Skulls of the Shogun review: See you in Hell

Full disclosure: I've never died before. I have no idea what the afterlife looks like, where it's located, who runs its admissions process or if it even exists. I just don't. However, if an afterlife does exist, I'd be totally fine if it resembled the fantastical environment in Skulls of the Shogun.

The entire game takes place in a Japanese warrior's afterlife, with bright Asian line art, a cast of mystical characters and a betrayed general out for revenge. Somewhere along the development process, Skulls of the Shogun could have transformed into a gritty, deep commentary on the futility of life and honor, but thankfully its cheerful, Saturday-morning art style saves it from tumbling too far down that dark rabbit hole. In the end ? and I do mean the end ? Skulls of the Shogun is joyful, cheeky, and like most memorable experiences, it's best with friends.

So the next time you see your best buddy, clap a hand on his shoulder, look deep into his eyes and say, "We're going to the afterlife." And don't forget to smile.

View Gallery:Skulls of the Shogun

Skulls of the Shogun is 17-Bit's stylized, turn-based strategy game for XBLA, Windows Phone and Windows 8, and it can support one game across all those platforms in asynchronous multiplayer mode. There are clear reasons that Skulls of the Shogun took its sweet time coming out ? after a reveal in 2010, it was supposed to launch alongside Windows 8 in October 2012 but was delayed, with a solid release date announced just this month. But that's all right, because, for one, it launched on all those platforms at once. For another, Skulls of the Shogun is packed with myriad ways to play.

It has four main modes: the solo campaign, local multiplayer, online multiplayer and online asynchronous multiplayer. Each way to play offers its own perks,

PS3	PC
XBOX	Mobile
Wii U	MOVE
3DS	Kinect
VITA	Breaking