Shady Part of Me
Video Description
A little girl and her shadow must overcome emotional struggles within surreal dreamscapes filled with twists and turns.
I never heard of this game, but it was gifted to me and I found it really interesting since I like puzzles and unique concepts, and this game was no exception. Steam also indicated it was related to another game I enjoyed, Fran Bow. However, I really wouldn’t make that comparison, but I still enjoyed it.
Story
A little girl and her shadow must overcome emotional struggles within surreal dreamscapes filled with twists and turns. It first starts in the bedroom, which later turns into a library, and even a nice playroom filled with gigantic toys. However, it then turns darker, as strange block head creatures watch over the girl. They go to a mental health asylum as the girl and her shadow are looking for the exit, but can never find it. The girl insists she knows it’s around here somewhere, but the shadow is doubtful. They enter a sewer system to find the exit, and end up going through the desert, a coal factory, and a strange electroshock therapy office.
During their journey, the narrator keeps talking to both of them. The girl is not receptive to the encouraging words and wants the voice to shut up. The shadow begins arguing with the girl, saying she is the reason they’re lost. The shadow starts sounding similar to the narrator, and white noise starts emitting from the narrator. They continue their journey and head to the carnival and school to regain some memories. The girl goes silent. The narrator gets muffled and harder to understand.
They continue their journey to find the way out, which eventually leads to a stage. The girl and her shadow are speaking at the same time, saying the exact same thing, as if they are finally becoming one. The shadow takes control of one of the block head creatures, and begins acting upon the stage as everyone is watching.
The lights close in on the little girl, and the shadow enters her. She wakes up in the light, alone, by a tree with a swing and leaves the swing behind and heads off. This may imply that instead of being alone, she’ll go out and meet friends, and is no longer afraid of the light. I was hoping for more clarity at the end, but that’s it.
Gameplay
There are both 2D and 3D gameplay mechanics. Control both the young girl (3D) and her shadow (2D) to solve puzzles. Actions you take in the 3D help the 2D progress. The shadow has to have light to exist, and thus cannot exist in the shadows, but the young girl doesn’t like the light and must stay in the shadows. With these mechanics, solving puzzles can be complex and interesting. If you die, there is a rewind feature to undo your progress a significant amount. You can also go into the chapter select to choose which one you want to play.
In Act III, the 2D segments become much more abstract, where you rotate the shadow and move it along the Z-axis, but it’s still flat. Almost like your character getting smaller and larger since it’s going back further and rotating in different directions. In Act IV when controlling the block head, they are not bound to light or shadows. They can go anywhere.
There are origami birds to collect during your journey. Some are in the 2D and others in the 3D. There are a total of 98 and finding them fills in various puzzles on the chapter select screen.
Graphics
During the 2D scenes, you’re basically a shadow on a flat background. During the 3D scenes, it’s darker and muted colors. I really like the unique look of the 2D sections, while the 3D segments are a bit more generic. The girl has long dark hair that completely covers her face, while the shadow is a flat figure on the wall.
Sound / Music
The music is phenomenal. How it picks up as you progress through the chapters, even with some humming and other vocals. There is a mix of ambient and light action music mixed in. It even changes depending on the character you’re playing as. There is no official soundtrack for the game, but there is a video on YouTube from the developers that has the music.
There is even voice acting. The little girl has a high pitched, immature sounding voice. While the shadow sounds like an adult, and very mature, taking matters seriously.
Game Info
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