A flawed but engrossing reimagining of the 1989 2D action-adventure game. Interesting mix of old-school score-focused combat and more modern cinematic platformer gameplay. Prince of Persia's DNA is definitely present here - both the original's and the 2008 reboot's as a matter of fact - along with others, like Oddworld and even Panzer Dragoon to some extent. The fighting system is very streamlined and fast, most enemies die from a single hit. The game encourages swift button presses to keep up the gory combo attacks during enemy encounters. When you get into the flow of the combat it feels really seamless and fun but if you mess up even once the whole fight usually comes to a halt and that can feel really clunky at times. Fortunately you get to buff up the protagonist, Aarbron, through combat upgrades and talismans found throughout the game which makes the occasional difficulty spikes a bit easier to handle.
The story was surprisingly captivating because of its mysterious nature, it is sort of drip-fed to the player throughout the game. There are traditional cutscenes, yes, but to get the full picture (and the proper ending) you have to find the hidden collectibles in the levels that give more context to the beast's journey. Even though I wasn't familiar with the original games I thought it was cool reading up on the different species' descriptions and going through the plot timeline.
Graphically the game is sadly not as striking as its concept art, the lighting is also very uneven in a couple of levels. Some assets look quite rough for a PS4 title but I do like the arcadey UI and most of the character animations are really smooth. The original game's soundtrack is very unique and catchy and I was pleasantly surprised with the new versions of those tracks, they succeed in recapturing that similar sound - and it's nice that you can unlock the classic tunes in-game as well!
I've got to say, I didn't think I would be this into the game but, lo and behold, I ended up actually getting my first ever platinum trophy since I wanted to keep replaying the levels! The developers made a solid effort to bring back this early era Psygnosis IP with some fresh ideas of their own and I think that is really commendable. Shadow of the Beast is not without its issues and, sure, it could have done with a bit more refinement but it is a really cool game with a lot of heart and soul poured into making it. Hopefully there are others like me out there who'll end up checking it out now that it's a part of the new PlayStation Plus Extra game selection. Recommended!
The story was surprisingly captivating because of its mysterious nature, it is sort of drip-fed to the player throughout the game. There are traditional cutscenes, yes, but to get the full picture (and the proper ending) you have to find the hidden collectibles in the levels that give more context to the beast's journey. Even though I wasn't familiar with the original games I thought it was cool reading up on the different species' descriptions and going through the plot timeline.
Graphically the game is sadly not as striking as its concept art, the lighting is also very uneven in a couple of levels. Some assets look quite rough for a PS4 title but I do like the arcadey UI and most of the character animations are really smooth. The original game's soundtrack is very unique and catchy and I was pleasantly surprised with the new versions of those tracks, they succeed in recapturing that similar sound - and it's nice that you can unlock the classic tunes in-game as well!
I've got to say, I didn't think I would be this into the game but, lo and behold, I ended up actually getting my first ever platinum trophy since I wanted to keep replaying the levels! The developers made a solid effort to bring back this early era Psygnosis IP with some fresh ideas of their own and I think that is really commendable. Shadow of the Beast is not without its issues and, sure, it could have done with a bit more refinement but it is a really cool game with a lot of heart and soul poured into making it. Hopefully there are others like me out there who'll end up checking it out now that it's a part of the new PlayStation Plus Extra game selection. Recommended!