Shogun Triad Deathninja (STD in short) is known and grown „big“ from the webpage „Newgrounds“ which basicly is nothing new in what the game is. It would count as a retro-styled game with some ninja-like elements – basicly a „watered down“ Binding of Isaac. Literally.
Sadly, it fails in things which said Isaac– and other games made already better, with way less people in the team and with way less „ego“ as well.
Favoritsm and nepotism~
First of all i already had some „nice contact“ with the dev and some of the contributors of this game before it came out on steam. The game got hyped up for „how good“ it is BUT basicly got barely any good reviews - Just a lot people on Newgrounds which basicly gave it a 5 star voting for no other reason than 2 things: favoritsm and nepotism.
You see, the whole game is created from „someone“ who is a bit known on Newgrounds with a team of about 2+ people BEHIND it - at least it was counted up on the Newgrounds page – 1 was the creator, 1 people programmer and the rest were listed as „additional art“ contributors.
Here you can already see that a lot people actually gave a ♥♥♥♥ about to take the votes srs for the game - only upvoted it with 5 stars with no review given– some of the dev teams ppl did this as well, just saying.
So if you as someone who DID write a real review about it and was maybe not „that tasteful“ than just giving „5 stars for it“ there, every single one of „its fans“ AND the people which worked on the game tried hard to bash on you for your opinion, kinda like twitter in a nutshell am i right?
I mean proof is given with the jester rewards i got for this rev~
But now, we are here on Newgrounds and the cards are played different...
Yes, im sure that even around steam said favoritsm and nepotism are a thing but the difference here is: On steam, if people do that, the game and its dev(team) gets BANNED for it (Someone remembers the game „Zi“~? Just one sample...).
So with that said, i think we FINALLY can go on to talk about the game for real, right~?
Already on Newgrounds this game got a lot compared to „The Binding of Isaac, just on shogun“. The problem is, the Original Binding of Isaac was created from like 4 people and offerd a lot more compared to this game.
First of all, STD tries hard to rock the ninja style somewhat...but in what „kind“ of style? You see, It doesnt look like NES- (but i think it tries to) nor SNES games but the closest style you can „think“ of might be basicly „good“ atari styled games. Thats nothing to bash on tbh but than, this game had a lot „additional art“ contributors - so what did this contributors actually „ADD“ to its style or game?
Again, Look at Binding of Isaac (team of 4 people) and now look at STD (team of 35+ people), you basicly can see what i talk about if you have again the amount of people which worked on each game in mind as well.
Next to this, unlike Isaac, this game is basicly more an „arena to arena“ game where isaac has this in its base as well but it does that just way smoother and better and adds a MAP system, i would even go and compare it more with games like „Robotron 2084“ where it also just throws sometimes a „bathroom“ like area in, nothing more. Of course, it has some boss fights but than, thats basicly it and for the pricetag, just to add that here, it feels like a lot is missing. But did i not forgot something?
Oh yes, i did. The fact that you basicly do play „Tutankham“ from Konami here.
What does that mean? In said game from 1982, you runned around from the topview in tomb-similar labyrinths but were ONLY able to shoot left and right – like in STD for no reason.
This already „limits“ the style of „how you engage your enemies“ and can feel somewhat tedious at times. Its not as hard as in said Tutankham where you basicly had to sit in corners and „wait“ till you could actually move and able to shoot your enemies but you still will really quick notice that this kind of gameplay choice feels more like a limitation and gets a lot in the way. I can think about that the dev did add that „just because“ so that the game adds some kind of „depth“ or „game-change“ into it but it actually feels more like an obstacal and actual limitation than anything else. I mean, you have a free 8-way movement like in binding of Isaac but only 0 directions to fire at - It feels off.
A bit from the short stick...
The problem is also that for nearly the same pricetag you can get better games than STD, sadly. I dont wanna talk it down but for the same pricetag i can get myself a bit cheaper the original Binding of Isaac or, just adding a bit more, the newer, better version from it – Even if im not going for rogue likes, i still can get a lot other games like „Terraria“ as one sample in which i could put hundrets of hours into wile in STD maybe just 2. Still, if i wanna stay with rogue-likes i have better opinions over all:
- You wanna stay classical, you play Isaac or Hammerwatch (the old one which is more styled after „Gauntlet“ or the newer which is basicly a mix of RPG and rogue-like).
- You wanna actually exsplore some great places or go in the underground, you play Undermine or Dungreed.
- You wanna go and play multiplayer in a very nice looking retro style or even in 3d as 3rd person shooter, you play Vagante or Risk of Rain 2.
- You wanna go crazy with guns or synthwave music in neon style, you either play Enter the Gungeon or Neon Abyss.
As you can already see, the market is FLOOD with such games - and STD is just „one of many“ from them. The problem here is, most games i counted up have at least something „unique“ about them – Like Vagante which has 4 player online multiplayer. STD in the other hand has nothing which makes it „feel unique“, in fact it feels like a „watered down“ version from Binding of Isaac. Its basicly there „just because“, limits itsself with the odd playstyle „0-way shooting only“ choice and thats it.
It feels like an normal, genetic retro styled arena shooter with some base rogue-like elements and has a pricetag for which you can get other and/or better games in the same style and/or even genre. It doesnt really add something „to“ the genre unlike games which basicly wrote them anew like said and so often compared Binding of Isaac. Its just “there“.
I mean there are even „basic free games“ on steam in such „room to room“ shooting style but more from the arcade-ish side like „Frantic Dimension“ – and as „basic“ as this game is, it still has more depth than STD has... and is free.
So do i recomment it?
I dont wanna say STD is a bad game but its just WAY to basic in literally every- and anyway than other, similar games which came out years before STD and are either just cheaper, better, offer way more for the same price or are overall free.
So i cant „force“ myself to give it „just 5 stars and thats it“. Maybe the middle of 2.5-3 Stars – or similar – are worth it giving but again, it adds nothing new to the table what was already seen somewhere else and i cant „praise“ it high if i have other, SMALLER indie dev „teams“ in mind which were basicly „unknown“ and did just WAY better with the stuff they had „for its time“.
So, i hardly say no to it but that doesnt mean its not worth trying - but if you only wanna „try it“, you can also go on Newgrounds and play the Demo there because there you can actually play it for free and test and see yourself, how it is.
Not Recommented – its just way to basic for what it is. It gives literally TONES of better, similar games right now and STD falls basicly way to flat in this flood of games. Its way to Barebones...
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