Using “shadow mode” to set up simultaneous actions is as thrilling as always. The last main mission is more inventive still, a sprawling camp stuffed with exploitable death traps and hidden passageways. Mugen and aged sharpshooter Takuma can’t do this, however, and this conundrum will have the brains of Shadow Tactics veterans buzzing with thrilling tactical considerations. Aiko, the gruff ninja Hayato and the wide-eyed thief Yuki can exploit their ability to swim by striking from numerous directions at the enemy sentries. The second main mission features a set of islands. The first mission is set in the ostensibly friendly city of Nagoya, and provides a new perspective on the Blades’ headquarters. With the main missions, Mimimi Games have crafted new challenges that are just as satisfying as the story. The characters have always been a key strength of Shadow Tactics, and in Aiko’s Choice players will spend more quality time with them and learn more about them than ever before – particularly kunoichi Aiko and her samurai lover Mugen. Impressively, the story both satisfies as a miniature adventure for Aiko and friends, and adds new details and context to the main game. The team must pause their main quest in order to confront this new threat, which serves as the narrative drive behind the six missions. The Blades are accosted by a new enemy, Lady Chiyo, who has a crucial role in Aiko’s past.

Specifically, Aiko’s Choice is set prior to mission 9 of Shadow Tactics. Our heroes, the “Blades” of the title, are at a crucial juncture in their bid to unmask and defeat the ruthless rebel leader known only as “Kage-sama”. The first main mission provides a new perspective on the team’s HQ in Nagoya.Īs mentioned before, the missions here are inserted into the story of the main game. Anyone else should definitely play the main game, and then pick up the expansion. Established fans of Shadow Tactics should definitely pick up the expansion. With these caveats out of the way, the headline news is this: Aiko’s Choice is an excellent expansion which builds on the story, characters and gameplay of its fantastic precursor. There are three main missions which should take between two to three hours each to tackle, and three very brief “interludes” which serve mainly to advance the story. Lastly, Aiko’s Choice is on a modest scale. The main missions are large and challenging – equivalent to the later stages of the original campaign – and they are slotted within the original game’s story in a way that won’t make sense to newcomers. Secondly, while it is standalone and contains some brisk tutorial tips this is not well suited to players who are new to the Shadow Tactics world. Firstly, due to the need to use an older version of Unity, Aiko’s Choice is unfortunately only available on PC. They chose to produce Aiko’s Choice, a belated but hugely welcome standalone expansion for Shadow Tactics.Īt this stage, there are three crucial things to make clear about the expansion. Having shipped the magnificent Desperados III in 2020, they had a chunk of spare time to use up before embarking on a major new project. Crucially, the game also has a compelling story into which the likeable personalities of the five heroes – Hayato, Yuki, Mugen, Takuma, and Aiko – are closely integrated.Īn expansion to a game that is five years old is a very rare event, but happily that is what Mimimi Games have delivered. The challenges are more open, varied, and responsive. The game has fewer, more finely-balanced characters who each have a critical role to play in completing missions. Shadow Tactics took the methodical style of gameplay that had been pioneered by Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, transposed it into Edo period Japan and revitalised it in a host of wonderfully surprising ways. Before 2016, the real-time stealth tactics genre had been dead for nearly a decade and it hadn’t died with honour. With the original Shadow Tactics, Mimimi Games pulled off one of the all-time great acts of gaming necromancy.

Shadow tactics gameplay