Half-Genie Hero is,in many ways,a change of pace for the series and its purple-haired heroine. Funded via Kickstarter,this fourth entry is the first not made with Nintendo handhelds in mind,dropping the retro aesthetic for a beautiful hand-drawn look. The entire game now looks like the detailed portrait art always has,allowing for heaps more expression from the colourful cast of characters (including a sassy zombie and an old woman blobfish) and the diverse roster of baddies (mostly woman-monster hybrids that are simultaneously cute and intimidating).
The detailed animations and magical,woman-dominated world have always been highlights of the Shantae games,but this truly feels like the ultimate expression of the original art.
Combined with the new look and expansion to new platforms,the soft-reboot nature of the game's story makes it really feel like an effort to find a broader audience. Series fans will notice that,even though there are a handful of tongue-in-cheek references hidden in the reliably funny dialogue,none of the events of the previous three games affect the narrative here.
In essence,this is an attempt to reframe the introductory tale of the original Game Boy Color game and all the series'main players within a noticeably tighter structure which one assumes will be the norm going forward.
Players assume the role of Scuttle Town's resident protector,half-genie and frequently bemused gal as she travels around Sequin Land solving mysteries and thwarting the plans of an array of bad guys,from arch-nemisis Risky Boots to fouth-wall-breaking Squid Baron. While previous games have taken place in open,interconnected spaces,Half-Genie Hero has you warping out to separate sprawling stages from the central hub town.
Far from being limiting,however,I found this made the gimmick of revisiting old places to uncover secrets better and more accessible than ever before.