Hoo boy. I'm gonna try to be kind, but this game isn't put together very well. You play as Dawn, an imaginary friend (so it seems) of a young girl named Didi. Didi's parents argue a lot, mostly because her father keeps writing bad checks and coming up with crazy schemes to get money, the latest of which is an attempt to get a mysterious magician to headline at his makeshift carnival. Oh and also, he's in deep with the mob. With the use of Dawn's shadow-person powers, you'll help Didi keep her parents together, as well as alive, and make sure the carnival goes off without a hitch.
This plays out through a series of clever puzzles and platforming sections where you blend into shadow form to traverse shadows cast by other objects. But despite this cleverness, the game is extremely frictionless in a way that takes a lot away from the experience. This is not helped by the fact that the world is small and chokingly linear, even by indie game standards. There are a limited amount of collectibles to find, some of which give a little more info about the story, and some of which can be used as currency to fix malfunctioning electrical appliances. Despite the devs' best efforts, I found every one of them on my first playthrough. The only reason I jumped into the game again was to mop up a couple of situational trophies I missed.
The story is okay, and on a more positive note, I quite like the music. I also like a lot of the voice acting here, aside from the young girl, Didi, who is very annoying. One thing that really hurts the game is this kind of waxy, lifeless look to everything that I don't think was totally intentional. I mean, I know they're doing their best here with Unity and certainly going for a unique style, but just look at this drab mess. Can you believe this was one of the "launch titles" on PS4?
I might be willing to give this 3 stars if it wasn't so short, yet so glitchy. It's easy to be brought out of an experience when it looks like this game does, while having little in the way of engagement, and yet it also has a tendency to completely freak out if you don't watch your step. That's really what makes this game a shadow of its meager potential.
This plays out through a series of clever puzzles and platforming sections where you blend into shadow form to traverse shadows cast by other objects. But despite this cleverness, the game is extremely frictionless in a way that takes a lot away from the experience. This is not helped by the fact that the world is small and chokingly linear, even by indie game standards. There are a limited amount of collectibles to find, some of which give a little more info about the story, and some of which can be used as currency to fix malfunctioning electrical appliances. Despite the devs' best efforts, I found every one of them on my first playthrough. The only reason I jumped into the game again was to mop up a couple of situational trophies I missed.
The story is okay, and on a more positive note, I quite like the music. I also like a lot of the voice acting here, aside from the young girl, Didi, who is very annoying. One thing that really hurts the game is this kind of waxy, lifeless look to everything that I don't think was totally intentional. I mean, I know they're doing their best here with Unity and certainly going for a unique style, but just look at this drab mess. Can you believe this was one of the "launch titles" on PS4?
I might be willing to give this 3 stars if it wasn't so short, yet so glitchy. It's easy to be brought out of an experience when it looks like this game does, while having little in the way of engagement, and yet it also has a tendency to completely freak out if you don't watch your step. That's really what makes this game a shadow of its meager potential.