Commandos is a classic series of real-time tactics stealth games from the late ’90s and 2000s, played from a top-down isometric view. Players control a small squad of elite operatives, each with unique skills like sniping, disguising, close-quarters takedowns, or setting traps. The main challenge lies in sneaking through large, open sandbox levels filled with patrolling enemies who have realistic vision cones and alert behaviours, and getting spotted even once can spell disaster for the mission. This design template gained a cult following by blending the tactical elements of RTS gameplay with a more personal touch, focusing on a small party of unique characters rather than massive armies of faceless soldiers.
Shadow Tactics takes its core idea and shifts it from a World War II backdrop to Edo-era Japan, swapping the Allies and Axis for stealthy ninjas and honourable samurai. How does this Far East espionage epic fare on Nintendo Switch 2? What can gamers expect from the stand-alone expansion? Cubed3 reviews Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and Aiko’s Choice to find out.
It’s the early 17th century, and Japan finally finds peace under a new shogun who ends decades of bloody civil war and enforces strict nationwide order. However, this hard-won calm is soon threatened by a mysterious warlord known only as Kage-sama, whose secret plot could spark rebellion and drag the country back into chaos. Determined to stop it, the shogun sends one of his most trusted samurai, Oshiro Mugen, to uncover Kage-sama’s identity and put an end to the danger once and for all. In a desperate ploy, Mugen improvises an unlikely team of elite specialists, each with their own deadly skills and troubled pasts: the cynical shinobi Hayato, the clever young thief Yuki, the graceful kunoichi Aiko, and the grizzled, peg-legged marksman-inventor Takuma.
Brought together more by necessity than trust, five unlikely companions journey through feudal Japan, from frozen mountain peaks to lively ports and imposing castles, taking on risky missions of infiltration, sabotage, and assassination. As their campaign progresses, they peel back layers of political corruption and personal betrayal, gradually building bonds of friendship and loyalty.
It’s a story that explores the meaning of honour, duty, redemption, and the steep price of peace in a warrior’s world, pushing each of them to face inner demons and make impossible choices. What starts as a straightforward hunt for a rebel leader becomes an effective and gripping story of sacrifice and legacy, testing the very limits of their loyalty to the shogun, and to each other. There are some genuinely earned emotional moments that tug at the heartstrings and can draw even the most jaded gamers into the experience.
Shadow Tactics lives and dies by its five elite specialists. Hayato scales rooftops with his grappling hook, delivers silent sword kills, and hurls shuriken for distant takedowns. Mugen insta-kills groups with sweeping katana strikes and lures guards with sake bottles. Aiko disguises herself as a geisha to blend into crowds, distracts enemies with charm, and unleashes sneezing powder to stun clusters.
Yuki sets bear traps and caltrops, plays her flute to lure patrols into ambushes, and has the fastest movement speed. Old man Takuma snipes from extreme range with his rifle, lobs explosive grenades, and deploys his pet tanuki to scout, distract, or trigger mechanisms remotely, acting like a two-for-one unit. Using Shadow mode, multiple character actions can be queued for elaborate operations, making the tactical gameplay flow fluently and keeping it flexible.
Aiko’s Choice, the expansion, is set between missions eight and nine of the original campaign. While the full team of five specialists is in play, the focus stays firmly on Aiko as her dark, troubled past catches up with her. What unfolds is a personal quest to track down her mentor, touring her campaign through Nagoya City, the interconnected Ise Bay and Toba Coastline islands, and Matsuyama City’s Hana Garden.
The three new maps are huge and packed with tense moments that keep players on edge, pushing the open-ended stealth strategy gameplay to its absolute limit. It’s an expansion worth investing in, as it delves deeper into the interpersonal drama and conflicts of the ragtag misfit characters while offering the most challenging scenarios in the Shadow Tactics saga, which is already a deep and complex strategy game.
Blades of the Shogun and Aiko’s Choice lean on stealth and positioning. Keeping all five units concealed in shrubbery, perched on rooftops, tucked in shadows, hiding bodies, and dodging sentry vision cones while tackling light puzzles to regroup and advance, all while taking out targets and fulfilling mission objectives, is an absolute thrill. The gameplay works great with a controller, but a true ninja uses the Nintendo Switch 2 controller’s mouse mode for scrolling through the map, issuing shadow commands, and moving units. It feels accurate and fluent, cutting down on the extra steps when using a controller.
It’s a bit disappointing that Blades of the Shogun and Aiko’s Choice both run at only 30fps, especially considering they’re not exactly visually cutting edge and were made in Unity about a decade ago. Could it run better? Who knows, but at least Shadow Tactics loads quickly, which is what matters most because it’s expected to reload saves often and frequently.
There’s an entire game mechanic dedicated to reminding players to make quick-saves because of how often and fast a mission can go south. If any of the hero characters get caught and forced into a fight, it’s basically a slow death, and the game might as well be over if enemies start rushing them. It’s an odd design choice that doesn’t feel right, even if the amount of saves and mission time is tallied up, because there isn’t a tangible reward for high-level play.
If Shadow Tactics had a growth system, skill tree, or RPG-style mechanics, there could be an extra incentive to avoid overusing quick-saves if it meant some kind of bonus. There are no experience points, no leveling system, and no ability upgrades whatsoever. Each of the five specialists arrives with their full, unchanging toolkit and never grow stronger, faster, or more versatile across the entire campaign.
From start to finish, everyone plays exactly the same as when they’re first introduced. No stat boosts. No new perks or gear changes through looting, no crafting, or even costumes. The story is completely linear with fixed objectives and no branching paths that impact character power. Even the exploitable quick-save system and optional badges are there purely to test player skill, not to reward grinding or build tweaking.
This total absence of RPG elements strips away any distraction from the core loop, forcing every success or failure to rest entirely on the ability to plan, coordinate, pause, or improvise sequences in the moment. Admittedly, by rejecting progression entirely, the game achieves a kind of crystalline purity and laser focus, yet the option to completely cheese the mechanics through quick-saves and not have any form of player expression makes the game feel a little hollow. The generosity of the quick-save system flies in the face of the brutally tough guerrilla warfare and unbelievable odds, and willfully not taking advantage of it is akin to choosing to fight with one arm tied behind one’s back.
