German gaming site 4players gave it a 8.5 (gold award)
Pros
- real time tactics à la Commandos
- pretty scenery of old Japan
- good move and hide system
- characters with different strengths
- good integration of verticals like roofs
- cool traps, tricks and fallacies
- considerate guardsmen, being respnsive to footprints
- very large areas with alternative goals
- rotatable and zoomable camera
- arbitrary keys, adjustable controls
- good integrated tutorial and hints
- english and japanes language
- save and load anytime
- three difficulty levels
Cons
- story doesnt gain that much momentum?
- No skill or equipment development
- sometimes inconsequent restriction in climbing/opening doors?
- brutal/subtile style of play without consequences
- No building interiors
- ̶n̶̶o̶̶ ̶̶g̶̶e̶̶r̶̶m̶̶a̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶l̶̶a̶̶n̶̶g̶̶u̶̶a̶̶g̶̶e̶
"If you like your realtime tactics with a flavor of old school like Commandos or Desperados then you can look forward to intense infiltration with challenging missions and superb AI."
http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/PC-CDROM/Test/37567/82233/0/Shadow_Tactics_Blades_of_the_Shogun.html
Out of nowhere!