Shantae -- #26. Nooks and Crannies
2Please only inspect the curves respectfully:
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Wow, that's got to be a new record for most awkward turnaround and then immediate faceplant and then continued staring at the dropped ball.
I mean, there are worse cases... but those would require I actually get back to them... ... ... and then stop... and then get back to them again. Let's keep hoping for one step at a time first!
The thing that shook me free of the laziness this time around was... OUR GIRL'S IN SMASH! ...AGAIN! AND SHE BROUGHT MUSIC!
Seriously, please don't get me started on "deconfirm" logic, because... no. I love Shantae. But she wasn't going to get in as a playable character. BUT SHE DID ANYWAY. I don't care if it's a technicality, because it's still AMAZING. And if you've got someone whose head is so far between their hips that they can't even shake 'em anymore... just... ... ... don't be that way! Please?
I don't care how many people thought she and her sibling introductees to the "costume deconfirm" drop today would make a great addition to the playable roster... because I'd agree! I already agreed with many other cases thus far! ...but relative to other factors... it's unreasonable to assume you and your fellow enthusiasts' passion makes up for it.
If you choose to be mad about a celebration of something you love... you're ultimately only spiting yourself and choosing misery on what should instead be a momentous occasion.
Plus, I mean... c'mon... this actually means Shantae's got more "meaningful" representation than Shovel Knight now. (Prove me wrong next wave, guys! Do it!)
Also, can we get like... all the songs that were used to tease us in trailers? I'd pay extra for them! Even more extra than the inflated price of a character that includes one!
I'm also slightly more partial to "We Love Burning Town" over "Neo Burning Town"... but basically every version of "Burning Town" is just splitting hairs at this point. THIS IS UNAMBIGUOUSLY A GOOD, BOPPIN' THING NO MATTER WHAT.
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Well, it's about time that all this backtracking finally paid off! We find ourselves another Talisman in the form of the Elephant Tote... which... is... similarly disappointing to the alleged combat capabilities of the elephant form itself. No offense! It's just that the limited mobility cannot be overcome, and something that relies on the ability to get to a high place to unleash is even more unwieldy than the default tackle attack already was. It's especially a shame for the only transformation with any capacity for attack right out of the box in the first place.
Now here's where things get more than a little confusing... this was an upgrade cave... but it ALSO has implications for navigation! Which is a bit of a mixed bag, I find, since MOST caves are just shortcuts or dead ends with an upgrade in them after a quick skills or ability check. I'm sure having MORE of them do double duty would just get more confusing than what we've got, especially without a map... and all these short-circuit style tunnels would only further confound making any such map at all readable... I think we should be happy that these are so limited in double-duty use like this.
Oh yeah, remember fireflies?! It's been awhile since we've seen... ANY... and having a more convoluted world to travel around and shortcut between areas on would only make these even more of a pain than I'm assuming collecting these little buggers will ultimately prove to be. I... very much hope I haven't been overlooking any along the way, but I also concede that it's probably inevitable. (My first time getting them all, the last one I was missing was actually the easiest one to get from the start of the game!)
I know it can't just be me... but the road to and from water town is always longer than I remembered... even while playing the game and having traversed it reasonably recently. Relatively speaking.
To my great disappointment, the spider transformation's capacity for simplifying navigation is severely limited... not just in what areas are specifically marked to allow her use, but also by the fact that spider Shantae is bigger than she looks. I was so hoping that her heightened jump would be more of an asset than just swapping back and forth to monkey when you need a little extra boost.
Oh, and for extra fun, let's revisit the Dribble Fountain! Um... why? Because unexpected spider compatibility! Then again, this return showcases just one slightly tricky monkey jump... and you CAN reach this Warp Squid with just that... if you have an incredibly pixel perfect jump that I demonstrably can't possibly handle.
And then we have the Heart Holder in the first forest, the REAL reason I thought ever since early on there MUST be more secrets lurking the whole way!
I'm... pretty sure the path to the Monkey Claw and connected shortcut wouldn't have more secrets... probably... ... ...