90% off on Steam: Just $4 for “old-school stealth tactics in a modern look” (2025)

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a real-time tactics game with a stealth twist, set in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868), when samurai stood at the top of the social hierarchy. As a newly established Shōgun brings peace to the land, a shadowy warlord known as Kage-sama emerges to disrupt the fragile order. To stop this growing threat, the samurai Mugen takes on the mission to track down and eliminate Kage-sama. As a formidable warrior, Mugen can cut down multiple enemies with his katana, but he doesn’t go alone. He assembles a team of four skilled specialists to aid him on his dangerous quest:

• Hayato: A ninja who excels at silent takedowns and diversions. Armed with shuriken, he can eliminate enemies from a distance and uses stones to draw attention away from key areas.
• Yuki: A young thief with a knack for traps and stealth, sets deadly snares and lures guards with her flute – perfect for setting up clever ambushes.
• Aiko: A kunoichi (female ninja) who can disguise herself and distract opponents. She blends in among enemy ranks and uses smoke bombs to sow confusion and open up opportunities.
• Takuma: A sharpshooter who picks off targets from afar with his sniper rifle. He’s accompanied by his loyal tanuki, Kuma, who silently distracts enemies while Takuma lines up his shots.

Players guide this unique team of five through intricately crafted missions – ranging from snow-covered mountain fortresses to heavily guarded towns and secluded temples. Each mission presents a new objective: silently eliminating enemies, gathering intelligence, sabotaging key targets or taking down high-ranking figures. Success relies on precise teamwork. As Yuki lures a guard into a trap, Hayato takes out another with a shuriken and Takuma provides overwatch from afar, Mugen can step in to strike multiple foes at once. Trial and error is part of the experience – frequent saving and reloading are encouraged to pull off the perfect strategy.

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As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my steady companion. After school, the PlayStation was fired up. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. My passion for gaming has never waned since. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart - in addition to gaming, I also like to write about e-mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I'm not sitting at my computer, I'm probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life - namely sitting for long periods - at the local swimming pool.