This was my first Shantae game and I think this will be my last. The reasons this was not a game for me is because:
- The pacing on the game was so slow in the beginning
- The level design I feel was above average at best
- The back tracking is awful (I know its a metroidvania) but how it was done, turned my off the genre for over a year
- How Shantae was portrayed, feminist would have a field day with this if they knew...
In saying this, I feel the jump and attack mechanics works really well and was satisfying. I liked the ability to morph to different animals (shame how it was implemented via the control scheme) and the graphics was REALLY nice. I was interested due to the morphs and graphics, but don't let pretty visuals fool you. I see the effort made to the game. I tried to like the game but couldn't. There are much better metroidvanias out there. This was the only game I have actually deleted from my Switch

This won't exactly be a review - I loved this game, but what I thought would be interesting to do would be to compare it to another game I love, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. Through the comparison, I can look at the game's strengths and weaknesses. Let's see which is better!

Pro Pirate's Curse:

PC's dungeons were excellent cappers to the levels. HGH has more variety in its level structure, but I loved the big finales that the labyrinthian, challenging, puzzling dungeons offered to each island, testing your skills and offering new abilities.

Progression in PC is a lot more streamlined. HGH sometimes feels in over its head with the backtracking, requiring too many visits with too many abilities that are hard to keep track of. PC proves less is more, as I was actually capable of keeping mental notice of different secrets I couldn't access yet, which proved unfeasible in HGH.

PC's writing is a lot better. While HGH has its moments, PC manages to be consistently hilarious and endlessly charming. I loved most characters and jokes a lot.



Pro Half-Genie Hero:

The visuals in HGH are far more appealing. Don't get me wrong, the pixel art in PC is great, but the backgrounds are all clearly high-def images that were auto-downscaled and look very rough, the particle effects use bad-looking scaling effects, and the UI, especially with the fonts, can often look cheap and unprofessional. HGH fixes all of these, with its beautiful and expressive character sprites, detailed 3D environments, sleek UI and a greater level of polish.

The OST is somehow even better. PC's soundtrack was already phenomenal, yet Kauffman has outdone himself here, delivering absolute nonstop bangers no matter what, using the higher fidelity sound the new style afforded him to great effect.

As I said before, HGH has more variety in its levels, and even though it lacks dungeons, this can be a strength too. It particularly shines with its setpieces, which are grander than any seen in the series before. It is immensely creative.

HGH is just more consistent to me. PC had some very high highs but it hit some lows on quite a few occasions which held it back. HGH is almost always a banger, as Way Forward really perfected the craft.

So, what's my conclusion? Well... I liked HGH a bit more! I feel most of the points for it, the latter 2 in particular, were a real deciding factor for me. The game managed to just be brilliant basically all the time. But I still love both.

Has the usual positives of the series with great animation and detail, more simple but fun gameplay and stage design, and fun characters.

This time along with the usual magic and hair attacks there are multiple creature transformations you can take with different attacks and dance abilities. You can also easily farm money for upgrades if you want an easier time and you can switch off upgrades and skills to make it more difficult. A hardcore mode for more of a challenge.

Like the previous game, this one has some issues with backtracking but going back to stages can change enemies and the transformations can make things a bit more interesting in how you get around. Unfortunately, some of those transformations are really only used to get extra items and are either fairly useless for anything else to begin with or are made mostly useless by other forms. The game is also very short and feels it and the DLC is very overpriced unless you have just gotten the Ultimate Edition.

defintely a step down from pirates curse, despite some of the improvements it makes.

best way to sum it up is this:

PROS:
- Visuals look much better
- Still lots of fun
- Soundtrack is still fantastic
- More modes and ways to play the game
- Some of the transformations feel super fun
- Still lots of personality, maybe even more so than Pirates Curse

CONS:
- Suuuuuper easy
- Feels really short
- Goes over the top with backtracking
- NPCs directly telling you what to do ruins feels cheap and ruins any chance at immersion
- Collectables feel less rewarding to collect, especially the switch to "Heart Containers" instead of the Heart Squids
- Lackluster and confusing final boss
- Story a downgrade over pirates curse
- A handful of the dances feel completely useless

Why a not give it a lower score? Because Shantae is just plain fun regardless if it messes up in a lot of aspects.