Shantae and the Seven Sirens

 Switch
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 72 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 72
  3. Negative: 10 out of 72
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  1. kevinrodolfoxD3
    Jun 16, 2020
    9
    I really enjoyed this game, been waiting for it since it was announced, even though it wasn't as good as Pirate's Curse, it is quite a pleasing experience, the worst thing that I can say about it is that the soundtrack isn't as good as the previous ones (Pirate's Curse and Half-Genie Hero), there's still some good tracks notheless, also the loading times were a bit painful whenI really enjoyed this game, been waiting for it since it was announced, even though it wasn't as good as Pirate's Curse, it is quite a pleasing experience, the worst thing that I can say about it is that the soundtrack isn't as good as the previous ones (Pirate's Curse and Half-Genie Hero), there's still some good tracks notheless, also the loading times were a bit painful when backtracking, the last thing that I can say about this game is that I loved the cutscenes even though they were very short.… Expand
  2. Kosama
    Feb 3, 2021
    8
    No es el mejor Shantae pero es el mas cercano a un Metroidvania, un poco facil pero super divertido.
  3. Crafter
    Jun 13, 2020
    10
    Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a blast, maybe a bit easy, but a very fun time nonetheless.
  4. EnigmaXtreme
    Jun 17, 2020
    8
    For the first time in the series, we don’t actually start in Scuttle Town, but instead, Shantae and her friends have been whisked away to a vacation on Paradise Island for a Half-Genie Festival. Yeah, turns out Shantae isn’t the only half magic lady in the world, and I have now discovered a whole new set of waifus.

    Of course, as soon as you land things go completely **** up (and not in    For the first time in the series, we don’t actually start in Scuttle Town, but instead, Shantae and her friends have been whisked away to a vacation on Paradise Island for a Half-Genie Festival. Yeah, turns out Shantae isn’t the only half magic lady in the world, and I have now discovered a whole new set of waifus.

    Of course, as soon as you land things go completely **** up (and not in the good kind) and all of the other Half Genies vanish, leaving Shantae all alone. Which leads to her exploring the island and solving it’s mysteries.

    Gameplay wise, the movement and controls is what we can expect from the Shantae series, with it pretty much unchanged from HGH. But this is where I voice my concerns. Four years ago, when I covered her latest title in “The Shantae Retrospective” I voiced my concern about how Shantae’s gameplay is slowly becoming stale.

    But to be fair, it isn’t like Seven Sirens is a complete clone of Half-Genie Hero, if anything it’s more of an amalgamation of the entire series. We have separate towns to explore, a feature that hasn’t been seen since the original on GBC and we see the return of aspects like the Squidsmith from Pirates Curse.

    One of the biggest new additions is the introduction of animated cut scenes, handled by the studio behind Kill La Kill, TRIGGER. These are seen throughout the game to introduce boss battles and of course, the opening cinematic featuring music from Christina Vee, whose grunts, groans and screams voicing Shantae are just adorable.

    One of the bigger changes is, while you still have dancing, they aren’t for transforming like in the previous titles. Instead, once you rescue each of the other half-genies they will fuse their magic with you, allowing you new abilities like revealing hidden platforms or bringing back life.

    The animal transformations, however, are now used as passive moves like a dodge/dash move or a drill when you are up against the soft ground, but the new moves seemingly only have a few moments that are required. The reveal spell can actually show hidden gem containers, but really offer no hint where they are, so unless you are going to do it on every screen, it’s not something I’d go back for.

    One of the biggest flaws of the Shantae series as a whole is how easy it is to break the difficulty in half. With the hair and pike ball upgrades in the past, bosses became an absolute cakewalk. Here it is so easy to grind gems and food, there wasn’t a time where I finished a dungeER, I MEAN “Labyrinth” without max gems, from there you just get the Hair Cream and Shampoo upgrades and you become a whipping machine. I did honestly feel after beating a few of the bosses thinking “was it supposed to be that easy”.

    Unlike previous games that had you traversing all across the world, Seven Sirens adopts a much more Metroidvania style to its predecessors, unfortunately, the map layout leaves much to be desired, with other titles in the genre at least detailing certain landmarks, or giving people the ability to put markers where they want, in comparison Seven Sirens map is fairly bare-bones.

    There are also periods where you have no idea what to do or where to go next, you could be travelling all across a dungeon trying to find that one switch you missed. For example, throughout the game, you come across these broken windmills that need to be FIXED, you need PARTS to fix them. So when you receive literal “nuts and bolts” you rush to the nearest windmill to fix em, right? WRONG! You need to go to a very specific windmill that isn’t made clear and fix THAT one and ONLY that one.

    This is not me knocking the game, I had a lot of fun playing through Shantae’s latest journey. But I knew I was going to enjoy this, because I did 4 years before. Again, this is what terrifies me, Shantae is coming back again and again with the same basic concept, and I know this girl, I know this STUDIO has so much more potential.

    Imagine teaming up with Skye, Bolo, Rotty and hell, even Risky in a squad-based RPG like Paper Mario.

    Shantae has always had stellar music, maybe even a rhythm game like Cadence of Hyrule.

    Orrrr, maybe it’s time to finally take that leap into 3D.

    Shantae and the Seven Sirens is still an adorable, enjoyable adventure and anyone who was a fan of her previous titles will surely enjoy this.    … Expand
  5. candidKlutz
    Jun 20, 2020
    8
    As a fan of the series, this game hit all the right spots for me. Metroidvania? Check. Solid gameplay? Double check. Fun dialogue? Check. I do miss doing dances to transform, but I have to admit just instantly transforming to do certain actions was much more convenient and overall improved the gameplay. As far as the story goes, I'd say it's a pretty close second to Pirate's Curse.
  6. Marty-O
    Jan 28, 2021
    9
    Great humor as always, the gameplay is kind of a nice mix between the pirates curse and HGH style.
  7. Namajamaa
    Sep 11, 2020
    8
    While Seven Sirens feels the most safe and rigid of the Shantae series, it is also the most polished. Platforming, exploring, and presentation are excellent. While it doesn't reach the height of Pirate's Curse, it's still worth getting lost in. A solid entry in one of the premier metroidvania series is still a cut above the rest.
  8. Dyl8220
    Jun 4, 2020
    8
    Pros:
    -New abilities flow much better and have more synergy with the base platforming, although not as well as pirates curse.
    -Lovely new characters and artwork. -Best designed map in the series. -Cutscenes look great if a bit lacking in character. -Voice acting is good. -Good soundtrack. -Card system makes killing enemies more rewarding, however most of the abilities are rather    Pros:
    -New abilities flow much better and have more synergy with the base platforming, although not as well as pirates curse.
    -Lovely new characters and artwork.
    -Best designed map in the series.
    -Cutscenes look great if a bit lacking in character.
    -Voice acting is good.
    -Good soundtrack.
    -Card system makes killing enemies more rewarding, however most of the abilities are rather circumstancial so you'll probably stick with your favorite three pretty quickly.

    Cons:
    -Two of the abilities (drill and frog) feel pretty similar and they don't synergize that well with the base gameplay, one of them would've been fine while making space for another more useful ability.
    -Load times were atrocious, definitely held the game back for me. For a exploration based game like this quick load times would've been great if not necessary.
    -A couple of bad bosses (mine robot one in particular).

    General comments:
    -As usual, the game gives you too many healing items and resources, making it real easy. It doesn't make the game worse for me tho, and spikes keep some of the game challenging regardless of your hearts.
    -While the soundtrack isn't half bad, it's sad Kauffman isn't back.

    Overall, a pretty pleasant experience. Top two Shantae game for sure, maybe even the best. Really feel like the load times drag the game down especially when you need to travel between areas back and forth, hopefully they'll get patched at some point. Most bosses aren't great as well, but the rest of the game is pretty damn good. Obviously recommended if you're a Shantae fan or a metroidvania fan, and I'm excited to see where the series goes next.    … Expand
  9. oscaritogs3
    Jun 5, 2020
    9
    Pros:
    -Amazing level design and character designs with good controls.
    -An interesting story with funny dialogs and characters. -Fast transformations that are fun to use. -Amazing new artwork with and astonish opening cinematic. Cons: -Transformations don't have as good designs as the characters and they seem like regular animals. -Opening intro is amazing but makes the other    Pros:
    -Amazing level design and character designs with good controls.
    -An interesting story with funny dialogs and characters.
    -Fast transformations that are fun to use.
    -Amazing new artwork with and astonish opening cinematic.
    Cons:
    -Transformations don't have as good designs as the characters and they seem like regular animals.
    -Opening intro is amazing but makes the other cinematics look plain in comparison.
    -The loading screens between zones are long and can take up to 2 minutes each and since you are moving from one section to the other you see them quite a lot.    … Expand
  10. ayoungspirit
    Jul 1, 2020
    9
    My verdict as a fan : A solid side-story which brings an unique flavor to the series while keeping the formula very much intact. It is overall on par with Pirate's Curse, but its qualities are understated.

    PROS : - Great transformations : Classic moves are elevated by being quickly combined within the vertical layout, contextual ones are properly immersive, and the spinning top brings    My verdict as a fan : A solid side-story which brings an unique flavor to the series while keeping the formula very much intact. It is overall on par with Pirate's Curse, but its qualities are understated.

    PROS :
    - Great transformations : Classic moves are elevated by being quickly combined within the vertical layout, contextual ones are properly immersive, and the spinning top brings experimentation and mastery to the mix.
    - Good balance of old and new : The very faithful template helps to ground the different setting, characters and tone in universe. Personality traits and running jokes seem easy to grasp for newcomers.
    - Adequate map size and game length : It was a very crafty decision to remove part of the world at the end so it is more convenient to navigate for the remaining collectibles.
    - Game flow is natural : Ennemies complete the level design as obstacles, including the bosses. Secrets are easy to intuit, whether through negative space or hints. Fetch quests are integrated into the exploration or self-aware.
    - Difficulty is (mostly) well tuned : Everyone will be able to finish the game without pointless setbacks, and experienced players will have fun challenging themselves.
    - Retro-inspired soundtrack is a good fit : both for the series and for an exotic and mysterious local. It is an acquired taste though. Sound design is top notch.
    - Cutscenes are charming : and bring just enough characterization to the bosses.

    CONS :
    - Load times are intrusive : Surely the engine was first conceived for a different game structure, but one would at least expect it to be able to hide some work behind the cutscenes.
    - Some values need to be tweaked : The drop rate of greater food items is way too high. Some endgame ennemies have too much HPs, which make some rooms in the final dungeon feel sluggish. Similarly, the penultimate boss overstays its welcome.
    - Grid-based environments look alike : Even though it is hard to develop and has lead to glitches before, it would be nice to have slopes or other kinds of terrains.
    - A (mostly) straightforward story : which fits the condensed setting, but could be slightly more unpredictable to stand out. The detail-oriented approach of the callbacks can give the impression to retread old grounds.
    - An unflattering spotlight on consistency : as a result of the metroidvania structure and tight narrative, which is maybe not how the world-building of the series should work.
    - A few topical or overwritten jokes : but subtler aspects of the series have been retained, like some NPC lines casting a new light on Shantae's clumsiness in protecting people. Beside, they might grow on me.    … Expand
  11. Hij45g
    Jul 7, 2020
    10
    This game is really cool just like the 3ds era buy I can play it in big screen now it's really fun
  12. pcschmidt00
    Dec 18, 2020
    9
    Wayforward does it again and gives us another great Shantae game. The switch from level by level to a more metroidvania style was a great change, the world and characters were well crafted, and had a great soundtrack as well
  13. ShaTime
    Jan 6, 2023
    10
    Whats wrong with you guys? This game is awesome! I recommend it to every Metroidvania fan!
  14. LordGanon
    Nov 23, 2022
    10
    Shantae and the Seven Sirens have nice level, great bosses and a good art direction. A bit to easy but very likeable Game.
  15. Online_NPC
    Oct 22, 2021
    8
    The characters and even the enemies are cute. I feel like the "waifu" style of the characters distract from how good the gameplay really is. There's some extra collectibles and backtracking, but there's not too much and you don't ever feel like it's a daunting task. The music is good, and where there is spoken dialog it's good, i just wish there was more spoken dialog.

    Graphics: 8.5    The characters and even the enemies are cute. I feel like the "waifu" style of the characters distract from how good the gameplay really is. There's some extra collectibles and backtracking, but there's not too much and you don't ever feel like it's a daunting task. The music is good, and where there is spoken dialog it's good, i just wish there was more spoken dialog.

    Graphics: 8.5
    Gameplay: 10
    Audio: 8
    Story: 7    … Expand
  16. waddle_dee
    Jun 10, 2023
    8
    Shantae in the seven sirens is great. Even though it isn't the best game in the series, you must applaud it for moving locations and new characters
  17. ColdGamer
    Jul 21, 2022
    8
    Very fun game Not as good as half genie hero but on par with pirates cure in terms of gameplay Story is pretty good
    Graphics are great And the production value is fantastic Soundtrack is pretty meh though

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Best Switch Game of 2020
47
#47 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. GameMAG
    Sep 12, 2020
    80
    Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a summer adventure designed for children and casual players, offering a simple but interesting gameplay, nice cartoon graphics and a large world to explore. And this is what you need right now after a long absence of interesting games and quarantine.
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  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Aug 29, 2020
    65
    Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a fine Metroidvania, but one of the weaker Shantaes. [Issue #47 – July/August 2020, p. 18]
  3. Cubed3
    Jun 22, 2020
    50
    None of this is to say Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a bad game. In fact, it's a decent game for the younger audience, newcomers, and anyone that isn't expecting Shantae to evolve. Strictly from the perspective of someone that has played many games in the series and is eager for something different, though, this disappoints on many fronts. Uninspiring and rarely ever surprising, with little to make the player feel like they've earned anything, what is left is a generic Shantae game that is like any other before it, crying out for change and originality.
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