A Shadow’s Tale Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 13 October, 2010

Pretty vacant.

Version tested: Wii

In a gaming landscape often mired in the noisy brown mindset of the angry adolescent shooter, it's not that difficult to stand out. You either go bright and colourful, or you go quiet and arty. Either approach will get eyes pointed in your direction, but it helps if you have a game worthy of the attention in the first place.

That's where A Shadow's Tale stumbles. A gentle, oil-painty sort of platform game, it hinges on one simple twist: you're playing as a shadow. At the start of the game, your character – simply called Boy – is suspended in mid-air at the top of a giant tower. A creepy executioner approaches, but his blade severs your shadow, not your head. He grabs this ephemeral off-cut and tosses it over the side.

Here's where you come in. You have to ascend the tower to be reunited with your physical body. As a shadow, you can walk, climb and jump on other shadows, but fall into nothingness if there's only light and solid ground beneath you. The result is, quite blatantly, the original Prince of Persia remade in the style of ICO.

Despite the distractingly obvious inspirations, the shadow play is an undeniably clever idea, and one that makes the early stages an enjoyable head trip. We're so used to watching the foreground that it takes some time to train your eyes to look deeper into the image to see both your character and the environment he can traverse. There are plenty of "Oooh" moments as you realise you can jog across scenery that would normally be impassable.

Being a shadow brings with it a few unique features, too. Obviously, you can't interact with the physical world, but you're accompanied by Spangle, an unexplained fairy creature who can locate and grab movable objects, which in turn shift the shadows around. There are also times when you're able to move the light source directly, vertically or horizontally, lengthening and shortening the available shadow platforms to reach new areas. Later, light gates let you slip through into physical reality for brief periods.

1

A Shadow’s Tale was previously called Tower of Shadow, Lost in Shadow and Cliff Richard and the Shadows.

The foundations of an innovative platformer are laid, but the game never builds on its potential. Once you've got used to looking "through" the game to the shadow layer, it quickly becomes apparent that beneath the concept is a fairly ordinary platform game. Ultimately, regardless of which puzzle type is thrown at you, you're just throwing switches to move platforms, which is hardly ground-breaking stuff. With only two axes to move the light along, and dead ends where Spangle use is clearly required, solutions are hardly taxing either.

Unlike Braid, which took a simple idea and then extrapolated it into an escalating crescendo of brain-melting puzzles, A Shadow's Tale never truly grapples with the possibilities of playing with light and shadow, instead using them to obscure tired old clichés. When you're jumping over your hundredth buzz saw blade, or waiting to dash past another row of alternating gas vents, the fact that they're technically the shadows of physical hazards doesn't really make any practical difference.

The game is weak in other areas as well. Combat is simplistic and sticky, relying on a rudimentary three-hit combo once you've found a sword. Enemies are faster than you, have longer reach and do a lot of damage, so each clumsy encounter with a shadowy spider or lizard is more likely to end in frustration than excitement. Master the timing, however, and they become pathetically easy. Each enemy defeated squirts out a small amount of health and some purple XP orbs, but since levelling up only improves your attack strength by tiny increments, you'll barely notice the difference.

And then there are the visuals. It looks lovely, if painfully beholden to Fumito Ueda for its pastel-hued aesthetic. There's taking inspiration and there's taking liberties, and far too often A Shadow's Tale feels like it's cynically exploiting the enduring praise earned by Team ICO to feather its own nest. This is cargo cult game design, copying the look and feel of previous games with painstaking precision, but the magic it hopes to invoke never materialises.

A large part of the problem is that there's no story. Or rather, there is, but it's so opaque and minimalistic that there's nothing to cling to, doled out in tiny chunks so that even halfway through the game you're still not sure why any of this is happening.

ICO's genius lay in the fairy-tale simplicity of its hand-holding concept, tapping into a universal human response. Even Limbo, a more recent adherent to the less-is-more school of eerie platform gaming, knew well enough to drape its stylised world in familiar Hansel and Gretel cloth. A boy looking for his sister makes sense, even in a stark black and white fantasia. A boy cut off from his shadow might make a poetic image, but it desperately needs context to take flight and A Shadow's Tale is too busy being self-consciously mysterious to supply it. The whole game feels like it was created simply to look pretty, rather than evoke genuine empathy or engagement.

With nothing to ground the fanciful notions, the cracks in the game's exquisite façade start to show. Checkpointing is crude, relying on "shadow corridor" sub-levels to activate, and replaying or retracing your steps is a common problem. Boy himself is well animated, but prone to some truly horrible jagged edges, while his reaction times and movements are never quite as fluid and graceful as the genre demands.

2

Your health gauge is based on the weight of your shadow, which gets heavier with each memory you find. Physics!

Foreground objects sometimes obscure the action, or the game will pick a camera view designed to show off the environment rather than support the gameplay. There's no single problem that comes close to being a game breaker, but there are dozens of minor annoyances that accumulate over time, eventually overwhelming the attraction of the borrowed graphical style.

The fact is that the Wii is not short of whimsical hand-drawn platformers. A Boy and his Blob has a more interesting gimmick, and does more innovative things with it, than A Shadow's Tale. LostWinds and Nyx also tread a similar path, and feel more suited to their WiiWare home than A Shadow's Tale does as a boxed disc. The Wii, quite simply, does not need a Diet ICO.

There's nothing sadder than a great idea wasted, but it's no longer enough to simply come up with a concept and let it do the heavy lifting for the entire length of a game. The best ideas need to grow, expand and evolve as the levels pass by, but A Shadow's Tale never takes that next step and unfortunately proves to be as insubstantial as its hero.

5 / 10

A Shadow's Tale is available from 15th October, exclusively for Wii.

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Dan.

About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • peteb #1 2 years ago

    Ooh, disappointing score without a shadow of a doubt.

  • javvyman #2 2 years ago

    A shadow of the iconic game it's based on

  • Big-Swiss #3 2 years ago

    wiilol

  • yarkiebrown #4 2 years ago

    oh very shad!!

  • woodnotes #5 2 years ago

    This will be left to get rickets in Limbo's shadow.

  • krudster #6 2 years ago

    Personally, it's my current second favourite game of the year.

  • Darknight #7 2 years ago

    Some of the puns in here are going to be exceptionally shady...

  • Ignatius_Cheese #8 2 years ago

    Nice comment Kristan :o)

  • MrDurandPierre #9 2 years ago

    @Krudster Are you reviewing it elsewhere? I'd love to hear you expound on your more optimistic take.

  • krudster #10 2 years ago

    I reviewed in on MSN tech and gadgets. Yeah. I'm astonished. This is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Seriously.

  • ryohazuki1983 #11 2 years ago

    Shame about the score :( concept sounds interesting, might rent.

  • HermitArcader #12 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • GreyBeard #13 2 years ago

    I cant believe Dan is pissing and moaning about retrying/retracing your steps in this in this, then extolling the virtues of fucking Braid later on... A game made up entirely of repetitively rewinding and retrying the same moves over and over to allow you to make the prescribed "right" jump in all of its identikit levels.


  • spekkeh #14 2 years ago

    Too bad the game doesn't deliver (according to Dan), because the premise is something that really only a game could convey. Having to actually think about the background instead of just watching it (like living the shadows on Plato's cave if I want to be really pedantic, in fact, shame on you that you didn't think it up ;), is really cerebral and intriguing stuff.

  • spekkeh #15 2 years ago

    @greybeard: yeah, well, I liked Braid, but it does seem somewhat inconsistent, also because Braid didn't really build up into an escalating crescendo--some of the earlier puzzles were more difficult than the later ones, something the designer acknowledges. Furthermore, Limbo scored really high but seems to be the epitome of trial-and-error.
    On the other hand, especially arty games need to innovate and if it's already been done, and arguably better, well then a 5 would be justifiable.

  • Fletche #16 2 years ago

    Personally I couldn't stand Braid so if the reviewer loved that and hated this then there is a chance I would like this, I am more inclined to go with the thoughts of krudster on this one.

    Oh, and what is wrong with copying a graphical style? It is done time and time again in every genre known to mankind
    Edited by Fletche at 13/10/10 @ 12:13

  • krudster #17 2 years ago

    To pick up on one particular point, it really only riffs on ICO for about the first half an hour. Beyond that, I'd argue that it really develops a very distinct character of its own, both aesthetically and gameplay wise. It's almost survival horror-esque in its ambiance and streamlined combat. I saw that as a strength, but horses for courses and all that.

  • Tallon4 #18 2 years ago

    Didn't see this coming. A bit sad really.
    I was getting ready for a game with the same feel as ICO and thought this game would be it.

  • geeza2020 #19 2 years ago

    I think you're always going to be disappointed in that respect.

    The only game that feels like ICO is, well, ICO.

  • Headless_Monkey_Boy #20 2 years ago

    Interesting, This games has some pretty mixed reviews, could be a marmite thing so i dont know if i want to take the risk.

    Will say that this review seems to make a lot of comparions to other games. I'd like to know how it stands on its own merrits without any preconceptions.

    Unless of course it has none.

  • DanWhitehead #21 2 years ago

    @krudster

    After seeing your review, and Keza's endorsement, I actually went back and played it again but honestly couldn't see anything that was worthy of "game of the year" level praise. It certainly has lovely presentation, but there were very few parts where it felt like the shadow element was essential - a point where you realise that the game had to use shadows for its concept to work. That's what I was getting at with the Braid comparison. From the original rewind mechanism, that game introduces new variations with each gameworld, until the concept of manipulating time in a platform game is squeezed dry. Strip away the beautiful veneer in a A Shadow's Tale and you've got a game where, for the most partm you could just as easily be any old (solid) platform hero jumping over obstacles, climbing ladders and pulling levers. It's an eye-catching visual affectation, not a gameplay device, and that seems like a lot of potential wasted.

    Crucially, for a game in such a traditional mould, the level design never once wowed or surprised me. Beneath the prettiness, I just found an average platformer. I really wish I could've seen what you did, because its the sort of game I want to do well.

  • Sonic_D #22 2 years ago

    Damn, was hoping this game would be good.

  • varsas #23 2 years ago

    It's already been mentioned but it is very interesting how Keza and Kristan are on the other end of the spectrum regarding this game. Hmm...

  • Kami #24 2 years ago

    Basically, it's going to be one of those love-or-hate games isn't it? If you love quirky Japanese art-house retro stuff, then this will be an instabuy. But if you're not into that, it's a "tread lightly" scenario because you may not really enjoy it.

    I'm not sure we're going to get much concensus on this one...

  • HermitArcader #25 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Kami #26 2 years ago

    Absolutely, I agree. I think it is healthy to have reviewers disagreeing - it's when reviewers start agreeing a game is crap that you should really be worrying...

  • krudster #27 2 years ago

    @Dan "but there were very few parts where it felt like the shadow element was essential"

    That's where I really disagree. As the game evolves, it tests you in an increasing number of ways with how you manipulate light sources to solve puzzles. The multiple sliders, the limited use of your body in the 3D world, the often mind-bending shadow world interludes. I cannot think of a single other game that's ever used mechanics like this, and you dismiss this offhand like it's some standard platformer.

    Also, the comment about annoying back-tracking is completely false - the levels are very compact and bite-sized, and seem designed to avoid the exact thing you're complaining about. And as I've said before, the whole stuff about being beholden to ICO's aesthetics melts away about half an hour into the game, and complaining about jaggies on a Wii game (when you're presumably playing it on a massive HD telly ill-suited to a 480p game) is a strange thing to pick up on. There are times when it's mesmerisingly beautiful. I honestly haven't seen a better looking game of this type.



  • krudster #28 2 years ago

    Separate to all this disagreement, why does no-one mention how incredible the audio is? It's absolutely chilling.

  • Boomerang #29 2 years ago

    @Kristan and Dan

    You guys could easily have had this discussion elsewhere, so thank you for having it here and adding some gravitas to the comments section.

  • Aradiel #30 2 years ago

    It sounds stylish and certainly poetic (Plato or our inability to change the world as much as we may want being two ideas) but I'm not sure I'm convinced about how well it plays.

    I think I will buy it at some point, but should it be now at full price, or later when cheaper (but potentially impossible to find)?

  • krudster #31 2 years ago

    I would suspect this one will be hard to find very quickly. I don't think many copies will be made available.

  • Ninja_Tino #32 2 years ago

    I like Kristan. But I also like Dan Whitehead. Which is better? There's only one way to find out… Seriously, could this a new Eurogamer feature? The man left standing is the right one.

  • Paulie_P #33 2 years ago

    Damn Ninja_Tino, you stole my joke. That's what I get for being busy at work!

  • MrMarbles #34 2 years ago

    Hmm, Reviewer Face-Offs would be quite a nice future feature for Eurogamer.

    It'd be excellent to have a semi-regular roundtable discussion of the latest releases where the reviewers get to have this kind of debate - I'd find it far more informative and useful than just a single person's take on a game.

    This kind of discussion never really happens until the end-of-year top 50 list.

  • spekkeh #35 2 years ago

    They do have a eurogamer fight option!
    [link url=http://gamers.eurogamer.net/fight.php?red=DanWhitehead&blue=krudster
    ]http://gamers.eurogamer.net/fight.php?re...[/link]
    Apparently, DanWhitehead absolutely thrashes krudster. Sorry Kristan.

  • Cadence #36 2 years ago

    To be fair Krudster, I've just read your review over on MSN Tech & Gadgets and you also pick up on the jaggies in the game, which "made you wish it was on HD platforms".

  • JinTypeNoir #37 2 years ago

    I do wonder why the game isn't multiplatform, since it doesn't use the strengths of the Wii.

    But from the moment you start playing, it's very, very clear that it while it has something like an homage to Ico, it isn't trying to be the same. Shadow's Tale isn't as minimalistic (it has a HUD, way more traditionally gamey elements and isn't as concerned in telling a story so much as combining the atmosphere with the fresh gameplay), it has more straightforward direction and is faster paced. From the moment you start it has the hallmarks of classically good action platformer puzzler design, by showing you right away just how much the shadow platforms different from the real world ones.

    This only continues to get better as you play. Unlike Braid, Shadow's Tale isn't pretentious and full of itself, and doesn't have a roll-your-eyes try-to-be-intellectual-but-fail-miserably plot twist or ending like Braid. It also doesn't wear out its welcome by repeating the same ideas in just slight variations like Braid did.

  • VeggieWokker #38 2 years ago

    As EG gave the horrible Other M an 8, I'm going to assume they gave this a 5 because it is good.

  • krudster #39 2 years ago

    Yeah, sure it would look better in HD, meaning there would be no jaggies, but there are a dozen other visual tricks and subtle effects that you could praise that make up for that.

    As I keep mentioning, this is a Wii game. Wii is 480p, and even the best games don't look their best on massive HD TVs. For the record, I reviewed it on a relatively svelte 32" LCD, and I can imagine it doesn't scale upwards in a flattering way.
    Edited by krudster at 13/10/10 @ 22:29

  • mkreku #40 2 years ago

    All I see when reading the name Dan Whitehead is Risen (my game of the year) getting 4/10 and my own nerd rage.

    I'm guessing this is one of those games where you really need to form your own opinion.

  • \\\\ #41 2 years ago

    Agreed that a single opinion is not just unuseful but potentially damaging both developers and gamers, especially if this opinion is made by a person on a (too) important site, also I can't believe that everyone in the site think exactly as the official reviewer.

    Yeah, I know that EG wants to be different, or thinks to be different, and if it's not different it just force itself to be different. But here a 5 is totally out of place, the game is an original and mesmerizing experience. The critics are clearly forced for some reason. i.e.: the story..? seriously, do you think that I'm playing Mario because the story of saving a princess "makes sense"? (saving the princess for the fucking 25th time?)

    Tecnically speaking:
    - I wish it was in HD but it's gorgeous nevertheless
    - excellent souondtrack (I think often that a ST in a videogame is secondary and not comparable to REAL music, maybe this is the first time in a modern game that I can say that i really LIKE the soundtrack, not plain horror-movie ambient or rpg-style full of random synths, but something like minimlistic glitch dark ambient, obscure, mesmerizing and hypnotic)
    - as a developer (not professional) I could made a limbo-clone quite easily, but if Ithink about this one I don't have a fucking clue how to start doing it, for me it's great even for this and i watch it constantly astonished

  • MrDurandPierre #42 2 years ago

    After reading Kristan and Keza's takes I'm willing to take a chance on this one. Too bad it won't reach my side of the pond 'til next year:(

  • 3william56 #43 2 years ago

    No mention of Echochome 2? Sounds like that is the game that takes the shadow concept and runs with it..?

  • krudster #44 2 years ago

    To be fair, Echochrome 2 isn't even out yet. I'm sure when it comes out, we can all talk about who got there first, etc, but right now, this is a unique title.

    @ \\\\ - I think it's important to defend Dan here. As the former Editor of the site for many years, I know Dan pretty well, and he's a top, top writer, and extremely thorough. He hasn't written a review to be 'different', but it is important for readers to understand that this is his opinion. Whether you agree with it is another matter, but he definitely would never write a review just to stand apart from the herd. In fact, I doubt very much that he had any external influences, so didn't even know what other people thought.

    You're right that it appears that 5/10 is EG's 'official' verdict, when it's actually the case that two EG regulars have reviewed it elsewhere and absolutely loved it. In a perfect world, all publications would have a budget to get multiple opinions to make sure that a balanced view is sought. However, as many people point out, isn't that what Metacritic is for? Also, it's what comment threads are for. People can argue the toss there.

  • JayKwon #45 2 years ago

    Wow what's up with the bashing of Braid in this comment section?

    I just have to give some counterforce by saying I absolutely love Braid, thought it was genius and utterly stunning and one of my games of the year of 2008!

    Other than that, this game looks lovely as well. Would make an astonishing addition to the XBLA (and PSN) for I don't have a Wii;).

  • keatsunn #46 2 years ago

    I realy hoped this would be a good game, when I first saw it I thought it was a WioiWare game.
    The idea sounds fun but to simple to pay 50 euro's

  • Mr_Bogus #47 2 years ago

    Wii game? Check.
    Original concept? Check.
    EG 5/10? Check.

  • Zeburdee #48 2 years ago

    This is not so much a disappointing score (though it seems that way as well) but a disappointing *review*...

    When you read beyond the review here at EG you soon realise there's *plenty* left out of the write-up and makes you wonder if Dan actually played through to the end (at least while conscious). Though at least there's consistency to several other recent reviews here (not pointed at Dan) with the inclusion of irrelevant moaning and double standards.

    krudster: big thanks for your info in this thread - without it I personally wouldn't have looked further into this hidden gem (which unfortunately goes to show the 'power' a popular gaming site can indirectly wield in a fast-paced low attention-span world).

    Though in respect of "he's a top, top writer, and extremely thorough", it really doesn't seem demonstrated very well here. (Hence the ironic need for that phrase to be written!)

    Review of the review: Light-weight. And should possibly be stuck where the sun don't shine.

  • trip919 #49 2 years ago

    The game just caught my attention the other day and now left somewhat deflated. Hmm..... Still going to give it a whirl as it looks too different to pass up.

  • Beavernator #50 1 year ago

    I wanted to chime in as I'm in the U.S. and Imported this beautiful game. I for one LOVED this game! It evoked a very strong response from me. My three small daughters (all under the age of 5) were completely engrossed in watching me play, and I let them use their imaginations in helping me solve the shadow puzzles. As far as issues with the story.... I had none. My 5 year old at the very start of the game made a comment about how his shadow was his soul and has to get back to his body. She said the Shadow monster was all the other trapped souls because of all the arms and legs coming out of it. Amazing how a child with a simple observation can make everything make perfect sense. Over thinking the purpose of the game can in in fact defeat the purpose of the game. I will admit that I immediately thought of ICO when playing, but is that a terrible thing. I thought it was great. That's like saying all Cel shaded games need to pay Jet Grind Radio royalties. A beautiful game is a beautiful games. The minimal music was amazing in it's simple effect. In regards to combat being relegated to three hit combos? Your a kid.... Is he supposed to pull off 45 hit Killer instinct Ultra combos???. No. Mario bonks heads and has never changed that (fireballs too of course). My point of all this is that this game is what it is. A VERY beautiful, well thought out, solid controlling game, that I do not regret purchasing in the slightest.