Console Corner: Aiko's Choice

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is one of the rare video games I have played through more than twice. Everybody has their gaming sweet spots, and for me this blend of stealth puzzle hits most of them. With its feudal samurai setting—cherry tees, rice fields, Japanese castles, temples, and the like—the game sings. Mimimi Games has, unfortunately since gone out of business, but before leaving the gaming scene they released a small standalone game (not technically DLC) in the setting: Aiko's Choice (2021).

Aikko's Choice features the same five characters as Blades of the Shogun, all with the same character abilities. But the game is about one-third the length: six total missions, two of which are short. What could be called a “side mission”, the story of Aiko's Choice takes place in the middle of Blades of the Shogun. A certain Lady Chiyo surprises the gang at their hideout, kidnapping Yuki and Togama in the process. Hayato, Mugen, and Aiko give chase, tracking down their friends and make sure Chiyo does not escape to tell Kage-yama of their cabal.

Aiko's Choice was a surprise to everyone in the know. With other games in development, Mimimi's small studio didn't seem to have the resources to produce such content. Which leads me to believe this was a passion project. A handful of designers had an idea, knew they had the Blades of the Shogun world already built in Unreal 5, and somehow convinced their manager that they had the capability to pull off the content within a reasonable amount of time and effort.

They did it. The love shows. Aiko's Choice is every bit as tight as Blades of Shogun, but adds a little of something here, a splash of something there to give it an extra sparkle. Not repeating any of the missions in Blades of the Shogun, Aiko's Choice provides a fresh variety of samurai stealth, with complementary story and a nice climax (that can be solved one of two ways). If anyone ever hoped for DLC for Blades of the Shogun, I don't think they could ask for anything better.

Some potential cons of Aiko's Choice are that Mimimi didn't have the budget for a console release. This is available only on PC. For people who use controllers not keyboards, however, it is controller compatible. (Double checking this, I see the game may potentially be available on PS5. Worth checking if you're interested.)

Recommending Aiko's Choice is easy-peasy. If you loved Blades of the Shogun, here is more goodness in the same world with the same characters, abilities, and gameplay. You like caramel swirl ice cream? Here, have a bonus scoop. If you haven't played Blades of the Shogun or any other such stealth puzzle games (Desperadoes, Shadow Gambit, Commandos, etc.), this is a small taste that will not set your wallet back but will let you know whether or not such games are for you. (It is standalone; no base game required.) Perhaps someday Mimimi, or the developers who moved on from Mimimi, may yet still produce a Blades of the Shogun 2...