Recent reviews by Zen Kazaki

ARKANE! MAKE DISHONORED 3 AND MY BANK ACCOUNT IS YOURS!

get ♥♥♥♥ whitman rest in piss bozo

If you're a fan of Stealth Real Time Strategy genre, just get this game. It's super good. This genre is not that popular, we should support it as much as we can.
If you're a newcomer to this genre, so am I. In fact, I've never played any RTS game, let alone a stealth RTS. And I loved every moment I've had with this game.

- The story is what I would call "nicely done". It's not a literature masterpiece by any means, which is not a bad thing at all. It's interesting enough to make you feel interested, and the characters all have their own appeal. I admit, some of the dialogues could be delivered better. The characters are quirky and a little cringy at times, but I feel like that's part of the charm. I actually found myself emotionally invested towards the characters, especially towards the later half of the game. Can't lie, the ending made me kinda sad for a bit lmao

- The gameplay is what you'd expect from a stealth strategy game. I really liked stealth, but I have also never played any strategy games, especially RTS. And this game gave me the best introduction to the genre. By the end of the game, I can't help but feel excited to play more games just like Shadow Tactics. It's exactly what I wanted in a stealth game. Observation, tactical planning, decision making, and execution. It feels so damn satisfying when you take your time to craft a plan, execute it, fail, refining your strategy, and finally succeeding in the end. It's like playing chess, or solving an elaborate puzzle.

- The characters all have their own sets of tools and traits which can be combined to tackle an obstacle, but sometimes there are levels where one character is clearly better than the others, and can be used for every situation. Though this is not a fatal flaw, since you can choose to be more creative with your approach. On my first playthrough, i rarely used Takuma, feeling him to be a liability due to his weaknesses, but on my second playthrough, I found myself using him more, which in turn helped me discover more creative ways to solve a level. Because that's what the game is all about. Creative problem solving!

There are some clear flaws, though. The camera and controls. The camera can become awkward or downright frustrating, especially at the far edges of levels. The controls, while manageable, can sometimes feel clunky and unresponsive. For example, if you click on an unreachable spot, your characters will stop moving entirely, which could lead to detections. Similarly, moving multiple characters to a single location can cause them to collide, slowing down their movement or even exposing one of them unintentionally. The shadow mode is also a bit underwhelming, and I usually only found myself using them when I'm just trying to be fancy with my tactics. Because of the enemies' pathing and predictable viewcones, sometimes all you need is time and patience. If you don't mind taking it slow, you can finish some levels without ever using shadow mode.

Gameplay: 8/10. Good level design, lots of opportunities to make different plans and strategies. Wonky camera and controls which takes some time getting used to.
Story: 8/10. Very good. Characters are interesting, and the story is simple but sweet.
Visuals: 9/10. Very appealing aesthetics and visuals. Game graphics look timeless, probably will still look good in the year 2050.
Replayability: 7/10. The level stays the same, but the badges and achievements urges you to replay the game, but with different gameplans and approach.

Definitely recommend. Many thanks to the developers for giving me an awesome introduction to this genre!