I'd bring it to you. Bu do you have any idea how much trouble it was? |
Shantae’s friend Sky, another one on the list of girls
in skimpy outfits in this game, helps her make a latte for the zombies, using a
rotten egg as promised. And what do we get from them in return? Explosives, of course! We’ll force
our way into the third baron’s dungeon! We just need an electric spark to blow
the thing up… Gee, good thing Shantae has the Cloud Puff that blasts
everything with thunder!
"Simon says, look up! Don't make me whip you with my hair!" |
You know... the barons weren't quite antagonistic so far... Sure, you fight them, but they don't have villainous goals. Something's wrong here. |
It's so adorable! Can I keep it? |
Now that we have all of the abilities, the entire map is available. You can either revisit every location and look for any secrets you’ve missed (there’s a LOT of secrets everywhere,
wouldn’t be a Metroidvania if there weren’t), or head directly to the final
boss. Risky’s secret lair is located underwater, behind a block – which can
only be destroyed by mermaid bubbles. Well, of course.
I quite like a gameplay change every once in a while. Shakes things up a bit. Wouldn't even mind stopping by for some fishing action in the middle of a platform game. |
That dungeon starts with a surprise shoot-‘em up
section in which Shantae’s mermaid form blasts bubbles at the enemies. Then
there’s a single room in complete darkness… then the boss door. What, already?
Squid baron, over 30 hits; Hypno baron, 100-some hits. This ship goes down after 4 hits. That's some crappy craftsmanship! |
Shantae versus Dark Shantae? Nah, it's more clever than that. It's Human Shantae Versus Genie Shantae! |
It takes some time, but evil-Shantae goes down. Risky
admits her defeat but finds Shantae foolish for destroying her magical half in
order to save her town. The pirate lady leaves, while Mimic comes back to
congratulate Shantae. Back at the Lighthouse, Shantae is saddened, now feeling
like she’s lost some of her mother’s legacy (since genies in that world are all females, if I understood correctly).
Thankfully, her friends are here to help her train in using actual human moves!
Oh, and the Mayor re-hires her, because he can't fire her in the next game if she isn't re-hired right now. Of course, Risky is still out
there, but there’s confidence in the future. Roll credits!
After the credits, you get to see how long you took to
beat the game, and how many hidden items you found (out of 34). Beat the game
and you get a cute picture – and the better your performance, the more pictures
you get as a reward! Namely, beating the game in under 4 hours and with all 34
items at the end gives you the best reward. You better learn to speedrun, pal! (For the record, the "reward" is ust a free piece of art of one of the characters in the game - the best one being Rottytops art, as shown here on the left.) Also, for beating the normal game, you unlock Magic Mode, a tougher mode where
magic consumption is cut in half… but Shantae’s health drops twice as fast.
Tough stuff!
That’s about it for this game… and yeah, it’s quite
great. As a novice when it comes to Metroidvania, I can say I enjoyed the
experience. I like the genre, although I can’t say I’ve played a lot of games
that fit the bill – so perhaps the Shantae franchise is my way to catch up on
that.
Magic Mode Shantae looks like an Arabian version of Princess Leia in the slave bikini. So... exactly like Leia in the slave bikini, then. |
First thing that struck me with this game was the
sprite art. Remember, this was created for the Nintendo DSi at first, so the game
is adapted for the computer and fills the monitor screen. Result, the sprites
are larger and we can clearly see all of the animations. It’s impressive, how
many animations were made for the various characters and enemies – in Shantae’s
case, a ton of animations, including some idle ones. Lines of dialogue show a
full picture of the character on the screen instead, with full detail rather
than sprites. The graphics of the environments are also very great, especially
in multi-plane areas – like the forest, and you can see every plane behind
the one you’re on. It’s a shame that only two areas use that fantastic
style.
The story is pretty decent; I don’t like that
Mayor, but every other character is fine. The main quest is pretty basic, but it has
fun mini-quests required to complete the story, and we get to see a myriad of
fun characters with their own quirks. Rottytops and her spider-based Internet,
the Ammo Baron peppering his speeches with spoken onomatopoeia, Bolo who can’t
tell East from West… The story is pretty basic (villain gets a weapon, you
collect items to prevent said weapon from being effective, villain gets smart
and forces the hero to hand those items over. It’s been done, frequently). But
the comedy of the cutscenes make up for the simpler plot.
All of those items turn out to be important in the long run. Even the cream, especially the cream. |
Now, I do admit that the fanservice is overbearing,
what with all the innuendoes that go with it (especially since Shantae is
supposed to be 16 or 17), but unless you’re really picky about that sort of
thing, it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s, um… probably going to make some people
uneasy, but it’s at least joked about from time to time, so it’s not just there
without any acknowledgement. I would say that the fun and complex gameplay
trumps that aspect and makes it worth playing regardless. And for those who
don’t mind said fanservice, then good! You’re going to get a lot of it.
That covers it for this week. Next week, I’m moving on
with another Steam Pack, then a Top 12, then a film review… one I’ve been
itching to do for two weeks already.
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