Shantae 5 is Called Shantae and the Seven Sirens

Shantae, the half-genie platformer (and sometimes Metroidvania) by WayForward, has had something of a resurgence in recent years, as I’m sure you’re all at least tangentially aware of. The first few games in the series were on the obscure end of things, while the previous most recent game, Shantae and the Pirate Curse, was well-received by fans and critics but largely ignored by the larger gaming community. It wasn’t until Shantae, the Half-Genie Hero, that she really took her place as a widely recognized character in the gaming pantheon. Probably because it was a classic platformer in an age where that’s suddenly novel.

Anyway! We’ve known a new Shantae game was coming for a while now, but other than the fact it had a killer opening video from Studio Trigger, we didn’t know anything else about it. But that all changed yesterday when WayForward formally announced the latest game in the series: Shantae and the Seven Sirens.

Shantae and the Seven Sirens sends the belly-dancing, hair-whipping, half-genie hero to a tropical island where Shantae and her friends encounter other Half-Genie allies, but they soon learn there’s trouble in paradise. As Shantae gets caught up in the island’s sinister secrets, she’ll use all-new dance abilities and instant-transformation Fusion Magic to explore the nonlinear, interconnected world where she’ll visit multiple towns, overcome treacherous labyrinths, and battle dastardly bosses. The game also features a new collectible card system that grants players the freedom to augment Shantae’s powers to suit their own style of play.

Sounds like it will be another Metrodvania-style game, another genre that used to be popular and is now fairly novel. Should be a good time.

Remember: Not only will this game be released on consoles and PC, it’s one of the most high-profile games that’s set to debut on the Apple Arcade. So if you needed a reason to give that a try… this might be it.