Reviewing Shadow Gambit’s latest game expansions: Yuki’s Wish and Zagan’s Ritual. Read all in our Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC review.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew’s DLCs are finally here.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a stealth strategy RPG where you command a ragtag group of colorfully undead pirates and your own (sentient) pirate ship to take down the evil forces of the Inquisition. In our Shadow Gambit review, we explored the German-made title’s robust Shadow Mode mechanics, interesting narrative and beautiful tropical vistas — all of which made a stealth action fan out of me.
The Lost Caribbean is larger than ever. And while Mimimi Games’ last hurrah in the games industry (for the meantime) doesn’t shake up the base game, a couple of incredibly OP crewmates presents two solid reasons to return to The Lost Caribbean. Read our spoiler-free Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC Review below.
The #ShadowGambit DLCs are OUT NOW on PC & consoles! 🎮🏴☠️
Recruit Yuki & Kuma from Shadow Tactics as well as the enigmatic scientist Zagan to your crew – and embark on two new epic pirate adventures.
Get both #DLC expansions in our official key store 👉 https://t.co/ienklRjH2d pic.twitter.com/feBi7PQzmL
— Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew 💀 Mimimi Games (@MimimiProd) December 6, 2023
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC Review
Both DLCs become accessible as soon as you revive your third crewmate.
Yuki’s Wish – Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC
“Yuki’s Wish” follows the story of Yuki, the Twilight Corsair along with her partner Kuma, who join your crew in their quest to find a legendary creature that grants wishes.
Fun fact: The titular crewmate is a character from Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, another Japan-inspired Mimimi title.
Cursed Crew’s wishful DLC has a lot in store if you’re a solid fan of Shadow Gambit’s tactical gameplay. And while the storyline boils down to a few fetch quests before an anticlimactic end, Yuki’s Wish played like a well-polished, exotic obstacle course that showcased tons of Japanese architecture while sticking to the game’s strengths. But the main offering of Yuki’s Wish is its titular hero.
Yuki’s and her pet/partner Kuma work together to lure enemies away from their guarded positions so that they trigger Yuki’s deadly tripwires. That’s the gist of her playstyle. But what makes her kit so broken and brilliantly true to her character is that the trap cooldown resets super fast. That means that Yuki and Kuma can singlehandedly take out a whole squad of inquisitors just by spamming traps and lure darts, while never exiting stealth like a true ninja in the Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC.
A lot of fun can be had in Yuki’s Wish, especially when you learn to be an effectively crafty ninja with Yuki’s arsenal. However, awkward bits in the writing, bugs (enemies stop being hostile when you ring certain gongs) and Yuki’s out-of-place accent took me out of the story more times that it should have. Still, fans of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew’s tactical gameplay can find more challenge here, especially in higher difficulties. 6/10.
Zagan’s Ritual – Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC
“Zagan’s Ritual” is a dark narrative that introduces Zagan the Apostate, a zealous scientist who holds the powers of both a Prognosticar and a Black Pearl in his sundered palms. A specialist in Soul energy, Zagan joins the Red Marley to uncover the secret of how the Maiden’s Fire can be totally harnessed.
Zagan’s Ritual introduces the game’s most interesting figure yet, and his delightfully twisted DLC storyline does not disappoint. Perilous at every turn, players that help Zagan complete his ritual can expect an exciting plot and unique objectives that culminate in an outcome that even I couldn’t predict.
Playing as the mad scientist himself added a whole new facet to the combat system. For one, Zagan’s passive ability alone surpasses most of his fellow crewmates in terms of utility. And his kill ability, albeit slow, gives the ex-Inquisitor tons of sustain, effectively making Zagan a tank in the Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC.
I wanted so badly for the DLC’s ending to have some sort of bearing on Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew’s epic climax, but it would have been a huge undertaking, considering Mimimi Games’ size. Still, Zagan’s Ritual surpassed every expectation I had for a Shadow Gambit DLC. From the switch up on Cursed Crew’s painfully formulaic tutorial sequence to Zagan himself, the second DLC does well to draw you in and gives you the game’s strongest standalone crewmate to date. 8/10.
Both Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew DLC (Yuki’s Wish, Zagan’s Ritual) are available now on PC and consoles for $14.99 each!
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