Thirty dollars. This is the asking price for Seven Sirens. If the game had the production value to back up the high asking price, I would be more forgiving, but it doesn't.
Let's get the positives out the way. Seven Sirens' biggest gameplay innovation is the makeover of the transformation system. No longer do you need to sit through cutscenes to use your other abilities, just press a button and watch them go. It's an elegant solution that had been solved with Pirate's Curse, yes, but nicely incorporates Shantae's animal transformations in a non-intrusive way.
Animated cutscenes are a nice addition, and the hand-drawn sprite art is nice, but other aspects of the presentation suffer. Voice acting is awkward and grating, which is unfortunately nothing new with WayForward's catalog as of late. Inconsistencies are far too common; some lines of dialogue are fully voiced, sometimes it's single phrases or words, and oftentimes it's completely silent. There's no sense of flow to dialogue scenes, and putting in the extra work to get it fully voiced would've gone a long way.
Gone are the beautiful 3D backgrounds seen in previous WayForward titles like Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, DuckTales: Remastered, and Mighty Switch Force HD. Instead, it's all 2D. This isn't inherently bad, but WF has proven themselves to be capable of much more. Seven Sirens comes across as flat and lifeless, with samey, dull environments that feel less natural and ingrained with the world, and more like "video game level".
The music has taken a hit as well. Previous WayForward projects have featured wonderful music by Jake Kaufman with his signature style, which has basically become synonymous with the Shantae games. He's completely absent from Seven Sirens, which leaves a void that's begging to be filled. The first half of the game feels noticeably off, lacking the strong melodies and rich and vibrant instrumentals of the previous games. While the second half's soundtrack is very solid, it still pales in comparison to Kaufman's score.
Most disappointing about Seven Sirens is the level design. This has to be one of the most forgettable maps in a search action game I've ever played. Repetitive and samey level design coupled with the bland aesthetic lead to a lot of areas looking the same and lacking an identity beyond the music. There's no flavor to the world outside of the towns, which is a major problem in a Metroid-type game where the meticulously crafted environments are one of the most crucial aspect.
Finally, thirty dollars. You can do so much better with that money. Hollow Knight and Ori and the Blind Forest are two good games at twenty bucks or less with much better level design and presentation. Spend the same amount as Seven Sirens to get Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which has some design issues but is still an ultimately more fulfilling experience.
After Half-Genie Hero, I expected something on par in terms of production value, but I'm not sure what I expected when it was initially confirmed for Apple Arcade. Is it being a mobile exclusive for nine months the reason why it was designed the way it was? All I know is, this ain't it.
