SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance

I have to admit with some shame I thought Shinobi was yet another Metroidvania, and thanks to this community incessantly praising it, I finally played it and... Im a believer. *Shinobi is yet again an instant cult classic* *Gameplay*: This is a 2D action adventure with *elements* of the metroidvania genre - Game structure: In terms of game structure your experience with Art of Vengeance will most closely resemble something like God of war 3 or Ninja gaiden over something like Blasphemous, you are going through tightly designed levels that seek to keep the sense of momentum as you battle your way between jawdropping boss fights and exciting set pieces. - Combat: *The crowning jewel of the whole experience*, the combat in Shinobi resembles a beautiful balance between the spectacle action game (Ex. DMC, Bayonetta...) and the metroidvania. Our protagonist Joe Musashi is a Master Ninja, and every part of its toolset serves as a confirmation of that. You hit like a truck from the get go, and as the game progresses your lethality is never taken away, instead the challenge will present itself with more complex scenarios in which juggling your enemies and waving through enemy fire will very quickly become second nature. - Platforming: Is definetly leans on the more generous side of things, Joe is very agile and has a wide variety of traversal techniques and tools at his disposal. But beyond that is the fact of how responsive this character is, in your first 10 minutes of game, you´ll stop second guessing yourself as the master ninja obeys your every command with clinical precision. - Progression: From new outfits, through new combos, abilities, traversal methods and shinobi arts, this game will offer somehting new to chew on all the way through. It is done at such a pace that you always have the time to familiarize with the new toys, so everything you do get, becomes an active part of your playthrough rather than just gathering dust in your combo list. *Presentation and performance* - Bugs and performance: As you might expect from a 2D tittle the game does run like a dream, but perhaps not as common, it also happens to be (at least for me) a technically flawless experience. No crashes, no bugs, no popping, no frame drops, no menu stuttering or taking long to work. This game is just solid as a rock the whole way through, it feels as tangible as holding a book in your hand, and there are absolutely NO obstacles between you and the experience. - Visuals: Shinobi´s art style did not appeal to me in the trailer, it feels like hand drawn 2d games are a dime and a dozen. That said I assure you once you are playing this game at full resolution, and see how detailed and alive it feels on the move, how varied the enviornments are, and how the animation team completely knocked it out of the park when conveying just how much of a badass Musashi truly is; you´ll end up loving how this game looks. *TLDR: Shinobi is one of the best looking hand drawn games OAT* - Music: The best compliment I can give the team over at Sega is that this soundtrack is 100% gym material. The energetic techno tracks manage to feel so at home in this bombastic action film of a game, making adrenaline filled moments all the more engaging and helps the quieter ones to better convey a sense of place. *Story*: The narrative in Shinobi is intentionally cheesy, it is delightfully self aware, and will only serve as a vehicle to put you in ever cooler situations so that your "being a cool guy" fantasy only gets cooler every minute you keep being cool... cool. Voice acting is... actually like very good, it feels like playing your favorite action film as a kid, in the best sense, keeping all the magic and the explosions at the for front.