Shadwen

In short: NPCs are really dumb, and there is only one type of enemy (well, two. Heavy armor and light armor, but they are the same, you just cannot backstab heavy armors). And they act same through the game so it is little repetetive after few hours. Lily is is not the brightest neither. You can give here some commands, but she just doesnt listen. I say: Stay in THIS stash,because I have a plan, but she try to go to other stash and I had to spam my T letter, so she could stay, where I wanted to... GRrr... But this game is not so long and its still playable and entertaining so I dont regret the little money I spent. But I expected more, something new and fresh. Maybe I was just too hyped.

Disclaimer : 2 hours playtime/ 5 stars because I'm biassed and having fun. Shadwen combines stealth + escort + time control. Escort: you have to escort a little girl called Lily. Her AI is decent but it got some quirks when comes to chaoticly moving guards(moving in circle around crates because pathfinding). Apart from that she moves on her own from hideout to hideout when she sees an opportunity. She has sanity meter which is said to affect the ending. If she sees a body or see you kill some1, that meter drops(though it doesnt drop from hidden bodies if she hides in the same bush).You can order her where to move if you dont like her pathfinding. Time control: Time moves while you move but you can also hold a key to let it flow while you wait for a guard to pass(gonna check suggestion topic on steam to ask for toggle on/off). Its useful because if you get spotted you can rewind a bit and try new approach. Also you can aim at something else midair while standing still so its handy. Stealth: Yet to find stealth hard. What is hard though... distracting guards without killing them. It often ends up in crate dragging simulator because no crates left to drop. Physics are tricky because you may do some hilarious kills like dragging a bottle on the ground that kills a guard who tried to make another step. Grappling hook can be attached only to wooden surfaces in range and you can drag stuff by moving only(cant pull the rope to do it sadly). Crafting is yet to be used by me. Crafted some stuff but yet to use them + chests are spread on the level and often guarded with only a couple mats inside. Difficulty affects only how many highlited objects are shown. You die in 1 hit once spotted regardless of difficulty. Guards are dumb and slow which can be a challenge in crowded/small rooms. If you want a better stealth game and dont mind DRM go check Dishonored or Styx:Master of Shadows. If you want drm-free either wait for the mentioned to come on GOG or try Shadwen.

Welcome to a fun stealth game with some interesting gameplay aspects but lack of story. Without further delay: Llet's dissect the game. Graphics: 3/5 The graphics are pretty and do their job, but not the best out there. I do wish we would get animated cut scenes, but the artwork is great! Story: 2/5 This does not mean the story is bad, it just means that there is basically no story at all. If you listen to the guards you'll hear a bit of background story as a bonus. Basically you're a killer who wants to kill the king. However you bump into a little girl that decides to follow you wherever you go. You have a choice of wether to kill the guards or not. The story changes slightly if you do kill the guards and lily notices. In between levels there are a few lines of dialogue. If lily gets horrified, there is barely any dialogue at all in between levels and the differences in endings are hardly significant. Gameplay: 4/5 Now here is where the game shines. You have a knife and a grappling hook. You can attach to wood and lift yourself upwards with the hook. You can pull carts, crates, barrels, etc to create noise and distract the guards along the way. It's often quite tricky. Luckily the time freezes if you stand still and you can instantly rewind time as far back as you like. This helps tremendously. I deduct one point from the gameplay due the somewhat glitchy nature of it all. Trust me you will find a couple. Which more often is hilarious nonetheless. Sound: 4/5 The sound is fine as it is. The SFX work very well and naturally it's in stereo so you can hear if a guard is to the left, right or in the back of you. The music does it's job. Nothing to write home about though. It varies through the level and won't annoy you. Replay value: 5/5 I replayed the game after a no kill run and I rarely ever replay a game, if ever. So it definately has great replay value Total Score: 4/5 - A game that entertained me a lot, but could've been so much more!

The goal is to escort a girl past a bunch of guards through stealth. The game has some interesting ideas with the controls, that are very similar to Superhot where time only flows once you move and you can rewind time to fix your mistakes. The crafting and use of equipment is nice, but only in the final levels did I feel I had to use them. As interesting as the game is, it wore off pretty soon. There's barely any variety in enemies. The AI that only notices you but not the girl you're escorting didn't help either, and the narrative is not an incentive to play as the veil of world building and between level dialogue of the protagonists is very thin. But if escort missions are your favourite thing, this might be the game for you.