2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

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VideoGameCritic
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2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 22nd, 2017, 10:14 am

I couldn't help but notice my impressions of this game were practically identical to the IGN review. Except for some reason they only gave it an 8. Thoughts?

CharlieR
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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby CharlieR » January 22nd, 2017, 10:46 am

nice. Looks like this has all the makings of an old school platformer. What would you compare the gameplay to?

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby ESauce » January 22nd, 2017, 10:48 am

I've noticed that game publications often seem afraid of giving a game a 10 unless it is a AAA title with 40 hours or more of gameplay. Shovel knight, Paper Mario Color Splash and this title are recent games that I've seen no flaws noted in reviews, but then they arbitrarily don't get a 10. It's as though there's now a rule against giving a 10 to a game unless it's Zelda, Grand Theft Auto or Metal Gear solid

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 22nd, 2017, 11:35 am

I think you're right Esauce. I think a lot of other sites base their grades on the impact it will have on advertisers. After all, EA makes big expensive games and buys ads. How would it look to have a small budget title get better ratings?

That's why I started this site. I'm cutting through all that BS and judging games on what's really important: fun!

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby velcrozombie » January 22nd, 2017, 12:22 pm

You mentioned Shovel Knight in your review - Shovel Knight was developed by Yacht Club Games, a company founded by Sean Velasco, the former director of Wayforward Technologies...the company that develops the Shantae games. I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

I got the game for the WiiU about a week ago. Although I haven't played it yet, I too was surprised to find a manual with a bunch of colorful illustrations. While I'm not as sad about the death of manuals as you are (most recent manuals are kinda dull and most games today are fairly self-explainatory) it's nice to see one that's actually fun to page through.

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Rev
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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby Rev » January 22nd, 2017, 1:19 pm

This is a great game although I don't know if it is A+ worthy. Still, I'm glad you loved it! You should try the 3rd game in the series. It is often considered the best game of the 4 Shantae games. It was released physically for the PS4 although it was on a limited run.

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby eneuman96 » January 22nd, 2017, 2:07 pm

ESauce wrote:I've noticed that game publications often seem afraid of giving a game a 10 unless it is a AAA title with 40 hours or more of gameplay. Shovel knight, Paper Mario Color Splash and this title are recent games that I've seen no flaws noted in reviews, but then they arbitrarily don't get a 10. It's as though there's now a rule against giving a 10 to a game unless it's Zelda, Grand Theft Auto or Metal Gear solid



What about Bayonetta 2 or Journey or Undertale? There's no conspiracy about 10/10 scores, it's just that reviewers are often reluctant to give them out except on very rare occasions where they feel the game does everything nearly perfectly. If you're not convinced that a review score can stir up a bunch of controversy and vitriol, just look at the comments section of an IGN review. Hell, the VGC himself has only given a handful of games an A+ because very few games are worthy of such a grade.

Also, I've seen quite a bit of criticism for Paper Mario: Color Splash.

On the subject of Shantae: I think the other games in the series are definitely worth a try, though getting physical copies of the original game (Game Boy Color) and Risky's Revenge (PS4) are very pricey due to them getting limited runs. Pirate's Curse has a relatively affordable 3DS version, though for the other two you may be better off getting them on the 3DS eShop and PlayStation Store.

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby ESauce » January 22nd, 2017, 11:38 pm

I wasn't really saying there was a conspiracy, though there could be underhanded reasons 10/10 isn't given to some games. I still think it's true that reviewers are hesitant to give out 10/10 grades for games they have no criticisms for. In fact, maybe the fear of controversy is why they don't.

Also, I wasn't saying Color Splash, Shovel Knight or the latest Shantae are free of faults, just that I had read reviews that only had glowingly positive praise for the games, yet didn't award them 10/10, which is bizarre to me.

And in fact, though the critic does not give out a ton of A+ scores I appreciate that he reserves the score primarily for the games that are the most fun to play, not the ones that are the most epic (Metal Gear Solid 5-great but very flawed) or look like works of art (Journey-frankly not fun to play). I have no problem with epics or artistic games, but fun should be primary in my mind.

When I see a perfect score on another site I'm not sure I'll really even like the game, but I've really never been let down by a game the Critic gave an A+. I'm really looking forward to playing this Shantae game now.

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby MrLuck87 » January 23rd, 2017, 4:47 am

I'm not trying to insult people's gaming skills but saying, "You'll be going through continues by the dozen!" made me laugh pretty hard. Seriously, if this game is challenging then what in the world do you consider easy?!!?!? I never even came close to dying once!

Notable moments making this one of the easiest games I've ever played include:

-Tree Dance towards the beginning of the game that gives you 9 extra pieces of fruit (health)
-Gem Dance giving you unlimited money very early on
-Lots of potions available in the store
-Fireball giving you gator steaks early on if you need even more health
-Bikini Armor making you take 1/2 as much damage
-Pike Ball making every enemy, including bosses, die extremely fast
-Turning into a bat or harpy and literally flying over a good chunk of the level (I did this in both the last half of the desert and haunted level)
-Literally having infinite magic so you are invincible, yes invincible, for the final level of the game. Even if you don't have infinite magic by that point you should still have enough magic to be invincible for most of the final level.

Did you just not visit the item shop for the entire game?

There's too much backtracking and not enough challenge for me to give this an A+. It's more like a solid B that everyone should still play because games like this just aren't made anymore. I'm glad you enjoyed it but it feels like a huge step backwards compared to the previous game. You should definitely get Pirate's Curse for 3ds ASAP.

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Re: 2017/1/22: Wii U: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Postby CaptainCruch » January 23rd, 2017, 4:52 am

If you like this game, I think you really also should give a try to Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (available as download for the Wii U or as download and retail for the 3DS). That game also offers classic platformer, nice retro graphics and fantastisc music.


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