Sights & Sounds
- Honestly, the game isn't much to look at, but impressive visuals have never been the focus of KoL properties. That said, I've enjoyed the visual design since playing the original browser game back in high school in the early 00s
- It's actually impressive how much character and personality the devs were able to infuse into the game despite the simplistic visuals
- Music is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but there was a decent variety that kept the game from sounding too stale
Story & Vibes
- True to the all entries in the series, the writing is once again creative, witty, and very amusing
- In that same vein, don't expect the game to take itself very seriously. The overall tone is intended to be humorous
- The story is very simple but serves as a nice framework for the rest of the game's writing. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. You're going to be doing a lot of reading
Playability & Replayability
- The mechanics of the game will feel familiar to anyone who has played Kingdom of Loathing or West of Loathing. For those who haven't, it's a simplified 3-class turn-based JRPG
- There's also a lot of puzzles. Like A LOT of them. Some of them are pretty fiendishly difficult, but very satisfying to complete
- I'm definitely smelling a replay in the future, mostly because there's so much depth in the game in terms of exploration and hidden side quests. I feel like I touched on 60% of the game in my 20+ hour playthrough. Hell, I didn't even get an achievement until hour 14
- The only real knock on this game I can think of is the combat. It's shallow even by JRPG standards and begins to feel very stale even a few hours into the game. Enemies aren't spongy and I feel like the encounters are well-scaled (even skewing a bit easy), but all you'll ever be doing is spamming your most powerful skill and attacking to end your turn
Overall Impressions & Performance
- If you feel like solving some challenging puzzles and chuckling at your computer screen the whole time, this is definitly a game to put on your radar
- Playing this has really gotten me eager to go back and replay West of Loathing
- The "Deck Verified" rating is well-earned. It ran flawlessly the whole way through, but this shouldn't be surprising giventhe game's very light system requirements
Final Verdict
- 8.5/10. The humorous writing, devilish puzzles, and seemingly endless depth make this a game well-worth paying full price for. If the combat weren't such a chore, I would be recommending Shadows Over Loathing to everyone who likes RPGs. If you're a KoL fan or liked West of Loathing, buy with confidence
- Honestly, the game isn't much to look at, but impressive visuals have never been the focus of KoL properties. That said, I've enjoyed the visual design since playing the original browser game back in high school in the early 00s
- It's actually impressive how much character and personality the devs were able to infuse into the game despite the simplistic visuals
- Music is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but there was a decent variety that kept the game from sounding too stale
Story & Vibes
- True to the all entries in the series, the writing is once again creative, witty, and very amusing
- In that same vein, don't expect the game to take itself very seriously. The overall tone is intended to be humorous
- The story is very simple but serves as a nice framework for the rest of the game's writing. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. You're going to be doing a lot of reading
Playability & Replayability
- The mechanics of the game will feel familiar to anyone who has played Kingdom of Loathing or West of Loathing. For those who haven't, it's a simplified 3-class turn-based JRPG
- There's also a lot of puzzles. Like A LOT of them. Some of them are pretty fiendishly difficult, but very satisfying to complete
- I'm definitely smelling a replay in the future, mostly because there's so much depth in the game in terms of exploration and hidden side quests. I feel like I touched on 60% of the game in my 20+ hour playthrough. Hell, I didn't even get an achievement until hour 14
- The only real knock on this game I can think of is the combat. It's shallow even by JRPG standards and begins to feel very stale even a few hours into the game. Enemies aren't spongy and I feel like the encounters are well-scaled (even skewing a bit easy), but all you'll ever be doing is spamming your most powerful skill and attacking to end your turn
Overall Impressions & Performance
- If you feel like solving some challenging puzzles and chuckling at your computer screen the whole time, this is definitly a game to put on your radar
- Playing this has really gotten me eager to go back and replay West of Loathing
- The "Deck Verified" rating is well-earned. It ran flawlessly the whole way through, but this shouldn't be surprising giventhe game's very light system requirements
Final Verdict
- 8.5/10. The humorous writing, devilish puzzles, and seemingly endless depth make this a game well-worth paying full price for. If the combat weren't such a chore, I would be recommending Shadows Over Loathing to everyone who likes RPGs. If you're a KoL fan or liked West of Loathing, buy with confidence