9 Years of Shadows
An Adventure of Colors & Music
Isn't he adorable?
"9 Years of Shadows" is the debut game from developer Halberd Studios. It's a gorgeous 2D action metroidvania with a beautiful art style. The various areas in the game are incredibly detailed, but never to the point of being distracting. The player character, Europa, is well-detailed and animated, especially with the different armors and forms she can unlock. The game's art style seems to be inspired by classic anime like Sailor Moon and Saint Seiya. The different armor forms you obtain definitely remind me of Saint Seiya. However, the only thing that detracts from the art style is the prominence of outlines everywhere in the game. Outlines around enemies and the player character denote their elemental attributes, allowing for more effective damage or bypassing defenses. While the outlines are useful, I think they are a bit too prominent and detract from the art style. Perhaps they could be an accessibility feature, so players who need them can enable them.
New upgrades and powerups FEEL meaningful. They exude power and importance.
The game's soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. It's primarily composed by Miguel Hassan, who did a great job with the tracks. The developers also managed to get two legendary composers as guest composers for the game: Michiru Yamane, known for her Castlevania pieces, and Norihiko Hibino, known for his work with the Metal Gear Solid series. While the soundtrack itself may not be something I'd listen to outside of the game, it sets the tone for the game quite well, with different environments having their own music.
This is gonna hurt.
Moving on to gameplay, the combat itself is pretty simple, with a multi-hit combo and a heavy attack. Additionally, you have your ally Apino, who can shoot various projectiles. It's simple yet exhilarating. However, most of the game's innovation is not within the combat itself, but rather in traversal. It falls fairly in line with most metroidvanias, with Europa being able to access four different armors or forms, each corresponding to an element, and each having unique upgrades.
Actually good video game swimming?
One of my favorites is the Siren form for the Poseidon armor, which lets you transform into a mermaid and freely swim and go up waterfalls. The actual platforming feels extremely fluid, and the game automatically changes forms when necessary, saving you the hassle of switching to the proper form and allowing for smooth transitioning between different modes of transportation. Honestly, the gameplay itself is a solid 10 out of 10.
However, the game does seem to have some bugs here and there. I'm currently experiencing a bug where I'm unable to open a certain boss door, as the game crashes when I try. I have reported it to the developers, and it's somewhat unfortunate because I was really excited to jump back into playing the game after they fixed some of the other bugs. But now, I literally cannot progress. I will have to revisit the game once it's proven to be stable and all the bugs are fixed. Despite this, "9 Years of Shadows" is a must-buy for any metroidvania fan.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1402120/9_Years_of_Shadows/
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