Shadows: Awakening

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 17
  3. Negative: 5 out of 17
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  1. bersi84
    Jan 6, 2019
    0
    Edit:
    Weeks later after the release I could finally finish this game. To be honest it was not worth the wait and it still bluescreens so much. I have never ever in 25 yrs of gaming played a game that breaks so often than Shadows. This is why I changed my rating from 3 to 0 and can definetely not recommend buying this game. It is a shame because some details could make it worthwhile and    Edit:
    Weeks later after the release I could finally finish this game. To be honest it was not worth the wait and it still bluescreens so much. I have never ever in 25 yrs of gaming played a game that breaks so often than Shadows. This is why I changed my rating from 3 to 0 and can definetely not recommend buying this game. It is a shame because some details could make it worthwhile and probably deserve a 5 at least but for me having bluescreens so often on a console and not being able to play it for weeks there is no excuse and there has not been any compensation. I even contributed to the bug finding process so yeah... will not drop more money to Kalypso.

    Short up: I would give this game a 6/10 but after encountering a game breaking bug myself and read about numerous others existing I cant rate this game higher before these things are fixed. Also there are a lot shortcomings in comparison to genre kings that cannot be ignored. Read on for details.

    This game tries to live up to expectations from games like Diablo 3 and incoporate a decent mix of solid graphics, nice music and an exceptional multi character handling. Without spoilering too much there are two different realms in the world. And however character you control things and enemies are different. Bridges are intact for one and are broken for another. Through your adventure you can take control of other individuals which can be controlled from this point on and are switched seemlessly in battle. They can also be equipped as normal characters in a game.

    The storyline is okay but actually not really catching to me. The gameplay mixes hack n slash with looting and puzzles. The puzzles are mostly short mannered, some of them are a little bit enraging but that might individually depend. I personally dont think they add much beneficial to the game. The characters you control have the typical range of warrior, ranger and mage plus something special I dont want to spoiler and are well diversed yet not overly creative. A lot of the things are inspired by genre products that were already on the market.

    Current problems and shortcomings:
    - The mix of controllable characters is well made but can be hugely exploited in the game which at times doesnt seem balanced to me.
    - Monsters dont respawn in areas leaving you unable to regain money, items or experience if you feel like you are needing a boost. this might be a problem for unexperienced players or players of high difficulties.
    - The backtracking from and to quests or areas is at times not entertaining and could ve be improved
    - Some puzzles are clunky and not really entertaining.
    - There are bugs with quests that get abandoned. There are bugs where the game cannot be finished (multiple)
    - The game bluescreened like 10 times on the first day of 12hrs continously playing which is an absolute no-go for me
    - Inventory management between the individual characters is horrible and takes too much involvement
    - Talent and character points cannot be resetted. If you fail at distribution, live with it.

    The list can go longer. After all I feel a bit sad because I really liked the game but with the bluescreens, game breaking bugs and quite a lot shortcomings it just does not deserve ratings as the ones current genre kings have and truely deserve. Yet the game can be fun at a budget price, the current prices are NOT fitting to the product. With hopefully soon to be relased patches this game can be a budget grab for players that love the hack n slash genre.
    - The walking time feels unbearably slow at times, same as with some elevators in towns which have little movie sequences that you can effectively skip which takes unnecessary game time.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 1 out of 14
  1. TheSixthAxis
    Jan 28, 2019
    60
    Shadows: Awakening ultimately fails to be the action RPG that fans of the genre need. It has some interesting ideas and decent writing, but the story shifts to the backburner after a while and the side missions and combat aren’t enough to maintain interest through the grind it turns into. It’s not bad, it’s just not particularly inspiring either. If you need a new diablo-like and a lack of polish or a glut of grind doesn’t bother you, there are definitely worse options out there.
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  2. GameCritics
    Oct 16, 2018
    45
    While the story may be uninspiring and some mechanics don’t quite stick the landing, I found myself returning to Shadows Awakening mostly for the amusing stories of the puppets. Even so, the characters alone can’t carry the game — maybe fans of this IP will be happy to jump in and will find the mediocre gameplay enough, but for those like me, it’s hard to recommend this title as a starting point to the Heretic Kingdoms world.
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  3. Game Over Online
    Oct 8, 2018
    80
    Shadows: Awakening could use a longer power curve, or to dole out some more significant fights or abilities, to keep things from feeling stale. It’s the best possible version of what it is, but after a while, a lot of the shine wore off and it started feeling like a particularly violent part-time job. Still, if you’re looking for a new dungeon crawler, this is a pretty good one, and I did enjoy the first twelve hours or so.
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