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- Freedom Games
- Freedom Games
- Freedom Games
- Freedom Games
9 Years of Shadows
Released On: Mar 27, 2023
74
7.5
All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
74
53% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
47% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
74
53% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
47% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
If any part of 9 Years of Shadows looks appealing to you, you owe it to yourself to pick it up. This is an amazing game made by a heretofore unknown team, and I can only hope that Halberd Studios has plans for a follow-up. They deserve to be showered in praise, and this game deserves your time and attention.
Nine Years of Shadows is a good Metroidvania with an impressive presentation and intriguing world. Gameplay mechanics will be instantly familiar to any genre fans and easy to understand for newcomers. There aren’t too many surprises in the narrative but it is imbued with a sense of optimism that kept me engaged. I wanted more variety for combat encounters and a smoother difficulty curve for the bosses. The game also has a weird tendency to put its save rooms just outside of the way enough that it’s easy to forget about them and lose progress. But otherwise, Nine Years of Shadows execute a good idea well and its look allows it to distinguish itself from competitors.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 39 User Ratings
7.5
64% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
21% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
15% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 39 User Ratings
7.5
64% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
21% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
15% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Although is a short game, what the games offers is a classic experience that reminded me a lot of Aria of Sorrow and Megaman Zero. The music is phenomenal and the backgrounds are breathtaking.
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PC
Short, fun & pretty metroidvania. 9 Years of Shadows is a nice and focused on the basics of a tight Metroidvania which goes great for what they want to show. This is the Lo-fi Metroidvania I didn´t know I wanted.
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PC
An enjoyable, entry level metroidvania. It looks, sounds and plays great even if it is a little on the short side.
Hopefully, post-launch patches will arrive to remedy this experience to its best possible iteration because it deserves it. Underneath it all, 9 years of Shadows is a fantastic time assumedly hampered by developmental circumstances.
9 Years of Shadows can be frustrating in places, but if you’re looking for a 2D Metroidvania with solid combat, enjoyable platforming, and beautiful world design, it ticks all of those boxes.
9 Years of Shadows clearly shows that Halberd Studios' underlying ideas are good, but their development hasn't been flawless. Despite a particularly lively background imagery, which mixes different influences in an interesting way, staged with considerable care in the graphics department, this short adventure fails to exploit its full potential.
I can’t pretend the glitches I encountered in 9 Years of Shadows weren’t frustrating, especially as a backer. I can only hope that Halberd Studios and Freedom Games take my complaints to heart and does everything they can to patch these problems as quickly as possible. Because underneath all the glitches, there’s a truly fantastic adventure, and one I still really enjoyed. If you’re a fan of Metroidvanias, definitely put this one on your wishlist. Just maybe wait on pulling the trigger until the developers have had a chance to make some necessary fixes.
This game is a "back to basic" metroidvania but in a totally good way. It feels like a really old game brought to the present. It's vibrant, lively and it's easy to pick up on the game mechanics quickly. The gameplay is smooth, the cutscenes are very well done. The animation is amazing, the way Europa's dress seems to flow is stunning.
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PC
Metroidvania welches gute Ansätze hat, aber viele, welche nicht bis zu Ende gedacht sind. Ich habe zuvor das super tolle Metroidvania Prince of Persia gespielt, daher ist der Vergleich mit so einem AAA Spiel auch recht unfair/schwer. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte ich mit der Steuerung sowie mit der Geschichte bis zum Ende nicht ganz warm werden. Dazu kam, dass das Spiel an und für sich recht einfach ist, bis auf der Endboss. Kurz vor dem Ende wird die Steuerung bzw. das Gameplay auf links gedreht und der Endboss steht vor der Tür. Fand ich recht unglücklich gelöst. Insgesamt 7 von 10 Punkten. Für geringes Geld und bei Metroidvania Lust aber trotzdem empfehlenswert.
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PC
Es un juego hermoso en lo artístico pero su exploración y desarrollo no se siente tan orgánico. Como es el caso de las armaduras que no convencen en su ejecución y su planteamiento tan lineal en la exploración que a ratos suele cansar y aburrir. Como primer acercamiento no esta mal, pero si llevas años jugando este genero terminaras decepcionado por su escasa rejugabilidad y por las altas expectativas que se genero durante su desarrollo.
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PC
I wanted so much to like this game. The art is beautiful. Game feel is great. Movement is typically pretty fast and responsive. But the more I played it. The more I just wanted it to be done.
It wants to be a metroidvania, but it just didn't quite meet the mark. Exploration is pretty fun but make sure you find everything the first time around, because looking for any missed upgrades is absolute agony.
On top of that, boss fights are frequent and uninspired. Out of the huge amount of bosses given the relatively small size of this game, I only actually enjoyed fighting 3 or 4 of them. Europa's moves etc is not nearly varied enough to keep things interesting for long. All of that is on top of the incredibly frustrating healing mechanic, and you're in for a bad time.
The last nail in the coffin is poor performance issues. It's pretty obvious certain parts of this game were not optimized. Near the end of the game, a certain boss fight becomes so choppy that it felt basically unplayable.
I wanted to like this game, I really did. But all 9 Years of Shadows did was leave a bad taste in my mouth and the feeling that I wasted my money in the end.
If your looking for a decent metroidvania, look elsewhere. 9 Years of Shadows certainly isn't one of them.
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PC
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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PC
Summary For 9 long years, the world has been submerged in the deepest of shadows, robbing every object and living creature of their color. Once a thriving civilization, the people have forgotten the warmth of the sun, the joy of laughter and the promise of a prosperous future. Many brave souls have tried to venture inside the corrupting depths ...
Platforms:
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
Initial Release Date: Mar 27, 2023
Developer:
- Halberd Studios
Publisher: Freedom Games
Genres: