Playing the Early Access Backer Build right now. There is a consistent crash that occurs if you attempt to remap the buttons from the Options menu. Strange.
Can't wait/nervous to see how my artwork ended up looking like. Yikes!
I'm really enjoying this game. Like another poster said, it's pretty formulaic, as you go back to old levels with new powers, but it's fun. I found the bat transformation (doesn't seem essential) and it seems like it kinda breaks game lol. It made some platforming segments really trivial in the desert level haha. Really enjoying the music and art style. Really fun seeing these old characters again. Just beat the race level which I think was level 4?
The game's structure is very similar. You go through a level, go to town and talk to people, do fetch quest, go back to town, go to another level. Shantae's powers are more like in the GBC game and Risky's Revenge. There's no Pirate moves with regular Shantae. The level design is pretty different. The levels are not like a sidescrolling Zelda dungeon, they're more like a Mega Man X levels, where you just do platforming and kill enemies and go straight through to a boss, then you can come back and get hidden stuff when you have new powers. The world is connected in pretty much the same way as PC. You choose stages from an overworld map menu. But this time all the getting to another area by just walking there stuff is gone. You can't just walk out of the town into the fields and then the forest to get to the castle or anything like that.
Is there any downside to getting the wiiU version of this? I played the Pirate's Curse on the wiiU and it just seems right to get it on a Nintendo console.
I've had fun with the game so far (just beat the 4th stage) but I'm only just realizing that, since it's not final, there's no achievements for meeting various challenges and it will have to redone again at some point if you care about those.
Unless WayForward can get them to trigger the ones you've met retroactively after the update. Not sure if that's a thing capable on Steam.
Mouse dance is some shit. I can't believe stage 2's level design incorporated a mini-maze to traverse just for this form. That's one way to hide goodies in plain sight. Damn if one of the entrances wasn't a pain to spot, if you're not playing this on a large screen it could be very easy to miss. And that waterfall didn't help either.
I think I'm going to stop playing for now and just wait for the last game. I've gotten so much stuff that I really dont want to redo once the real game comes out, but I'll do it anyways lol.
I think they're allowed to change up the formula with each game... they seem to be going for more of a Mega Man X -esque feel with the stages (as said previously). I'm actually somewhat surprised to hear how much people liked the dungeons, though. I didn't think they were anything special and am not sad to see them gone.
I just finished it. I had a little over 10 hours on the clock and 89% of the items. I think I could do like 6 knowing where things are. It's not that big of a game. I unlocked Hero mode, which gives you the main transformations from the start. I guess some of the extra stuff, like Risky Boots mode, are coming later as DLC. It looks like the chapter stretch goals are just part of the main game.
I thought it was good. I don't think it's as good as Pirate's Curse, but it's fun. I wish there were dungeons. The whole game is just action platforming with stuff hidden around the levels, but there's no puzzles, keys, switches, or anything like that. I hope the next game goes back to being a Metroidvania.
, about 9 hours and 92% items. I gotta go get the rest of them and get the
good ending
. I wonder how you unlock
the other bonus pictures
...
I really enjoy that there was a different structure to this one compared to the other ones, and pirate's curse was different, too.
I really wish Shantae could have been fully funded, because the game actually delivered on what they promised and I'm super impressed with what we got. Animated cutscenes and the 2 extra levels would have been awesome (I wonder what 2 other forms we would have gotten....succubus woulda been fun.)
It feels like the endgame sort of condensed the nega shantae stuff into a cutscene since they couldn't give it its own chapter, and risky being absent so long probably would have been more interesting with her big goofy moon thing going throughout the other chapters like with the red hair genie's stuff. I wonder if anything got cut....it's kind of fun how videogamey shantae gets about videogame murders in some parts. Really great jokes throughout the game. I feel like if they'd had more funding we would have had more punch to the stages with cutscenes and interstitial and such. (After the duo barons fight shantae mentions going home to have a bath but it cuts to mimic's workshop instead??? I wonder if there was a cut scene to keep the rating down or something. Pirate's Curse was a bit thicker on the sex appeal than this game was, not that I'm knocking it or anything...)
Really fantastic game though. Thouroghly enjoyed every moment. You get god mode powers if you really get as much as you can....and I did kind of use a super big cheat to get through the ending. If you don't buy potions or get the SUPER ITEM the game is probably more balanced for difficulty though. The potions really make it easy though.
Can't wait for the full version and all the other characters and outfits to come out.
It's more of an action game and it's cool I feel. You still use all your powers to figure out how to get items and powerups in creative ways. The levels aren't just straight lines, and as you get more dances you can explore levels in different ways (and the warp spell really makes looking for items much more fun) My favorite thing is that after you beat a level it changes in ways that make revisiting more interesting.
I really wish it was more of an action game but the level design is still toothless in that metroidvania way, so removing the dungeons feels like a big loss. I don't necessarily need these games to be metroidvanias or action/adventure games but I'd rather they commit to making a genuine action game with better level design than this weird in-between thing--it doesn't feel like an action game with a heavy exploration element, it feels like an action/adventure with the action sucked out.
I also think they went overboard with the fetch quests--the backtracking is fine but I'd rather be collecting things that actually matter and aren't just macguffins.
One other thing I realised is that I much prefer the Pirate Curse-style equipment upgrades to the transformations, but Risky Boots is apparently going to work that way so it's nice that we'll be able to enjoy both approaches when the time comes.
Glad the release is locked! I wonder how far out the costumes and extra characters will be. (Hopefully we get some of it within a month of release!) I'm thinking of replaying 1 2 and 3 while I wait (with the little free time I have, by the time I finish 1-3, they'll probably have all the extra content done for 4!)
----------------------------------------------------- Shantae is Ret-2-Go! 27 Comments December 20th is Digital Launch!
This is it - the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The digital version of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero now has an official release date of December 20!
This release includes:
Steam for Window PC - worldwide
Xbox One - worldwide
PS4 & Vita - North America & Europe
Wii U - North America & Europe (awaiting final confirmation)
If you’re curious about the retail versions, look to Xseed for an announcement shortly! Spread the word! Half-Genie Hero is just a couple of weeks away!
Backer Codes!
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! We’ll start distributing Backer Codes next week! Keep an eye on your inbox (and make sure you’re looking at the email address you funded with)!
Please note that for some consoles, the codes are TIME STAMPED to activate on December 12th. So, when you enter the code, it might not activate immediately. This works just a like a timed release for any digital pre-order. If the clock flips to December 13th Pacific Standard Time, and your code still doesn’t work, then it’s time to hit up WayForward support.
On that topic - We expect WayForward Support to be slammed for the first several days, as this is the biggest indie game launch we’ve ever had! So if you’re looking for an immediate answer to your question, we’d suggest checking out our WayForums first to see if other Backers have experienced and/or solved your particular concern. Shantae Backers have been a great help to one another when dealing with up-to-the-minute info. If you go the WayForward support route, please understand that we’re expecting a lot of email traffic, and it will take some time to get to everyone.
If you love the game and just want to send a friendly note, please do so via social media, and help us keep the support lines as clear as possible!
Press Codes!
We will distribute review codes to gaming press once our Backers have been served. We expect those to go out sometime between Dec 14 and Dec 20.
Thank you!
Thanks again to all of our Backers! We can't wait for you all to play the game. And thank you, too, to Early Access Backers who have been streaming the game and helping to promote over the last few days!
December 20th is your day to celebrate the launch of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero!
Not sure if I understand the structure of this game. I understand it has no dungeons, but is it still a metroidvania? Does it have a similar structure to something like Guacamelee?
Not sure if I understand the structure of this game. I understand it has no dungeons, but is it still a metroidvania? Does it have a similar structure to something like Guacamelee?
FWIW: They did mention the possibility of creating the unmet stretch goal content as DLC should the game do well enough to justify the cost of development.
FWIW: They did mention the possibility of creating the unmet stretch goal content as DLC should the game do well enough to justify the cost of development.
So I was checking my Amazon orders and it looks like the physical copies of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero are releasing on the 13th of December. My copies are going to be shipped on Friday. Didn't know it was coming so soon haha!
For what it's worth, I finally got around to beating the backer build. Got both bad and good endings, ultimately finished w/ 100% Item collection and a little over 7 hours on the clock. I can probably pare that down significantly by avoiding revisiting levels after every new power-up and just waiting until I actually need to revisit stages to save time.
One of Shantae's spells, when maxed out and used in conjunction with the special item you get for finding all the gallery keys, completely trivializes the final battles. Oops.
One of Shantae's spells, when maxed out and used in conjunction with the special item you get for finding all the gallery keys, completely trivializes the final battles. Oops.
To be honest, unless it's SUPER easy and not very time-consuming to do that, I always view when games have that sort of thing happen to be rewarding you for a job well done. I mean, look at getting the hadoken or shoryuken in the first 2 MMX games. Hell, the gold chip in X3.
So I was checking my Amazon orders and it looks like the physical copies of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero are releasing on the 13th of December. My copies are going to be shipped on Friday. Didn't know it was coming so soon haha!
Whew! That's great to hear. I'm pretty sure this is going to be waiting for me under someone's Christmas tree, and a delay till after the holidays wouldn't have been any fun.
Whew! That's great to hear. I'm pretty sure this is going to be waiting for me under someone's Christmas tree, and a delay till after the holidays wouldn't have been any fun.
Well, here's the weird thing. Both GameStop and Amazon say that all three versions of the game released on the 20th, but when I look at my order info the games are shipping tomorrow and will arrive on the 13th. 7 days before the supposed release date. I'm kinda confused haha.
To be honest, unless it's SUPER easy and not very time-consuming to do that, I always view when games have that sort of thing happen to be rewarding you for a job well done. I mean, look at getting the hadoken or shoryuken in the first 2 MMX games. Hell, the gold chip in X3.
The first two were 1HKO attacks that required a certain amount of skill and timing to utilize effectively. The gold chip was just several passive upgrades that improved your survival rate but weren't quite as broken or as simple to use as what 1/2 Genie Hero offers:
almost complete and unlimited invulnerability at the whim of a button press