Wii Review: Lost In Shadow

So I was actually an hour away from completing Lost in Shadow yesterday, so there is an ending to this almost never ending tower. But it’s just when you least expect it. It’s not too shabby of a game, but not something I’d want to keep in my collection forever. It’s fun, not exactly short, and not too much of a thriller…except for 3 stages.

In addition, I’m trying to create a perfect rubric for grading games so there are 5 categories, where the points will be added together out of 50, and then doubled and divided by 10 to fit the 10/10 scale.

Summary And E3 Trailer
You play as a young boy’s shadow (probably in his early teens). Basically, you get your shadow cut off from underneath you, get thrown down a tower, and is given the goal to unite with your body, presumably at the top of the tower. Your given objective is to scale a huge tower of more then 50 levels, to find your body. Though, even if you think that tower is finished, you still have roughly 15 more stages to complete. As the story progresses, you encounter the monster who is the source of reoccurring problem in the tower.

Narrative and Fluidity (7/10)
This storyline is very linear and very child-like in perspective. Essentially you have only one focus, and that is to complete every stage you come across and get to your body. In other words, by floor 20, you pretty know who is your final boss and how its going to end. There really isn’t that much connecting the story to gameplay either. The Memories you come across while playing, which you discover to be the remains of other boys’ perished shadows, don’t offer much details except things that you already know. Sometimes they’re too blurry to read anyways. Otherwise, you get a sense of a story via five cutscenes that basically explain what they (the rulers of the tower) are trying to do. Other then that, you also don’t get a sense of story progression other then the sense of “moving forward” (or in this case, “up”). As far as the boy you’re playing is concerned, he just wants his body back. So nothing really connects the boy’s adventure with the (potentially epic) backstory or with gameplay for that matter. Finish a few stages, you get a cutscene. Finish a few stages, you get another one. Oh, have to go finish a few more. And then even more.

I wasn’t so impressed by the story because of its predictability. Understandably, since it’s an Everyone 10+ game, it’s got that childish and cute simplicity to it.

Audio and Soundtrack (7/10)
There are only ever 2 types of sounds in this game– Monster Sounds and Background Ambiance. The monster sounds can get a little annoying at times, since they almost sound the same and only have the same noise upon death, impact, and appearance. It’s cute in the beginning, it can get on your nerves in the middle. However, the background ambiance was composed well. The environment is really calm and dreary, which doesn’t require a lot of music in the background. In addition, this rather calm environment serves for the perfect contrast for when you meet the big monster. The music all of a sudden changes into something quite unsettling and can get your heart beating faster then a metronome on the first encounter. Though, this effect is only temporary, since once you hear the music again, it’s not really a surprise anymore when you meet the monster.

Overall a 7, the lack of sound effects made the gameplay pretty boring for me at times, if I weren’t dodging saws or blades at times.

Gameplay and Combat (6/10)
Controls used : Just B for attacking and Nunchuk for moving. No fancy moves here.

Although this is a platform-based game, you have to make some enemies along the way right? The shadow critters come in various shapes, sizes, and functions. You first meet with the spiders, and trust me, going up to attack them with B isn’t the best strategy, especially with the first weapon you get. But even when you get your second weapon that has a longer reach, the whole combat system is a bit of a hassle. First off, you really can only attack from the front for ground-based monsters. They usually have some sort of spiky or otherwise, dangerous thing sticking out in the back. They can also easily overwhelm you in numbers because you’re so susceptible to damage. I died a couple of times (7 I think) in the beginning because of the monsters. Sometimes when the situation got sticky, I’d just spam B because I couldn’t really do anything else. Although this game clearly prizes its puzzles and level design, what really makes the stages tedious are the monster battles. Oh, and let’s not even get to the aerial ones. Until you get the final sword, it’s basically impossible to hit some of the types before they hit you.

Overall a 6, since the combat wasn’t quite fulfilling as it could’ve been.

Gameplay and Environment (10/10)
Controls used: Using the Nunchuk for movement and using B to maneuver pipes, light sources, and move things around in both the 2D shadow platform-based world, and the 3D real world.

Now this is something that Lost in Shadow polished to perfection. First off, as a platform game, there are a lot of traditional elements that involve sharp things and timing. There is not one stage in the game that is the same. And although things get a little tedious from backtracking (for instance, when you miss one of the three “Monitor Eyes”, which are keys essentially, to move on to the next stage), there are some stages that are brilliantly made. The new element that Lost in Shadow introduces is the ability to manipulate your surroundings, and basically, make a path when there isn’t one. This involves moving pipes and the shadows of the platforms themselves. In some areas, you get a light meter or two, that allows you to change the light’s elevation, to either make shadows taller, smaller, closer, or farther. In addition, this method gets combined with not only jumping across platforms, but also dodging some otherwise, unavoidable protruding spikes from the wall.

In addition, you have some things known as Shadow Corridors to pass. Basically, these stages are a little more special since they require strategy. Rotating your platforms is a special feature in these Corridors. Thankfully, you don’t lose HP when you die from crushing yourself into a wall when you rotate platforms. The Shadow Corridors are really fun to do, and they’re like a quiz for your skills.

Though this may not affect some people, I’m going to comment on the controls. The Nunchuk and Wiimote are a little inaccurate with movement sometimes. It’s frustrating to be standing in front of a block, and pressing B to move it, only to have to realize you have to reposition yourself, which of course, ends up with you either running (away from the box) or barely moving a pixel. There are some times when the controls are just funky– like jumping up instead of forward regardless of nunchuk direction.

Graphics and Visuals (8/10)
The graphics aren’t that special, even for a Wii game. When you’re playing through the stages, there’s a general haze that covers the entire area to give it a bit of a haunted aspect. However, the cutscenes aren’t that spectacular either. It’s wrong to judge a game by its cover, but sometimes the visual aspect has to be worked on. There really aren’t any problems when you’re in the Shadow World because you’re black, the platforms are black, and the background is usually really bright (since light is shining directly at it). However, once you get the ability to get into the real world, there are some segments where the light is so blaring that since your body is essentially made of light, you can’t see the distance between the platform edge and you. Oh, and you could fall off of platforms. Just warning you.

Replay Value: This game’s collectible items are the “memories” and Shadow Corridors. There are 90 memories. I only got 60. So if you want to get all 90, have fun scaling the tower again.

Final Value : 7.6/10

Why you should get it? Well, this game is a spectacular platform puzzle piece. If it weren’t for the story, this would’ve been an even better game. If you’re the type that enjoys platforms, this is worth a go. Other platformers just can’t match with its creativity.

Lost in Shadow is available at retail stores where video games are sold. Head here for more information.