Overall while D3 was worth a play, ST was a masterpiece that deserves sequels and maybe even a remaster for improved graphics. The romance was boring, between the two standard leads like you’d get in any blockbuster movie, while the one between Mugen and Aiko was subtle but made sense in context. Indeed the Doc did leave, but came back to save the day later - this made no sense to me. I understood why the ST party stayed together, but not why the mixed group of a Mexican brute, Black/creole witch doctor, and a mysterious doctor stayed together once they’d done what they owed the others. The perfect balance of ST’s characters fell apart in D3 - while you still have two girls and three boys, romance between two of them, and one brute and one lady who can dress up and blend in, everything else didn’t make much sense. In terms of the makeup of the party though, D3 failed compared to ST. Isabelle’s powers were super cool, the Western setting and the Louisiana settings were very well done and atmospheric, and the levels set at plantation mansions or in New Orleans were colourful and had lots of ways to carry out the objectives. I was glad to play Aiko’s Choice when it came out - the levels were cool and it was a nice afterword to the game.ĭon’t get me wrong though, there were some really cool things about D3. I 100%ed ST but once I’d finished D3 I wasn’t interested in playing more or getting the DLCs. At least, this is how I approached the gameplay. Desperados 3 was more about timing and sleight of hand than pure ninjutsu. It takes me out of the game when one area of people all gets exclamation marks on their heads on hearing a gunshot, but people on the other side of a dividing wall apparently heard no sound of gunfire whatsoever.Īs such, I’d say they’re both real-time tactics games, but only Shadow Tactics was a pure stealth game. While dragging and hiding bodies, avoiding viewcones etc was still the game mechanic, I thought the sometimes necessary use of loud firearms made the stealth aspects completely unrealistic. But the biggest thing it changed was this stealth aspect. I played D3 reluctantly because I really liked the Japanese IP aspect, but the gameplay and graphics were fun and even improved in some ways in the newer game.

However, the key theme of the game was stealth and achieving difficult objectives through ruthless assassination and bold but shadowy moves. I understood why the characters were together as a team, how they found each other etc made sense historically, and as sad as it was I understood why, when one of them died in the story, it had to happen. The fivesome made up of the ninja, thief, samurai/brute/tank, kunoichi/noblewoman and sniper with a pet tanuki was simply perfect. One of the best thing about ST is the characters. While I loved both to death and I understand why many people prefer D3, I personally think ST is a better game and here's why. I've played both ST and D3 many times over the years since they're released.

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