Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

[Jez]

Hovered over this last night watched a few videos looks like great fun. Can't really justify the time to play it though at the moment. I've put it on my steam wishlist for now.

[Sly Boots]

Hovered over this last night watched a few videos looks like great fun. Can't really justify the time to play it though at the moment. I've put it on my steam wishlist for now.

Just in case you weren't aware Jez, there's a demo of it on Steam - full first level and a bit of the second. It saves over the full game as well, so if you were to buy it you wouldn't have to repeat the first level.

[Jez]

Nice mate! I'll try that for sure later.

Is there a decent story attached to this?

[Sly Boots]

Nice mate! I'll try that for sure later.

Is there a decent story attached to this?

Well, the first couple of levels it's ok

I haven't really played much more than the demo levels so far, just been busy with work and writing, and wanted a decent window of free time to get stuck in rather than the odd half-hour here and there - which is pretty much my gaming time at the moment.

[Jez]

Aye same. Maybe get an hour of a night these days.

[Jez]

Thanks for the demo tip there sly. It's very good as demos go we don't get to play enough of them these days. The first mission introduces nicely the concept of the whole thing and how it works.

Very nice looking, the cell shaded appearance is pretty. I liked chaining together shadow kills getting the whole team to act at once is a nice touch. I'm very sorely tempted to just buy this now but I have very little time to devote properly to it at the moment. Will definitely get it when I can put time into it.

[Sly Boots]

Just spent a very pleasant hour working through the third map (and only about halfway done with the mission, will have to leave the rest for another night). It's got that good Desperadoes/Commandos design, where each level is a mass of interlocking parts (ie guards and patrol routes), and you have to spend a while just watching and trying to identify weaknesses where you can start chipping away at their defences.

Luckily the auto-load is pretty quick (though it takes a loooong time to load up the level initially) and quick-saving uses three different files so you don't fall into the old Desperadoes trap of accidentally saving just as you entered into an unwinnable situation. It means you can experiment a bit, seeing which approach works and which don't.

At one point I spent about 15 minutes trying to find away past a spread out triangle of guards that had eyes on each other, and just couldn't do it (not helped by a bastard civvie who kept dobbing me in), before finally spotting an alternative route over the rooftops that brought me out behind one of them, and after that was a fairly simple operation of picking them off one by one.

Deserves a lot more recognition this one.

[Wrathbone]

I'll definitely give it a go at some point, once Stardew Valley loosens its grip. I loved Commandos back in the day. Desperados I enjoyed too, but I felt they over-complicated parts of it.

[Sly Boots]

Been putting some time into this the last few days, currently going through map 7 of the 9 included.

It's really, really good. Each map seems to introduce either new characters with new abilities to play with, and/or clever twists on the gameplay that force you to change your strategies. An example would be the night maps, which make the vision cones of the enemies react differently around the various light sources, and a rain level where there are large areas where you can't sneak up on enemies as they hear your footsteps approaching through the puddles.

There's been so much love and skill involved in crafting this, really do think it deserves a lot more attention than it's had so far.

[Jez]

Definitely still on my to buy list.

[Sly Boots]

And finished. There was 13 missions in the end, not 9 as I wrote above. Each one will take between an hour and a half to two hours, I would say... I got 30 hours of gameplay from it in any case.

Highly recommended for anyone in the market for a stealth strategy game.

[Snowy]

Ooooooo that could be interesting. Not a huge fan of isometric stuff but this might be worth a play.

My thoughts too

[Sly Boots]

Ooooooo that could be interesting. Not a huge fan of isometric stuff but this might be worth a play.

My thoughts too

Give the demo a go mate, while it's the first (tutorial) level and so many of the characters and skills you get later aren't present yet, it's a good way to find out if the basic premise and gameplay interest you.

[Jez]

Aye I found the demo really good. Like I say deffo getting this at some point.

[Jez]

Once I'm done with Prey ill be getting this one. Really liked the demo they did. Must keep an eye out for it on sale till then.