The console market has suffered from a drought of tactical games for quite a while, but we seem to be entering a renaissance that has seen titles like Tropico 5 and Divinity: Original Sin landing on this generations home consoles. While these types of games will always feel most at home on the PC, a functional suite of controls and careful attention to detail is all that is needed to deliver a competent console port. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun gets almost everything right in this regard, delivering a phenomenal stealth adventure with a ridiculous amount of lasting appeal.
Tales of the Samurai
Set in Japan?s visually stunning Edo era in the 17th century, Blades of the Shogun tells a brutal and incredibly emotional tale of a band of warriors that I fell in love with almost immediately. While some of the voice-acting can be shoddy, specifically with an old man the player meets early on, the character arcs of this merry group of five exceeds anything I?ve experienced in a tactical game. While the character banter that keeps things going during missions isn?t all that revealing, and constantly plays on a maddening loop, there?s a real sense of heroism and the story arc feels like a long and hard journey, mirroring the gameplay itself. Said characters serve as different classes in a way, with each specializing in various types of mechanics and methods. Any particular area could require the use of multiple characters if need be, as a few take out enemies and others do t...