![]() ![]() And, like, I get that there needs to be a puzzle and stuff, but you can still, like, hit that balance of making your core mechanic of different time periods feel meaningful while also not completely undercutting the plot with all the dumb stuff you have to do to progress it. See, what you actually have to do is have an identical conversation with the waitress (like, seriously, the cutscene is the exact same as the first time), go back in time to the 1500s (fucking taking the waitress with you), scare some pilgrims away with your mobile phone, and convince the guy planting the tree that you’re actually the local lord so that he’ll never plant the tree, which, when you go back to the present ( leaving the waitress in the past without a second thought), stops the assassin from killing you because ? and lets you go further into the game. Now, you might think the obvious solution is to, say, avoid being in the area in the first place, or get away from the tree as soon as possible, or anything kind of obvious, but that’s not the solution the game puts forward. You get sent back to the moment before you have the conversation, and, with the knowledge you have, are now tasked to prevent your death from happening. ![]() Like, here’s an example: you’re talking with this waitress, and right as the conversation ends, you get stabbed by your assassin, out of sight because of the giant tree behind you. Even beyond the usual issue where often a walkthrough feels required in order to figure out what you’re meant to do, the way the puzzles interface directly with the plot often just makes the plot seem… a lot more stupid than intended. The big issue, in regards to this, is that it’s an adventure game, and like most subpar adventure games, the puzzles operate on a level that… isn’t exactly intuitive or entirely logical. I say 'in theory' a lot, though, in regards to talking about the positives of this game, and that’s mostly because while there’s stuff that’s super cool on paper… the truth is that this game is a total mess and mostly only has its concepts to back it up. Even better, in theory, is how the things you do can radically change parts of the future, providing another layer to the adventure game gameplay and, theoretically, creating some cool solutions to puzzles. Seeing locations, the characters you meet, and even the city itself change as you run around through time is a super strong concept - both seeing the origin points of familiar locations and interacting with different versions of the same character. ![]() This both helps to indicate the main characteristics of each time period - the early 1900s being in black-and-white given the recurring motif of photography, as an example - and to help immediately show the differences between each time period as you enter them, providing a throughline for the main strength of the time travel mechanic. Each version of Lebensbaum you run around has a different layout owing to how the city has changed throughout history, and this is represented by each time period having a radically different colour palette attached to it. I also like the general artstyle, and how it helps to characterize each of the time periods you go through. It’s a cool way to handle a story built on multiple overarching mysteries, and, in theory, it’s a great incentive to replay the game and give yourself the full picture. This mechanic is further extended by the ending, where - depending on a choice made in the 5th chapter and the method you complete the 8th chapter - you can receive one of five endings, each of which solve one aspect of the mystery… while still leaving you in the dark about others. Through taking these differing paths, the story takes different directions, and the clues Eike (and through that, the player) receives is never quite everything you need, which is a neat way of uncovering the in-game mysteries presented to you. The way it functions is that as you travel through time and explore the city of Lebensbaum, there are differing ways that you can solve puzzles and progress through the game. It becomes clear though, however, that death seems to be following Eike as he goes about his day, and the player must move Eike around the city, travel through different time periods, and solve inventory puzzles both to uncover the mysteries surrounding the story, and to delay your own death for just another half hour… He then encounters a supernatural being named Homunculus, who grants Eike the ability to time travel in the hopes that he can stop his own untimely death. So Shadow of Destiny follows the story of this guy named Eike who is enjoying his afternoon walk when suddenly the wind stabs him in the back and kills him. ![]()
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