Shing - Playthrough Part 4 (Ending)

The Oni thief managed to escape once more and our heroes reached the Oni base. Surprisingly it was much more high tech than expected. It turns out that they are actually aliens and the Essence belongs to them in the first place. The AI controlling the base warned the group not to take it back and then you get the option to turn back, which gives you one of the endings during the credits. Wilhelm returned home while the ninjas rebuild their cities using conventional means and the help of the Dragon Worms. This seems like the good ending since on a previous conversation it was revealed how much damage experiments with the Essence caused. Out of curiosity I went back and and took the Essence instead, which triggered a boss fight against the Oni thief in an exosuit. This was a really tough fight requiring a lot of dodging, but I eventually succeeded. The alternate ending wasn't much different aside from using the Essence to rebuild. Both of those got an after credits scene of the aliens waking up.

Shing is an interesting hack and slash game with some fun characters. The game mainly focuses on combat with a couple of mini puzzles here and there. Unfortunately the combos lack impact and a lot of enemies can feel like damage sponges. The 4 different characters play basically the same and can be seen as little more than an extra health bar. The heroes are likeable, but sometimes their humour falls flat. The story is pretty basic, despite the twist at the end. Doing well in the levels and completing challenges earns you tokens for different costumes, but they are not all that great and are sometimes even broken, so there's little point to replay the levels. The art style is pretty good and the voice acting is competent. I'd recommend getting this game on sale.