Shantae and the Seven Sirens Still Holds Up Six Years Later

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the fifth game in WayForward’s long-running series, and it is the one that finally lets its half-genie hero stretch out. The game sends Shantae to Paradise Island for a Half-Genie Festival, then kidnaps her new friends and drops her into a sunken city to get them back. It works. Mostly.

Trailer, via WayForward.

Paradise Island and the Half-Genie Festival

The setup is simple and quick. The mayor of Arena Town invites Shantae and her friends to Paradise Island for a festival. There she meets Plink, Vera, Zapple, Harmony, and Fillin — other half-genies, each with her own magic. Then, during a performance, the other half-genies are kidnapped.

Shantae explores the sunken city beneath the island to find them. She enters four of the sirens’ lairs, defeats the sirens inside, and rescues four of the missing half-genies. Each rescued half-genie hands over her magical ability, which strengthens Shantae against the sirens.

Risky Boots and the Treasure Below

Her longtime nemesis Risky Boots turns up too. Shantae accuses her of the kidnappings. Risky says no — she is only there for a mysterious treasure said to sit beneath the island, and the real culprits are the Seven Sirens.

That denial does not last as a mystery for long, but it does keep the middle of the game moving.

Fusion Magic and the Card System

Seven Sirens returns to the metroidvania style of the first three games. Shantae moves through an interconnected world, visiting towns full of non-player characters and running dungeon-style labyrinths that hold new abilities and bosses.

The headline change is fusion magic. Instead of selecting a transformation from a menu, Shantae transforms instantly with a button press and uses the creature’s ability on the spot. It works like the Pirate Gear in Pirate’s Curse. Dancing still handles special tasks, such as revealing hidden objects or healing wilted plants.

Then there are the Monster Cards. Defeated enemies sometimes drop a card bearing their image. Collect enough of a given card and Shantae can equip it for bonuses — faster movement, magic that refills over time, and so on. The rules:

• Up to three cards equipped at once
• 50 different cards to collect
• Bonuses range from movement speed to automatic magic refill

A free update in November 2021 added four alternate modes: Definitive Mode, with harder rebalanced difficulty; Beginner Mode, where the player cannot lose; Full Deck Mode, which hands over all 50 cards from the start; and Rule Breaker Mode, which removes the card limit entirely.

The Sunken City Is the Treasure

The plot takes a turn worth noting. While rescuing Harmony, Shantae finds that Fillin is actually her friend Rottytops. Shantae enters an underground bunker, accidentally hits a control panel, and learns the sunken city is a giant airship — and that the airship is the treasure Risky Boots wanted.

She rescues Rottytops, who admits she hid in Shantae’s luggage and disguised herself after Shantae did not invite her. Shantae explains she left her out only because Rottytops was already hidden and could not be found. After Shantae beats the fifth siren and the group escapes, Risky activates the ship, takes off, and prepares to fire its weapons at the island.

What Holds Up and What Does Not

The card system is the best idea here. Fifty cards, three slots, and a stack of small bonuses give players a reason to fight rather than run past enemies. It is a light system, but it respects the player’s time.

Fusion magic is the bigger fix. The old menu-based transformations were a pause in the middle of a fight. Instant transformation keeps the action moving, and it fits a hero whose whole identity is changing shape.

The story is thinner. The half-genies are kidnapped, rescued, and mostly remembered as ability dispensers. Rottytops hiding in the luggage is a good joke, but it arrives late. The sunken city being an airship is a fine reveal that the game does not do much with before Risky takes the wheel.

Seven Sirens is a confident series entry, not a reinvention. It cleans up old friction, adds a collectible loop that works, and trusts its world to carry the rest.

game review · Metroidvania · Nintendo Switch · Platformer · Shantae and the Seven Sirens · WayForward