Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun review

Shadow Tactics takes place in early Edo-period Japan, a few years after Shogun Ayakawa Ohara has consolidated power after a long and bloody civil war. But a furtive rebel leader named Kage-sama has been inciting unrest. As such, the new Shogun has dispatched a group of specialists to squash him.

But what unfolds is less of a sweeping political epic and more of a stealth game elevated by a surprisingly rich cast of personalities. You’ll follow five operatives whose loyalties and perspectives create a surprisingly compelling human drama underneath all the valiant bloodshed.

“Elegance in All Things”, Especially Writing

Although Blades of the Shogun doesn’t offer volumes of intrigue, the cast offers plenty of contrasting personalities. Hayato, the game’s nimble ninja, is a pragmatist who is driven by money. That ethical code is at odds with Mugen, a hulking samurai who’s driven by duty. Expectedly, their divergent ethical stances provide some pulpy squabbles over honor, with the pair gradually bridging their differences.

Aiko, a female disguise specialist and star of an eponymously titled standalone expansion, gets the occasionally ribbing from Hayato. Interestingly, her weapon of choice is a hairpin, habitually used after she’s charmed her target. And then there’s Takuma, an aged musketeer, who radiates a bit of warmth and wit. Remarkably, he’s the one character with a kill limit when on mission. But this old man is absolutely deadly with a firearm.

The conversations between operations happen through voiced cutscenes, which helps to flesh out each character with voice acting that plays up the pulp. Sure, the story doesn’t quite reach the heights that its setting might suggest, and Blades of the Shogun’s villain is more functional than actually memorable. But the relationships between the five protagonists is more than enough to sustain interest across the thirteen-mission campaign. And yes, into the Aiko’s Choice DLC, which expands on an important reveal.

Less Button-Mashing, More Brain-Wracking

If you’ve played the Commandos series, then you should be familiar with Shadow Tactics’ top-down, isometric, real-time strategy-driven approach. Each mission takes place on a sprawling, hand-crafted map dotted with enemies, objectives, and plenty of environmental opportunities. You control characters individually, typically issuing commands in real time, allowing you to dart across rooftops or skulk through villages.

Essentially, the gameplay loop revolves around reading situations, figuring out a path through them, and executing that action, usually without being seen. Bloodshed is almost always optional. Given every character’s unique loadout, understanding who can and can’t do things and how characters can work together is one of the quiet joys of Blades of the Shogun.

Lethality from Shuriken, Sword, and Kanzashi

As your most mobile operative, Hayato can grapple to elevated positions no one else can reach. His shuriken kill silently, making him perfect for picking off lone guards quietly and quickly. But he’s also rather fragile and will be killed in most direct confrontations. Just let him be your scout or your silent assassin, but not your brawler.

When dressed in disguise, Aiko can walk past most groups of enemies without raising suspicion, which makes her invaluable for venturing into well-patrolled spaces. Her sneezing powder can disrupt an opponent’s sight for a few seconds, while her matchlock pistol can kill anyone but a samurai.

Mugen is the only character who can handle multiple enemies at once in direct combat. When activating his Sword Wind, he begins swinging two katana. This ability can kill up to four foes, showcasing his ferocity in combat. Sure, he might not be stealthy, but he brings the savagery. When combined with Yuki’s traps or Takuma’s killer pet tanuki, there are a lot of cool collaborations in the crew’s moveset.

No Pause for the Feudal Cause

Once you earn Shadow Mode, you’ll find out how Blades of the Shogun embraces synergy. It allows you to queue up one action per character that they’ll all perform simultaneously when triggered. As such, a patrol of three guards covering each other’s backs is no longer a roadblock but a puzzle of action choreography. Once Hayato’s shuriken, Mugen’s blade, and Yuki’s trap are all set up, it’s thrilling to hit the button and see if everything goes to plan. Frequent auto-saves protect you when things don’t. And yes, you’ll probably wish that Shadow Mode froze time, but the developer ruled against an active pause system.

Pleasingly, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun’s provides plenty of autonomy with nearly every scenario encouraging experimentation rather than forcing you to solve a single-solution puzzle. Effectively, missions offer a concentrated sandbox filled with patrol routes, sightlines, multiple pathways, and environmental tools. It’s up to you to figure out how to infiltrate enemy territory and accomplish each objective. As such, you might quietly narrow down enemy numbers with Hayato’s shuriken, sneak Aiko through the heart of an enemy compound in disguise or just use Mugen’s brute force to clear a path.

The game rarely forces you into using a specific character to bypass a particular obstacle. Instead, you’re encouraged to combine abilities in creative ways. Even failure becomes part of the learning process, with quick-saves making it easy to rewind and undo a botched tactic. The result is a stealth system that rewards patience, planning, and occasionally improvisation, giving the sense that each successful infiltration was the result of your own craftiness.

A Stealth Classic That Still Cuts Deep  

Beyond a bit of visual blurring when the game offers scenic flyovers, Blades of the Shogun is a strong performer on Switch 2. Playing the game with a controller is manageable once you master the art of camera framing. But if you’d rather not manage your crew with Joy-Cons or a Pro Controller, you can also opt for mouse functionality. Although I’m not a fan of ergonomics, the sideways Joy-Con method provides a bit more precision.

A decade after the game’s debut, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun remains one of the best interpretations of real-time tactical stealth. Driven by interesting character dynamics, methodically designed missions, and an emphasis on multiple solutions to each problem, the title remains cerebral and thrilling ten years on. While the Switch 2 port isn’t flawless, it’s good enough to recommend if you’re yearning for the joys of a perfectly planned and executed assassination on the go.

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun was played on Switch 2 with review code provided by the publisher.