Ідейний та ігроладний послідовник класичної вже серії "Commandos" але в сеттінгу середньовічної Японії з відповідним колоритом і дуже симпатичним графічним та звуковим оформленням. В ігроладному плані, це той самий старий-добрий командос, де ви маєте команду різноманітних спеціалістів, від гейш і нінзя, до самураїв та снайперів, використовуючи здібності яких ви виконуєте поставлені вам сюжетом завдання. Здебільшого це стелс місії з проникнення і знешкодження або диверсії. Для найбільш повного занурення в атмосферу я рекомендував би грати з японським озвученням і українськими субтитрами...
Але тут у нас проблема:
Ціна на ігри в Стім для українців, часто вища, ніж для росіян, але локалізації українською немає, то чому ми маємо платити більше, отримуючи за свої гроші менше? Тому доки гра не має української локалізації, моя оцінка буде негативна.

Я не грала у жодну гру Commandos чи Desperados, тому цей жанр чи тип гри для мене дуже новий. Це дивовижна гра, в яку повинні грати всі, хто любить стелс. Навіть люди, які не дуже люблять стелс, також повинні спробувати.

Що робить цю гру чудовою?

⭐️ Геймплей просто дивовижний. На початку кожної місії ви будете дивитися на всю карту і думати: «Це безнадійно, як я зроблю це без консультації з гідом?» (З цією метою я ДУЖЕ рекомендую НЕ переглядати покрокові інструкції в Інтернеті. Ви зіпсуєте гру). Однак магія цієї гри полягає в тому, що ви можете розбити свою загальну місію на менші, досяжні кроки. Вбити чувака X з кількома охоронцями, які його оточують? Занадто складно. Можливо, я першим зніму цього охоронця. Тоді, можливо, цього охоронця. І так далі.

⭐️ Гра виглядає неможливою, але її цілком можна здійснити, якщо запастися терпінням. Це нормально завершити 1 місію за 1-2 години і мати кількість збереження/перезавантаження приблизно 50.

⭐️ Сценічний дизайн – це те, де гра справді сяє, вона дає вам безліч маршрутів і варіантів, а досягнення пропонують чудову цінність для гравців, які мають більше терпіння та вільного часу, ніж я. Здатність проходити свій шлях методом проб і помилок — це дуже надійна основна механіка, і я повинна сказати, як приємно вчинити ідеальне вбивство.

⭐️ Якщо сперечатися щодо ціни, тому я хочу звернути увагу на те, що конкретно – ця гра коштує до останньої копійки. Мені навіть трошки шкода, що я купила гру на розпродажі.

⭐️ Колоритні персонажі: Хаято, Муген, Айко, Юкі, Такума-Сан. Кожен із них має свої особливі методи вбивства, анімації і можливості. Додам, що мій улюблений персонаж це дівчинка Юкі і місії з її участю завжди мені до душі.

🔥 Єдиний мінус в грі, на мою думку, це відсутність української локалізації.

I am 68 years old...and I love this game. It is a real-time isometric strategy game that allows multiple ways to solve the puzzles to reach the end goal. Been looking for a game like this for a long time.

The graphics are superb. An elegantly designed environment. A joy to just wander around in and explore.

I hope they add modules to keep this genre going.

Shadow Tactics harkens back to the glorious days of realtime tactical strategy games like Commandos. Instead of gathering supplies to build forces, the genre had you control a small set of heroes. As you use a combination of stealth, clever timing and frequent use fo F5/F8 to make your way across the map filled with enemies to complete various objectivies. Being outnumbered by a 100 to 1 at times, players had to use the map, the heroes and create a synergy amoung them to even the odds.

The game takes place during the Feudal times in Japan. You control a group of heroes with different motives, come together for a common goal. The plot does an okay job to keep things going forward with a predictable twist in the end.

The game introduces you to the basic controls and key abilities of the heroes with time. However, that is not enough for the players to complete the missions. Once the players understand the abilities, the map and start to combine them in clever ways, this is when the game really opens up. The game has pretty straight forward abilities, however as you play on you will learn clever ways to make use of those abilities for some really fantastic combos. There is also a tactical mode called Shadowmode which let you queue up 1 command per hero at a time and execute it instantly with a press of a button - this can open up to a lot of tactical opportunities when you have a very slim opening to do a number of things. You cannot queue up more than one action at a time which might be sad news for some. According to the developer the reason behind this is so the players play the game more in real-time as opposed to simply queue up every few steps along the way.

Also bear in mind that you will be saving and reloading A LOT. This infact encouraged by the developers and part of the game to the point you see a handy timer which shows how long it has been since you last saved. So don't be be afraid to constantly F5 and F8.

There is no clear way of using the abilities, you can use it as well as manipulate the game world the way you see fit. This sense of self-discovery is one of the reasons I enjoyed playing this game and reminded me a lot of the childhood days of me playing through Commandos for the first time.

I had a number of frustrating moments with the game however. It is not always very clear when enemies can see you behind an object. Sometimes you feel like you are hidden behind a prop, only to be spotted instantly. The game has also pathfinding problems: I died a number of times trying to navigate my character to a certain point closeby, however the character ends up taking a really terrible way to get there by going through a different, lengthier path altogether. This can be very frustrating when you have a very small window to do a number of things, you do everything right but die because the pathfinding decides to break momentarily.

Overall I enjoyed this game, reminded me how much I missed this genre. The voice acting is pretty good to for the main characters, although I find some npcs sound too british for my taste. It is not perfect as mentioned, but it is more towards fun than frustration. I really hope more developers start to make games like this.

7 /10 - GOOD!

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - це тактична-стелс гра в сеттингу Японії єпохи Едо(1603 по 1868 роки).
Плюси та мінуси гри:
+ Шикарний саундтрек який дуже сильно впливає на атмосферу, я навіть зберіг його собі щоб слухати окремо.
+ Багато механік різноманітних, які впливають на проходження гри тим чи іншим образом. В грі присутні 5 персонажів основних, кожен з них унікальний по своєму.
+ Сюжет дуже цікавий, під кінець гри мені прям запав у душу, чесно кажучи не очікував від цієй гри чогось подібного.
+ Шикарне ДЛС яке більш детально сюжетно розкриває персонажів.
+ Велика реіграбельність рівнів з можливістю проходити їх дуже різними способами.

- Вона хардкорна, і не підійде неусидчивим людям які не готові декілька годин витрачати на один рівень.
- Нажаль в Японії Самураї якщо підводили своїх господарів, то вони робили сеппуку, тут багато такого....

If a soldier finds a body, they aren't just *more cautious for a few minutes before relaxing*, they sound the alarm.
If a soldier finds footprints they don't recognize in the snow, they make a beeline straight for the cover the footprints lead to.
If a soldier regularly sees another soldier, then suddenly finds post empty, they actually look around in nearby bushes.
If a soldier hears a sound meant to attract him, but it's up on a ledge, he's not going to climb up there.
This is a stealth game that takes the player seriously.

This is a rare game from an almost extinct genre. Clone of Commandos series from the 90s, but instead of world war setting, we got a feudal japan which is surprisingly works very well. The game mechanic is great too, if you played other games in the same genre such as Commandos, Desperados, or Robin Hood, you'll feel right at home. Usually I don't care much about the story, same like in Commandoes, but the story Shadow Tactics is more than decent, I enjoy it, and it has some twists as well.

The game is tough, but very satisfying. People say each mission needs 2-3 hours to complete, but I took 4-6 hours each mission because what I like about the genre is I can took my time, and feel the satisfaction of eliminating all enemies on map, stealthy..

I'm hoping for expansion, DLC, or sequel, but sadly the dev confirmed that there won't be any, but they're curently working on a new game but with a same genre.. and I can't wait to see it.

What to say, where to begin?

I am a huge Commandos fan and seeing this game's announcement was a dream come true after so many years of stalemate in this genre. And I have to be honest, seeing the first couple of trailers and screenshots I was not that hyped. It looked low budget to me but I still wanted to give it a chance.
And then, out of the blue....A DEMO! Yes, a demo, believe it or not that thing still exists. I downloaded it not expecting that much....Boy, was I wrong. Demo got me hooked, a perfect sample that made me buy this game at launch. But my surprise did not end there.
Not going to spend half of the review telling you about Commandos, because it is obvious that this was heavily inspired by those games (let's not forget legendary Desperados). This game is a mix between the first games in the genre and the awesome Commandos 2. Not too complex with inventory management and indoor sections, but still complicated in it's own way.
Graphics really surprised me, those first trailers and SS's do not give this game justice. In motion it looks beautiful, animations are amazing and attention to detail is stunning (like weaker characters pulling bodies instead of carying them, different styles of execution depending on the size of the character and their personality (Yuki-chan takedown FTW) and plenty more).
Sound is also amazing with different sounding footsteps, depending on the surface, together with weapon and ambient sounds it creates a great atmosphere. Also, voices (with a neat feature of being able to turn on Japanese VO). Every character's voice actor fits perfectly IMO.

Gameplay is something familiar to the fans of the genre, but it is not a simple 1:1 copy. Game takes a lot from the legends of the genre but also adds plenty of new things to the table. What the game does great is combining all these characters in going through amazingly designed levels and with the use of all characters equally. While in Commandos 2 I would mostly focus on one character and kill an entire map with it (Tiny was responsible for the death of thousands of Third Reich soldiers :D ) that's not the case here. Every character was interesting and could be used to deal with a certain situation. The levels are amazingly designed and even if you think there is no way out, there is always a way out. And this is where game encourages you to use a combination of character (with a great Shadow Mode feature that let's you queue up actions of a couple of characters and make them execute orders at the same time). Amazing stuff.

The game also has a story, nothing too complicated but still interesting enough to make you question what will happen next. All this with well written characters that have plenty of developement through cutscenes and during gameplay. Certain actions will promt interactions between characters that tells us more about their personas. Plenty of humor too :)

I also have to praise the amazing polish this game has. Devs thought about almost everything, from the Japanese VO option, to the neat LAST SAVE reminder, even allowing us to choose if the dialogue will advance automaticaly or on click, choosing the highlight option for the characters that are talking during gameplay etc. Something that plenty of AAA titles add post launch or not at all. Plenty of quality of life features, I have to give it to the devs. Haven't seen any bugs so far. Amazing state for a modern game.

The review is already too long, but I had to :D I rarely write reviews but I simply had to for this one.
An amazing game with a reasonable price, with a demo and with Devs that are very active in the forums, giving advice and supporting their game and the players. You can feel and see the hard work they invested in creating this little gem. Try out the demo and decide for yourself, but I know you will not be dissapointed. The game opens up later on an surprises with every level. Almost every level introduces new tactics or features. It gets more complicated as you progress.

In short :D : A must buy for fans of tactical stealth games :)

I use a Tobii eye tracking device for every day tasks because of my disability and I was very excited to find out that this game has an option to play it with it. It worked super well and I loved the game.

Гра складна, поки намагаєшся серйозно грати, і смішна, коли розумієш, які іноді нпц тупі. В обох варіантах гра дуже цікава.