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An Essential Strategy/Stealth/Puzzle Game For Almost Everyone

Shadow Tactics on paper seems like a niche title for a very particular group of strategy nerds. In reality it is more akin to something like Portal - enjoyable for almost everyone - just not something you realized you'd like until you try it.

The Good + The Bad

Shadow Tactics is a real-time tactical stealth strategy game that functions almost like a puzzle game in the way you manipulate multiple characters to perform specific actions at key moments with the purpose of achieving a given mission objective on each of about a dozen maps.
It's pointless to go into heavy detail about the actual moment to moment game-play but Shadow Tactics introduces the mechanics slowly and builds confidence in the player while at the same time gradually increasing the challenge. It is one of the most perfectly balanced, paced, and user friendly 'strategy' games you'll ever play. It's the best kind of strategy game that excites you with its mechanics and game-play while leaving you with the desire to master its challenges and optional objectives.
From map to map the game also has a paralleling narrative with corresponding voice over narration. The voice work is simply outstanding while the narrative is engaging and adds just the right amount of punctuation and spice to the strategy game-play. The music is pitch perfect giving an authentic feel to the Japanese setting. The graphics and UI are tightly designed and timeless in their aesthetic choices.
So what then is there to complain about? The answer is almost nothing. While for me the gradual ramp up in challenge from map to map was perfect, others' experiences may very. In those scenarios it would have been nice if there were a bit more generosity with character voice overs to give the player tips or suggestions on how best to approach a given map objective. As is, there are some hints included and it's easy enough to search for a YouTube walk-through. But I can imagine a certain type of player getting frustrated easily if the solution is not more accessible to them. Also the puzzle like nature of each map objective means there isn't an endless array of ways to achieve the objective. Objectives aren't singular in their solutions but they may not be as open-ended as some may like. Overall these are minor criticisms in an otherwise perfect game and fundamentally comes down to individual preference over being attributable to bad design.

Technical


Stunningly rock solid fps performance.
Zero crashes or performance issues.
Can run on most potato PCs


Bottom Line

Shadow Tactics is an 'S'-tier game. A modern classic. Easy to jump into and rewarding to master. Something anyone that considers themselves open to different types of games should play - especially if there's any type of game you like that is even vaguely strategy-based or puzzle-like (Magic the Gathering, Civilization, Portal, etc). On sale there is little risk to buying the game and a worthy addition to most people's libraries.