Monae: Quarter-Genie Quadling
I get it. Shantae will never be as good as Metroid, so why put so much effort into Metroid-like maps? Instead of having interconnected, labyrinthine maps and dungeons (what I considered to be the highlight of the franchise), Quarter-Genie Quadling is an action platformer centered around gated power-up acquisitions contributing to developing level design... sort of. See, QGQ uses these gated power-ups to siphon players through specific set-pieces while leaving other areas untouched, for better or worse.
The problem with this idea is that, while QGQ utilizes some clever transformation tricks in order to slowly trickle new areas for the player, there's some particularly boring implementations of the idea in the form of "genie rooms" that serve as straightforward and boring gates to additional power-up abilities. They're aesthetically bland atop lacking any sort of creativity, which is odd, considering a lot of charm of Wayforward games comes from their unique flair. In fact, a lot of what is on display here is pretty standard for the Shantae series, but that means it's "standard" Wayforward. The dialogue is as sharp and quirky as ever, the locales have some interesting gimmicks and do a good job of telling a narrative. And yes, there's some transformations, too.
But in every way that QGQ takes a step forward for the franchise- turning it into a "exploration action platformer," stripping down the previously-convoluted sidequest design, and amping up the amount of transformations, there's just as many odd choices that either remain glaringly old-fashioned, or just straight-up bizarre: the over-reliance on dialogue despite levels having clear narratives, the generic boss design that strays from transformation usage and becomes ridiculously damage-sponging, the odd gating of power-up expansions and some very disappointing and useless additions, and Wayforward's morbid fascination with STEALTH MECHANICS. And then, there is the most damning and backwards design choice of all, being a lack of mapping in an exploration- and backtracking-heavy game design. While the nooks and crannies you may find in levels and the way they are slowly revealed is pretty novel, not having the ability to keep track of secrets already found and paths not worth retreading save for a completion-chart on the world map is disappointing.
I'm nearing what the characters in QGQ are calling the "END" (in typical, Wayforward fourth-wall breaking fashion), I have only played as Shantae herself, and I know that there are other modes to explore once done. I might be jumping to conclusions a bit too soon, with the remaining two modes possessing a hefty chunk of unique content that will provide a Sonic 3 and Knuckles sort of expansive experience, but so far, QGQ is an acceptably tame, and imperfect, Kickstarter project. It's cute, and the visuals are certainly top-notch, but it does little to evolve the series in any sort of meaningful direction. Shantae and the Pirates Curse remains a superior title in my eyes, but again, these are developing opinions.
Long story short: unless you already enjoy Shantae games, this is a hard sell, but even if you do, you'll find little outside of dialogue and fundamental mechanics that feels familiar.
Topic: What are you playing? (Read 696099 times)
