Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero: Time to dance

Time to do a follow up to the first impressions post, which you can find here: http://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/opening-impressions-shantae-12-genie.html . This isn't going to be too much longer, mainly because it turned out I was actually further into the game then I thought I was. I haven't gone back yet to do a New game plus run yet, as unlike Fire Emblem fates, I'm letting it simmer a bit before going back to it. So, care to dance through the danger?

A full explanation of the plot, there is an overarching idea to the plot, but its feels more like an episodic adventure. The main plot involves Risky Boots trying to corrupt the magic in the genie realm by swapping Uncle Mimic's blueprints for a Dynamo, a device that was intended to help protect Scuttle town, with one of her own design. As the device is unknowingly built by his own hands, Mimic relies on the help of Shantae to find parts for the "Dynamo", including a Zombie Hamster. But as she looks for the components, Shantae keeps getting called into action to stop the other villains on the loose, including Techno Barron and his plan of selling fake mermaids because he couldn't find enough real ones, Holly who's feeding memories to a monster to try and keep herself alive, as she was once a idol in a long lost civilization, Ammo Barron who wants to turn all the magic carpets into uniforms for his soldiers to have a flying army, and Hypno Barron who wants to franchise out Squid Barron, because think of the merchandise! Though now that I think about it, I'd buy at least a whole Shantae line of amiibos. Eventually Risky reveals her plan, and so you have to stop her and the Dynamo which she turns into something "That totally isn't referencing Mother Brain from Metroid". Eventually, the machine is destroyed, the world is saved, and Shantae gets a new pet in the form of the Zombie Hamster. On its own, the story is ok, but with all these villains in play, it feels like any one of these plots could have been campaigns in themselves, and I hope they do when the other kickstarter goals are released as DLC. This structure is hit or miss by nature, and while I'm personally fine with it, for the most part, others may not like it.

For a Metroidvania, even one that's more platformer then Metroidvania, this is on the easy side of the scale. While I did die a few times, they were more from mistimed jumps, especially in Ammo Barron's stage, rather then death by enemies, which yes did happen, but not to the same extent as pits and spikes. I didn't even die to the final boss, because item that gives infinite magic and a item that makes you invincible as long as you have magic makes you a half genie god. The reason it took me about 6-7 hours to get through the first run was because I kept backtracking to find powerups in older levels, not really using the warp dance because it was an excuse to grind for money. The game's good for newcomers, but as a reminder, the other games are closer to Metroidvanias in structure.

My thoughts on the presentation, be it the animation, art style, music, cut-scene presentation and more, remain the same as in the original post. The game's gorgeous, and I have no issues to bring up against it. The  main purpose of this was to better cover the gameplay and story, now that I've finished the game. Is this a short post? Yes, but I'm not done yet today. One other indie studio dropped a demo last week, and, well, I'll use the hint the developers put out on twitter.