Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice Review
[...] As a small standalone expansion to Shadow Tactics, Aiko's Choice looks to carry on the greatness and take you back to a place you likely haven't visited in a while, and it does it admirably. Even better is that if somebody who hasn't played Shadow Tactics feels like playing this expansion, this makes an effort to bring them in - even if it's likely to remind people of what happened five years ago.
So what exactly does Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice bring? First, let's talk price. It costs 16.99, roughly half the price of the base title. For that, you get six levels. There are three larger, full-fledged areas, three smaller and more focused areas (interludes), which occur roughly three-quarters through the original game. Consequently, it throws you into the deep end. As a standalone, it does offer a sort of introduction, but even this presumes you have played the original.
[...]
Score: 7.5
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice is more of the original, which means it's more of one of the best real-time tactics games around. The few issues that you could have with the original, such as the difficulty curve, are made worse due to the location of these missions within the larger story - and with it being standalone - which could make it inaccessible. The lack of introduction to characters, presuming foreknowledge, also means new players will find it hard to get into. Even with these flaws, I could only recommend it as it looks great, sounds great, and plays even better.
Pros
- More of the same outstanding tactical gameplay.
- Still looks and sounds brilliant, with outstanding art and audio direction.
- More time, and good character development, for those familiar with the game.
Cons
- Poor attempts to engage new players or re-engage older ones who could have forgotten many aspects in both characters and gameplay.
- High difficulty curve due to the location of the missions in the wider title.
