A Story of Shadows Evaluation – A Puzzler With Enjoyable Concepts – WGB, House of AWESOME Opinions

Indie video games are the house of a few of the finest puzzle-based experiences round as a result of they’re prepared to take distinctive, attention-grabbing concepts and run with them, or in some instances roll with them. That’s Tandem: A Story of Shadows in a nutshell. The opening cutscene lays down the premise of this bizarre story: little Emma is intrigued by the disappearance of Thomas Kane, the one son of the famed Kane Illusionists who disappeared a decade prior. Scotland Yard have failed fully to penetrate the twisted Kane mansion which homes all method of oddities. On her technique to the gothic abode a teddy bear falls from a rushing carriage, and to little Emma’s shock, the bear instantly jumps up and pursues the runaway car. Collectively, Emma and Fenton the teddy enter the mysterious dwelling of the Kane’s and wind up working in tandem to resolve the quite a few puzzles that cover darkish secrets and techniques.

As Emma you play from a bird-like perspective, excessive above the motion the place you possibly can transfer about, keep away from creepy spider robots, push objects and seize keys to unlock doorways. The large gimmick in Tandem which you can swap between Emma and Fenton by way of a easy button faucet, and while you change over to Fenton the sport’s whole perspective shifts from the birds-eye view of Emma right into a monochromatic side-on platformer. That’s as a result of Fenton has the fairly uncommon behavior of strolling on the partitions, leaving Emma to amble round on the ground just like the boring, common human she is.

Fenton isn’t only a distinctive teddy bear in that he’s alive and might by some means stroll on partitions – no, he also can use shadows as platforms. As Emma, you possibly can utilise numerous elements of the setting like a wall or movable panel to forged harsh, black shadows that Fenton can then stroll and leap throughout. This types the premise of most of the sport’s enjoyable puzzles as Fenton would possibly want a shadow bridge to cross a spot, or you might have to leap forwards and backwards between Emma and Fenton so as to shift shadows blocking the teddy’s path.

Tandem doesn’t solely depend on that one shadow trick, introducing quite a lot of twists all through the svelte 3-4 hour journey and the 5 completely different areas of the daunting Kane home. Massive, gelatinous blobs that cannibalise one another can be utilized to barge by cake doorways and to create useful pathways for Fenton, whereas mysterious eyeballs with cones of imaginative and prescient should be dodged round or else toy troopers will shred Emma to items. You’ll hope up dials that activate and off the flames that threaten to cook dinner Emma, and punctiliously lure a wierd creature right into a button in order that Fenton can entry a brand new space. Whereas there are not any blood, guts, gore or detailed close-up views of dying, Tandem does even have a couple of brutal moments the place Emma and Fenton get impaled, reinforcing the creepy graphical fashion that jogs my memory a little bit of American McGee’s Alice in Wonderland.

All of the puzzles have properly judged issue. There weren’t any that left me questioning if I used to be a whole dullard or something, and the way in which they’re designed means simply enjoying round with them will sometimes spark an concept in your head. Unsurprisingly, all of them revolve round alternating between Emma and Fenton, as a result of whereas Fenton’s black and white world lets him keep away from buzz saws, puddles of ink and flames, Emma is the one one who can forged the shadows he wants to maneuver alongside or mild up an space. As you shift a panel round you possibly can all the time see how that alters the shadows, you possibly can all the time see what impact a button has and even should you die the checkpoints are extremely beneficiant. At most, a bit could take a couple of minutes to resolve earlier than you’re off to the subsequent stage, however that offers the sport a pleasant, fast tempo. Between that and the numerous puzzle designs, there’s by no means a way that Tandem is overstaying its welcome.

Rather less satisfying are the extra pure platforming sections. You would possibly use Emma to create a move of black liquid by a pipeline that Fenton can then use to achieve a brand new space, for instance. There’s nothing dangerous in regards to the leaping, however it’s additionally removed from good, leaving timed platforming sections to really feel extra like a chore than one thing thrilling. Likewise, bouncing from cog to cog is far much less satisfying than fixing a intelligent puzzle that has you altering to Fenton to maneuver mild sources round in order that Emma can easily sneak previous some creepy foes.

There’s additionally a barely awkward construction to the sport. Everytime you arrive in one of many 5 fundamental chunks of the home there’s a way of the issue being reset whereas the builders introduce the most recent tweaks and twists to the system. Whereas every new idea actually must be proven to the participant, it consistently felt as if the issue was being pulled again and solely constructing again up in the previous few ranges of every space.

Impressed by the likes of Alice in Wonderland and even Tim Burton, Tandem: A Story of Shadows has a hanging artwork fashion with some very cool designs. Nonetheless, on a technical stage, it appears closely outdated and nowhere is that proven as a lot because the cutscenes. Characters seem like made out of shiny plastic, garments don’t transfer and there’s a fuzziness to every thing. And I can’t abide the digicam course throughout cutscenes. For some cause, it may’t keep nonetheless more often than not and whips across the scene as if it’s a fire-hose let free.

The story is the sport’s greatest weak point, regardless of its intriguing and creepy setup. The opening cutscene is admittedly the meat of it, after which it largely disappears till the closing moments which goal to put the groundwork for a sequel that I hope we get. However the concentrate on establishing a sequel go away the ending of this sport feeling underwhelming, and not one of the questions Tandem: A Story of Shadows raises are ever answered. Once you need to create a sequel naturally you need to hook gamers, however you continue to want to offer some context and resolutions for the primary sport, too.

The restricted voice appearing is ropey, the dialogue is and each cutscene between the start and the top is principally the identical and could possibly be taken out with out a downside. In the event you had been hoping for a deep narrative and even any clarification for all of the madness, Tandem delivers neither. Fortunately, the gameplay itself is powerful sufficient to nonetheless make Tandem value choosing up. Individuals typically point out {that a} good puzzle sport doesn’t actually need a narrative and I’ve to agree. A strong narrative can elevate a puzzler, simply take a look at Portal 2 and even the newer Helheim, however when the design is nice you possibly can forgive that problem.

Tandem: A Story of Shadows is a puzzler brimming with cool concepts that maybe aren’t as fleshed out as they doubtlessly could possibly be, which is why I hope we get the sequel the ending so clearly units up. The concepts of swapping between characters and dimensions, and of utilizing shadows to stroll on, are incredible, laying the groundwork for some satisfying puzzles that strike a pleasant stability between not being insultingly simple however not providing you with a headache. In the event you like a extra relaxed puzzle sport, Tandem is a rattling good selection, particularly should you love creepy vibes.