Gaming vs the Backlog: Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse

I have been meaning to play and finish a Shantae title for a long time—and now I have! I 100%-completed Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse in 11:59:54 hours on my beloved modded New Nintendo 3DS XL. The game was developed by WayForward and published by them in Europe in 2015.

I play the eponymous half-genie Shantae who attacks enemies with her hair. I would call this game a Zelda-like, as I have to visit dungeons, find a powerful item, and use it to slay the dungeon’s boss and progress in the game world.

Boss fights are epic.

Shantae spikes this recipe with a wide range of consumable items, plenty of jump’n’run segments, and hilarious humor. Characters constantly reference older entries in the Shantae series or comment on themselves being part of a video game. Both allies and enemies are pleasantly ambiguous which elevates an otherwise unremarkable story to a memorable and fun experience.

I will become the best intermediate boss of all time, Squid Baron yells. The German localization is rock-solid.

Pace and difficulty of the game are perfect, which kept me in a nice state of flow. I always knew where to go next, thanks to the mini map on the bottom screen, and each boss took me 1–3 tries. Sure, there are some challenging platforming passages and you have to be attentive to catch all hints in the dialog with NPCs. But all in all, the game is on the easier side and far from being unfair or frustrating. It was fun to 100% the game by finding all 20 cursed Cacklebats—necessary to get the good ending—and 32 heart squids—necessary to increase max health.

The obligatory proof that I finished the game. The credits include some adorable stills.

★★★★☆

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