“An ancient proverb warns: ‘Never trust a demon, for betrayal is their very blood’.” – Carissa Cantrecht, Shadows: Awakening
Images and gameplay for Shadows: Awakening courtesy of Kalypso Media.
Shadows: Awakening was developed by Games Farm the Slovakian studio Games Farm, formerly known as 3D People. Distribution is handled by Kalypso Media, a privately owned, global publisher of interactive entertainment software, operating in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Story
“After the members of the secret council known as the Penta Nera are assassinated, their souls are consumed by the Devourers – evil demons which possess the ability to absorb the memories and personalities of the souls they acquire and materialize them as their puppets. Re-emerging into the mortal realm once again, the demonic Penta Nera continue their quest for power and immortality, but at what cost?”
Okay, look, that is straight from Kalypso! After spending 7+ hours with the game, I can honestly say that I was just scratching the surface. I knew plenty about the personal challenges of my first puppet, and I had his revenge well under way! (See below for more info on puppets.) As for the big picture – there was still a lot to uncover. Unfortunately my “master” was only doling out information on a need-to-know basis.
Clik here to view.
Get used to dungeon crawling…you’ll be doing a lot of it!
Gameplay
In Shadows: Awakening you start out as a demon, summoned to do the bidding of a mysterious wizard. Unfortunately, as a demon, you can only affect the shadow realm. In order to affect the real world, you’ll have to consume the souls of a dead hero or two. These poor folks will return to life as your “puppet” and allow you to interact with the physical realm. The end result, is an entire adventuring party (and a demon) sharing a single body. You’ll have to shift back and forth between worlds and puppets to navigate the environment, solve puzzles and combine abilities to take down tougher foes.
Shadows: Awakening also comes with the standard RPG gear/loot, crafting and skill tree systems. Each character type has their own unique loot, with only a few pieces being universal to everyone. All party members earn experience simultaneously, and newly acquired puppets will arrive ready to immediately power up to par with existing characters.
Shadows: Awakening contains both main and side quests scattered throughout each chapter, with the requisite exclamation point markers to show you where to go. All of the quests are woven together in a way that seems natural, and provided just enough background to be interesting. Don’t expect to do all side-quests and then return to the main quest as an unstoppable juggernaut though, Games Farm did a great job balancing here…in fact, you may run out of side quests before you even reach the recommended level to continue the main quest.
Clik here to view.
It’s always important to have a big gun in the party!
Style
Graphically, Shadows: Awakening is a great example of something from a smaller developer. It is both solid and pleasant to look at, but lacks the flash and dazzle of a Triple-A game. The cinematics are a bit on the clunky side, which does distract from the overall experience. However, there are not too many of those to deal with.
Games Farm did a great job in the audio department. The voice acting is enjoyable! I don’t think it’s going to win any awards, but the pacing, inflection and dialogue were engaging. In addition, the music felt natural and not forced. Not once did I feel the need to turn off the music, or skip past conversations. For me, that’s saying a lot!
Is It Worth It?
Shadows: Awakening is going for $30 on console and $40 in the Steam store, and I’d say it is definitely worth it! These day’s it is rare for me to drop into a game and lose track of time. That’s exactly what happened with this title. I fired this one up for a second play session just after 8pm, and when I looked up next, it was after 2am! On top of that, I still wanted more! Hands down, this one was fun.
Grandpa Gamer Says: Don’t miss this one!
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