Shantae: Risky's Revenge: Director's Cut, very slow but with heart

 

One of the most talked about multiplatform indie sagas in recent years has been Way Forward's Shantae and today we will analyze Shantae: Risky's Revenge, the second installment of the saga, only in its Director's Cut already available on all platforms but today we analyze the version of Nintendo's old console, Wii U.

The story leaves us in Scuttle Town at the treasure hunters' expo, where Shantae's uncle, Mimic, displays a magic lamp, which is then stolen by the pirate Risky and her crew. Bolo, Sky, and she fight Risky and his subjects, and Risky manages to escape. At that moment, the mayor fires Shantae from her job as the half-human, half-genie defender of Scuttle Town. Immediately afterward, Mimic reveals that for the lamp's power to work, Risky must have gone to collect the three magic seals that activate it when joined together. Shantae discovers that the three seals are protected by Lords threatened by Risky, and she will have to obtain them by passing through them. Throughout the story, Shantae sees her friends betray each other because of Risky.

This includes a variety of characters with very different personalities, although they don't develop much throughout the story and serve mainly as advisors in case we get stuck. In addition, we have a rather entertaining villain named Risky, who is the classic Shantae villain, a fierce pirate ready to do anything to get what she wants. On the other hand, the story of the three seals, each with a Lord waiting under Risky's orders, is an interesting way to get to know these three characters we'll have to fight. It's an interesting story, but it doesn't really evolve much, and it's quite simple.

On the other hand, the gameplay is much simpler than the story. Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut is a simple 2D platformer where you use your ponytail to attack enemies and gradually unlock special magical powers based on fireballs, lightning, and poison gas. The seals will be found in different dungeons, where you'll have to use transformations (monkey, elephant, and mermaid) that you'll acquire in those same dungeons to complete them. There will also be mini-dungeons scattered throughout the map and a challenge tower where you can defeat many enemies and a boss in less than 10 minutes.

The gameplay isn't very engaging; the dungeons and boss battles are fun, but the maps themselves aren't very clear, and it's much slower than any 2D platformer. Although the magic and transformations speed things up, it's generally very tiring, especially when you play for a long time in a row.

On the other hand, the Challenge Tower doesn't stand out in any way other than giving you a headache when you're searching for the next story and stumble upon it, thinking it has something to do with it to get you a rather absurd prize. A major gameplay flaw worth highlighting is that when you kill enemies, you move away a bit, and the enemies reappear as if nothing had happened.

The game's graphics maintain the retro essence that characterized the series until the recently released fourth and fifth installments and have a very original and distinctive style. The music also reflects the game's retro style, but it has a major problem: it becomes overly repetitive, with the pieces being too similar.

With all this, this installment of the Shantae saga has a story that is quite simple, while the gameplay is quite entertaining with magic and transformations, absolutely everything else is quite slow, tiring and chaotic, from the beginning to the end and thank goodness the characters give you some clues as to where to go, no matter how ambiguous, because that will not stop you from having to look at a guide again and again and again because you are tired of going around in circles. The graphics are perfect for the game but the music becomes a bit repetitive as it is very similar to each other. It is a good game even with its problems.

Worst parts of the game

• The story lacks real consistency.
• The gameplay is too slow and has too many unnecessary twists and turns.
• The soundtrack is tiresome.

Best parts of the game

• The transformations make the gameplay a complex puzzle that's fun to solve in the dungeons.
• The retro art design blends beautifully to create beautiful worlds.

Score

5.5