Shadowpoint Review

Shadowpoint is a narrative driven puzzle game that will transport you through a fantasy world full of twists and turns, one that will put your brain to the test and have you guessing on where the story is headed. Now with that said ill try to keep the review as spoiler free as possible only showing examples of the mechanics from later on and only early bits of the story-line. now lets begin the review talking about its objective & game-play.

Shadow point stars off by finding yourself at a mountain top observatory that appears abandoned and soon after has you discover portals to an ever changing fantasy world. Through your adventure you will become familiar characters and why they are there as the story behind this mysterious place unravels. Now without spoiling to much I do want to applaud the developers at Coatsink for making an enthralling narrative that drove me to complete the game despite not being a big fan of puzzle games to begin with, you could say in a way the entire narrative is a puzzle in its self that you slowly begin to piece together throughout your journey. The game-play of Shadowpoint revolves on the mechanic of perspective, to get this point across all puzzles are about matching shadows with the required outline by using marked objects laying around the area, as you progress through the story sub mechanics get introduced all while retaining perspective as a major focus point and for virtual reality its the perfect way to make a great puzzle game, but more on that later. The controls allow for smooth locomotion and turning but also give the option of snap turning, teleportation with room scale not being necessary at all, but let me tell you, if you do happen to have enough room to walk up to and then through a portal please do, something about that experience is surreal. In terms of interaction expect to pull, pick up, throw, and manipulate objects around the world. Any time you pick up an object related to your current puzzle it will be stored in your backpack which can be accessed at the press of a button in case you leave it somewhere. They did a fantastic job at using colors to point out what can be grabbed and interacted with as it will have a blue glow, likewise pink shards can use light to power them, with that said I do have to admit I wish I was able to pick up more objects for the sake of immersion. One of the first things I did was try and pick up a water bottle but realized my hand wouldn't interact with it what so ever. Next up lets talk features and content.

Shadowpoint is a single-player puzzle game that features over 80 unique puzzles to solve throughout, some of which are tougher puzzles that can be completed as a side objective and not needed for progress represented by a crescent moon. It also offers a unique stylized world that provides plenty of sights to see and is fully voiced by an amazing cast including the voice of Sir Patrick Stewart, all of which has subtitles provided as well. The game has options for both full locomotion, teleportation, and snap turning if needed or desired. The game does support cross buy between rift and quest headsets. The over all game took me about three to four hours to complete start to finish with the difficulty curve being well designed as it progressively gets harder by introducing new mechanics. The game also features a wonderful sound track that really adds to every place you visit. As a side note you are allowed to reset progress on each level so you can replay them after completion of said level. Now lets discuss visuals and immersion.

Visually speaking Shadowpoint is a beautiful game, it has a colorful art style and through its fantasy world you will have plenty sights to see but what I really need to discuss is the immersion factor for this game, I cant praise them enough here as I really do believe it leverage's virtual reality in the best way it could have for such a game. Earlier I mentioned the games use of perspective as a core mechanic used through out so let me expand on what I meant there. There are moments in this game that will not only have you stepping through portals that will twist and turn gravity but also have you reaching into windows with a different reality then the one your currently in, at times you will find yourself walking through a door way only to see that whats on the other side is the complete devastation of the area you were just in. While these mechanics are all used for the puzzle aspect of the game I couldn't help but constantly smile at how beautiful and magical it all felt in virtual reality. Just being able to sense the scale of the world around you and look around each area with the freedom that only VR can bring really makes this game immensely better than it would be in a traditional gaming format. The way they blended the music to match the scenery also really helps immerse you into its world.

To conclude the developers at Coatsink really made something special here with Shadowpoint. Its not perfect by any means but it provides fantastic design and immersion. It features a strong narrative, one that had me intrigued to the very end.
Its a game built for those who love puzzles but also one I would also recommend to those of you looking for beautiful sights to take in with a good narrative to match, as long as you have the patience for figuring some puzzles that is, especially toward the end of the game as they get a bit harder to solve. Another complaint has to be that sometimes holding up puzzles to line up their shadows with the outline given can be a struggle despite the game trying to help you by showing you where to stand, it can be a bit annoying to accomplish. one instant comes to mind where it took me much longer than I would like to admit but overall im left very satisfied with the game as a whole and really do think it provides a fantastic experience start to finish built around the idea of perspective that really ties together in every aspect of the game and as such it gets my recommendation.

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