Shantae, the Half Genie Protector of Scuttle Town! (A Switch To A New WayForward)

[Paragon-Yoshi]

No, I never draw anything myself. Here is their site: https://doodledstars.tumblr.com/

That's the second time I've been mistaken to be an artist on this site, even though it's commonplace for users to borrow art.

Well, I said so with a fair amount of skepticism, not expecting you to actually be the artist.
But either way, thanks for the link.

I knew that art looked familiar.
I actually have seen the work of that artist way back, when they did Splatoon stuff.

 

[Dukefire]

That and the screen crunch that can mess up of where you are going and landing. (unless you have the map of the world to guide yourself.)

 

[ProtoTwi]

This is the most chaotic thing I have ever seen. And I love it

But starting at about 4 minutes it goes from a gangplank galleon, to a Smash reference, then straight in to a Shantae song at about 4:47

I'm calling this the old spice "leak"

But the Shantae part made me. Laugh really hard

 

[Teeb147]

This is the most chaotic thing I have ever seen. And I love it

But starting at about 4 minutes it goes from a gangplank galleon, to a Smash reference, then straight in to a Shantae song at about 4:47

I'm calling this the old spice "leak"

But the Shantae part made me. Laugh really hard

I thought it was just the old one, but this version has a lot more going on in it XD
Kind of really impressive (but still super whacky :D)

Edit: Lol around late in the video (like 12 mins) there's touhou shiz

 

[SebTheGamer]

This is the most chaotic thing I have ever seen. And I love it

But starting at about 4 minutes it goes from a gangplank galleon, to a Smash reference, then straight in to a Shantae song at about 4:47

I'm calling this the old spice "leak"

But the Shantae part made me. Laugh really hard

..........What?! Oh my god why is it so damn fire?!

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

It seems Seven Sirens is getting more and more disliked as time goes on, similar to Breath of the Wild.
I really wonder why this is happening recently, to good games.

Seven Sirens I still liked a lot.
I really don't see a big problem with it. o_O

 

[Dukefire]

Maybe some people had so much repeating playthroughs, they got tired of it. Or those people that just does it for trolls and/or screwing with others.

 

[MattX20]

It seems Seven Sirens is getting more and more disliked as time goes on, similar to Breath of the Wild.
I really wonder why this is happening recently, to good games.

Seven Sirens I still liked a lot.
I really don't see a big problem with it. o_O

Seven Sirens I can definitely say was a lot more fun than Breath of the Wild. At least this game didn't have arbitrary BS like the item durability idiocy or whomever thought making the Master Sword "breakable" was a good idea.

 

[TDDolphin]

Goodbye everybody. It's been nice talking with you all...

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Goodbye everybody. It's been nice talking with you all...

Wait... You're leaving?! I'm sorry to hear that. I'll miss you dude.

 

[Lamperouge]

It seems Seven Sirens is getting more and more disliked as time goes on, similar to Breath of the Wild.
I really wonder why this is happening recently, to good games.

Seven Sirens I still liked a lot.
I really don't see a big problem with it. o_O

I personally thought the level design was extremely basic and uninteresting, the difficulty was nonexistent which in turn made the game a bit of a snooze to play through, and going after all the collectibles for 100% was a chore thanks to the Seer dance being required for a lot of things.

I had fun with it in parts, but I don't know if I think it's a good game.

 

[MattX20]

Goodbye everybody. It's been nice talking with you all...

Huh? Why're you leaving?

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

It seems Seven Sirens is getting more and more disliked as time goes on, similar to Breath of the Wild.
I really wonder why this is happening recently, to good games.

Seven Sirens I still liked a lot.
I really don't see a big problem with it. o_O

Review-bombing is something of a trend, just didn't expect it to happen for a game this niche.

Although in fairness this one mostly existed due to leftover budget from the HGH kickstarter anyway.

 

[Dukefire]

I see that WF may change up her appearance and the others for the next game when ready. Though, I see nothing wrong with the game regarding reviews.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

One of the biggest things that Seven Sirens did IMO, was that we finally got to see more Half-Genie's other than Shantae.
For real and without them being all fakers, unlike in all previous games...

And yet, most people seem to think they are all forgettable characters, that don't do anything.
The fact, that those characters are mostly forgotten by most people, despite these being the first genuine Half-Genie's we saw, other than Shantae...
That's just depressing...

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

In fairness, they all look great, but in terms of personality they don't have much, only Zapple and Harmony have anything noteworthy (Pinkle literally just has "my genie sense is tingling"). It would help if plot-wise they weren't DIDs (damsels-in-distress), but it is what it is.

Don't let it get to you though, it's not easy to write a big cast and have them all stand out personality-wise. Still more than the screentime 5 of the Sirens got...

At least they tried. One can't always expect to get something new done right the first time.

Spoiler

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

In fairness, they all look great, but in terms of personality they don't have much, only Zapple and Harmony have anything noteworthy (Pinkle literally just has "my genie sense is tingling"). It would help if plot-wise they weren't DIDs (damsels-in-distress), but it is what it is.

Don't let it get to you though, it's not easy to write a big cast and have them all stand out personality-wise. Still more than the screentime 5 of the Sirens got...

At least they tried. One can't always expect to get something new done right the first time.

Spoiler

Don't get me wrong. I don't hold it against the game.
In fact, I just find it sad that most people don't even remember these characters, when seeing other Half-Genies than just Shantae, was supposed to be Shantae's Big Break in a sense.
Only for them all to be pretty much overlooked and forgotten by everyone.

Pair that with the massive potential all of these new characters hold and it gets really frustrating.


Honestly though, I really would've loved an Expansion for this game, where these characters would've been playable.
Even Half-Genie Hero had multiple playable characters, with Risky, Sky, Bolo and Rottytops all being playable, even if just as side-content.
I really hope that concept makes a return eventually.

 

[SoupCanMafia]

Seven Sirens? As far as the game is concerned, it was not bad at all. However, I do feel that, yes, the level design was rather basic and the difficulty curve gets broken worse than the time Bane broke Batman's spine if you do a slight grind for enemies that drop food items. That being said, I do have some love for the music and some love for the new Half-Genie characters. And in terms of boss fights, the Sirens do have some interesting gimmicks, like with the Water Lily Siren and to an extent the Octo Siren. That's at least how I see it. I do have a bit more like for it than HGH, though they have their own merits that make them their own things.

 

[Teeb147]

Was there a review for seven sirens that wasn't good or something? where'd this come from

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Was there a review for seven sirens that wasn't good or something? where'd this come from

I don't really pay attention to reviews.

I've just been looking all over the net, as well as chatting with members of the Shantae Discord.
And most of the people say Seven Sirens is a rather weak entry in the series and nobody other than Shantae really does anything to stand out.
(Which admittedly is a flaw of the Shantae-series in general).
And most people I've seen or talked to, have completely forgotten about the other Half-Genie characters in Seven Sirens.
Which was just depressing to see. X_X

 

[meleebrawler]

I personally thought the level design was extremely basic and uninteresting, the difficulty was nonexistent which in turn made the game a bit of a snooze to play through, and going after all the collectibles for 100% was a chore thanks to the Seer dance being required for a lot of things.

I had fun with it in parts, but I don't know if I think it's a good game.

Nonexistent difficulty is a misnomer; have you seen the stuff you have to deal with in the final battle? I'd like to see anyone here last longer than 30 seconds without resorting to food or other recovery items. And it's long, too. It would be more appropriate to say Seven Sirens is a very forgiving game with the amount of resources at your disposal. When you get down to it, a lot of Wayforward's games are like this. If it's not giving you the potential to grind cash for however many tools and healing items you need to crush what stands in your way, they're following the Nintendo policy of having the main game be fairly simple and straightforward to finish, with far more brutal bonus challenges following (or in the absence of those, just have the final levels be a big difficulty spike like Super Mario Land 2). Oftentimes it's both, or the real challenge is in setting high scores rather than merely finishing.

As no-frills as the overworld for SS can be, frankly it still beats the "hallways of enemies" Pirate's Curse resorts to after the first island. The only thing it really has over the former is being more visually distinct.

Characters are who they are. When you've played as many metroidvanias as I have that start with M, you learn to find fun in reading between the lines to fill in characterization blanks. Especially when you know you can't control how much a developer wishes to use any given element; Wayforward is good about remembering even minor characters, but they're not into the business of (explicit) deep lore or backstories.

 

[Dukefire]

I know Christmas is over, but here is a Shantae Artwork for today.
Artist: gpwlghr123

Spoiler: image

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

I know Christmas is over, but here is a Shantae Artwork for today.
Artist: gpwlghr123

Spoiler: image

I guess some people do remember the Half-Genie's after all.
Glad to see that. : 3

To add to that, the voices I overheard generally regard Risky Boots as the best and most developed character in the series.
While everything else in Shantae, has the depth of a puddle.
At least according to said voices.

 

[Dukefire]

I think they may return depending on how WF and Matt decides how the next adventure goes.

Of course, their voices are to be desired, but we can build how it works on the imagination. Just like how Sakurai left us to our imagination on World of Light's story in Smash Ultimate.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Unless they have Oda-levels of advance planning, I honestly have a hard time seeing it. So far, none of the one-shot characters have had any reasons to come back, but more power to you I guess. I'll just focus on my hobbies until something interesting happens.

 

[Comedic Comrade]

Damn... TDDolphin left.

 

[meleebrawler]

Unless they have Oda-levels of advance planning, I honestly have a hard time seeing it. So far, none of the one-shot characters have had any reasons to come back, but more power to you I guess. I'll just focus on my hobbies until something interesting happens.

Well Squid and Hypno Baron didn't have any kind of plot beckoning them back but they did anyway. Isn't every single new character a one-shot until proven otherwise?

Some of the Sirens at least could fit in with established groups and villains, like Coral Siren with Twitch & Vinegar (another pair that you wouldn't think would make a second appearance based on their importance), or Anglerfish Siren with Hypno Baron, to make their inclusions feel less forced.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Well Squid and Hypno Baron didn't have any kind of plot beckoning them back but they did anyway. Isn't every single new character a one-shot until proven otherwise?

Basically. At least they're part of a "gang" of villains, we don't know how many characters this will apply to outside of them, especially since we'll most likely have to wait for another new console from Nintendo before we see the next installment.

 

[SebTheGamer]

Off-topic alert!

Hey guys so New Years will be coming tomorrow for you guys. It’s already New Year’s Eve today for me so I hope all of you guys to have a wonderful New Years 2021. Stay safe, set up some fireworks at home, have a really great time!

 

[Comedic Comrade]

I remember when some people here feared that more profitable characters would get picked instead of Shantae. Well, I'm here to shut those fears down.

If Nintendo cares more about characters considered profitable, then why are King K. Rool, Ridley and Banjo-Kazooie playable? Because they were hugely popular fan requests, much like our girl. They aren't characters you'd consider profitable, and yet here they are. If they could get in, she can too.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

I remember when some people here feared that more profitable characters would get picked instead of Shantae. Well, I'm here to shut those fears down.

If Nintendo cares more about characters considered profitable, then why are King K. Rool, Ridley and Banjo-Kazooie playable? Because they were hugely popular fan requests, much like our girl. They aren't characters you'd consider profitable, and yet here they are. If they could get in, she can too.

So doing what the fans want is not profitable? :/

 

[SebTheGamer]

I remember when some people here feared that more profitable characters would get picked instead of Shantae. Well, I'm here to shut those fears down.

If Nintendo cares more about characters considered profitable, then why are King K. Rool, Ridley and Banjo-Kazooie playable? Because they were hugely popular fan requests, much like our girl. They aren't characters you'd consider profitable, and yet here they are. If they could get in, she can too.

Steve was also bit of fan requested and there he is too. I don’t know about Arms. I think little bit as well and Sephiroth. Geno was fan requested for over 10 years but Nintendo and Square had their reasons about Geno being a Mii so looks like Shantae is the only one left.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I think Geno is a bit too weird of a legal half-breed to include easily as of currently. Maybe if we run out of Mario and SE characters to include, but until then...

Though at least he came with spirits, Hyrule Warriors still has bupkis even though it's a collaboration between Nintendo and Koei Tecmo.

That being said, the pass isn't over yet, so just be patient. We can't be certain of what'll happen next, seeing as even Pass 1 eventually got a request known mostly by the hardcore scene.

 

[Comedic Comrade]

So doing what the fans want is not profitable? :/

Absolutely not what I implied. I was referring to how people here thought that characters who are considered profitable would be picked instead of Shantae, and I am just shutting down those fears.

 

[okamifire]

I definitely think Shantae stands a chance but I am again putting this out there that Shantae as a series really hasn't sold anywhere near the volume that all of the other franchises represented as DLC have. She does have a nice fanbase, but it's a pretty specific one. And of course sales don't mean everything, but sales are a direct way that a company can tell how many people are playing their products. For reference, if you're using Banjo-Kazooie as the non-profitable pick, the original N64 game sold 3.6 million, which is more than Shantae's entire franchise. (Which was announced to be 3 Mil over the summer.) There is at least a direct sequel to the original too, and an Xbox 360 game that not a lot of people like to talk about, hah.

Ridley and K. Rool are first party and weren't sold, but Metroid Series is 18+ Million sales and the Donkey Kong Country games where K. Rool was a villain are all over 3 million each with the original being closer to 10.

I love Shantae and she's a great character, but she really isn't comparable imo to any of the ones you mentioned, even Banjo-Kazooie. (Though it's at least in a similar vein.) I think her chances aren't terrible for DLC, or a character in future Smash games, but she'd be one of those horses with unfavorable odds if you were a betting person for sure.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

: Good morning everyone! How are we doing this morning? I'm feeling good, fine and all so charming!

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Generally speaking, money will still roll in regardless of who gets in. The only way for any character not to be profitable is if it's a character that absolutely no one likes, and even got buyers at first. It's difficult for me to think of a video game character that's universally disliked besides Adam Malkovich.

Only thing that is certain is that besides whatever characters that Nintendo suggested being prioritized by Sak, it's likely that Crash might get in at some point, since he is both a hardcore demand and a character whose series is currently profitable.

In the meantime, if Shantae isn't getting in, it would be nice to know if SSS is getting a spirit event eventually. Surely it wouldn't be that difficult to negotiate for that, when we keep seeing filler event after filler event?

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Generally speaking, money will still roll in regardless of who gets in. The only way for any character not to be profitable is if it's a character that absolutely no one likes, and even got buyers at first. It's difficult for me to think of a video game character that's universally disliked besides Adam Malkovich.

Only thing that is certain is that besides whatever characters that Nintendo suggested being prioritized by Sak, it's likely that Crash might get in at some point, since he is both a hardcore demand and a character whose series is currently profitable.

In the meantime, if Shantae isn't getting in, it would be nice to know if SSS is getting a spirit event eventually. Surely it wouldn't be that difficult to negotiate for that, when we keep seeing filler event after filler event?

I could see a Shantae Spirit event if she isn't playable since we are missing Rotty Tops, Bolo, Sky, and Uncle Mimic Spirits from the game.

 

[Comedic Comrade]

Did anyone notice that The Art of Shantae was supposed to be released on December 1st but got pushed back to March 30th, 2021?

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Did anyone notice that The Art of Shantae was supposed to be released on December 1st but got pushed back to March 30th, 2021?

Aku: Really?! Excellent!