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A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam #977208
09/07/14 09:53 PM
09/07/14 09:53 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline OP
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Jenny100  Offline OP
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA

The reimagined Shadowgate
a First Look by flotsam

Shadowgate
Zojoi Studios


If you know the old Shadowgate, then you know why I have done this as a “first look”. It’s essentially the wimpy way out. It will take me a very long time and lots and lots of dying to finish what has always been considered one of the more difficult games out there. A grand game, but a hard and unforgiving game. I will get to the end, as it deserves to be finished, plus it is very different to what we have come to expect.

What we have with this incarnation is a reimagined game, no less difficult but updated and expanded. It’s Shadowgate to its core, just a little different.
It certainly won’t be for everyone.

Fans of the original will come back, and they should. It now looks great, plays full screen, and is as diabolical as ever. It has also been tweaked, meaning solves are different, so if you memorised or wrote down exactly what to do, prepare to die.

It can look and sound just like it was if you prefer. Not sure why you would, but it’s up to you.



Newbies though need to be forewarned. You need to be prepared for the afore mentioned dying, which often happens without any indication that it is going to. Essentially, you die to learn not to do that, or to go there, or if you have to go there then you need to do something else. And often quickly. Too slow and you die all over again.

Die too because you picked up the book rather than read the book. Or for countless other reasons.

You will likely be frustrated, and if you play on some of the harder settings the frustration will be on steroids. Be cursed early on and then die long before you have found the cure. Die as well because the torch has run out, and you haven’t found another one. In that sense its timed – find the torches and keep them lit, or darkness comes and that’s that.

Shadowgate is an incredibly open game right from the start, which is one of the things I liked back then and like again. We also got a little bit soft when we invented “highlight all hotspots” or glowing icons to indicate an interaction. Here, if you can see something , you might be able to do something to it. You won’t know though unless you try, and you won’t have a blinking light saying you should try.

You do get Yorick, a skull perched in the top left corner, who might say something helpful if you ask. Or probably not.

You also get a messy verb interaction system (look, open, read etc), one of the things that could have/should have been improved. Maybe it has been, but its fussy and cantankerous – you sometimes have to use yourself on things, rather than just using the thing itself, and if I whack the glass on the hammer it should just break, rather than make me do it the other way round. Hotkeys help make things a little less fiddly, but only a bit.

Find things, use them, perhaps wear them, learn spells. Did I mention you die? Just for doing things?? Games used to be like this, and changed for a reason. Intuitive problem solving is a world away from Shadowgate.



The story is relatively straightforward, and never was the reason to play. A wizard sends you off to Castle Shadowgate to overcome an evil doer. I haven’t got to the end, or even near it as I said, but not sure it gets a whole lot more elaborate than that.

I played some of Shadowgate with a friend who had an Apple back in the day, and dragged the boxed version off my shelf as I always do when one of these remakes crosses my path. Nostalgia will help, but if you hanker for a challenge way beyond what you get in a modern game, go visit the Castle. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I played on:

OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel i7-3820 4GHz
RAM: 12GB Ripjaw DDR3 2133 Mhz
Video card: AMD Radeon HD 7800 2048MB

Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977210
09/07/14 10:35 PM
09/07/14 10:35 PM
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 69,973
MaG Offline
Sonic Boomer
MaG  Offline
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 69,973
Thanks, flotsam. Sounds frustrating or quite a challenge. Depending on how you look at it! laugh

wave Jenny.

Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977213
09/07/14 10:47 PM
09/07/14 10:47 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,268
In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre Offline
The Sassy Admin and PR Liaison
BrownEyedTigre  Offline
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Posts: 83,268
In the Naughty Corner
Thanks flotsam, they did indeed warn you on dying. lol

I take it your comment here is mo longer valid: How will you die?


Don't feed the Trolls
Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #977218
09/07/14 11:09 PM
09/07/14 11:09 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 48,228
near Yosemite
Marian Offline
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Marian  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 48,228
near Yosemite
Thanks, flotsam. smile

Thank you too, Jenny. wave

Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Marian] #977225
09/08/14 01:17 AM
09/08/14 01:17 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 34,312
United Kingdom
Mad Offline
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Mad  Offline
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 34,312
United Kingdom
Thank you, flotsam thumbsup

Not a game for me eek But you've definitely earned my respect for dabbling in it as much as you have praise

And thank you too, Jenny100 smile


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977244
09/08/14 04:47 AM
09/08/14 04:47 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 6,391
Long Beach, Australia
flotsam Offline
Staff Reviewer
flotsam  Offline
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Posts: 6,391
Long Beach, Australia
You are SO right BET thumbsup


Quantity has a quality all of its own
Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977294
09/08/14 09:43 AM
09/08/14 09:43 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,268
In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre Offline
The Sassy Admin and PR Liaison
BrownEyedTigre  Offline
The Sassy Admin and PR Liaison
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,268
In the Naughty Corner


rotfl

Ana wave


Don't feed the Trolls
Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977429
09/08/14 06:51 PM
09/08/14 06:51 PM
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,057
Central Islip NY
thracia Offline
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thracia  Offline
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Posts: 1,057
Central Islip NY
I too played this game on the original NES system and loved it. I must say this remake is beautiful, and the music is just as I remember it, only updated. As Jenny100 stated you will die a lot. You just start over from the prior screen. There are achievements you can earn, many of which I know I will never get. My only complaint about the game is there are not enough (subtle) in-game hints to let you know what to do next,headscratch so you end up using everything you have because of lack of direction. For example you kill one creature with your sword, but if you try to kill the next creature the same way, you die. There is nothing in the text to lead you to think there is another way. I will also play through the game because I love it, but wish there was some handholding. Like with the goblin it could have said something like "you can see the fear of shining metal in his eyes", or something like that. At least you would know not to hit him with a rock, and die.
I also agree with Jenny100 that the verbal interaction system could have been tweaked, but it stays true to the original design of the game. I will finish the game, because after 4 hours of wandering around and dying, a lot, I found a walkthrough.lol

thracia


~Didi~
There will come a point in your life, when you realize what really matters, what never did, and what always will.
Unknown
Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: thracia] #977441
09/08/14 08:05 PM
09/08/14 08:05 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline OP
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Jenny100  Offline OP
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Originally Posted By: thracia
I also agree with Jenny100 that the verbal interaction system could have been tweaked, but it stays true to the original design of the game.
thracia

Thracia,
It was flotsam who wrote this First Look, not me.
All I did was post it.
Flotsam did all the work.

Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977643
09/09/14 06:38 PM
09/09/14 06:38 PM
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,057
Central Islip NY
thracia Offline
Addicted Boomer
thracia  Offline
Addicted Boomer

Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,057
Central Islip NY
Sorry about that flotsam and Jenny100.I agree with flotsam. grin


~Didi~
There will come a point in your life, when you realize what really matters, what never did, and what always will.
Unknown
Re: A First Look at the reimagined Shadowgate by flotsam [Re: Jenny100] #977706
09/10/14 05:15 AM
09/10/14 05:15 AM
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 25,109
Marlborough USA
Kaki's Sister Offline
Sonic Boomer
Kaki's Sister  Offline
Sonic Boomer

Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 25,109
Marlborough USA
WOW! That is quite a review! Sounds like a super challenge! I don't know if I am up to that! Thanks Flotsam and Jenny100.


Gerry
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