Shikhondo – Soul Eater

Genre: Bullet Hell Shmup

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

(Note: Apparently both this game and all bundles it was included in are no longer available. Sorry!)

(Note: This game is included in the Couch Co-Op Bundle Vol. 2 along with Black Paradox, Bleed, Shikhondo – Soul Eater, Vertical Drop Heroes HD, as well as in the Digerati Indie Darling Bundle Vol. 3 with 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, Nefarious, and Omega Strike.)

Shikhondo is a Shmup first released on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2017, then ported to the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2018. This is a game that uses traditional-style Japanese artwork of women heroes and demonic enemies instead of the usual spaceships the genre is known for.

In terms of presentation, this game is kinda’ a mess. On the one hand, the artwork here is genuinely nice, but it also makes the screen look extremely busy, which when combined with the huge stream of bullets you’ll encounter makes it difficult to parse what’s going on here. This is backed by an energetic soundtrack that mostly drowns out the noise of the game, save for when there’s a signature boss sound or large explosion.

Presentation aside, there’s not too much to note about the gameplay, which sticks fairly close to the genre’s usual style of play. It uses the “grazing” mechanic of getting close to enemy bullets to power your special attack, but doesn’t seem consistent in how well this works. Also, while many games in the genre are pretty lenient when it comes to hit detection on your character, this game seems to take it to extreme levels, where multiple times I could have sworn I took a hit and did not.

Ultimately, there was nothing in Shikhondo that made me inclined to recommend it over the multitude of other great games in the genre on the Nintendo Switch save for its presentation, and that presentation itself is a mixed bag. If you’re a fan of the genre, this might have something unique to offer you, but for most I’d recommend to just skip this game.

tl;dr – Shikhondo is a Shmup with a “heroic women vs. demons” aesthetic. The artwork here is nice, but it also makes it harder to see the gameplay, and that gameplay doesn’t do anything particularly extraordinary. Unless you’re a genre die-hard, skip this one.

Grade: C-

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