The third best Shantae game I've played! (I have played 3 Shantae games)
Really good though, little rough in some areas compared to Pirates Curse and Half Genie Hero but still lotta fun and will go for 100% none the less.
Also I love mah boy Squid Barron so much, all my homies love Squid Barron

As someone with no prior experience with the Shantae games, this was a fun lil adventure! A very manageable metroidvania with clear progression and a fun story. The gameplay itself is not particularly challenging (I defeated most of the bosses on the first try, including the final), so I'd recommend it if you're looking for something more lighthearted and colorful that you don't have to bang your head against. If you're a completionist the card drops may start to feel a little grindy, but I could also see myself coming back to this just to 100% it. It's a relatively short game, so get it on sale if you really want your money's worth!

Finished all four of these this year and liked them all. If you're deciding which one to buy, here's some thoughts I had as I went through the franchise:

Risky's Revenge: Might be a little too primitive to recommend to most people. A short but solid GBA-era metroidvania. It's not awful, but we have so many metroidvanias with modern QoL that this one only feels worth it for super-fans.

Pirates curse: Tied for fave for me. The cleaned up interface, gorgeous areas and improved combat and map design make this one a safe go-to to recommend to anyone. The best way to describe it is that it does everything well enough, nothing really bad, and is probably the "safest" game in that nothing it does is too wild. The core elements of it are all pretty solid.

1/2 Genie hero: Probably my favorite. replaces the metroidvania map with more precision platforming segments. Best level design in the franchise by far. Stages are wild: everything from cities under siege, magic carpet armadas, gorgeous waterfalls, and colorful deserts. Best transformation mechanics in the franchise with dozens of them that enable different gameplay segments (for example, the harpy always falling and needing to flap to stay afloat - and going through spike mazes with no floor).

Seven Sirens: Eh. Returns to metroidvania form and does that aspect well. Very polished. I loved the exploration. My big issue was the stage designs all felt like different variations of "colored bricks in the sewers". That was hard coming fresh off half genie hero, where every stage was exploding with action and color.
Even worse though, it got rid of almost all the transformations so segments from previous games like spike mazes and air glide is just abandoned completely and they kind of scrap the platforming in this one. You just kind of walk from place to place. I really wish they hadn't gotten rid of whistle/warp dance because I spent a lot of time backtracking. Boss design wasn't great. Got rid of all vertical mobility until you're at 90% story completed. Really weird game because its like 1 step forward 2 steps back. Despite all that, it's a great game. I just think the mechanical and design decisions mostly went the wrong way.

They're all great, but Risky's Revenge kind of depends on your tolerance level for what it is (barebones GBA era metroidvania). Everything else is a solid recommend.