Shadows: Awakening

If you like your dungeon crawls with a ladle of gothic atmosphere, you haven’t seen anything like this in an eternity.

Starting at $1.75Buy now

"Shadows: Awakening" is a dark fantasy RPG where you control a demon with the ability to switch between the Shadow Realm and the mortal plane. The game features a unique party system with 3 main heroes and 14 playable characters, each with unique skills and storylines. Engage in tactical real-time combat and explore a rich world full of myths and legends for over 20 hours of gameplay.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,528 reviews

story299 positive mentions

grinding81 negative mentions

Unique character switching mechanic adds depth to combat and exploration.
Engaging story with interesting characters and voice acting.
Beautiful graphics and well-designed environments enhance the overall experience.

Inventory management is clunky and not user-friendly.
Puzzles can be tedious and frustrating, especially the boulder puzzles.
Combat can feel slow and lacks the visceral impact found in other ARPGs.

story
902 mentions
33 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The story of "Shadows: Awakening" is a mixed bag, with some players finding it engaging and well-developed, particularly appreciating the character backstories and the branching narrative that allows for multiple playthroughs. However, many reviewers criticize the story for being convoluted, lacking depth, and sometimes feeling disjointed or uninteresting, with several noting that quest markers and objectives can be confusing. Overall, while the game offers a decent narrative experience, it struggles with pacing and coherence, leaving some players wanting more from its storytelling.
- “The interactions between the puppets and demon are interesting and give depth to the story and characters often lacking in other RPGs.”
- “The main quest is more fleshed out, and the souls your 'demon' collects all have different backstories and personalities that add to the quest, similar to party-based RPGs.”
- “The story is really well done with choices that matter.”
- “The story for Shadows: Awakening is threadbare and, quite honestly, terrible.”
- “The ending feels untidy, almost as if there were a lot of loose or abrupt ends to storylines.”
- “Unfortunately, the story is very poorly written and failed to hold my interest.”
gameplay
533 mentions
43 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Shadows: Awakening" features a unique character-switching mechanic and the ability to toggle between the mortal and shadow realms, which adds depth to combat and exploration. However, many players find the gameplay marred by excessive backtracking, clunky controls, and tedious puzzles that disrupt the flow of the game. While some appreciate the innovative mechanics and engaging story, others criticize the overall execution, leading to a mixed reception regarding its fun factor and replayability.
- “An excellent isometric RPG that caught my attention with the mechanics of switching between the world of humans and demons and switching between characters that each do something different.”
- “Employs an excellent 'shadow realm' mechanic, varied characters, and some pretty devious puzzles to keep things fresh.”
- “The gameplay must be great because I lose hours at a time; it really immerses you and the jumping between worlds is brilliantly utilized, especially with the many puzzles.”
- “Incredibly boring gameplay, bland locations.”
- “Tedious gameplay with idiotic puzzles and repetitive gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is beyond generic with no room for advanced tactics or interesting combos at all, and every battle is by-the-numbers and uninspired.”
graphics
281 mentions
69 % positive mentions
30 % neutral mentions
1 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their beauty and detail, with many users noting that they remain impressive even in 2024. Players appreciate the vibrant art style, polished visuals, and immersive environments, which enhance the overall gaming experience. While some mention performance issues on lower-end systems, the general consensus is that the graphics are a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “The graphics are outstanding.”
- “The graphics are brilliant and gameplay is fun!”
- “The game's design team did a great job on painting the visuals for the game; it's very colorful, bright, and detailed.”
- “Graphics performance is so poor - the game is unplayable.”
- “There is a lot to like in this game: the long and entertaining story, the character, the devourer / puppet system, the enchantment updates, the complex fighting system (well, it is complex, if you want to), the different worlds and environments (though the graphics are, let's say, old-fashioned).”
- “I can not run this game in 4k, the framerate becomes too low, while I can run all other ARPG games at 4k and max graphic settings.”
music
88 mentions
61 % positive mentions
35 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its orchestral score and immersive quality that complements the gameplay and setting. While some players find the soundtrack beautiful and engaging, others describe it as forgettable or repetitive, suggesting it may not stand out significantly. Overall, the voice acting and sound effects are also highlighted as strong points, contributing to a well-rounded audio experience.
- “The music is definitely one of the strongest parts of the game.”
- “It's a beautifully orchestrated soundtrack that has a unique vibe to it that helps give the game character.”
- “Great game and the music is well composed; it sets the mood!”
- “The sound effects sell the impact of combat, although the music is pretty forgettable.”
- “The only drawback to the sound is the constant footsteps and music in some areas is just too repetitive.”
- “The music isn't anything to write home about in my opinion; to be honest, I lowered the volume to play other soundtracks, so I haven't heard all of the OST, so I can't say too much about this one.”
grinding
87 mentions
5 % positive mentions
2 % neutral mentions
93 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with many players finding the gameplay repetitive and tedious, particularly due to the need for backtracking and the lack of respawning enemies. While some players appreciate the absence of grinding for experience, they still note that the puzzles and questing can feel unnecessarily drawn out and frustrating. Overall, the game struggles with balancing engaging content against a grindy experience, leading to a sense of monotony for many players.
- “Story gets interesting, skills and progression are fun and not grindy, and it runs smooth as silk.”
- “You’ll need a second life for grinding.”
- “No grinding in this game after you clear one map/dungeon; enemies won't spawn.”
- “Played it a bit, got really almost obnoxiously tedious... areas between cities or any kind of dialog are just insanely repetitive... you kill everything that is walking your way and then you switch to the spirit realm to check if there is anything to kill there... rinse and repeat, over and over and over.”
- “You go to an area, wipe out its inhabitants, complete a 'puzzle' that is more tedious than challenging, walk a needlessly long expanse to get to the next area, rinse and repeat.”
- “Overall, while this game provides some unique features, it’s burdened by repetitive, tedious gameplay (even by ARPG standards) and a lackluster story.”
replayability
61 mentions
20 % positive mentions
74 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The game offers solid replayability, with multiple character choices, unique storylines, and different endings encouraging players to experience it multiple times. Many reviewers highlight the variety of characters and the impact of initial choices on the narrative, suggesting that players can enjoy at least three distinct playthroughs. However, some users note limitations in replay value due to a lack of significant changes in gameplay beyond character-specific stories.
- “With 4 different character types, many different characters in each type to unlock and play, and different story lines to play through depending on the character choices you make, this game has great replay value as well.”
- “Your initial choice of 'puppet' will affect a number of things about the main plot as well as introducing side plots, many other puppets and quest solutions are mutually exclusive, and there are three major endings, so there's also a fair bit of replay value.”
- “A lot of replayability and reasons to come back to no matter what.”
- “It's a pretty good game, but it lacks a lot in replayability.”
- “The replay value is zero, in my opinion.”
- “Shorter game than competition with little replayability as there is no adventure mode.”
stability
42 mentions
14 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
86 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with numerous reports of bugs and glitches, particularly in quests and the interface, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. While some players noted that the game runs well on certain systems and has minimal game-breaking issues, others experienced frequent freezes and crashes, especially in later chapters. Overall, the stability concerns significantly detract from the enjoyment of the game.
- “There have been no glitches of any kind... graphics are very good... story is fantastic... voice acting is good.”
- “Runs great on my laptop.”
- “Good gear, character selection, and nearly bug free.”
- “The amount of glitches and crashes I experienced in this game was just impossible for me to give it a recommendation.”
- “The interface is buggy and you can't remap keys properly.”
- “There are many buggy things or not very well done features (the inventory must have been designed by Satan), so I think it is not worth its price.”
optimization
38 mentions
26 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
32 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag, with some players experiencing smooth performance and solid graphics, while others report significant issues such as choppy gameplay, poor UI scaling at higher resolutions, and unresponsive controls. Despite some attempts by developers to address performance problems, many users with high-end systems still encounter frustrating stuttering and delays, particularly in 4K settings. Overall, while there are positive aspects, the optimization leaves much to be desired for a substantial number of players.
- “Graphics is awesome and well optimized - even my pretty weak computer at this point easily runs it on the best quality, and fps is on point.”
- “Good performance on my system, great artwork too!”
- “The performances and graphics are solid.”
- “• UI is not optimized for higher resolutions and looks pixelated.”
- “Performance is always a bit choppy, and there's a slight delay on things which makes it very difficult to dodge attacks.”
- “Graphics performance is so poor - the game is unplayable.”
humor
18 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players praising the witty banter and engaging dialogue among characters, which adds to the overall enjoyment. While some found certain jokes misplaced or unhelpful, the majority appreciated the comedic elements, noting that they enhance the gameplay experience. Overall, the humor contributes positively to the game's unique charm and engaging nature.
- “The game turned out to be engaging and funny.”
- “The quipping between the characters is witty and funny.”
- “At times shifting between the shadow realm and the real world can make exploration slightly slower than you might like, but the puzzles and overall sense of humor more than makes up for it.”
atmosphere
13 mentions
15 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
23 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its vibrant colors, detailed graphics, and immersive audio, creating an inviting and engaging RPG experience. While some players note that the atmosphere is not universally exceptional, it effectively enhances the overall gameplay, particularly in contrast to other titles like Shadows Awakening. However, a few reviews mention that clunky combat can detract from the atmospheric experience.
- “The graphics are great, the audio is great, and it's an RPG adventure with puzzles and an inviting atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere, the graphics, the fighting system... 5 stars!”
- “Shadows Awakening doesn't have that feeling or atmosphere.”
- “If you like your dungeon crawls with a ladle of gothic atmosphere, you haven’t seen anything like this in an eternity.”
- “The game's design team did a great job on painting the visuals for the game, it's very colorful, bright and detailed, the spells feel awesome to cast, the characters really stand out from each other and the environment, the world is detailed and paints a good atmosphere, not great, but good.”
character development
8 mentions
50 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is praised for its high-quality design, engaging writing, and effective voice acting, contributing to a strong narrative experience. While some reviewers note that the integration of story and character development feels familiar in modern games, the overall execution is considered exceptional, placing it among the best in the RPG genre.
- “Also a great variety of puzzles and a good strong storyline with good humor and character development.”
- “Story as character development is somehow obvious, a commonplace in many games lately.”
- “Story as character development is somehow obvious; it's a common place in many games lately.”
- “From a voice-acting, customization, skill/visual progression, character development, and writing perspective, this team deserves to be ranked alongside the most iconic RPG parties like Knights of the Old Republic.”
emotional
6 mentions
67 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while the characters, particularly the demon, are described as endearing and contribute to a wholesome adventure feel, the overall story is considered boring, leading to a lack of deeper emotional connections compared to other games like Diablo 3. The solid mechanics and engaging music and voice-acting do provide some emotional engagement, but they are overshadowed by the uninspiring plot.
- “This good premise is then combined with solid, fluid ARPG mechanics, simple puzzles that are a nice change of pace and encourage paying attention to your surroundings, good music, superb voice acting, good graphic design, and a plot and characters that really bring out a wholesome feel of adventure (the cast of characters, particularly the demon, are quite endearing).”
- “I have deeper emotional bonds to some of the nameless quest givers in Diablo 3.”
monetization
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
The game features no microtransactions or exploitative monetization practices, which players appreciate. Instead, it offers a variety of armor looks that enhance character customization, adding a redeeming quality to the overall experience.
- “I had never heard of this game before two days ago and I only happened on it due to an advertisement.”
- “No microtransactions, no greed.”