Info about Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition:

Official game description:
Shantae embarks on her first full HD adventure! When a mysterious crime wave sweeps Sequin Land, it’s up to Half-Genie Hero Shantae to save the day! Use Shantae’s devastating Hair-Whip Attack to send monsters flying, or Belly Dance to transform into a more powerful creature form! Topple the masterminds behind each criminal caper and prepare for the ultimate showdown against Shantae’s arch nemesis - the bodacious buccaneer Risky Boots!  
Key Features:  
• Shantae’s trademark moves return! Dance to transform into all-new and classic creatures, or summon magical attacks! Over a dozen dances to discover in all!  
• New Relic System allows players to unlock new powers and customize moves for Shantae and her many forms!  
• Conquer arcade-style action stages that unfold into a full world to explore. Fast action and quest-style exploration rolled into one!  
• When Shantae’s story ends, you’re just getting started! DLC Modes introduce new characters, levels, and bosses!  
• Huge Bosses, humorous dialogue, and the wonderfully weird Shantae cast return, now in fully animated HD!  
This all-inclusive version comes with all of the previously released DLC, Modes, and Costumes!  
Save the day as belly dancing half-genie Shantae! Conquer Sequin Land as the evil Risky Boots in ‘Pirate Queen’s Quest’! Swap between Sky, Bolo, and Rottytops in ‘Friends to the End’! And finally, wall-jump as Ninja Shantae, soak up sun as Beach Shantae, serve justice as Officer Shantae!  
Also includes Tinkerbat Transformation, Blue Shantae & Classic Risky costumes!

Release date: May 8, 2018

Categories: 2D Platformer, Metroidvania, Character Customization, Action-Adventure, Exploration, Transformation Mechanics

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 70; verdict: Aggressive Monetization; summary: The reviews indicate significant dissatisfaction with the game's DLC pricing and strategy. Many users feel that the DLC is overpriced and not worth the investment. Additionally, the Ultimate Edition, which includes all DLC, is seen as a way to charge more for content that should have been part of the base game. These practices contribute to a negative perception of the game's monetization.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Stunning Visuals and Art (weight 0.97): The game is praised for its beautiful visuals, high-quality graphics, and stunning art direction. Players appreciate the stylish graphics, attractive characters, and overall visual appeal.
- Excellent Soundtrack (weight 0.92): The game's soundtrack is highly praised for its quality and diversity. Players enjoy the energetic and well-suited music, which enhances the overall gaming experience.
- Fun and Engaging Gameplay (weight 0.43): Players find the gameplay to be extremely fun and engaging. The game's mechanics and writing contribute to an enjoyable and entertaining experience.
- Variety of Game Modes (weight 0.41): The game offers a variety of gameplay modes and mechanics, providing players with different challenges and experiences. This variety adds to the game's replayability and enjoyment.
- Creative Transformations (weight 0.23): The game features a variety of creative and fun transformations that players find useful and enjoyable. These transformations add a unique element to the gameplay.
- Charming Animations (weight 0.16): The game's animations are detailed and captivating, with beautifully drawn and animated characters. Players appreciate the charming visual style and nice animations.
- Memorable Boss Fights (weight 0.1): The game features memorable and enjoyable boss fights, adding to the overall challenge and excitement of the gameplay.

Common complaints:
- Limited and repetitive levels (weight 0.41): The game features only a few levels, which are uneven in quality and heavily reused across different modes, leading to a repetitive and unengaging experience.
- Disappointing DLC content (weight 0.31): The DLC content is criticized for feeling like a cash grab, being repetitive, and heavily recycled, offering little new or interesting material.
- Poor translations (weight 0.24): The game's translations, particularly in Spanish and Italian, are poorly executed, often feeling machine-translated and ruining the immersion.
- Excessive backtracking (weight 0.23): The game requires excessive backtracking for 100% completion, which can be tedious and frustrating for players.
- Underwhelming story (weight 0.2): The story is described as disappointing, flat, and not as clean or tightly-focused, leading to a lack of engagement.
- Linear level design (weight 0.2): The game moves away from traditional Metroidvania style to a more linear level design, which is criticized for feeling like a step back.
- Easy and unengaging combat (weight 0.19): The combat system is noted for being too easy and not very engaging, with many ways to heal and weaker enemies that do not provide a challenge.
- Disjointed game structure (weight 0.13): The game's structure feels disjointed due to its development with Kickstarter stretch goals, leading to levels that lack continuity and feel expendable.
- Frustrating gameplay elements (weight 0.13): The game can be quite annoying and frustrating at times, with some DLC modes being very challenging and stressful.
- Repetitive and reused bosses (weight 0.13): Some bosses are reused and lack difficulty and complexity, contributing to the repetitive nature of the game.
- Useless transformation forms (weight 0.12): Some transformation forms in the game are considered useless and underutilized, adding little value to the gameplay.
- Short main game (weight 0.11): The main game is criticized for being too short, with the main story being completable in around 6.5 hours, and additional modes not being as interesting.
- Broken balance (weight 0.08): The game's balance is noted for being broken, leading to an uneven and sometimes frustrating gameplay experience.
- Less content than previous games (weight 0.08): The game is noted for having less content compared to previous games in the series, feeling lacking in comparison.
- Odd difficulty curve (weight 0.07): The game has an odd difficulty curve, with some parts being too easy and others being frustratingly difficult.
- Not beginner-friendly (weight 0.07): The game is not recommended as a starting point for new players to the series, as it may not provide the best introduction.
- No discount for existing owners (weight 0.06): Existing owners of previous games in the series do not receive any discounts or benefits, which is seen as a negative.

Gameplay feedback:
- 2D platformer with Metroidvania elements (weight 0.59): The game is primarily a 2D platformer with elements of Metroidvania, including hidden rooms and exploration. It focuses on platforming and smooth controls, with some Metroidvania aspects.
- Transformations and abilities (weight 0.54): The game features a variety of transformations that allow for different exploration and gameplay mechanics. These transformations are creatively used and include various forms and powers.
- Multiple game modes available (weight 0.37): The game offers various modes with unique gameplay styles and difficulty levels. These include different playable characters and additional content with varying modes.
- Backtracking required (weight 0.36): Backtracking is a core element of the game, requiring players to revisit levels to fully complete objectives and find new items and bosses.
- Gameplay is smooth and engaging (weight 0.28): The gameplay is described as interesting, diverse, and fast-paced. It combines platforming, exploration, and various mechanics.
- Linear level design (weight 0.16): The game features linear levels with checkpoints and sequential design. Levels are often recycled and revisited with new abilities.
- DLCs offer replayability (weight 0.15): DLCs involve replaying levels with different characters and movesets, adding variety and replayability to the game.
- Combat is simple (weight 0.1): The combat in the game is considered easy and straightforward, making the game accessible but potentially less challenging.
- Similar to classic games (weight 0.07): The game is compared to classic games like Shovel Knight and Mega Man, indicating a similar style and gameplay mechanics.
- Costume modes with unique playstyles (weight 0.07): The game includes costume modes that change up the gameplay and offer unique playstyles.
- Change in style from previous games (weight 0.07): The game features a change in style compared to previous games in the series, offering a new experience for players.

Performance notes:
- FPS locked at 30 by default (weight 0.23): The game is locked at 30 FPS by default, which has caused dissatisfaction among players who prefer higher frame rates. Many players have reported needing to manually adjust settings to achieve 60 FPS.
- Poor optimization and performance (weight 0.17): The game has optimization issues, running poorly on various systems despite its low-end requirements. This includes problems with frame rate consistency and overall performance.
- Lack of proper FPS cap and VSYNC toggle (weight 0.14): Players have noted the absence of a proper FPS cap and VSYNC toggle within the game settings, requiring external solutions or manual file edits to enable these features.
- Sound and graphical issues (weight 0.13): There are reports of sound issues and graphical problems, including resolution settings bugs and incomplete display on ultrawide monitors.
- Engine tied to FPS causing issues (weight 0.11): The game engine is tied to the frame rate, leading to various issues such as the game running too fast if VSYNC is not forced through external software.
- Monitor refresh rate issues (weight 0.11): The game has issues with monitors above 60Hz, requiring external FPS limiters or changes in monitor settings to resolve speed and performance issues.
- Manual file editing required (weight 0.11): Players need to manually edit game files to enable certain settings like VSYNC and to fix resolution problems, which can be inconvenient and technical.
- Motion blur and rendering issues (weight 0.08): There are visual issues including motion blur that distracts during gameplay and mismatched rendering with 2D sprites, causing motion artifacts and blur during movement.
- Long loading times (weight 0.05): Players have reported that the game has long loading times, which can be frustrating and disrupt the gaming experience.
- Positive performance on Steam Deck (weight 0.04): Despite various issues, the game has been reported to play flawlessly on the Steam Deck, indicating good performance on this specific hardware.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for platformer fans (weight 0.36): The game is highly recommended for those who enjoy platformers, with many reviewers praising its visuals, platforming mechanics, and soundtrack. It is often described as a must-have for platformer enthusiasts.
- Wait for a discount (weight 0.2): Several reviewers recommend waiting for a discount before purchasing the game, especially if you already own the original version.
- Avoid additional modes (weight 0.15): Some reviewers advise against playing the additional modes due to their repetitive nature and lack of appeal.
- Worth the price (weight 0.11): Many reviewers feel that the game is worth its price, even at full price. It is seen as a reasonable purchase for the content and enjoyment it provides.
- Play specific game modes (weight 0.1): Reviewers suggest focusing on certain game modes like Hero mode, Officer Mode, and Pirate Queen's Quest for the best experience.
- Ideal for series fans (weight 0.08): The game is particularly recommended for fans of the series. It may not appeal as much to those who are not familiar with or particularly fond of the franchise.
- Consider Pirate's Curse (weight 0.08): Some reviewers suggest playing Pirate's Curse instead, indicating it might be a better option for those interested in the series.
- Not for new genre players (weight 0.07): The game is not recommended for new players to the genre, as it might be more enjoyable for those already familiar with Metroidvania games.
- Ultimate Edition is best (weight 0.05): The Ultimate Edition is considered the best version to buy, offering the most comprehensive experience for new players.
- Good for younger players (weight 0.04): The game is seen as suitable for younger players or those who enjoy '90s platformers, making it a good choice for a nostalgic or family-friendly experience.
- Play other installments first (weight 0.04): It is recommended to play other installments in the series first, as they might offer a better introduction or more enjoyable experience.

Other player notes:
- DLC available (weight 0.05): The game offers downloadable content (DLC) for additional gameplay experiences.
- Japanese subtitles available (weight 0.04): The game supports Japanese subtitles, making it accessible to Japanese-speaking players.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.33): Players are frustrated by a combination of technical issues, such as poor frame rates and lack of graphical settings, and game design choices, including excessive backtracking, repetitive gameplay, and high difficulty. The need for multiple playthroughs and the grind for in-game currency also contribute to this frustration.
- Disappointment (weight 0.24): Disappointment stems from the game's deviation from the Metroidvania style, lack of depth, and repetitive content. Players also express dissatisfaction with the story, character development, and the overall downgrade in exploration and map systems compared to previous installments.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.13): Enjoyment is derived from the game's artistic aspects, such as its art style, music, and creative transformations. Players also appreciate the relaxed atmosphere, unique humor, and the overall fun platformer experience.
- Joy (weight 0.09): Joy comes from the engaging gameplay, high-quality music and graphics, and the fun, easy-to-follow story. Players also enjoy the game's visuals, charming characters, and attractive graphics.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.07): Satisfaction is achieved through completing all achievements and content in the game, resolving technical issues, and experiencing smooth, enjoyable gameplay. The reasonable price and enhanced content also contribute to this feeling.
- Happy (weight 0.03): Happiness is derived from the game's humorous dialogue and beautiful art style. Players appreciate the fun and engaging atmosphere created by these elements.
- Excitement (weight 0.03): Excitement is generated by the enjoyable transformations, extra modes, and the high-quality soundtrack. The anticipation for future games and the full HD graphics also contribute to this feeling.
- Excited (weight 0.01): Excitement is driven by the game's impressive soundtrack, which captivates players right from the first level.
- Happiness (weight 0.01): Happiness comes from the fun and enjoyable gameplay experience that the game offers.}