Sep 202019
The next Shantae game is called Shantae and the Seven Sirens, and it looks like it’s on track to fix all the things I disliked about Half-Genie Hero.
It’s got an interconnected, non-linear world and dungeons are back, and even the basic description suggests there’s more of an overarching plot than Half-Genie Hero had.
Will the story be as good as Pirate’s Curse? That remains to be seen, but everything else sounds fantastic.
Now, Shantae and the Seven Sirens had been announced for the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and the new Apple Arcade service, with no release date given yet.
But on Wednesday, WayForward made an announcement that left fans a bit confused.
“Part 1” of Shantae and the Seven Sirens would be releasing soon for Apple Arcade.
Some fans were annoyed about Apple Arcade getting the game first, but most people were just confused about it being Part 1. No one had said anything about a Part 1. How many parts would there be?
(The fears of a more segmented game structure were perhaps rising up again.)
WayForward wouldn’t say anything, but it seems like that must have been due to some sort of NDA, because they’ve clarified everything now.
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is only split into two parts for the Apple Arcade release. The PC and console versions will be a single release. Part 1 is longer than a demo, but is less than half the game and only includes up through the first two dungeons.
So Shantae and the Seven Sirens is not an episodic game, the other versions will be a single release, and it seems likely that they just wanted part of the game to be available alongside the launch of Apple Arcade.
I’ll admit I felt a little nervous when I saw that “Part 1” in the tweet, but now I’m back to feeling confident that Shantae and the Seven Sirens will be the return to form I hoped for after finishing Half-Genie Hero.