A year ago I took a brief look at the demo of a then-unreleased Kickstarter RPG.
I genuinely liked what little I was allowed to play but I was left with questions.
I had a few concerns.
Today I have played through the game in its 12 hour entirety and am relieved to report
that Shadows of Adam stacks up admirably to the adventures of yesteryear; it accurately
captures the tone and aesthetic of a golden era Squaresoft RPG.
With its interactive environments, world persistent enemies, and first person battle perspective
Shadows of Adams feels more like Mystic Quest than it does Final Fantasy 6.
Whoa- wait now!
Don’t turn off the video yet!
That’s not a bad thing.
I promise.
Shadows of Adam combines an original combat system with an engaging plot and challenging
dungeon puzzles to create a spiritual successor that surpasses the inspiring material.
That’s not to claim that the game is flawless, but it’s both attractive and mentally engaging.
That’s no small accomplishment for a fifteen dollar Steam release.
Consider this my ringing endorsement for a nostalgic impulse buy.
You’re welcome.
Have fun storming the castle!
You’re still here?
Oooo….
You wanted an in-depth break down of the game’s pros and cons?
(Exasperated) Well alright.
Here we go: Color me shallow but my favorite aspect of
this game is the pixel work.
The pallet is stunning and frequently exploits the stark contrast between the complementary
purple and yellow-ish green pairings to heighten tension or lowers the saturation and reigns
in those analogous colors in order to invoke a sense of calm and, that’s probably a little
too in-depth.
I can already taste your boredom.
Ok.
Forget the art jargon.
The point is that there wasn’t a map I entered where I didn’t pause momentarily to just
to appreciate the scenery.
But as pretty as the environments are and as faithfully as Adam recreates the look of
a 20 year old 16bit game it also employs a few modern tricks, such as transparent overlays,
and a higher font resolution, to smooth out the experience on today’s hardware.
And as much as I appreciate authenticity, I love a seamless gaming experience more.
Moving on: Shadows of Adam’s story unfolds in two timelines:
the player controlled present and the mostly cut scene presented past.
The exposition builds up gradually throughout the adventure – there are no surprise endings;
the party propels themselves to an inevitable and forgone conclusion and come the finale
you will have a complete understanding of who each of these characters are and how they
came to stand on the precipice of the world’s destruction.
If this feels anticlimactic it’s because we’ve been collectively conditioned by the
likes of Square to expect the unexpected.
So the fact that a diabolical mastermind doesn’t reveal himself at the game’s climax leaves
us wanting a little more oomph.
Furthermore the plot is so deliberately structured that it’s a shame the characters themselves
aren’t more diverse.
Sure you have the archetypical Final Fantasy crew: the alluring female mystic, the red-mage
gambler, the self-doubting hero, and the intimidating monk.
But tonally?
These characters are nearly identical.
They are all equally snarky; much of the game’s witty dialogue drips in venomous sarcasm,
which is funny.
But it’s humor at the expense of providing clear identity defining personalities.
But what Adams might lack in narrative it more than makes up for in mechanics.
Turn-based battles have earned a bad reputation over the years for being repetitive and unengaging.
Something Classic addresses these hurdles by equipping the player with a full arsenal
of special abilities – each with their own unique animation.
Ability Points (or AP) is percentage based, simplifying the math so players may make quick
choices, and plentiful – each character slowly regenerates AP throughout combat so
the player can keep choosing the ‘fun’ actions without the feeling the need to conserve
their magic for a tougher boss encounter later.
Many abilities synchronize together, encouraging the player to invent combination attacks using
multiple characters in a single round.
And because enemies have are frequently resistant towards specific ability types the player
is prevented from numbingly spamming a single solution in all situations.
To further reinforce the concept that Shadows of Adams is a “thinker’s game” most
dungeons include a series of puzzles involving blocks and switches.
Personally I found these segments to be appropriately challenging.
They never felt like tedious busywork nor were they impossible to solve.
Usually they involved simpler solutions than I first assumed and many times I was left
feeling a little silly once I sleuthed out the correct, uncomplicated, answer.
In short playing Shadows of Adam is an enjoyable experience that strikes all the right nostalgic
chords while staying just modern enough not to alienate anyone who doesn’t happen to
live in a mid-90s time capsule.