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Shikon-X Review: A Blast of Sci-Fi Nostalgia

Shikon-X is a sci-fi adventure-drama, point-and-click game with a strong female lead and retro aesthetics. It is a creative mix of puzzle, arcade, and classic video games. All of which are tied together with a full and comprehensive story and a cast of interesting characters. The writing and humor throughout the game are top-notch and do a great job of keeping the player engaged. I’ll discuss that more in this Shikon-X review.

When I heard that our team had been offered a game code for Shikon-X, all I saw was, retro gaming, space, and robots. So I naturally jumped at the opportunity to play the game (and write an honest review about it) without realizing what the gameplay was really like. Now, as much as I enjoy and appreciate retro/classic video games, I have to admit I haven’t played many of them, or many point-and-click games. That, paired with the fact that I typically stay as far away from puzzle games as possible. Let’s say I ended up going into this game with zero expectations. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised from the beginning and ended up looking forward to playing further. Read on to find out what it is about Shikon-X that kept bringing me back for more!

Story – Intergalactic Conflict

You can quickly figure out that Shikon-X is going to throw you into the middle of intergalactic warfare – The Federation vs. The Rolars. Playing as the lead protagonist Daaia, a now adult orphan from this ongoing war against humanity, you set out in your Shikon-X ship to protect the Galaxy. Or, you would if you could make it into the Hangar of the Space Station.

Shikon-X Review, Sparky blew his coils
Sparky, noooo!

As the story goes, centuries ago, scientists from Earth came up with a way to generate unlimited free energy, but it needed to be encapsulated and suspended in space. As a result of this discovery, a new era in technology was born on Earth. Technological advancements boomed, the most important being new interstellar travel. Which in turn brought about the first interactions with alien civilizations. The Rolars being one said alien civilization.

The Rolars spent centuries attempting to steal the energy capsules, without much success. Consequently, over time the Rolar’s attacks and attempts to steal the energy capsules became more violent and occurred closer to Earth. These attacks killed thousands and left hundreds of children orphaned. The Federation decided to adopt the orphans and train them in engineering, tactics, combat, and piloting.

Now, I don’t want to say too much more about the story as I feel like one of the fun aspects of the game is figuring out some of the finer details as you go. Also, because spoilers (ssssshhh). However, I will say this. Whilst the gameplay of Shikon-X challenges you with various puzzles to solve, so too does the story itself.

Tomodai and Daaia talking
Maybe it’s just a drill…

From Plot to Prose: How Shikon-X Tells Its Story

One of the things that stood out to me from the beginning was the game’s writing style and narrative dialogue. The humor throughout this game is fantastic and perfectly fits the story and the character’s personalities. You are introduced to the lore of the game from the start in a way that gives you all the information you need to know about the world without overwhelming the player with unnecessary details. Which in my personal opinion, is something that the writers are particularly good at. As it is something they successfully execute throughout the game. You get a lot of comedic and informative dialogue throughout the game without getting bogged down with too much unimportant fluff.

In addition, they seamlessly incorporate numerous nods to classic sci-fi tropes, with varying degrees of subtlety. I enjoyed these and got a little chuckle from more than a few of them. That being said, I can see them not necessarily being for everyone. However, even if they aren’t your particular cup of tea I don’t think it would negatively impact your enjoyment of the game as a whole.

All in all, I have to say that I truly tip my hat to the writers of Shikon-X.

Shikon-X Review, Humorous dialogue
Tip of the hat to you.

Gameplay – Solving Puzzles in a Point-and-Click World

As someone who admittedly has not played many point-and-click games, I have to say that Shikon-X might be the game that changes that. While this game is not an open-world game, you can “freely” move around certain areas as you look for clues, which was an aspect of the game I did enjoy. Interacting with the world around you is fairly straightforward with no real noted issues or difficulties. Except maybe when it comes to piloting the Shikon-X itself, but I’ll touch on that later on. It is also pretty clear that while you might be able to interact with an object, it might not be something that you need for that particular puzzle. Which for my puzzle-solving ineptitude, was helpful.

Nothing needed in the locker
Checks locker. Nope. Nothing

Core Mechanics – How Does this World Work?

The base mechanics of Shikon-X are simple, which is to be expected from a game that is self-described as a point-and-click game without the pointing or clicking. You essentially traverse this world with a joystick and two buttons. That’s it. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It works well with the type and style of game Shikon-X is.

Movement options are multi-directional when you are in the space station or visiting alien planets. This was a pleasant surprise for me, as I thought the game would be more of a simple two-directional side scroller in some locations. I liked the fact that I was able to run around relatively unimpeded. You use one button to interact with the world and another button to access your inventory. You also use the joystick during the ‘Missions’ and when piloting the Shikon-X (which I will talk about more in a bit).

Shikon-X Review, Tutorial
At the very start of the game, it shows you which buttons are for which action.

Zoom Zoom: I Have A Need For Speed

I don’t know about you but I tend to strongly dislike (because hate is a strong word) when I am not able to increase speeds in games. Whether it’s the text speed or character speed, I like to have the option to speed them up. Shikon-X allows you to do both. Having said that, this is not directly stated or shown in the “tutorial” but rather something I discovered accidentally.

Mission Movement Misery

I will say that the issues I faced with the movement controls during the ‘Missions’ could very well have been a skill issue and not an issue with the gameplay itself. I’m not too proud to openly admit that. I won’t say too much regarding the Missions specifically as I don’t want to spoil anything. However, I will share with you what issues I came across and things I found that made it a little “easier”.

Now, I truly did enjoy the ‘Missions’, and I honestly wish they had been a bit longer. That being said, using the joystick to control the Shikon-X from incoming space debris or blaster beams made me cry slightly on the inside. I found the joystick controls a little touchy and while I know I just finished talking about how I like to zoom around in games, this was not what I meant. Seeing as I had been able to use the right trigger to increase Daaia’s speed earlier in the game I tried using them to see if I could steer the ship that way rather than with the joystick. Thankfully for me, (and the energy capsules), I could. I found I had slightly more control using the left and right trigger buttons over the joystick. So I ended up using those for steering during the ‘Missions’ moving forward.

Mission where you create a defense barrier
Defense Mode: Activated

There is also a part in the game where you have to dock the Shikon-X back into the Hangar. However, the length of time it took me to accomplish this task is too embarrassing to talk about.

Shikon-X Review, Issues with Steering
Steering in space is hard.

I’m Just Here for Pinball

You can also technically forgo the story aspect and main game of Shikon-X if you choose, and solely play mini-games. There are three different Minigames that you can play in Shikon-X, and I’ll talk about them briefly below.

  • Pinball. Shikon-X pinball minigame is your typical arcade pinball game. The “rules” are explained to you during the main game. However, if you have ever played pinball you should be able to figure out how it works in the game easily. It also tracks the high scores, a realistic addition I thought was pretty cool. Overall, the pinball minigame is quite fun and I’ll definitely be playing it more.
  • Robot Bar. If you have ever played any order-delivery-styled game, you’ll be able to play Robot Bar. I found this fun for about the first minute and then got bored by the redundancy. The robots can only really “ask” for one item and all you do is move between them and the bartender as fast as you can. I don’t see myself returning to this minigame solely due to the lack of variation.
  • Gather The Capsules. The objective of this minigame is stated in the title. Gather the capsules that randomly appear on the screen, then return them to the indicated area. Sounds easy right? Wrong. Because you are attempting to complete this task while in the middle of what looks to be an asteroid field. Gather the capsules, don’t take damage, and also make sure the capsules you have already gathered and dropped off don’t take damage. Truthfully, I probably won’t play this minigame ever again, if I do it’s because I want to get better and I’m stubborn.
Arcade Classics

Audio and Visuals – Retro Rewind

The audio and visuals in Shikon-X showcase the classic, old-school gaming inspiration. Simple, yet effective. The audio is pretty basic in the sense that there is mainly just background music and interaction/environmental-specific sounds. Having said that, I do believe it fits the game well, and while it is simplistic, the creators paid attention to detail. The same goes for the visuals, simple, but again effective.

Taking a coffee break.
Coffee is the best fuel source

Audio: Blast from the Past

As I mentioned above the audio in Shikon-X is relatively modest, especially when it’s compared to any other modern-day or modern-themed game. However, that is also one of the aspects of the game that makes it great! The audio, while basic, fits the game. The creators also did a good job paying attention to details when it came to the audio in Shikon-X (in my opinion at least). Environment-specific footsteps, creaky doors, and iconic sci-fi sound bites tie into the game perfectly. (I’m a fan of a good pew-pew)

You are also able to change the audio settings within the controls menu. You can’t increase or decrease their volume on a scale but you can turn them off if you wish to.

Visuals – Old-School Flashback

The visuals within Shikon-X are somewhat of a mashup of a few different art styles. You’ve got that classic retro 8-bit style, but also 16-bit and 32-bit styles (or at least that’s what it looks like to me). There are 2D and rudimentary 3D images and splashes of anime-esque art. Classic and effective. Shikon-X definitely gives you those retro gaming vibes.

Shikon-X Review, Retro visuals
Don’t forget the Pinball!

As it is in a lot of retro and modern games, when things go boom they also go bright. Shikon-X is no exception to this. The game does have a couple of scenes of bright white light, and if I am honest I was not expecting the level of brightness. The first time it happened it caught me off guard. There is also a time or two when there are some flashing lights or patterned lights. If you have light sensitivity I would check the game’s warnings before playing.

From what I can tell both the Steam and Nintendo versions of the game do come with warnings regarding bright and flashing lights. At least they do on the respective websites.

Bright light blinding the character
Warning! Bright and Flashing Lights

Verdict

Shikon-X is a very short retro-themed game, that can be completed in anywhere from an hour (maybe less for some) to over two hours (for us puzzle-solving-impaired people). It also allows for replayability with the addition of the mini-games menu (which I wish I had noticed earlier). It is a game that I will be (and already have) recommending to friends to play. It’s great for people who aren’t super confident with point-and-click puzzle games as the puzzles aren’t overly difficult to figure out and the game itself is not very long. It’s also nice for people who like puzzle games and speed running for the same reasons. Classic video game and sci-fi fans can also appreciate the graphics, gameplay, and nods to relevant sci-fi references.

Now, I’m going to go play more Pinball!

What did you think about this Shikon-X review? Have you played it? Will you try it? Let us know! Either leave a comment here or follow and share your thoughts on our Facebook or tweet us on Twitter!

Shikon-X Review: A Blast of Sci-Fi Nostalgia (Switch)

7.59
7.9

Verdict

7.9/10

Pros

  • Top-shelf humor throughout
  • Interesting storyline and gameplay
  • Easy(ish) puzzles
  • Robots, Pinball, and Space

Cons

  • Ship stearing controls are a little difficult to master
  • Puzzles might be too easy for some.
  • Too short!

This Post Has One Comment

  1. master of destruction

    Awesome article!

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