A Shadow’s Tale (Lost in Shadow) Review (Wii)

By Dan Crawley
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Updated: 8th May, 2011

A Shadow’s Tale is a game that seems unsure of its own identity. It riffs on ideas and themes from some truly classic adventure games, and features some uniquely creative ideas, but sadly stops short of the classic status that it might have achieved. To help fuel its confusion, the game has been released under not one, but three different titles. It first came out in Japan under the name ‘Tower of Shadows’, later appeared in the EU as ‘A Shadow’s Tale’, and was most recently released in the US, in January 2011, as ‘Lost in Shadow’.

When loading up A Shadow’s Tale for the first time, my thoughts immediately turned to Ico. The spirit of that classic game is certainly strong here, with some lovely visuals, atmospheric sound and a rather mysterious story, told largely without words. Meanwhile, the character animation, jumping and fighting mechanics hark back to the original Prince of Persia and the ground breaking Another World.

The main protagonist of the story is the shadow of a lone boy, which has been ripped away and finds itself on the ground floor on a huge tower, with only a fairy to assist on its daunting journey to the top. The reason for this journey is vague at first, but is slowly revealed as the shadow recovers lost memories from the environment during its climb.

The journey of the shadow takes in a range of environments, including some beautifully serene outdoor sections, but there are large portions of the game set in grungy industrial zones, such as sewers and factories. These steam-punk influenced areas can become monotonous, but they do allow the game to show off some of its best tricks. These include manipulating light sources, shifting platforms and moving temporarily between the worlds of shadow and light, all in the name of progressing slowly upwards.

When A Shadow’s Tale is at its best, the levels themselves are the star of the show. The careful shifting of light in order to trap and kill a group of enemies is immensely satisfying. Unfortunately this contrasts starkly with the awkward fighting sections that the game forces on you from the off. Without the ability to block attacks, fighting the shadow creatures that you come across quickly becomes a repetitious cycle of hitting and retreating. Later in the game, you find that your powered up attacks are more effective, making the fight sequences easier, but no less annoying.

The game took me just over 15 hours to complete, making this quite a substantial adventure. Some of the levels were less inspiring than others, and the combat sections often felt like an unnecessary addition to the game. I would have personally liked the game to be a bit shorter, as a good deal of the content seemed to be uneccessary padding. This game would have been a perfect fit as a downloadable WiiWare title, and a tighter, more focused version may have become a minor classic. As it stands, A Shadow’s Tale is more a flawed gem.

A Shadow’s Tale is a game that many people may have missed when it came out last year, as it was perhaps not best suited for a full retail release. I would recommend that you track it down though, or perhaps try and rent a copy, as it is definitely worthy of your time. If you can see through its faults, you will find a unique game, with a beautiful art style, iconic influences and some clever puzzles, that makes excellent use of the Wii control scheme.

A Shadow’s Tale is out now on the Nintendo Wii

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