Shadows: Awakening

Still fun in 2026 as first playthrough

отличная игра даже спустя 8 лет актуальна

H'n'S. Uzupełniona o brakujące rozdziały i zakończenie wersja Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms który miał fajny na siebie ale niedpopracowany pomysł. Graficznie nic sie nie zmieniło w chili premiery gra nie zachwycała ale nie odpychała a po latach przyjęta forma dobrze się zestarzała, mechanicznie zmieniono zarządzanie i drzewko rozwoju to plus, niestety nie wyeliminowano wielu wad oryginału - drobnych bugów, awarii gry, czy monotonnych i długich pustych po wyczyszczeniu z potworów lokacji. brakuje na wielu mapach dodatkowych portali które by skracały drogę przez samą mapę, obecna ilość jest zbyt mała (1 czy 2 na mapę). zarzadzanie regeneracją zdrowia też nie najlepiej rozwiązano - można poświecić zgromadzone dusze by sie uleczyć lub wrócić do krysztąłu regenerującego przed walką z większym przeciwnikiem szkoda dusz wiec wleczesz sie przez pół albo cała plansze do kryształu a potem z powrotem. W w porównaniu do pierwowzoru na minus -że zabrakło polskiej wersji językowej chociażby w formie napisów. Fabularnie gra też nie robi to szału, sztampa goni sztampę. Ekwipunek często lepszy niż u sprzedawcy wypadał z przeciwników i skrzyń; może nie był cudem ale tańszy :) Zagadki logiczne które się pojawiają są nie tyle trudno co często irytujące w realizacji szczególnie te związane z przestawieniem kul w odpowiednim rytmie lub miejscu. Gdzieś tak od połowy bardziej wlokłem się ziewając z nudów i wypatrując końca niż zafascynowany rozgrywką czy fabułą. Werdykt: Drugi raz bym nie kupił są lepsze i często tańsze produkcje w tej kategorii. Wady: - Brak wersji PL - długie puste lokacje i backtracking - wciąż występujące bugi z oryginału - graficznie średniaki nie powala - fabularnie sztampa goni sztampe Zalety: - gra działa i pozwala tłuc stworki - graficznie nie odpycha - przełączanie się w locie miedzy postaciami "drużyny wchłoniętych" dla zmian taktyki - łatwe przełączanie się miedzy tym światem a równoległym światem cieni - niektóre lokacje są nawet ciekawe. Ocena: 5/10

Nettes solo RPG - Wenig SkillCombos aber interessante kleine Rätsel

Приятный проект. Советую.

Criminally underrated hidden gem. Slow to start but shines later on.

I became interested in this game because of its predecessor, Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, a good 2004 title that features interesting mechanics, beautiful environments for its time, and a narrative with many positive points. I was disappointed to realize that Shadows: Awakening makes several mistakes in narratively succeeding its predecessor, especially by using retcons or completely neglecting old conflicts and motivations—particularly those of the Order of the Veil, the mage order at the center of the franchise’s story. In the paragraphs below, I explain some of these issues. Several interesting characters were neglected or completely forgotten, such as High Magus Sollan, the former leader of the Order of the Veil, who doesn’t even appear in this game. Carissa, who in the first game is a mage and Sollan’s lover, was turned into a warrior mage who doesn’t even mention Sollan. Even Carissa’s personality is no longer the same. The important protagonist Alita from the first game is only mentioned in books and has no participation in the game, despite having been a key figure in the destruction of the God Slayer sword in the first title. Alita is now treated as if she doesn’t exist. The game’s rich world lore was not delivered in a satisfying way; some events from Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition do echo in this sequel’s narrative, but in very strange ways—such as the case of the Accession Wars, the conflict between humans and Taymurians. It makes no sense for this war to exist. In the first game, we help a group of Taymurian refugees be accepted into the human city of Corwenth, but in the time between the two games, the Taymurians’ Conclave of Tribes demands the refugees’ return and claims the territory for themselves for no reason other than simply wanting it. This creates a conflict between the two peoples, with consequences poorly portrayed in the second game. The worst part: this story isn’t even told during gameplay, but only through books you find—a terrible way to explore the game’s universe. Among many other narrative problems, the plot is the main one. At no point is it satisfactorily explained why demons are acting and influencing the Order of the Veil. Of course, with the destruction of the God Slayer sword in the first game and the weakening of the Dreamworld, which becomes the Shadowrealm, one might assume demons began to infiltrate the world of the Heretic Kingdoms. But how did they manage to possess Lady Mara and the other powerful members of the Penta Nera? Why are these Devourers acting to bring about the world’s destruction? Who is behind all of this? Why is Krenze opposing them? What are his real motives? None of this is contextualized in the game. Events simply happen without much explanation, several plot threads from the first game are abandoned, and the ending of this game fails to bring the narrative together in an orderly way. I truly don’t understand the reason for inserting new narrative elements into the universe, such as the Devourer and the Shadowrealm, when the original lore still had many aspects that could have been further developed. However, the narrative issue that bothered me the most was the lack of deeper exploration of each of the game’s Puppets (selectable heroes). This is the game’s highlight, since the player can choose to control various interesting characters. The aesthetic, cultural, and historical variation between them is extremely cool, but all of that remains only on the surface. It’s as if the player captures important historical figures, but none of their personal conflicts are actually explored; they serve only as hero skins in the game—except for one or another hero whose past is touched upon, but even then it’s not satisfying. Despite everything, the game is good. It’s fun and bold enough to try innovating with the mechanic of switching heroes during battle. What motivated me most in terms of gameplay was the search to discover all the heroes available to collect. The different combinations between classes, their spells, and stats also allow for good gameplay variety. As an Action RPG, the game is average. Many features were poorly implemented, such as the equipment grind, which was not done correctly. There is no randomness in item drops, for example. Also, when playing on the highest difficulty level, I noticed that legendary items were found constantly, as if they were common items. Shadows: Awakening is a game worth playing, especially if the player has already finished Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition. Just don’t expect too much.

Отличная игра для всех любителей дьяблообразных игр.

An entertaining hack and slash game with decent graphics, immersive music, a mixture of puzzles, interesting lore and skill customization. It is entertaining especially at it's price.

Muy buen juego, tiene una mecanica muy copada y fuera de lo comun.