Massive open-world 3D games are lovely, but watching presentations for dozens of them over the course of three days is exhausting. The trailer for the latest instalment of Wayforward Technologies’ Shantae series is exactly the refreshment I need.
I enjoy wandering vast three-dimensional worlds as much as the next gamer, but I look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Watch Dogs 2 — any game that involves open-world exploration, really — and I get a little apprehensive. That’s a lot of ground to cover.
Sometimes I want to just go right. Maybe a little left, some up and some down on a single axis, but mostly right. I know where my goal is, and I can focus on taking out enemies, avoiding obstacles and maybe transforming into an elephant or monkey.
So thank goodness for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, due out September 27 for PlayStations, Xboxen, Wii U and PC.
I look at this and think here is a game I can finish. Here is a game where I know where I stand at all times, and while most of those times I’ll be standing in danger, I’m just a jump or a hair-flip away from… well, more danger, most likely, but that’s OK. It’s very pretty danger.
Welp, that worked. I’m feeling energised and ready to face E3 day whichever. Celebratory dance time.
Comments
7 responses to “It’s The Perfect Time For Some 2D Platforming”
Elephant Shantae in the trailer just won me over….
A plat-former foreground over a struggling chained up anime girl in a shell bikini in the background?
No thanks.
Don’t let the semi-blatant fan service fool you. The Shantae series is a platforming series with a lot of heart, charm, and humour, along with being one of the most mechanically solid platformers I’ve ever played. Going to take a stab that the chained up mermaid is actually in the middle of being freed by our half-genie hero, and will be the source of the mermaid transformation, rather than just “background titties”.
This. You can see Shantae is attacking the locks that are keeping her captured.
Picked up Pirate’s Curse as part of that recent Humble Bundle and haven’t been able to put it down. Such a great game. A+++ would Shantae again.
Fuck yeah WayForward!
XBoxen? Is that a Brian Regan reference?
“What’s the plural for ox? Oxen. What’s the plural for box? Uh…. Boxen”