Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun review – Old-school Action-Stealth Tactics is Back

Publisher	Daedalic Entertainment
Platforms	PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One
Price	$39.99
Size	13 GB
Latest Version	2.2.10

Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun is a successor to a genre that has gotten little love in recent years.

Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun is a dying breed. We haven’t seen a major franchise in the stealth-action strategy genre since the Commandos series found surprising success in the early 2000s. Since then, they’ve failed to stay afloat in a sea of action and mobile games that put high tempo action above all else.

Fortunately, over the past five years, strategy games have undergone a renaissance of sorts owing largely to the soaring popularity of digital forums and online marketplaces.  The increasingly loud – and increasingly heard – demand from strategy game enthusiasts for a roll-back to an era of slower-paced, more thoughtful games has been heard. Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun is just one such product of this renewed interest.

The first series that will cross the minds of gamers when they hear this genre is the Commandos series. Shadow Tactics Developers do not seem afraid to borrow elements and game mechanics from Commandos. Many elements found in Shadow Tactics have more than a passing similarity with those in Commandos, and the old series influence is evident in everything from the interface to the vision and stealth systems.

Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun tells the story of Mugen a samurai who was assigned by a shogun to find out the real identity of someone named Kage who was the mastermind behind the chaos in Japan in the Edo era. He also recruits Hayato as a ninja, then Yuki is a thief who is very skilled in making traps. Aiko is a female ninja who is very skilled in disguises and an expert in shooting and making weapons as well as explosives that have a squirrel tail that can be used to divert attention.

The game tells a simple story through short sequences that bookend each mission. Its writing is excellent and helps bring depth to characters that could have easily been one-dimensional without taking away from the game’s qualities. The attention to detail in the clothing and atmosphere is top-notch and because of this, Shadow Tactic Blades of the Shogun makes an unforgettable impression.

Gameplay as a whole might doesn’t stray far from the classic formula found in Commandos and Desperados. But many detailed elements that might make the game Shadow Tactic Blades of Shogun feel very different. Starting from the footprints when doing missions in snowy areas, the enemies will follow the footprints made by the character, or when at night we can extinguish the fire so that the enemy’s vision decreases, but they can also turn it back on, or run in stagnant places water will make the enemy suspicious.

There is also a mechanism “Shadow Mode” in the game Shadow Tactic Blades of Shogun where we can take action simultaneously with several different characters. By pressing the Shift key and Left click, the character will enter Shadow mode, and wait for instructions when to execute commands simultaneously. Shadow mode is very useful when having to pass through a place with very strict care because when the alarm sounds the enemy will be more vigilant and usually their numbers will increase too. As in this genre of game in the Shadow Tactic Blades of Shogun, we can also hide a body in a river, throw it from a cliff or hide it into a house.

In Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun, there is also a challenge on each mission where we can have to complete the mission under certain conditions. We can get a Badge when we complete the challenge.

In Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun, there is also a challenge on each mission where we can have to complete the mission under certain conditions. We can get a Badge when we complete the challenge. Shadow Tactic Blades of Shogun graphics are pretty good, where we can play this game even with computer specifications that are not too high, this must get its own appreciation. Voice actors with the distinctive voice of each character are also not bad, the voice whispering of the characters when doing missions makes the tension increases when doing missions that are quite difficult.

Maybe the thing that needs to be improved a little is the camera which is rather confused and less optimal but does not reduce the excitement of playing the game Shadow Tactic Blades of Shogun.

This game compared to its predecessor can be fairly difficult, if you are not too happy with the challenge you can reduce the difficulty of the Shadow Tactic Blades of Shogun game to be a beginner, there are 3 difficulty modes to choose from.