REVIEW – When the studio that developed the game has gone out of business and the console version is about a year late (…and who asked for it?), then what the title says might come up. That’s what happened, and then you really have to wonder why the console version came out three years after the PC version. The whole thing just doesn’t make sense.

At this point, everyone is really like, what was the need for this port. Really. What was the need?

It was not Aiko’s decision at all

Set in a top-down, isometric camera view, Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice is a game about stealth and the many strange rules that have to be followed, and then the player has to sneak around and break them. Or not, because this time the AI isn’t so sinful. In the game, the team is tasked with defending the Shogun, so you have to plan carefully how to get through the paths, not by taking out an opponent. Meanwhile, there will be a few tasks to complete in the game, which originally started life as a standalone expansion (the game, which will be released on PC in 2021, evolved from 2016’s Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun), and this is one of its weaknesses. The game is set towards the end of the BotS story, and essentially expects the player to know it. Therefore, if you are not familiar with the base game, the story will not make much more sense to you, and therefore the plot will not be interesting.

Mimimi Games (whose logo with the crying little girl is somehow unforgettable, and now we remember where it comes from: The Last Tinker: City of Colors… or Desperados III) leaves the player on his own to discover the whole thing, which could have used a good tutorial and a little quick guide. The gameplay itself is not too bad. You can see your opponent’s point of view and recognize who has a view of a certain place. Among our characters, we have the ninja who can throw shuriken and stand on a rooftop, the samurai in heavy armor who can take on any opponent, and the kunoichi who can wear any disguise and doesn’t need a huge arsenal of weapons to take out the opponents. Stealth is predictable and works properly. You can’t use brute force, though, because your opponents will learn from that, so if the plan was for the samurai to simply fight its way across the level, forget about it, as it simply won’t work. You need a much deeper strategy and more thought than that. The rules are clear and easy to recognize, but in this case it is necessary. It is not over immediately if you are spotted, but in such cases, if you think quickly and cleverly, there is still a way out, but then there will be many people trying to beat you. So it will be a challenge.

It’s also surprisingly manageable on a controller

Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice is not easy. As you progress, you won’t even notice it at first. That’s why we need to match our skills with the AI to play in a style that matches our characters’ abilities and tools. If the match is not there, the results will lag behind. But when we do, it’s actually quite spectacular and energetic to watch. This is helped by the fact that the control of the game on the controller is absolutely great, thanks to the shadow mode. This allows you to pre-set the commands and movements for each character, then once you’ve got your plan down, you can see your creation with a single button press, and when it works it’s spectacular, when it doesn’t it’s a little annoying.

Combined with dynamic movement and great animation, Mugen, Takuma, Aiko, Hayoto and Yuki are all great. However, don’t forget that this is a stealth game, which can be a little preconceived, and you have to overcome that in yourself first. Once you do that, though, you can soon find yourself experimenting to figure out what is the most successful way to achieve the goal and how to achieve it most effectively. But again, the real question is why did it come to consoles so late after its PC release? Of course, one could argue that Daedalic Entertainment got such a slap in the face with The Lords of the Rings: Gollum (and that was produced in-house by the company, which has since gone back to a publisher…), but that’s no explanation…

Good (but not great) for stealth

Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice gets a benign 7/10, because it’s not bad and the Shadow mode makes it absolutely easy to guide you when and what to do. Add to that the great controls, and the audiovisuals can hold their own for the most part. But in terms of story and characters, the game simply throws you in the deep end and you are lucky if you can stay there. However, this game could have gotten a bit more attention on console if the port had been released in 2022. In 2024, it’s pretty depressing.

-V-

Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Developer: Mimimi Games
Style: Stealth/Strategy
Release: Date: December 6, 2021 (PC), December 6, 2024 (PlayStation 5/Xbox Series)