Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition

Mediocre platformer, just like the rest of the franchise. The only thing that sustains it is the eye catching character designs (and the way Shantae wiggles her butt while crouching). The rest? Bad stage design, terrible humor (the franchise has never been funny no matter how they try) and barely there character personalities. The best thing I can say? They at least made the final dungeon in this one not as trash and punishing as the one in Pirate's Curse. But then the very final section after all the bosses exists. It's horrible. Will the DLC save it? I'll find out, but I don't have high hopes. Edit 1; I'd like to thank the DLCs for etching into my brain the fact that stage 3-2, the Tassel Town tower, is the worst thing in the entire game. The very fact that they have Wilbur chasing you in every single one is proof that there is no such thing as a loving God. Edit 2; Officer Mode: In full spite of 3-2, officer mode is actually fun. It's a shame it's stuck in this game, but it makes the best of a poor setting. If this were the main game, I wouldn't complain (much). Jammies Mode: 3-2 is a massive wall. If you've played it, you know exactly where the absolute horrible level de…

I'm writing this as I am finishing up the more annoying achievements in the game (like getting all win screens from the extra modes) Ok so, HGH, I'd consider it the black sheep of the series, it's still great fun as a standalone game, but if you're more familiar with the other Shantae games, that's where I think this game does a few things worse than Risky's Revenge or Pirate's Curse, and if you are planning on doing the extra modes (like I am), you'll probably start noticing a few issues. First, I wanna start with the positives: - Artstyle works great, if you like a cheerful and colorful world, you'll definitely enjoy it - The cast is fun - Music, like usual, is phenomenal work, I'd say it's somewhat on par with Pirate's Curse - Gameplay for normal Shantae, Risky, Ninja Shantae are pretty fun, Risky plays somewhat the same as Shantae in Pirate's Curse (minus the dash and down thrust) and Shantae's transformations are fun to mess around with - Levels are for the most part, well made, they reward exploring with the transformations you find across them - Bosses are decent - It's speedrunner-friendly and the game motivates you to play fast like with other Metroidvanias - Decent challe…

It's my least favorite Shantae game so far. Gone is the open metroidvania level design. Instead, the game is a pretty middling linear platformer. One of the biggest issues with Half Genie Hero is that it has almost no identity of it's own. The entire thing is a rehash of old villains, with a plot that feels extremely by-the-numbers. The port also has a TON of issues, The game straight up does not function if you download and click play, which is insane for a game released during the PS4 generation. I had to mess with my driver settings for like half an hour to get it to run properly. On the positive side, the music is incredible (as expected of Jake Kaufman). The gameplay itself feels good as well, despite the uninteresting level design. I would not pay $30 dollars for this, but would still recommend it if you like the series. It was a pretty cozy playthrough.

Good

every hair on my body feels like it's erect every time I see giga mermaid, man she's truly beatiful

I got this on sale and even then it wasn't worth the money. The stages are far too short and there's so much recycling I'm surprised the game doesn't advertise itself as eco-friendly which it should because you'll be wanting to turn it off after just one hour to rest your head because there is NO MUSIC VOLUME CONTROL at all this bastardises the game's quite up beat music by having no option to turn it off or down so what would be a lovely little backing track turns into a head splitting nightmare that overstays it's welcome.