Shadows: Awakening

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

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"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

77%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,189 reviews

story268 positive mentions

grinding63 negative mentions

Unique character-switching mechanic adds depth to gameplay.
Engaging story with interesting characters and voice acting.
Beautiful graphics and well-designed environments.

Repetitive puzzles can become tedious and frustrating.
Inventory management is clunky and not user-friendly.
Combat can feel slow and lacks impact compared to other ARPGs.

story
794 mentions
34 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The story of "Shadows: Awakening" is generally regarded as engaging and well-written, featuring a unique premise where players control a demon that absorbs souls, each with their own backstories. While the main narrative offers interesting choices and multiple endings based on character selection, some players find the plot convoluted and the pacing uneven, with a mix of compelling side quests and tedious fetch tasks. Overall, the game is praised for its character interactions and voice acting, though it may require multiple playthroughs to fully appreciate the depth of the story.
- “The story is well-written and engaging, enriched by voiced dialogues that increase the player's immersion in the game world.”
- “The story is interesting and the game play is really fun.”
- “The story is pretty good and the voice acting is decent.”
- “The story feels rather short; I would have hoped for some more conversation and story about the demon that gets summoned itself.”
- “The story is quite solid, with the voice work being really good.”
- “The story is not engaging.”
gameplay
457 mentions
41 % positive mentions
51 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Shadows: Awakening" features a unique character-switching mechanic that allows players to control multiple characters, enhancing combat and exploration strategies. However, many reviews highlight issues such as clunky combat, excessive backtracking, and tedious puzzles that detract from the overall experience. While the game offers interesting mechanics and a solid RPG foundation, it struggles with pacing and execution, leading to a mixed reception among players.
- “This game has a nice mechanic of being able to switch to 4 different classes on the fly, which makes for some really fun combat variations.”
- “The character-switching mechanic is interesting and allows for a more dynamic gameplay experience, giving players the ability to experiment with different abilities and strategies.”
- “The gameplay refines old ARPG mechanics while adding new ones to the mix, creating a fresh and engaging experience.”
- “Combat is very clunky and the character switching mechanic feels like a chore.”
- “Incredibly boring gameplay, bland locations.”
- “The gameplay is as basic as it could be; the swapping of heroes adds nothing but tedium to the fights, the game doesn't actually have anything new to offer to the ARPG genre and the graphics are very low quality.”
graphics
240 mentions
60 % positive mentions
38 % neutral mentions
1 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Shadows: Awakening" are generally praised for their quality and detail, holding up well even in 2024, with many players noting the beautiful environments and solid performance on high settings. While some animations may feel heavy and the graphics have aged in certain aspects, the overall aesthetic and art style are considered appealing, contributing to an immersive experience. However, a few reviews mention that the graphics may not be as impressive compared to newer titles in the genre.
- “The graphics still hold up in 2024 even if there are better looking games; this one still looks great, and the interface runs nicely on a 4K monitor.”
- “The game's graphics are noteworthy, with detailed and well-crafted environments.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, the idea is creative, and the story/side quests are engaging.”
- “The graphics, however, have aged, and it’s noticeable.”
- “The graphics here work if you're not too hung up on having the best graphics in all your games, but you will feel like they aren't really up to the quality you'd expect in today's games.”
- “The gameplay is as basic as it could be, the swapping of heroes adds nothing but tedium to the fights, the game doesn't actually have anything new to offer to the ARPG genre and the graphics are very low quality.”
music
73 mentions
64 % positive mentions
32 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The music in "Shadows: Awakening" receives mixed reviews, with many players praising its orchestral soundtrack and immersive sound effects that enhance the gameplay experience. While some find the music to be memorable and fitting for the game's atmosphere, others describe it as forgettable or lacking originality. Overall, the soundtrack is generally regarded as a strong aspect of the game, contributing positively to its engaging story and visuals.
- “The music is definitely one of the strongest parts of Shadows.”
- “It's gameplay, graphics, music, voice acting, story, skill design, level design, and more: all absolutely on point and polished.”
- “The music in this title is a wonderful orchestral soundtrack that backs the often tense gameplay.”
- “Story and music are a bit insipid as well.”
- “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.”
grinding
68 mentions
3 % positive mentions
4 % neutral mentions
93 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with many noting a lack of enemy respawns and excessive backtracking that detracts from the experience. While some appreciate the absence of traditional loot grinding, they still criticize the game for its monotonous gameplay and unchallenging puzzles, leading to a sense of boredom over time. The game is seen as more focused on story and character management rather than the grind typically associated with action RPGs, but this shift has resulted in a gameplay experience that can feel overly simplistic and tedious.
- “Story gets interesting, skills and progression is fun/not grindy and it runs smooth as silk.”
- “Leveling will feel slow but not grindy.”
- “There is plenty of tedious backtracking, and since enemies don't respawn there is often nothing to do but trudge along.”
- “The game tries to break up the monotonous mob-slaying with puzzles, but these are usually more tedious and frustrating than clever, and the same types of puzzles are repeated without alteration in multiple dungeons.”
- “Story, lore, and concept-wise this game is quite good, however there's so much pointless grinding and solving of arbitrary puzzles, it just kills all the fun.”
replayability
50 mentions
16 % positive mentions
78 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the option to choose from multiple characters and experience different storylines, while others feel that the lack of farming, multiplayer, and significant changes in gameplay upon replay diminishes its overall value. Many reviews highlight that while there are different paths and endings to explore, the incentive to replay may not be strong enough for everyone, leading to a consensus that replayability is decent but not exceptional. Overall, the game offers some replay value through character choices and story variations, but it may not compel all players to return for multiple playthroughs.
- “The game has tons of polish and replay value.”
- “With 4 different character types, many different characters in each type to unlock and play, and different storylines 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.”
- “I don’t feel that there is much replay value to the game after that, and there is no farming or multiplayer in the game; all the levels can only be cleared once.”
- “I don't know what the other two do, but suffice it to say, despite the game claiming replayability, I really think there's barely any point in playing through the entire game again with a different character, making some different choices and getting a bit of different dialogue.”
- “The replay value is zero, in my opinion.”
optimization
30 mentions
27 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its solid performance and good graphics, while others report significant issues such as stuttering, poor UI scaling, and unresponsive controls, even on high-end systems. Many users express frustration over the game's lack of optimization for higher resolutions and specific gameplay mechanics, indicating that improvements are needed. Overall, while some players experience smooth gameplay, others find the game unplayable due to optimization flaws.
- “The visuals look really good too and the optimization for this game is fantastic.”
- “The graphics are rock solid, performance is fine overall, but, again, there's just so much familiarity here beyond what I've described above.”
- “Graphics are awesome and well optimized - even my pretty weak computer at this point easily runs it on the best quality, and FPS is on point.”
- “This mechanic 100% should have been optimized into a better system.”
- “The game seems to be fairly unoptimized; I got a new CPU and a new graphics card, all pretty good.”
- “Didn't help that the UI isn't optimized for anything above 1080p... and I'm only talking about 1440p looking bad; who knows what 4K would do...”
stability
29 mentions
10 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
90 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many players reporting minor glitches and bugs that can disrupt gameplay, such as freezing during transitions and issues with quest markers. While some users experienced no game-breaking problems, others found the frequency of bugs and the interface issues frustrating. Overall, the game runs well for some, but the presence of persistent glitches detracts from the experience for many players.
- “Good gear, character selection, and nearly bug-free.”
- “There have been no glitches of any kind. The graphics are very good, the story is fantastic, and the voice acting is good.”
- “Runs great on my laptop.”
- “The amount of glitches and crashes I experienced in this game was just impossible for me to give it a recommendation.”
- “The game has a lot of bugs and glitches.”
- “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.”
humor
13 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by witty banter and engaging conversations among companions, making exploration enjoyable despite some minor immersion issues. Players appreciate the unique abilities of each character and the comedic elements, including hilarious in-game bugs, although some found certain dialogues out of place. Overall, the game is described as funny and engaging, with a lighthearted tone that enhances the experience.
- “The quipping between the characters is witty and funny.”
- “The game turned out to be engaging and funny.”
- “Nice story, funny banter, and some good combos.”
atmosphere
12 mentions
58 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its vibrant graphics, effective use of light and shadow, and immersive audio, creating an inviting and inspiring environment. While some reviews note that the atmosphere is not groundbreaking, it is consistently described as colorful, detailed, and engaging, contributing significantly to the overall experience. However, a few critiques mention that the combat mechanics detract from the atmospheric enjoyment.
- “Although the game was released in 2018, the graphics retain good quality, with light and shadow effects helping to create a great atmosphere.”
- “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*”
- “Shadows Awakening doesn't have that feeling or atmosphere.”
- “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
13 % neutral mentions
38 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is noted for its high-quality design and engaging story, though it is described as somewhat simplistic with limited options for individual progression. While players appreciate the strong character design and the integration of story into character development, the overall mechanics for customizing abilities and skills are seen as basic. Despite these limitations, the game is praised for its humor and the depth of its narrative.
- “World and character design is superb; a lot of time clearly went into them.”
- “Also a great variety of puzzles and a good strong storyline with good humor and character development.”
- “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.”
- “Individual character development has decent options, but is limited.”
- “Story as character development is somehow obvious, a common place in many games lately.”
- “Character development is pretty simple; you can pick 3 active abilities, passive skills, and attributes.”
emotional
3 mentions
67 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
While the game features a solid premise and engaging mechanics, the emotional impact is undermined by a lackluster story and characters, leading some players to feel more connected to minor figures in other games. However, the wholesome adventure vibe, enhanced by good music and voice acting, does create moments of endearment, particularly with certain characters. Overall, the emotional depth is inconsistent, leaving players wanting more.
- “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
3 mentions
67 % positive mentions
-33 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
The monetization model of the game is praised for its absence of microtransactions and perceived greed, with players appreciating the variety of armor looks that enhance character customization. The game's visibility through advertisements has also contributed to its discovery by new players.
- “The monetization model is fair and player-friendly.”
- “I appreciate that the game offers plenty of content without pushing for additional purchases.”
- “No microtransactions, no greed.”
- “I had never heard of this game before two days ago, and I only happened upon it due to an advertisement.”