Topic: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse releases on the Wii U eShop on Christmas (NA)

[Phil]

Just got the press release in my email. It's $20. With Shovel Knight only $15 at launch, it makes me wonder what's worth $5 extra with this game.

[Shaymin]

A modern art style as opposed to the 8-bit style of Shovel Knight, and boobs.

[Soren]

Day 1.

Actually, Day 2. I might be a bit busy during Christmas day.

[ClexYoshi]

I am double dipping because i am shameless for this game and would like to record it.

[ejamer]

Just got the press release in my email. It's $20. With Shovel Knight only $15 at launch, it makes me wonder what's worth $5 extra with this game.

I fully understand if you aren't willing to pay $20... but that's a difficult way to judge games.


What justifies the extra $5? Presumably, market research. It's $5 more expensive because they believe enough people will buy at that price to make it profitable. Time will tell how true that is, and if sales aren't good or start to drop off over time then there will probably be a price drop in the future.


That said, I agree that a $15 price point for Shantae would make it much more appealing. $20 has moved out of impulse buy territory for me, and forces the game to compete against (older) full retail games when choosing what to buy.

[NWR_insanolord]

Shovel Knight would be worth $20 if they charged that. Not sure this game will be.

[Adrock]

I pledged $15 for Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero which nets me the game. I like the character and the series, but I'm not paying more for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse than the sequel/reboot with HD sprites and all kinds of extras. I can wait for a sale.

[Evan_B]

Shovel Knight would be worth $20 if they charged that. Not sure this game will be.

Okay, I gotta ask: why is this game massively overhyped? I bought it as soon as it released, played through the whole thing, and found it to be rather generic. The art style was simplistic but at times became way too busy for its own good, sprite animations varied heavily in complexity which made everything a bit disjointed, and the gameplay itself is pretty slow and not terribly original or satisfying. The level design is nice at times but its few and far between.

I found Pirate's Curse to be a way more satisfying title.

[NWR_insanolord]

Shantae is certainly more impressive in terms of aesthetic design, but Shovel Knight is just so damn good from a gameplay standpoint (and I don't even have any nostalgia for the kinds of things it's influenced by). That's not to say Shantae won't be, and I wouldn't have been that confident in Shovel Knight in that regard before playing it, but I haven't seen it yet.

[Phil]

Just got the press release in my email. It's $20. With Shovel Knight only $15 at launch, it makes me wonder what's worth $5 extra with this game.

I fully understand if you aren't willing to pay $20... but that's a difficult way to judge games.

Hey ejamer! I should definitely make note that that is certainly not the metric as to how I judge games. $15 is usually my limit for downloadable games. It takes something special to get $20 out of me. That's more to do with not having a lot of money than anything, so I have to be smart about my purchases. Not saying people who do buy $20 digital games aren't smart about their purchases, though. ...Again, I don't know where I'm going with this.

[ejamer]

Just got the press release in my email. It's $20. With Shovel Knight only $15 at launch, it makes me wonder what's worth $5 extra with this game.

I fully understand if you aren't willing to pay $20... but that's a difficult way to judge games.

Hey ejamer! I should definitely make note that that is certainly not the metric as to how I judge games. $15 is usually my limit for downloadable games. It takes something special to get $20 out of me. That's more to do with not having a lot of money than anything, so I have to be smart about my purchases. Not saying people who do buy $20 digital games aren't smart about their purchases, though. ...Again, I don't know where I'm going with this.

I hear you - and am the same way.  A limited budget means I'm always trying to get the best value for my gaming dollar, and that often means waiting for sales or buying older games that have reduced prices.


Value is just an inherently difficult question though. In some cases $5 can buy you and entirely new game - maybe a whole set of games via Humble Bundle or similar deals. I recently bought a retail Just Dance game on Wii U for $3+tax+shipping.  In other cases, $5 can be a couple of DLC costumes for digital characters that have no in-game effect other than looking pretty.


But I agree with your point: $20 does feel like a premium price for a downloadable game. Maybe that's just because I'm old fashioned and like getting something physical for my money. Maybe it's because I'm conditioned to thing that games should all follow iOS pricing schemes. Maybe I'm just cheap (this is true).


Regardless, even though I'm very interested in the game the current pricing will almost certainly push me to wait for a sale.

[Evan_B]

Well, I believe that the sound quality, level design, and writing alone are much higher than most indie titles on the eShop right now, but the fact that the gameplay is insanely addicting is also a nice bonus. The game supports a nice speedrun feature that I'll be dipping into a bit later, but all-in-all, it's a great game. Better than Shovel Knight, in my opinion, and I can't really say that I'm a huge Shantae fan. It shows that Wayforward took their time with this game in all the right ways in the same way that it's curious Shovel Knight took its time- Shovel Knight ultimately feels like a lot of recycled ideas with a kicking soundtrack while Shantae feels like the ultimate realization of what Wayforward should make- and really what they've always been good at. Shameless fanservice, of course, but it's self-aware without being too obvious. The soundtrack is wonderful. The gameplay is great- it feels immensely satisfying to get a new powerup because of all the things it allows you to unlock.

Anyway, I've probably said too much already, but Shantae is worth 20 bucks.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

Is it HD?

[Manthony Chopkins]

Is it HD?

Judging from the trailers that I have watched on the e-shop, it will not be. Seems more like a port than anything else. Having already played and beaten the game on the 3DS, I don't really see an incentive for any double dipping. Fantastic game though.

[ClexYoshi]

Character portraits used for dialogue scenes are HD< but otherwise it uses the same sprite art as the 3DS version.

[BranDonk Kong]

Definitely not in HD, but looks pretty great still. Lots of color. 1080p60 trailer on YouTube looks rad.