50 Shades of Games?
Overcome emotional struggles across a touching narrative filled with twists and surprises. Embark on a dream-like journey, with breathtaking artistic direction and the enthralling voice of Hannah Murray (Game of Thrones, Skins).
We’ve had a good number of successful, memorable indie platformers over the years like Braid, Limbo and Inside, but can a new game from a new developer crack into that prestigious list? Shady Part of Me almost feels like Limbo at a glance with its moody art style, but it’s much different than you would expect.
The big twist is that you can switch between yourself and your shadow form that projects herself on the wall behind you. You’ll have to work with both to move items to either raise shadows for your shadow form to jump across or to lower them using your shadow form as your normal form can’t survive the light. You can rewind time so you can make up for a missed time jump or other mistakes, as well as missing out on scattered collectibles that require a bit extra thought to obtain.
There are some really unique puzzles here and the perspective between the two forms is amazing, it takes some getting used to, but it works well overall. For a debut entry from a new studio, Douze Dixiemes have done something pretty special here.
The game itself will take you a few hours to go through, but chances are you’ll come back for the odd missing item. The story itself is all about facing your fears and it’s told subtlety but brilliantly at the same time. The art style is unique and will surprise you, while the voice-acting is done well and kudos to the studio for landing the likes of Hannah Murray who excels here.
The Verdict
Shady Part of Me is a unique platformer, full of surprising puzzles and an enthralling story. A superb debut from the French developers.