Review – Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – Aiko’s Choice

Aiko’s Choice is a stealth, tactics game set in Japan of the Edo period. The gameplay follows three different characters as they work to overthrow an oppressive feudal ruler who has banned independent thought and creativity.

The “shadow tactics: blades of the shogun review” is a game that was released in 2016. The game has been praised for its excellent gameplay and story.

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, which was launched more than five years ago, is still one of the greatest stealth games available today. It’s difficult not to be sucked in by the game’s premise: a tactical hardcore stealth strategy game in which a small team of shogun set out to complete hundreds of missions around Japan during the Edo era. Shadow Tactics is presently celebrating its fifth anniversary with the release of Aiko’s Choice, a standalone expansion. 

Aiko’s Choice starts up in the middle of Blades of the Shogun’s campaign. Aiko and the Shogun go on a quest to aid in the capture of Aiko’s old mentor, diving further into her history until she is ready to face it. It’s a good narrative, and it’s great to see these people again, but the story has never been Shadow Tactics’ strong suit. It’s just there to provide you a cause to complete the task at hand. The game’s incredible stealth gameplay is the genuine thing. 

Review-Shadow-Tactics-Blades-of-the-Shogun-Aikos

Scumming for spare change is encouraged.

Shadow Tactics is a stealth strategy game in which you command a small group of heroes. Hayato is a generic shinobi who can hide in the shadows and take down adversaries with a shuriken from a distance. Aiko is a female Kunoichi (ninja) who plays in a similar way to Hayato but specializes in disguises. Mugen is a tank-like Samurai who can’t sneak because of his bulky armour, but can easily take down other Samurai and several foes at once. Yuki, on the other hand, may set traps and entice attackers to her location. Then there’s Takuma and his faithful companion Kuma, who serve as a sniper and a diversion, respectively.

Each character has a specific role in the game, and success is dependent on combining all of their talents. Utilizing Yuki’s whistle, for example, might distract foes, allowing Hayato to sneak in for a takedown; or using Aiko’s disguise, Mugen can get into a better position to knock down the lethal samurai enemies. It’s a typical feature seen in other isometric stealth games like Desperados III, and it works well.

You can observe an enemy’s vision cone by right-clicking on them, allowing you to plan your movements ahead of time. Shadow Tactics provides you with the tools you need to succeed, but it’s up to you how you use them, rewarding inventive methods and the usage of all of the characters. You may queue each character’s actions to be performed at the same time or consecutively in Shadow mode. The same gameplay cycle of quicksaving, attempting something, failing, and reloading has reappeared. Instead than punishing save scumming, the game actually promotes it. Because even the tiniest flaw in your strategy may spell catastrophe, successfully mastering the obstacle is all the more satisfying. 

1640009001_727_Review-Shadow-Tactics-Blades-of-the-Shogun-Aikos

Perfect execution.

The novel Aiko’s Choice is divided into many chapters. There are three small chapters that are the equivalent of a single encounter, as well as three big missions that follow the more classic Shadow Tactics concept. The huge missions are the major draw, and they’re well crafted and provide new difficulties that put your stealth talents to the test. Each one takes a few hours to finish. These smaller tasks, on the other hand, present a good 20-minute challenge to complete. Overall, there’s between 8 and 15 hours of replayable stuff to be found here. When you finish a chapter, more challenges appear that need more strategy and greater difficulty levels that are terrible yet enjoyable. For a standalone expansion, it’s not bad. 

In terms of graphics and music, it’s pretty much the same as previously. This isn’t a negative thing, by the way. Quite the opposite is true. The original Shadow Tactics game’s stunning painted aesthetic returns, bringing the Edo era of Japan to life. The sound design is no exception. It’s amazing to hear these characters’ voices again, and there’s a lot of banter between them that rapidly builds a relationship. 

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – Aiko’s Choice is a welcome return five years after the original’s release, and I’m delighted it’s here. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it doesn’t need to, owing to its outstanding level design and fun and rewarding gameplay. Granted, if you weren’t already a fan, this won’t change your mind; if you’ve never played Shadow Tactics before, I’d suggest beginning with the original. Aiko’s Choice is a fantastic addition to what made the previous game so fascinating once you fell for it.

It maintains the original game’s visual flair. The hand-drawn illustrations are stunning.

In this addition, the gameplay from the original Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is mostly preserved. There’s hardly much to complain about, given how fantastic it was back then and how good it is today.

The music is fantastic, and the banter-filled voice acting is a treat to listen to, just like in the original game.

Aiko’s Choice doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s still a fantastic hardcore stealth game for lovers of the original.

Final Score: 9.0

On PC, Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice is now available.

On a PC with an RTX 2060, Ryzen 5 3600X, and 16GB RAM, the review was conducted. 

The publisher donated a copy of Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice.

As an example:

As if Loading…

Look at them!

Watch This Video-

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a turn-based strategy game that takes place in Japan’s Sengoku era. The game has received generally positive reviews, with an average score of 78/100 on Metacritic. Reference: shadow tactics: blades of the shogun metacritic.

Related Tags

  • shadow tactics: blades of the shogun – aiko’s choice gameplay
  • shadow tactics: blades of the shogun – aiko’s choice price
  • shadow tactics aiko’s choice release date
  • shadow tactics: blades of the shogun wiki
  • shadow tactics blades of the shogun – aiko choice ps4
Share the Post:

Related Posts

Join Our Newsletter