Shadows: Awakening

This isn't your typical ARPG. Most modern ARPG's focus on the loot grind and minmaxing a character. Shadows Awakening, however, focuses on its story, for better or for worse.
 
The story is okay. A lot of the worldbuilding is hidden behind books instead of being out in the open. The characters needed more focus on their relationships with one another, although each of them have their own fleshed out backstory. The story is branching and allows for multiple playthroughs, but I don't know if I could go through another 30 hours of gameplay for those comparatively small changes.
 
The gameplay is just alright. It uses a system similar to Trine where you can seamlessly switch between four "puppets". As a result, though, it never feels like any one puppet's mechanics are fully fleshed out. The system really shines when you begin combining skills across puppets; I only wish there were more skills that let you transfer buffs across puppets. It supports a variety of playstyles (tank, mage, berserker, archer, etc.) very well.
 
The inventory management and movement kits, however, are extremely lacking. Moving across maps felt like a slog, even with all the movement speed buffs I could find. The inventory is nothing short of a mess. It helps that you have 100 slots, but keeping track of everything is convoluted, to say the least. Skill trees could have used their own separate UI as well to help give a better sense of progression.
 
I'm recommending this game because it has consistency in the quality of content it provides and some good handcrafted dungeon design for an ARPG, which is a rarity these days. I did one playthrough (with every single side quest) but don't think I'll do another. I would not recommend this game to anyone looking for an ARPG to grind. There is no endgame to speak of. This is a story focused experience.

Good Action RPG WITH some Quirks! You have several Characters in the Party between which you can switch almost at any time, plus the Demon to move around in the shadow world. You clump monsters and collect Loot in Diablo style, and you can also choose Skills and talents as well as upgrade. The Same applies to Weapons that can be enchanted, which unfortunately costs Money plus cannot be Undone. So far there has been no Crafting, but does not know if this may come later. Story rather boring, but everything is nicely set to music. I play in English because I like the English Voiceover better. Occasionally interesting Side Quests. Unfortunately, I kept Having performance slumps with FPS drops that just didn't come out of nothing. Only a Reboot of the Game fixed the Problem until the next time. I am still relative at the Beginning (Level 4), should anything still change, improve or deteriorate to the End, I will update the Review. Pros: + Beautiful Graphics + Several Characters in the Party to Choose From + Several starting Characters for Replay value + cool levels + good riddance + good opponent Repertoir + Great and demanding Bosses Contra:-Story rather uninteresting-Loot-As well as Upgrade System unfortunately not so Satisfying as with Competitors (PoE, Diablo etc ...)-Hit feedback rather lame-Fumelian Menu-Performance slumps (despite a GForce 1080)

The worst Game Mechanics ever. Many Reviews are based on the first few Hours of Play and the graphics and the Change are convincing. Two Characters. However, you then realise how cheap it goes on. The Dialogues are dull or monotonous and, in some Cases, far too long. Worst thing: The Mauskick button is also the Button to control the Character and press switches, which makes a Fight or facial Situations much more difficult and Spongy. You are sometimes forced to play a certain Character that you don't want at all (then why the Selection?). To Talk about certain NPCs, that may still be ok, but you should be able to access all four to fight. See Zaar, it has not been equipped with the best Items or killed, because you cannot defeat Sankr due to its extreme Strength and Regeneration. An individual Way of playing Is therefore not possible. You can't change the Level of Difficulty, Boss fights are too heavy and all other Fights are too light. There is also never an Aternative, be it the Way, Puzzle solutions or Combat Situations. So a Level up to create a Boss is still not possible and if you don't get a Puzzle or a Skill Situation, you never see the Rest of the Game. The Game world is not rotating, in Situations such as the Stone Ball you don't even see it. All in All, the Game is not worth 9 Euros.