Shantae Half-Genie Hero is the fourth title from WayForward Technologies, which tells the story of the fascinating Shantae. When the title was about to come out in 2016, there were several insecurities about it. After all, it was a Kickstarter funded project that proposed a clear change in art direction. Fortunately, the game was able to satisfy audiences and critics, so much so that it also earned support for the next two years.
Then several DLCs come out, collected in the Ultimate Edition. And what better time than this to take stock of Shantae's latest effort?
The simple adventures of a Half Genius
Shantae Half-Genie Hero is a metroidvania, in which we will play the young half-genius Shantae. At the narrative level, both the setting and the content of the history are extremely simple. The protagonist's uncle is building the Dinamo, an ancient machine capable of creating white magic. Our heroine will have to help him, in the meantime clashing with all the classic antagonists of the saga.
The characters are all very basic, often stereotyped, but they do not stucco thanks to the brevity of their dialogues and a well-balanced dose of jokes about their characters. Essentially the title narrative is just an excuse to take the player to the various levels that the title offers, but offers some nice dialogue and is never heavy. Too bad, however, for a poor localization, in which errors worthy of Google Translate sometimes appear. This problem is also reflected in the gameplay itself, since on several occasions it will be necessary to look for characters or objects hidden in the levels, but with indications that are often poorly translated, and therefore misleading.
Once upon a time there was metroidvania
The word that best describes Shantae's gameplay is fluency. Controlling our Half Genius is satisfying, smooth and interesting. While starting with a few moves and simple game design, in a short time the game will open various avenues and methods of approaching the level thanks to the transformations. Shantae in fact is able to transform into different animals, which will be unlocked by continuing with the story, through dances. Each animal has its own unique gameplay mechanics that allow you to discover secrets in the various levels.
But the WayForward game is not limited to this, in fact many transformations also allow you to change the approach to the level, stimulating the imagination of the player, who can make life easier or accelerate his progress by using these powers intelligently. Backtracking isn't trivial, because exploring the same level can be profoundly different based on how many powers you can use. In addition, levels that require backtracking are often modified, adding enemies and small challenges, so as not to tire.
These features are essential for Shantae Half-Genie Hero because very often, the title will ask for a strong backtracking which despite the advantages mentioned above is sometimes badly done. The information provided to the player is not always exhaustive, also considering the advice obtainable through the use of the Spa. Furthermore, despite Shantae's excellent moveset and well-built levels, bossfights are very simple, and the overabundance of cures reduces them to compulsive spam of the basic attack. After all, it is much more convenient to take damage and take advantage of the many heals than to carry out the mechanics of the bossfight as expected. The balance of the main adventure is certainly positive, thanks also to concrete and interesting rewards in case you aim for completeness.
One game, many modes
As mentioned before, the Ultimate Edition also includes the various dlc's released for Shantae Half-Genie Hero. These additional contents are only treated as extra modes, selectable from the main menu and each of these with their own save slots. It will be possible to take control of some secondary characters of the game, (including the main villain) and alternate versions of the half-genius, experiencing adventures parallel to those of Shantae. These contents are all great, with intelligent and varied ideas of game design, which have the courage to detach themselves so much from the main game.
Taking control of Rysky Boots, Rottytops or Ninja Shantae is fun and unlike any other experience in the game. The presence of these alternate stories is therefore a positive and very welcome addition to the basic package, as well as an incentive to get closer to Shantae Half-Genie Hero. However, there are also two other game modes, the first is Hero Mode which will allow you to play the main adventure of the Half Genius with all the powers unlocked from the beginning. The second instead consists of a Hard Mode of the main story, certainly appreciable for those who want an extra challenge, but which only offers increased enemy damage and opponents with greater life.
Changing graphic style is never easy
One of the main changes in Half-Genie Hero from past titles is the change in visual style. What used to be pixel art games have now moved on to a style that takes advantage of high definition 2.5D graphics. This led to some positive notes, but also some details that can be improved. The animations of the protagonists are beautiful, curated and adorable. The new 2D models pass the test to all intents and purposes, but it was the backdrops that left us less satisfied. These are computer graphics backgrounds, which want to simulate a fake 3D environment, but which are quite bland and sometimes even poorly made.
But Shantae Half-Genie Hero's artistic limit is not limited to this. The overall design is mundane, excellent main protagonists and antagonists are opposed by generic enemies that are never memorable. However, this inconsistency is not reflected only in the sound sector, excellent from the first to the last level of the adventure.
Shantae Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition is proposed as a good Metroidvania, offering a lot of gameplay variety thanks to the expansions contained in this edition. Unfortunately, the exaggerated backtracking and some balancing problems limit the quality, but the title remains well above the sufficiency. The change of style has strengths and weaknesses that in the end do not shift the final balance.
