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Lost in Shadow ( A Shadow's Tale )
Wii
Bleak Shadows of Persia
3/5 stars
“Lost in Shadow” (“LiS”) is the swan song of long-time developer Hudson, a company recently purchased by Konami as a wholly-owned subsidiary and shuttered shortly after producing this game. “LiS” is yet another among the growing throng of retro 2D Platformers appearing exclusively on the Nintendo Wii.
Presentation
“LiS” gets its name due to the fact that most of the game world consists of shadows. These shadows are cast by 3D polygonal foreground objects as they are hit by a variety of light sources situated – sometimes visibly, usually not – between the player and the on-screen action. These foreground objects are quite simple and covered in decent-looking textures of rusted metal and aged stone, giving the game a very bleak appearance. The shadows themselves are as plain and unextraordinary as one would expect, but the way in which they play across the floors and walls of the 3D world they inhabit can lead to some interesting visual effects due to perspective and distortion (apparently programming the shadow engine consumed the vast majority of the game’s development time). There is also an overlay layer of cloudy, misty stuff that covers the entire screen, making “LiS” is a game that beats players over the head with how artsy it is.
While the visual effects are simple but ultimately interesting, the audio is quite the opposite. “LiS” doesn’t have anything resembling what might be called a ‘soundtrack,’ but instead is a game filled with random static and odd distortions. While using these weird ambient noises in lieu of a soundtrack is obviously an artistic statement to go along with the visuals, it is certainly not pleasant to listen to.
The sound effects are only slightly better than the music. While the stock noises for footsteps, sword swings, and the slap of a weapon against shadow-flesh are appropriate, many of the game’s enemies make completely inscrutable sounds. Why does an ambling blob that shoots projectiles out of what appears to be a crab claw growing out of its top make sounds like a baby chicken? Why does a spiky spinning wheel make sounds like a donkey? I presume these animal noises are yet more artistic expression, but I don’t really ‘get’ what the audio designer was going for.
Story
“LiS” has a surprisingly strong story for a 2D Platformer. This strange tale begins with a modern-looking boy in a white hoodie, unconscious and shackled to a stone framework. An ominous masked man approaches the boy wielding a strange, multi-bladed sword, which he uses to cut away the boy’s shadow. The ominous man then grabs the separated shadow and hurls it over a nearby rampart, which is revealed to be at the top of an incredibly tall tower that stands alone above a landscape of clouds.
Now at the bottom of the tower, Shadow Boy, finding himself mysteriously in the company of a shadow fairy, is left with no choice but to approach the tower and start climbing. Along his path to the top, Shadow Boy will find numerous blots of purplish shadow that contain memories… but whose memories are they? As Shadow Boy cuts through hoards of mysterious shadow beasts that have no real-world counterparts, more of the world’s secrets are revealed through unanimated cutscenes. Ultimately, Shadow Boy must figure out why he has been thrown from the tower if he is to maintain any hope of being reunited with his body.
“LiS’s” story is actually quite reminiscent of other bleak Japanese games, like “Shadow of the Colossus,” in which tantalizing clues to the game world’s background are hinted at but rarely addressed directly. Ultimately, Shadow Boy’s story has a satisfactory ending, but the exploration of the game world is anything but satisfactory, especially considering the final scene, which makes no sense at all and leaves the player with more questions than answers.
Gameplay
“LiS” is a ‘cinematic’ 2D Platformer that features a few brief 3D segments in the latter half of the game. I found the gameplay to be highly reminiscent of the old-school “Prince of Persia” games, in that Shadow Boy moves exactly like the Prince and has an almost-identical move-set consisting of jumps, running jumps, ledge-grabbing, and sword-fighting. However, “LiS” also has a few modern accoutrements like a leveling system that makes Shadow Boy’s attacks more powerful as he gains experience by slaying enemies, and a Wiimote-controlled cursor representing Shadow Boy’s fairy companion that can be used to manipulate certain foreground objects (thus changing the layout of the shadows they cast). While the platforming is mostly good for this type of game (and definitely a huge step up from “Prince of Persia”), the sword-fighting is quite terrible, suffering from frequently-flaky hit detection. Also terrible are the movement controls during the 3D segments. While 2D Shadow Boy has great traction and accurate movements, 3D Shadow Boy moves like he’s not actually touching the ground and will only interact with objects if he is perfectly aligned with them (this is problematic because the 3D segments are all timed).
The main course of the game plays out across the shadows of the mysterious tower, in which the shadow of a railing might serve as the floor or the shadow of a pillar might serve as a wall. The tower is divided into separate floors, or sometimes groups of floors, which serve as the game’s levels. Each level is connected with the ones above and below it, which would make the game feel like one long level if not for the fact that enemies respawn on subsequent visits to completed levels. Most levels contain three objects called ‘Monitor Eyes,’ which Shadow Boy must collect in order to break a barrier at the end of the level. In order to access the hiding places of these MacGuffins, Shadow Boy must manipulate the shadows upon which he walks, lending the game a very heavy puzzle element. Even more puzzle heavy, and probably the best-designed part of the game, are Shadow Corridors, which ‘bear no reflection of the real world,’ but are instead self-contained trials that stand between Shadow Boy and one of the Monitor Eyes.
Upon reaching the top of the tower, Shadow Boy discovers that he needs yet other MacGuffins in order to continue – MacGuffins that are scattered around various floors of the tower he just climbed. In order to prevent players from revolting at the prospect of replaying the same stages they JUST FINISHED, the game also unlocks a previously-unavailable elevator that will take Shadow Boy to specified floors. Unfortunately, the limited number of elevator stops means the player will still be stuck repeating numerous puzzles. Even more unfortunate, the map of the tower provided on the pause menu is JUST A PICTURE OF THE FREAKING TOWER with no details whatsoever. In this type of platformer, the fun doesn’t come from the exhilaration of navigating the levels, but the “Aha!” moment of figuring out a specific puzzle. Repeating the tower’s puzzles, pulling the same levers, pushing the same buttons, flailing a sword at the same monsters – it’s more tedious than entertaining.
Overall
“Lost in Shadow” is a spiritual successor to the gameplay ideas introduced in old-school “Prince of Persia” combined with the aesthetic of games like “Ico” and “Shadow of the Colossus.” While the game features a – for lack of a better word – unique narrative and well-designed platforming puzzles, the horrible sword combat and heavy amounts of repetition ensure that Hudson will not be remembered as having gone out on a high note. I recommend “Lost in Shadow” to fans of old-school “Prince of Persia” (all two of them!), and fans of Team Ico’s atmospheric experiences.
Presentation: 3/5
Story: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3/5
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