In The Shadows

I LOVE THIS GAME! I felt like I was playing FEZ again for the first time! The developer's use of light and shadows in the game is amazing compared to other pixel-art platformers and is very refreshing! So far I have played the first 10 levels or so, and I have got to say that the game is very reminiscent of FEZ on how the character's movement is paced. You don't run around like in other platformers e.g. meatboy. It's more of a fast-walking or jogging speed. That being said the controls are fine and play into the core game really well. The only issue I have is there are a few clipping issues on some of the platforms, but honestly nothing I found to be game breaking or repetetively annoying. Some segments are more challenging than others early on however you can always skip them and head straight for the door if you're feeling overwhelmed. The caveat to this is in later stages the door becomes harder and harder to reach and more obstacles get in your way. This isn't always the case ...

This game is soooo close to being a game that is ready for the market, but there is are a few things that keep me from recommending this game: primarily, bugs. During my playthrough of this game, I encountered the same glitches over and over again. Sometimes it would be bad behavior of the NPCs, who started floating and then would completely freeze, forcing me to restart the level from the beginning. Sometimes I would just fall through the floor, forcing me to restart the level from the beginning. I must have encountered at least a dozen different instances where I could reliably say "that shouldn't be happening", and that's in a complete, start-to-finish, 4 hour playthrough. That's too many bugs, most of which were game breaking or forced me out of the atmosphere, or both. Next is the general lack of polish on some game mechanics. Now, this is a puzzle game, so the game is supposed to be somewhat difficult of course, but sometimes the mechanics would screw you over, pushing boxes whe...

This is a pixel art puzzle platformer that's similar to FEZ and also has some similar aspects to Braid. Any casual or experienced gamer should be able to get the hang of this game and find it enjoyable. The controls are relatively simple and the environment is beautiful to navigate through. The use of 3D lighting within what seems like a regular 2D sidescroller really brings something fresh and eye catching to the genre. The music also does a great job to immerse you and tie everything together. The worlds were interesting with neat places to explore, and secret rooms to find! The story was captivating and brought the game to a close with a very emotional ending. The puzzles were fun and were definitely challenging in places. However, there aren’t any rage quitting or ridiculous puzzles here. Each of the monster’s mechanics were great to play around with. There’s not much bad to say about this game. There were a couple issues of the character clipping through the background or s...

I've been following the devlopement of this game on Reddit for almost a year now, and I'm really happy with how the final product turned out. There is a lot of charm in this game that comes from its simplicity and style. I think everyone should give it a shot even if they have the slightest of interests in it!

Solid art and concept. But the mechanics and level design are a bit tedious at times, even if the solution is fairly obvious, it takes a bit too long to actually execute. The movement is also a bit clunky and multiple times I experienced weird physics, mostly with moving light sources and boxes around.

In the Shadows is a game with a soul. Behind the beautiful looks and ambience is a good puzzler with a story to tell. Some of the puzzles are still giving me a hard time, this is a good sign :). Enjoy!

Good story, nice music, highly recommend

[b]Plot[/b] The game leaves you to search for the meaning of the story yourself. You don’t have to venture through every door but if you do then you’ll know what this game means to the developer. It’s a really beautiful little story that you don’t have to delve into but will encounter a much more meaningful experience if you do. [b]Character[/b] There’s not much to the boy we control beyond how he obviously is perceiving the world around him. Given we control him he appears to be without fear, easily dodging the shadow creatures without a care but at the same time we know these games are figments of his imagination and that he really is a scared little boy living through a confusing experience. [b]Environment, Art & Design[/b] The music is surprisingly beautiful for such a short game, it’s got a Fez-like, retro feel to it’s sound with synthesizers and jump noises. The pixel based backgrounds are simple yet make you want to just stop and look at them, especially the sun ...

A cool pixel-puzzler with light/shadow mechanics at its core.

In The Shadows is a game that deserves much more attention. The beautifully crafted voxel 2D world compliments the lighting and colours, to create various tones to deliver each chapter of the game. With each chapter a new mechanic is introduced to the player. First by offering a simple puzzle to demonstrate how it works, before being gently lead into more challenging but fair scenarios, which make you think about how to use the world and the mechanics in front of you. The mechanics, while fairly simple, introduce new ways of solving and thinking about puzzles, all of which reinforce the key themes of the game; light/dark and the passage of time. At just over 2 hours long (In my experience) for the core game, it offers a concise but interesting experience. Would recommend.