Game: In My Shadow
Genre: Platformer, Puzzle, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (also available on Steam)
Developer | Publisher: OverGamez | Playbae
Age Rating: US E 10+ | EU 3+
Price: US $12.00 | UK £10.99 | EU € 11,99
Release Date: September 25, 2021
Review code used, with many thanks to OverGamez
In My Shadow is an adorable puzzle platformer with a deep message about family. The premise of this game is fairly simple, but there’s a lot more to it than just what you see on the surface. This game is developer Playbae’s first title.
The Story and Gameplay
The story of In My Shadow is a heartbreaking tale of a young girl named Bella who feels out of place in her own family. We watch as she grows up, loses a pet, and begins to fight with her family members. In between each flash of memory, players get a chance to attempt to reconnect the shadows of the main character’s tumultuous past.
The puzzles start out very simple. Players manipulate furniture in several rooms of the main character’s childhood home as she remembers them. The furniture casts shadows on the wall, and the 2d, shadow version of the player has to manoeuvre through spikes, blades, and other hazards in order to get to the finish line. Some platforms will collapse if you stand on them too long, dropping you back to the floor or into spikes.
As you continue to explore different aspects of growing up, of childhood, of loss and love, players delve deeper and deeper into the character’s life, connecting with Bella through tiny vignettes that cut to the heart of what it’s like to have less than perfect relationships with siblings and parents. Players get to experience a new short view into the family’s lives every three levels that are completed.
The Pros of In My Shadow
This game was incredibly hard. It never felt impossible, but it had such a satisfying level of difficulty that it felt amazing to finish a level. The puzzles were interesting and exciting, and the actual manipulation of objects in the room to create new and different shadows was an interesting twist on the normal platform. Each set of levels had new backgrounds and different types of rooms to see.
For anyone afraid that the puzzles might be a little too hard, there is a “Skip” button in the menu if a particular level is giving you too much trouble. While I played through most of the levels, there were one or two I skipped as they were starting to ruin my enjoyment of the game.
In My Shadow deals with coming to terms with being wrong, with growth, with the death of someone you love deeply. This game developed a strong relationship between the player and the characters on the stages very quickly as every one of them was easy to relate to. The older sibling feeling lesser than a younger sibling, parents in an argument, a child dealing with the death of a pet.
While In My Shadow was a very short game, it made use of its time well. There’s a lot of feeling packed into the three to five hours of gameplay.
The Cons of In My Shadow
I really enjoyed playing this game. If you like challenging platforms, you too will probably enjoy this title. However, it was not without its issues.
In My Shadow‘s main character Bella has a floaty jump that can make some of the puzzles more difficult than they have to be. She also has only one jump height; there is no way to gently tap the jump button and have her make a small hop. It’s all or nothing for Bella once her feet leave the ground.
While the furniture and boxes are easy to manipulate to make shadow levels jump through, some of the models of the furniture are not completely smooth. There is a particular cabinet that is reused in several levels that has a pixel or two out of place, and it’s just enough to hook Bella and keep her from jumping onto it. It’s a small annoyance that grew into a big one, and it got to the point where I was already frustrated with the level whenever that particular cabinet was present.
Visuals
It was nice to see the visuals change throughout the title, giving new perspectives, backgrounds, and different kinds of furniture. However, it would have been nice if the music had changed too. The song chosen for this game is a pretty short loop, and it plays continuously. The repetition of it started to get painful about half an hour in, and I ended up muting the music altogether just to get the loop to stop.
The game also had a few grammatical issues, but they did not take me out of the story or ruin my enjoyment of the cutscenes too much.
Conclusion
All things considered, this is a brilliant first game from developer Playbae. It has some problems, but most of those can be ignored while platforming. The puzzle aspect of In My Shadow is solid, and the story has a lot of heart and thought in it. That being said, there were a few problems with gameplay that made some of the puzzles less enjoyable. Also, the puzzles are very difficult, which makes this game a little less accessible for those who aren’t especially good at platforming.
If you plan to pick up this title, prepare for some feels.
Final Verdict: I Like it.
