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Shadow Gambit’s pair of expansions are a fitting farewell for Mimimi’s tactical masterpieceOld friends and new faces join The Cursed Crew for a final curtain call
Old friends and new faces join The Cursed Crew for a final curtain call
Image credit:Mimimi Games
Image credit:Mimimi Games
Pour one out for Mimimi Games today, readers. Despite announcing they wereshutting up shopfollowing the release of this year’s fantasticShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, today marks the grand finale for their stealth strategy masterpiece in the form of a new free Treasure Hunt update, and the release of theirtwo paid expansions. Each brings a brand-new pirate to The Red Marley’s undead crew, as well as their own half-dozen story missions to play through spread across islands old and new, and once you’ve begun each of their respective questlines, they’re readily available to play in any of the game’s regular plunderings, too.
Mimimi have kept the identity of these pirates a secret until now, but after playing both DLCs for a big chunk of the last week, I’m confident in saying this is exactly the swansong Shadow Gambit deserves - with one of the expansions in particular bringing a poignant touch of coming full circle on Mimimi’s work as a studio. Naturally, spoilers circle these waters like hungry sharks, but if you’re resigned to such a fate, let’s dive in below.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - Yuki & Zagan DLC TrailerWatch on YouTube
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - Yuki & Zagan DLC Trailer
Let’s start with the least spoilerific expansion: Zagan’s Ritual. This renegade Prognisticar of the villainous Inquisition has turned against his former employers and fancies your magical ship The Red Marley as a handy assistant in his pursuit of ultimate knowledge. Indeed, if you’ve spent any length of time stalking the islands of Shadow Gambit, you’ll remember the staff-wielding Progs as those nasty evil fellows with the natty hand masks that require two hits to take down. Your first strike, for example, will always leave you and your quarry in the dazed, catatonic grip of their holy lightning strike, requiring an accomplice to help finish the job while they’re down.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Mimimi Games
Zagan is quite eccentric as Shadow Gambit’s crew mates go, and that’s saying something… |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Mimimi Games
Naturally, patrolling guards are easy targets for this attack, but to sweeten the deal even further, Yuki can employ the cute, puppy dog eyes of her buddy Kuma to lure stationary guards into the very same trap. You can task Kuma with scurrying to any point within range undetected, and then fire a special ‘Tanuki Parade’ dart at your target to make them go ga-ga for the chirruping little furball. The dart can only be fired from quite close-range, I should note, adding a frisson of tension to proceedings, but it’s immensely satisfying when it all comes off without a hitch. Her regular sword stabs repeat her little tree stump trick, too, once again making her quite a powerful companion to bring ashore if you don’t want to waste time shifting bodies about.
Cheeky little Kuma… |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Mimimi Games
I won’t steal any further into story spoiler territory - partly because I myself haven’t quite finished either of these new campaigns in full just yet - but having waded through each of them to around the halfway mark, they’ve both been fantastic fun, as well as a joyful, if slightly sorrowfully-tinged reminder ofwhy I fell in love with The Cursed Crewin the first place. Like the rest of the Red Marley’s cursed crew, both of these characters are stuffed with personality, and their unique set of skills make them feel genuinely different and exciting among its already plentiful supply of crewmates. Indeed, the fact they’ve already managed to supplant some of my previous favourites is a testament to Mimimi’s great writing and design. Shadow Gambit’s mission select table may look increasingly crowded with their arrival, but when you’ve got this many great characters to pick from, it truly feels like you’re spoiled for choice here.
Nothing to see here, no sir… |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Mimimi Games
