Taking place in the wider universe found in Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is that of a new kid on the tactical block – Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice from Mimimi Games and Daedalic Entertainment. It comes to market promising more of the spirit and action of the previous game.
Now, I never played the first Shadow Tactics game, so the question we need to look at here is whether that will turn out to be a drawback. The developers do recommend playing at least the first few missions of the previous game to get a feel for the mechanics, but I scoff at such warnings, and dived straight in to what Aiko’s Choice had to offer. Set in ancient Japan, the game promises a lot. Can it deliver?
Starting with the look of the game, the first thing to notice is that Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice follows the traditional pattern of a tactics type game, with a top-down, isometric three quarter view of the action. One thing that I did find odd was that although the camera can be moved around to your heart’s desire, making sure you have the best view of the action, it doesn’t rotate, which makes it tricky sometimes to see what is going on. Still, what we can see is very nice indeed, perfectly evoking the look and feel, almost the smell, of ancient Japan. Include the various characters that we control, and the enemies that we have to either remove or neutralise, the game looks very nice indeed. And whilst the various protagonists are pretty small, their design and animation is pretty top notch.
Sound is also well designed, with various combat sound effects all being great, and the way that the enemies shout when you get spotted is all pretty authentic. All in all, everything is rosy in the presentation garden.
So, why are we wandering around and trying to stay alive? The story of Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice fits in to the wider universe that has been created, revolving around Aiko, one of the characters that we can control. Her sensei, her teacher in the art of being a kunoichi has reappeared on the scene. And what makes things worse is that Lady Chiyo, as she is known, is now the spymaster for the big bad of the previous game. Crashing a meeting of the five companions, she kidnaps two of our compatriots and leaves us to be executed.
Of course, we have different ideas and manage to break out of the ambush, and from then on we are on our own. Can we recover our teammates, and then track down whatever it is that Lady Chiyo is working on? Well, all that’s standing in the way is about a million enemies and a succession of large maps. What could possibly go wrong?
Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice plays as a bit of a strange mixture of a stealth ‘em up and a strategy game; very much unlike anything I’ve played before. Normally, in a game with “tactics” in the title, you’d expect more of a turn based affair, planning out moves carefully, then executing the plan. You can do that here, with something called a Shadow Mask – you can store up one move each for the members of your team, and then execute the moves at the press of a button. However, just to make things a bit trickier, the game does not pause while you are planning these moves, so be careful not to get seen. What this means is that should you have two inconvenient guards that need to be removed, you can get into position and then attack simultaneously.
In the normal run of things, you control one member of the team at a time, and each member has their own strengths and weaknesses. Aiko, taken as an example, is a kunoichi, basically a female ninja, and as such she can jump from roofs and hide in bushes, as well as assassinate enemies with a hairpin. However, she can also perform non-confrontational actions, such as throwing sneezing powder, which reduces the enemies “cone of vision”, and she can also disguise herself as a geisha, which enables her to walk right down the middle of the road!
Every other member of the team has their own special skills, and learning to use them together like a well oiled machine is very important. But more importantly, a lot of fun. I’ll leave you to discover the rest of the skills for yourself!
The main thing you’ll take away from your time with Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice is that the developers quite obviously dislike us gamers. As a game, this is absolutely brutal, taking no prisoners, with a difficulty that is sky high. The learning curve is steep if this is your first exposure to the universe, and the enemies not only have been to Specsavers and spot your little toe sticking out of a bush from 500 yards, but they are all expert marksmen and will shred any character who they see. Trial and error, and error and error, is very much the way here!
Despite this, Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice keeps you playing, trying new things. It is this challenge that pushes you along and as a tactics game should never be a pushover, it most definitely fulfils the brief.
If you are looking to challenge yourself, Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice is the game for you.
Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice Returns to Edo Japan with Stealth and Strategy – https://www.thexboxhub.com/shadow-tactics-aikos-choice-returns-to-edo-japan-with-stealth-and-strategy/
Buy Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/shadow-tactics-aikos-choice/9nfd2b1rzxk8
