Creepypasta Reviews - Shantae Passion

Creepypasta Reviews - Shantae Passion

Greetings everybody, HG is back with another blog. As you might have guessed, my previous blog has drained me a bit, mostly due to how long it was. Not to mention a bug infestation in my house, so it took a good few days before I could get my second blog out. But with that out of the way, onto this new series.

Now, I'm sure if you're reading this you know how reviews in general work. But as for these reviews, here's a quick rundown.

1. Each creepypasta I review is ranked on the plot, the content and if it's disturbing or not, as well as the writing. But that does mean with these broad topics, I can go into other parts of the creepypasta and how it's good or bad. Similar to the style of AniMat's reviews, just replace animated movies with creepypastas.
2. Each one of those categories plus a few of my own thoughts will go into a score out of 10 at the end.
3. Also, as an added bonus I will voice my thoughts on whether it should be on the Creepypasta Wiki or not. Even if they aren't on that wiki. (Also, this is being dictated solely by the quality itself, not by their blacklists and whatnot. As a result, I wouldn't say that my thoughts mean you should post it there if it isn't there already, and overall you should just take this with a pinch of salt)
4. As always, this is my opinion on these stories. And I mean no hostility to the writers of these stories, in the event that a story doesn't turn out good, you can always improve. Also, this is going to go through the entire story in detail. So if you don't want any of these stories I review to be spoiled, I suggest reading those first.

But with that said, let's take a look at our first story, named Shantae Passion. Now, I will start off this review by saying this. I haven't played much of the Shantae series, there are a few basic, general bits and pieces I know from the get-go, but with the complicated story and gameplay elements, that's beyond my knowledge. But with that said, let's delve into the first of my reviews.

The Plot

One issue that I've seen with so many video game creepypastas, is that the plot just simply isn't that strong, or falls under the same premise constantly. And I'm gonna be brutally honest here, I thought it was going to be the same way when I first started, though thankfully it didn't go in the direction I assumed it was gonna go.

First impressions aside, this story revolves around the author named Joey, who tells us that he had grown a liking to the Shantae series and how it has turned into his guilty pleasure. With that, I believe that you can see why I was getting rather worried in the first few sentences, as so many video game creepypastas start out like this, and immediately go downhill into a clichéd train-wreck. Some of which I have already talked about in my previous blog, like The Princess Is Not In Another Castle.

Thankfully it turns its attention to his friend Gordon, who had been making fan-made games based off of the Shantae series, as he has been practicing with the Shantae games before going on to making his own games with their own IPs. But Joey reveals that Gordon had been making rather dark games, and he soon sends him one of a "Fan Mini-Game" detailing a "What-If?" scenario that could've happened in the series.

Now I'm not going to lie, at this point I was honestly rather glad that this wasn't one of those "sketchy ROM hack but downloaded it anyway" stories, I've seen those so many times and almost none of them get it right. But here there is some semblance of sense going on here. However, that doesn't mean that this story's plot didn't have any faults. Now, I wanna reserve most of this for the second section. But there really isn't much evolution in how disturbing the content gets, as there's really only one thing that happens, and then, for the most part, nothing else happens afterward.

Now, of course, you can do much worse, in fact, I talked about Disturbing Pokémon ROM in my Top 10 Worst Plot-Twists list, which I'd say is the perfect example of how bad that sort of premise can get. But even then, that premise in general almost never works out unless you're a really good writer. Also, this is kind of a nitpick but, the mention of Castlevania really confuses me. Now, again it's better than what it could've been as it was just for a description, but even then you could've just gone with the "Combusted into flames" bit from earlier. With creepypastas, most of the time you don't need to go too descriptive. Hell, most of the time it's better if you don't, as it can break the immersion.

Though there is one thing that I will admit, kinda gets on my nerves. 

With that said, due to this story being rather short there's not much else to say about the plot, it could've been a lot better. But it is also the perfect refresher when it comes to overly cliché'd plots as well, even if it did have a few in there. And if we're gonna be honest, some plots are the type where you're bound to hit a few here and there.

The Content

Now let's get into what actually happened with the climax, as this is where I can go no holds barred with the content that some of these creepypastas have. Yet this is also the place where I would suggest you reading them first if you're interested, because, with these kinds of stories, you kinda need to go in blindly in order to get scared of them a lot of the time. Not all of the time, yes, but most of the time.

With that out of the way, there's this scene where Shantae has completely gone missing and there's a conversation within Scuttle Town, and again I'm not familiar with any of this. So if there is an inconsistency with the games, I wouldn't know. And Shantae's sister Sky decides to go searching for her, and upon discovering some of the main villain's henchmen, she discovers Shantae, naked and nailed to a cross.

Now, there are quite a few problems that I see with this. The first one is actually one that immediately popped into my head in my first reading, as immediately after this the author goes right into the censorship and nothing else, almost as if the protagonist, Joey, didn't care. Which is the last thing you want when designing what is supposed to be an unsettling moment. I know that it does say that he shared the same shock as Sky did, but that doesn't really mean much. You could instead go through their train of thought as they see this, and their genuine concern for their friend being shown there, not just at the end.

Secondly, it just feels really forced along with the calibration sequence. Which is a problem with a bunch of video game creepypastas, let alone creepypastas in general. And it's no different here. As it seems like the whole thing was put in here only for shock value and nothing else, there really wasn't any other meaning behind it. And while it did somewhat elevate the plot, it still could've been much better if this wasn't there or traded off for something else.

And thirdly, while this is more of a personal note, it doesn't really shock me all that much. And no, not just because of the overdone torture/death of fictional characters in video game creepypastas. See, I'm agnostic. So none of the religious aspects of this story has any affect on me. And even without that, as I said earlier, game characters dying in creepypastas is done far too much. And doing that alone isn't, and wasn't, scary.

Though I will admit, this isn't scary. But it also isn't laughably scary either. Like say, "AND THEN HYPER-REALISTIC SKELETONS AMBUSHED ME WHILE SHANTAE DIED!!!" Which, stories like that sadly do exist, minus Shantae being a part of it.

The Writing

Now, with this section I will say right now, with some stories there might not be a whole lot to say. Mostly when the grammar is perfectly fine, and overall really refined spelling. And that begs the question, will this story be one of those?

Most of the time, yes. However, there's one issue that I quickly noticed the first time I read the story. Which is another rookie mistake when it comes to writing a creepypasta. The story is written as if the reader knows everything the author is talking about. I do know that this story is most likely to appeal to those who have played the Shantae series. But, not explaining what the game is or how the game works could easily turn those unfamiliar with the series off.

Not to mention the fact that due to the fact that the reader doesn't understand most of the plot, they can't be anywhere near as scared as someone who's played the entirety of the Shantae series. And that's the last thing you want to happen with your story. As sometimes, not only can you explain how the game works really well, but you can actually get into the games you're talking about. As I will admit, after reading the NES Godzilla Creepypasta, I have been playing the game it was based on recently.

On a different note, this may be a pet peeve of mine, but the main character also points out that his friend Gordon made these fan-games so well that even the official creators were impressed. Which, I'm gonna be honest, I am positive wouldn't happen. If anything it feels more like a self-insert, and even if this did happen, I feel like the developers would be more interested in getting him involved with development. I mean, I may not be a business genius, but that does seem like a logical conclusion to make.

But with that said, it's just a pet peeve of mine so I won't hold it against the story too much. But even so, I do feel like they should've explained the game better, so I and a few fellow readers didn't get lost.

Overall

I'm not going to lie, I felt like I wanted to go full-on harsh at times when writing this. But considering that from what the author's activity tells me, this was the first creepypasta he ever wrote. Which I will admit, is exactly why I chose to do this as my first one to review. As it gets a few things right, but also a rather large amount that needs work.

As for an overall perspective, I'd say that this is the perfect example of a mediocre creepypasta story. Not close to being good, not close to being bad. The best way I can put it is that this story may screw up, but at least it could be considered competent. It isn't bad nor laughable, but it doesn't excel is anything or take a new path. If anything it's one creepypasta easily forgotten.

As for the question I like to ask at the end of a review, there's a simple answer I can give.

Should this creepypasta belong on the Creepypasta Wiki?

Now, I said above that even if the story isn't from the Creepypasta Wiki, I can still add this in. Just to give a little bit of context. And does this belong there? Well, not exactly. It takes many different clichés that most readers are just tired of seeing, the story can be confusing, and it just isn't that scary. Overall, just bland.

This isn't anywhere near my worst list of creepypastas, hell it's not the worst Shantae creepypasta I've read (Which is Shantae 64: The Unreleased Sequel), but it needs work. And if the writer of this story just to happens to be reading this, assuming you still want to write one of these, I'm sure with these tips in mind among others, you can make a really good story.

-The Plot (5.5/10)

-The Content (3/10)

-The Writing (6.5/10)

-Overall (5/10)

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Hey everyone, thanks for sticking around until the very end! Did you like this start on my new series, have any criticisms, or have an idea for a future creepypasta to review? Let me know in the comments! I hope to keep you guys entertained with these. Until next time!

Links:

http://someordinarygamers.wikia.com/wiki/Shantae_Passion