Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a very fun, albeit very flawed game. The core game is well done. Platforming and controls are tight and Shantae is a joy to control. The game starts off hard, but gets way easier the more you upgrade yourself. The upgrades and different dances you can do break the game the further you find/upgrade them but most are very fun to use. The dances I actually got a use out of most of them in regular gameplay. Your curiosity also pays off with your exploration often netting you some cool stuff. The game looks fantastic with well done 3D backgrounds and amazing 2D drawn characters. It also sounds great with good sound effects and an infectious soundtrack. The boss fights are also very well done with each challenging your skills.
Now, for the flawed parts of the game. The game is short, very short actually. It took me 6ish hours to 100% the main game. The journey of 100% completion was very comfortable actually but the main game is clearly struggling to be any longer with actually cool stuff. What I mean is half this game feels like a fetch quest, because it essentially is. In order for you to unlock new areas, you are required to visit previous areas and use your new abilities to get what certain characters ask for. That's pretty typical for most medtroidvania type games, but the way it is done here irks me. It's VERY clear this is here to simply pad out the game. The levels themselves are also cool to explore and platform in, but their level design tends to be very basic. Furthermore, the writing tends to be very cheesy at times with a story that is all over the fucking place. I did not give a single ♥♥♥♥ about these characters and what was happening because the game kept jumping from plot point to plot point with no real clarity as to why.
The only side modes I played is actually just pirate queen's quest which is a blast. Using Risky's load out from The Pirate's Curse game is just as great as it was there. The campaign is shorter and filled with awesome stuff to upgrade your current stuff with that turns Risky into much more of a fun character. Highly recommend this one. I can't say the same praise for the other modes as I have not played them, but I assume they are mostly all of high quality.
Half-Genie Hero is a step down from The Pirate's Curse but that does not stop it from being a great game. It has flaws, but the core game still remained incredibly fun to me. Plus there's a lot of extra side stuff for you to play around with!
Now, for the flawed parts of the game. The game is short, very short actually. It took me 6ish hours to 100% the main game. The journey of 100% completion was very comfortable actually but the main game is clearly struggling to be any longer with actually cool stuff. What I mean is half this game feels like a fetch quest, because it essentially is. In order for you to unlock new areas, you are required to visit previous areas and use your new abilities to get what certain characters ask for. That's pretty typical for most medtroidvania type games, but the way it is done here irks me. It's VERY clear this is here to simply pad out the game. The levels themselves are also cool to explore and platform in, but their level design tends to be very basic. Furthermore, the writing tends to be very cheesy at times with a story that is all over the fucking place. I did not give a single ♥♥♥♥ about these characters and what was happening because the game kept jumping from plot point to plot point with no real clarity as to why.
The only side modes I played is actually just pirate queen's quest which is a blast. Using Risky's load out from The Pirate's Curse game is just as great as it was there. The campaign is shorter and filled with awesome stuff to upgrade your current stuff with that turns Risky into much more of a fun character. Highly recommend this one. I can't say the same praise for the other modes as I have not played them, but I assume they are mostly all of high quality.
Half-Genie Hero is a step down from The Pirate's Curse but that does not stop it from being a great game. It has flaws, but the core game still remained incredibly fun to me. Plus there's a lot of extra side stuff for you to play around with!