Shady Part of Me - Review, a psychological journey into the shadows

Shady Part of Me - Review, a psychological journey into the shadows

In a dream world in which reality and illusion are intertwined, a child will have to free herself from her insecurities and fears to live peacefully. It sounds like the opening words of a dramatic thriller film, but it's the concept behind Shady Part of Me, the surreal indie platformer suspended between 2D and 3D, developed by Douze Dixième and produced by Focus Home Interactive. The game, launched on occasion 2020 Game Awards, is now available on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the version of which has been tested in this review. Now, take your shadow by the hand and look for the exit.



A psychological journey into Shady Part of Me

In Shady Part of Me we will play one Female child with an unknown name, struggling with his own anxieties And its fears: first of all, that of light, which does not allow it to expose itself to the sun. While the little girl searches for a way out of her condition, hers is revealed to keep her company Ombre, who personifies her more self-confident side and will help her regain psychological well-being. But the way to recovery is studded with ups and downs, small victories and failures, which prevent you from reaching the much desired take the exit (uscita) even when it seems incredibly close. As you can guess from these few lines, the theme of Shady Part of Me is the psychological health, to be found through a psychotherapy course, probably to resolve a condition of social anxiety, all in a narrative characterized by delicacy and originality.


Il narrative design of the game does not reveal a precise picture of the Child's personality and past, but this one narrative suspension is however effective: we do not know who she is, but we still understand her point of view and we are empathically linked to her; we would like to know more. However, Douze Dixième's team preferred highlight the psychological path with respect to the mere exposure of the characters, leaving the player with the task of imagining the protagonist's past, present and future. In any case, for the most curious and lovers of challenges, as many as 98 origami, with the function of revealing small pieces of history, are hidden in the game levels; getting them all is a real feat!


I levels of Shady Part of Me, it is evident, they requested a complex light studio to be able to effectively use multiple light sources and create dynamic shadows, in a "physics based" system. As mentioned earlier, the Child is afraid of the light, which allows her to move only in darkness; on the contrary, his Shadow lives only in illuminated environments. To pass the levels, in which the 2D component is the prerogative of the Shadow while the Girl moves in 3D environments, the two characters will have to to cooperate to solve i environmental puzzles scattered throughout the game. Given the inevitable trial and error component of a puzzle game, there is no screw system, but the rewinding of time, helping players to use the right momentum to whiz from floor to floor or to create the right shadow. On the Nintendo Switch, however, the transition between the plan and the other presents a little lag which can be annoying, especially in puzzles where timing plays a big role in solving.


Shady Part of Me - Review, a psychological journey into the shadows


In the realms of the mind 

La Artistic direction by Shady Part of Me is definitely the strong point of this independent puzzle platformer. The artistic sector focuses entirely on dreamlike atmospheres with strong contrasts between dark and light, accompanying us in a multitude of surreal environments: libraries, factories, circuses and theaters become the backdrop for the girl's emotional journey, exquisitely reminiscent of the Chinese shadow shows in several places. There colonna sonora fully supports the tones that the graphics give, also varying the music tracks depending on the game layer in which we are.

Douze Dixième, of which Shady Part of Me is the debut game, has not wasted on details: in fact, the voice of the Child who will accompany us throughout the adventure is from the actress Hannah Murray, famous for playing the role of Cassie in Skins and of Gilly in Game of Thrones. In addition, even the less familiar with the English language will appreciate this title, localized entirely in Spanish in subtitles and backgrounds. This is because the French team wanted to include some pensieri of the two protagonists directly in the game backdrops, opening windows on their minds.


With a gameplay estimated between 7 and the 10 hours, Shady Part of Me boasts a decent longevity-price ratio, which amounts to € 14,99 on all platforms. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the replayability of the puzzle platformer is limited; in fact, at the end of the game, the only remaining objective is to collect all 98 origami, a challenge that could be reductive for all the players who have worked hard to collect as many as possible even in the main adventure.

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