Shogun Showdown

Genre: Roguelike / Turn-Based Strategy-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Shogun Showdown, released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is a game that combines side-scrolling Turn-Based Strategy-RPG elements with Roguelike game structure in a feudal Japanese setting focused on combat between your character and hordes of samurai and ninja warriors.

The gameplay here is extremely focused on timing, positioning, and careful consideration of your attacks’ cooldown timers. Most actions players take in this game take up one turn, whether that action is queuing up an attack, unleashing all prepared attacks, moving one space to your left or right, or turning to face the other direction. After you take a turn, enemies take theirs, making use of their forecasted actions. This gives players ample opportunities to dodge incoming attacks, take out attackers before they can strike, or using abilities to reposition attackers so that they strike each other with their attacks instead of hitting you.

Each of the game’s enemies follows a predictable attack pattern, and this combined with the forecast of what they’re planning to do means that when you do end up taking a hit, you really only have yourself to blame – either because you didn’t think ahead to use your moves in anticipation of their actions, or because you didn’t properly set up your loadout with a good array of moves to adapt to foes you might face. Granted, enemies are capable of swarming you and limiting your options to fight back, but thoughtful players can usually find ways to avoid this, or at least mitigate the threat these situations pose.

Speaking of loadout, the Roguelike elements of Shogun Showdown offer players with some delightful possibilities to expand and improve their repertoire of attacks and abilities. Each move you add to your tableau will remain available to you at all times as long as it isn’t on cooldown, so adding attacks gives you more flexibility and makes it less likely you’ll be stuck without at least something you can do. However, you can also upgrade skills in various ways – increasing their power, reducing their cooldowns, or adding bonuses like the ability to ready the attack without taking a turn, or replenishing the cooldown timer automatically if the attack strikes the fatal blow to an enemy.

The presentation here is pretty good, making use of 2D pixel art visuals with decent animation and an art style that does a good job evoking the game’s faux-historical Japanese setting. This is backed by a soundtrack that combines classic Japanese instruments with both chiptune sounds, lo-fi beats, and electric guitar for some pretty excellent battle themes, with good examples being Bamboo Grove, Moonlit Port, Shogun’s Castle, Daimyo, Fushoku no Tatakai, Spirit Gateway, and Tatakai.

When it comes to complaints, I have two. First, I wish that runs in this game were longer. I ended up beating my first run through the game and was surprised that it was already over. And second, I feel like the controls are a bit awkward, and take some getting used to. On more than one occasion I accidentally pressed the wrong command and lost a turn as a result.

However, overall I found Shogun Showdown to be an outstanding and refreshing take on these two genres that’s not quite like anything else out there. If you enjoy Roguelikes that place the focus on thoughtful strategy and careful planning to out-maneuver enemies, this is definitely one to check out.

tl;dr – Shogun Showdown combines Roguelike game structure with side-scrolling Turn-Based Strategy-RPG gameplay in a feudal Japanese setting that stresses the importance of timing and positioning. It’s shorter than I’d like and the controls take come getting used to, but despite these issues, this is an excellent and refreshing take on both genres that’s absolutely worth a look for anyone who fancies themselves a combat tactician.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2024 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Roguelike, Best Strategy Game

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