To say I've become a fan of Mimimi Games in the past few years would be putting it lightly. I had never heard of them before reviewing Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, and I knew I had to keep an eye on them after that. My trust in them only grew when I had the chance to review the excellent Desperados III, finishing with the standalone expansion Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice. Knowing what I do about their abilities, I was excited to play Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew and play I have. The question is if the playing has been good.
Spoilers: It was, but not without its frustrations. I suppose that line leaves it all open, then; why is Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew good to play, and what are the frustrations?
Frustrations first. Mimimi has made their biggest game yet, but not without a little too much of what feels like backtracking. You will often find yourself doing missions on the same islands. You may be like me and clear the island entirely, murdering everything that happens to have a pulse, only to find yourself coming back to the very same island and people are back, in their same positions, and mainly on the same patrol routes. I don't care that this is now night. Even the bloody Vatican didn't have this many people to throw at the Crusades.
You'll also find that you're railroaded into doing a mission on an island; it happens to be a core one - one that advances the plot - to then return to that same island, and the magical bush controlling the island is reintroducing itself as if you hadn't just saved it. I'm sorry, but if you're going to have missions on the same islands, and force somebody to go there potentially before they do the initial quests, then you're going to need to set a trigger for conversations so you haven't got re-introductions. Ideally, also don't respawn every bloody religious nutbar and their dog in near enough the same places, following the same patrol routes.
What makes this particularly annoying is that each time you enter a map, you can open up quick portals back to Marley - your magical ghost ship - by killing the enemies around the locations. Of course, whenever you come back, the same enemy types are stationed there, the cracks re-sealed, waiting for you to kill them all again, inevitably using the same tactics you did the first time.
If you're wondering why you backtrack, it's that you are (sort of) forced into it. Part of the early stages is reviving (re-un-deadening?) your crew. You do this by collecting soul energy and black pearls, requiring multiple visits to the same islands. The objectives are different and in another part of the map, meaning you can skip the same murdering as before, but it's hard to do that when you don't know if you'll miss out on something. I enjoy bringing back the crew, watching their introductions, and inevitably doing their little side stories. It's just the backtracking; it's a little boring, even if part forced, part self-inflicted, and even if a change from day to night offers new challenges.
It's an annoyance because the outstanding work of Mimimi Games shines through everywhere outside of this. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is just as tactical and engaging as the studio's previous titles, and it certainly has the most engaging of their stories so far. Who doesn't like to play with undead pirates, particularly one who talks to his also-undead fish, and the fish speaks back, or a headless treasure hunter?
Let's talk about the crew. First and foremost is the Red Marley, the ghost pirate ship. The Marley is the hub of the game, an essential story element (no spoilers), and the narrative reasoning behind quick save and load. The Marley, essentially, remembers points and can travel back to that memory, undoing everything but remembering what has happened. In addition to her memory, Marley's ability to control time is also the narrative behind being able to pause and plan your actions.
In addition to the Red Marley, there are eight cursed pirates. Afia Manicato is what you would call the protagonist; it is her story. As she becomes the navigator of the Marley, she (you) will end up reviving the other seven ghostly pirates, ranging from a blind markswoman to the aforementioned pirate and his friendly fish. Each character has unique abilities, with the setting allowing perfect narrative reasoning. As much as I loved Desperados III and Shadow Tactics, the settings didn't suit some abilities, not that it stopped me from enjoying them.
Here, you'll find the ability to use a magical anchor to sink to an alternative dimension, popping up to kill and drag down an enemy. Suleidy, the ship's doctor and part-plant, is my favourite as she can create a bush to hide in anywhere. Theresa, a former religious zealot, is also pretty helpful, as she is the primary ranged member of the group, using her crossbow with pinpoint accuracy. Each character can also gain a secondary or improved version of their ability, unlocked through the hub when enough points are earned completing missions. To encourage you to use various characters, the more a character is sat on the sidelines, the higher the points reward the next time they are used.
More than the exceptional tactical gameplay Mimimi is now known for, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew adds a reasonably interesting story. There's a lot I won't spoil because Mimimi has politely asked reviewers not to reveal certain elements. I will say that each character gets fleshed out through banter on the ship and through the side stories. They also have significant missions, or "tests", within the game. It makes for an engaging and, at times, funny story, particularly anything with John Mercury and his fish, Sir Reginald.
Adding to the strong writing is good voice acting. Shadow Tactics didn't impress me with the English VA, Desperados III wasn't memorable, but Shadow Gambit has it spot on. It's not something often considered in the strategy genre, and it isn't something that can damage a game, but it certainly adds and improves, helping to further engross you in the world and story. This also expands to simple one-liners by future victims as you sneak around them.
An excellent art style aids all of this. Much like my praise for Shadow Tactics, the use of colour, how the world feels alive around your characters, and how the world reacts in small ways - it's exceptionally well done. Desperados III was the same, just very brown; this setting allows Mimimi to use a full range of colours and designs, and use it they do.
I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that attention to detail also comes in the level design, not just artistic. The levels are enormous, with multiple paths, allowing you to plan your way to each objective. There are so many "accidents" that your enemies can encounter, too. The elements that made Mimimi games great before have been thrown into overdrive, with light, shadows, cover, height, and more all coming into superb effect.
I don't think it would be a considerable surprise reading this that I recommend Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. Mimimi has made yet another fantastic real-time tactics title, and I would argue they've cemented their place at the top of the league (if there was one) of developers in the sub-genre. Shadow Gambit is also a huge game, a wide variety of missions and locations - plus the re-visits - brought me in at close to 50 hours, and I still have little things I can do.
Undead Pirates XXX is an excellent game; the only downside is the reuse of maps. That downside is a little self-inflicted because if you're like me, you want to kill the named guards (named after the developers) and do whatever else gets you a badge (additional side-quest things), so you do it all. Still, this is an outstanding real-time tactics game and one I would recommend to anybody and everybody. Fans of the genre, and those new, you're in for a treat.
PC version reviewed. Copy provided by the developer.
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