Metroidvania

Conquering The Seven Sirens (Contains Spoilers)

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I’ve been having fun in Shantae and the Seven Sirens! They must have had extra money leftover to put some of these cutscenes together… I mean look at the intro video, it has so much energy:

Most of the cutscenes in game are pretty short, but they do offer a nice touch. I kinda want to see a Shantae anime now.

In Seven Sirens, you’re on vacation! Actually it’s for the Half Genie festival, where you perform other Half Genies with different powers… until all but Shantae mysteriously disappear.

FLOWER!!!

Now, I don’t want to spoil it for you… but the cause of the disappearance of the other Half Genies miiiiiiiight have something to do with these Sirens. This potted plant Siren was as irritatingly deadly as she was adorable.

After freeing one of your fellow sisters of fabulousness, they will reward you with a coin that will allow you to shapeshift instantly into a certain form. In this case I can become a newt and climb up walls, very similarly to the Monkey form in Half Genie Hero. So far I’ve managed to destroy two baddies and save two buddies!

I still have tons more exploring to do, but so far I’m really enjoying it! I even played a little more on my Steam Deck this morning. Next time I play it’ll be under the sea!

Getting Ready To Headbang To My Hearts Content

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Starting a new Shantae adventure! I have Shantae and the Seven Sirens up and running on my Steam Deck!

I’ve gathered up most of the genies before calling it a night – just wanted to whet my appetite a little until the next time I get to play!

Daughter Of The Genies

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The last bit of Shantae: Half Genie Hero was a true test of my patience. At one point it was like playing a lava infested Flappy Bird game, and the boss battles were pretty brutal, but not as brutal as the ride out. But the challenge is what makes it fun! Now all that’s left is to go back and plink away at the other achievements in my spare time. There is also additional DLC for this game, but the reviews don’t make it look very promising. If they ever choose to put it on a sale or put it into a bundle I’ll consider it.

But for now I can happily add this to my list of finished games!

All You Need Is Love… and Starfish

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Shantae in her mermaid form, being followed by her fanclub of Starfish.
Shantae in her mermaid form, being followed by her fanclub of Starfish.

Finally began my journey to the hideout of Risky Boots! The water level kinda reminds me of the scrolling Mario levels, but with added mermaid power! Which is excellent because there was a lot going on the screen. I picked up some friends along the way, and they helped me destroy my obstacles to help me get to the next area:

Shantae gets ready to play an extremely tense game of Hot Lava.

Now it all comes down to using everything I’ve learned in all the other levels. As the end draws closer, I’m relishing every moment drawing closer to it! I’ll have to leave off in the lava underground… running tonight’s SteamOS update kinda took away from my playtime.

Fighting Through Light and Dark

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I Found The Great Wall Of Oh Fuck

Went dancing through pretty shapes and lights in Outland! I gained the laser ability and destroyed a bunch of jellyfish. Apparently I got a “rare” achievement for finding 10 collectables. Although, looking at the global achievement stats for Outland it looks like not many have finished this game. Thanks to the Steam Deck though I might change that… a little. I seem to really like playing Metroidvanias on it, it just feels right.

As simple as it is in design – it does present a fun challenge. Time is literally everything in getting through some of these obstacles. If you’re red (dark) the red beams won’t hurt you, same if you turn blue (light) and run through the blue beams.

Timing, it’s everything.

This Demo Is Batty!

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Been playing more of the Grim Guardians: Demon Purge Demo, it’s a fun challenge! So far I’ve managed to unlock a new technique that combines both characters, also I defeated the BAT BOSS. This really does a good job nailing the Castlevania aesthetic.

If you like Metroidvanias I recommend giving it a try!

Steam Next Fest! Metroid Monday

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It’s Steam’s Next Fest! That amazing time of year when indies release demos for the masses to play with! (Well, technically these games get released all the time… but for a short time we get to see them shine in the spotlight!) I’ve already found a few metroidvanias to pack onto my Steam Deck to try!

A Sister’s Journey

Violet inside of a beautiful pink cave.
Screenshot From A Sister’s Journey

The first Demo I played was A Sister’s Journey; A colorful pixely Metroidvania where you play a young girl named Violet, and you’re on a journey to find your sister! (Duh!) Run and gun your way through enemies, climb beautiful pixelated landscapes and dart around to avoid dangerous spikes and pits. It did lag a little bit on my Steam Deck by a couple of the waterfalls, but with a little bit of tweaking the game runs much better. It even has settings for the Steam Deck in mind as shown above.

Trinity Fusion

Three of your alternate selves preparing to do battle.

Standing atop some kind of space station.

Another Metroidvania that caught my eye was Trinity Fusion. Unlike the other demos I downloaded today; this one uses 3D graphics! You have three parallel selves that you can control, each containing different abilities. Trinity Fusion also makes use of procedurally generated levels, meaning a different experience each time you die and restart. You can also gain different abilities and weapons along the way. It should go without saying, but my love of my life so far in the demo is the lightning katana!

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge

Shinobu (Left) and Maya (Right)
Shinobu (Left) and Maya (Right)

Last and certainly not least is a Metroidvania that gives vibes of the old school Castlevania games. In Grim Guardians: Demon Purge you play as two demon slayers; Shinobu and Maya. Shinobu packs a gun and daggers to protect herself while Maya carries a sword and a Shinigami barrier. You can swap between both characters at any time. In fact, it’s a good idea to switch regularly as you start to lose health on either one. You also have a chance to revive your other self should you get skull-fucked by a bunch of enemies.

Maya climbing underneath some unsuspecting demons.
Maya climbing underneath some unsuspecting demons.

Maya is also capable of climbing into smaller areas, unlike her taller counterpart. I like being able to switch between two different play styles. Out of the three demos I played I think this one has my most attention. I might pay it another visit tomorrow!

Have you tried any demos during Next Fest? Feel free to share in the comments!

Meanwhile… On Steam Deck

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Back into Outland! And The Overlord’s heart grew six sizes that day… When you’re a klutz like me that’s a good thing. 😛 I didn’t get to play for too long, but I did uncover new ground and even found a secret in a previous area. Like with most metroidvanias I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of backtracking.

I Did It!

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After all these years, many attempts and many breaks in between… I finally defeated the fucking warlock! WOO!!! HUZZAH!!! EXCELSIOR!!! That doesn’t mean that I completed the game – I still have a couple pages to find of the Warlock’s diary, and more achievements to grab, but I made that bastard wake the fuck up long enough to kick his ass!

Beating Down The Backlog: Outland

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Made more progress in Outland today! It took several tries, but The High Priestess was no match for The High Overlord! It was a tough battle, but eventually it became kinda like a game of Simon to me, only if you fuck up you’ll die.

Bonus: I CAN TELEPORT NOW!!!