Review for 9 Monkeys of Shaolin. Game for Linux, PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 16/10/2020
The scrolling fighting game lived a golden age in the nineties when, among the dilapidated cabinets of the popular arcades, titles such as Double Dragon, Final Fight, Golden Ax and so on were dominating. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin rediscovers those roots made of brawls and head-down charges in the context of imperial China in which the Shaolin temples represented the reference point for meditation but also for personal defense, with their lethal fighting techniques. Collecting therefore this important thirty-year videogame heritage, the Russians Sobaka Studio, after the good reception given to their debut title Reedemer, propose a frenetic action seasoned with hack 'n' slash elements and retro taste. Are you ready to lead your hands on Wei Cheng's path of revenge?
Vengeance is mine
The plot of 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is the most canonical of a beat'em up title: Wei Cheng's quiet life flows slowly in the peaceful fishing village where he resides but one day is turned upside down by the onslaught of Wokou pirates which, in addition to plundering the little available wealth, exterminate all the inhabitants and family members of the young man. Miraculously, Wei Cheng survives, thanks to the unexpected help of some Shaolin monks who collect it and, subsequently, transport it to their monastery for appropriate treatment. Here, driven by the thirst for revenge, the young man heals quickly and begins to learn the lethal Shaolin defense techniques in an almost natural way. Armed with his trusty battle staff, Wei Cheng begins a journey of revenge and maturation that will lead him to discover a mystery far greater than the simple pirate raids of the Wokou pirates.
The simplicity of the plot also affects the gameplay, apparently standardized to the principles of the 2D scrolling beat'em up genre. However, we must not be fooled by the early game stages of 9 Monkeys of Shaolin as Sobaka Studio has developed an interesting combat and character growth system. Our Wei Cheng can be customized both with the choice of the fighting stick and with shoes and accessories, obtainable as rewards for the levels passed, and with a growth tree of the skills that will be learned during the game. Self in the initial stages we will be able to count on three simple types of attack (kick, jab and slashing blow) in addition to the classic parry and dodge, as you continue through the 5 chapters that make up the title you will learn additional skills that can be used by consuming the Qi bar of our new monk. Hence, from the Shaolin monks we will snatch the "Southern Elements" first and then the "Earth Seals", all skills capable of releasing a high attack power and control over battles, even in conditions of clear numerical inferiority.
The character enhancement tree, in addition to the choice of weapon and accessories, is the main element that winks at the hack 'n' slash genre but, of course, we are talking about limited and simplified customizations compared to the titles of the genre. However, the possibility of adapting our protagonist by changing the weapon or enhancing a certain skill is a successful move and able to return a not indifferent satisfaction in a title that is basically quite linear. So here, with the exception of the boss fights at the end of the chapter, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin can be schematized as a harp game due to the general ease of the title characterized by the rather rapid growth in power of our character. This will allow us to overcome without too much effort practically all the battles and the few “platform” sections in which we will be required to move from one platform to another through the use of dodging. In sight of this, longevity suffers a lot with an estimated game of 4-5 hours for the completion of the first solo run, including the tutorial phases and the completion of all secondary missions which, in the long run, will also be quite similar to each other.
Fortunately the title, in addition to having a much more articulated plot than appearances, has an excellent replayability not only for the ambition to see all skills enhanced and to unlock the 31 achievments available but, above all, thanks to the cooperative mode which allows, as in any good self-respecting sliding beat'em up, to tackle the levels in the company of a friend. In this sense it will be possible to take advantage of the Steam feature to host a friend from your friends list, even if they do not own the title, thanks to the Steam Remote Play Togheter feature. Alternatively, the canonical coop on the net remains available, in the event that both players own the game or, in a distinctly retro way, sharing a single screen thanks to the keyboard + pad combo or by connecting 2 game pads to the same PC or console. We did not dwell on the technical aspects of the title but there is not much to say except that the Unreal Engine 4 is well optimized, albeit not exploited in all its peculiar power, but not free from very rare drops in frame rate and from some sporadic collisions (probably already fixed with the canonical day-one patch) between characters and environments. On the sound side, the audio sector proves to be successful with evocative music - although the songs are very few - which are accompanied by accurate and credible effects.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin may not represent the rebirth of scrolling fighting games, but it proves to be a successful and fun title thanks to a simple but well-structured plot, a very high playability and above all an equally interesting replayability through co-op with friends . The regret remains for the low longevity and for a widespread repetition in the secondary missions but, given the budget price of the Sobaka Studio title, we can only recommend it for some intense hours of retro-flavored leisure.
► 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is an RPG-Sliding-Adventure-Indie-type game published by Buka Entertainment for Linux, PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 16/10/2020
