From Sobaka Studio comes 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, a side scrolling beat-em-up centered around martial arts and warrior monks. The game follows in the same action-packed vein of Sobaka’s previous release Redeemer but swaps an overhead perspective for 2.5D and sacrifices guns for punches, kicks, and magical Qi. We flying kicked our way in ahead of the game’s full release to see if the title could satiate our thirst for ninja warrior blood.
As one to bore easily from the repetitive and mindless nature of beat-em-ups, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin pleasantly surprises with the amount of depth in its combat. Despite being a humble fisherman, our protagonist Wei Cheng has at his disposal an impressive amount of techniques for dispatching foes throughout his journey for revenge. Attacks are based around Wei’s trusty spear and start simply enough. Early on in the game, players will have a basic attack, a kicking attack, and a thrusting attack for breaking heavy enemies. Throw in a parrying ability for deflecting projectiles and interrupting special attacks and all the boxes are checked for the basic beat-em-up arsenal.
However, it isn’t long before Wei unlocks the ability to use different stances to fight bandits and invaders with sweeping style. These stances provide enhancements to all three attack types to deal with stronger enemies and larger mobs. As an example, the acrobatic stance turns the basic attack into a visually stunning area of effect attack that quickly became a favorite. Seal stances are used to inflict debuffs on enemies that make them more vulnerable to Wei’s onslaught. One seal pulls all enemies towards Wei and stuns them for a short period of time. Moving between stances isn’t done in the same way players may be used to a la Nioh or Ghost of Tsushima. Instead, stance specific attacks are executed using the left or right trigger in combination with one of the face buttons. This method felt a little clumsy and unnatural, but not enough to sully the flow of the game.
Speaking of Ghost of Tsushima, players will instantly recognize the voice of the main character as it is portrayed by Daisuke Tsuji – the one and only Jin Sakai. Tsuji as Wei Cheng headlines a cast of characters that expertly deliver a surprisingly deep and engrossing story. 9 Monkey‘s tells the tale of a group of warrior monks who take to arms against an invading hoard of bandits looking to cripple the Middle Kingdom. After a series of unfortunate events, Wei is drafted into the monastic brotherhood to seek revenge and unravel the invader’s deeper motives. The narrative takes some intriguing twists and turns and its characters do a good job of straddling the line between being spiritually enlightening and endearing.
One of the most striking aspects of 9 Monkey‘s are its visuals – most specifically. the ample variety in its stages. Every level takes place in a fresh and new setting with vibrant colors and dynamic designs. Dark and dingy dungeons give way to lush bambo jungles and sweeping mountaintop villages with gorgeous valleys and vistas serving as backdrops. It was incredible to see the amount of variety in the game’s level designs from start to finish. Complimenting this is the game’s animation. The way that Wei jumps, kicks, and twirls his spear perfectly embodies the flowing movement of a martial arts master. What the game lacks in its character details it more than makes up for with its varied level design and smooth animations.
While the game bills itself as a a throwback to old school arcade brawlers, it certainly implements a number of modern video game mechanics. The previously mentioned stances each come with their own skill tree. Players will be able to invest points earned at the successful completion of each stage to enhancing attacks and stances to compliment their own playstyle. Skill trees are somewhat narrow in their focus as they only provide passive enhancements, but these bumps in power make a noticeable difference in gameplay. Further to this, Wei is awarded with new gear at the conclusion of select missions. These include new spears, necklaces, vambraces, and boots that all provide varied and powerful passive affects.
9 Monkeys isn’t without its faults, however. We ran into several performance issues during our time with the game on PC. This included momentary hitches during gameplay, frozen music tracks, and complete crashes from loading screens. Furthermore, there are a number of rough edges in the game’s design. Menu screens used for item customization, upgrading skills, and selecting missions are cumbersome, especially when using a gamepad. Missions often end abruptly and transitions between areas are awkward and jolting. Another odd design decision was having all enemy health bars centered at the top of the screen as if it were a boss. Every time you start attacking a new enemy, the health bar switches. This makes it hard to track as you’ll constantly be moving between enemies. A bar above each enemies heads would have been much more user friendly. Luckily the performance issues can be patched and the quality of life are minor gripes that don’t get in the way of the best parts of 9 Monkeys.
Recommendation: 9 Monkeys of Shaolin shines through its strengths of variety, a surprising amount of combat depth, and the accessibility of quick jump and out gameplay. The package is both complimented and enhanced by its coop multiplayer and intriguing story. While its performance and design oddities are enough to raise an eye brow, we don’t think it’s enough to nix the fun that the game offers. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin comes easy to recommend for fans of the genre and worth a look for anyone who likes some mindless fun.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin launches on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Steam and Nintendo Switch on Friday October 16th, 2020.
*9 Monkeys of Shaolin was given to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*
