Rise and Shiny recap: Shadowtale

Shadowtale is pretty close to genius in a lot of ways. It can be played in pretty much any browser, it can run on almost any machine, and it still offers pretty in-depth gameplay, especially considering its limitations. While the controls are not necessarily the easiest to remember at first, they become very simple to manage after a short while. It would seem that the developers have a good grasp on how to make a solid, fun game for many different age groups.

I spent most of my time running around, exploring and killing monsters along the way. Attacking enemies is one of the most fun parts of the game. You simply hit a keyboard or mouse button and your character will swing his sword. You have another button for block, and the number keys can fire off special abilities. I was so surprised when the combat responded as it did, allowing me to actually block and dodge incoming enemies. It was fluid and almost like a "2-D Vindictus-lite."

But I'm not just going to go on about the controls all day. Click past the cut to see what I thought about the rest of the game.

You start out the game as you would expect, making a character from a limited number of choices like hair and clothes. Once in game you will see players who obviously have been playing longer and who look much different than you, so customization, with armor at least, surely opens up later in the game. You're pretty quickly sent on a main story quest and introduced to elements of the game. Everything works really well due to clever design that keeps things simple and straightforward. Whether or not this was the result of the preferred age group that the game goes for or the limitations of the small browser window, I'm not sure. Either way, I don't mind -- it works.

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Getting new quests is as easy as walking up to an NPC and either clicking on him or using a keyboard shortcut, reading a small amount of quests text, and being sent on your way. Many NPCs gave several quests, so there was always something to do. What I really enjoyed about most of the quests I came across was that their goals were not measured in how many creatures you would kill but by the final outcome of the mission. In other words, I was sent off to rescue someone or to find a certain item and rarely to kill 10 anything. While you are going along the way to your goal, you are attacked by mobs of different levels. The action is brought to you, and after you finish the goal, you get the bulk of experience.

It was strange, however, to see other players become frozen silhouettes when I went into combat mode. I understand that I was going into some sort of instance to do battle, but after I was done, the other players would suddenly spring to life and continue on their way -- it was as though they were literally frozen in time while I fought. I would be very interested to hear how it really happens for them. For the life of me, I cannot remember watching anyone go into a battle. Either people just disappear out of sight or I am indeed the victim of some kind of alternate reality cover-up. (That sounds kind of cool.)

Monsters were just articulated paper dolls created in Flash -- that much was obvious. Instead of feeling cheesy or rough, however, they seemed to have a lot of variety. As an artist and someone who spent many, many, many hours drawing monsters, I got a real thrill at the hand-drawn quality of some of the mobs in Shadowtale. I could just picture some young artist sitting down at her computer, filling in the color on a great winged beast. Nothing felt cold or automatically rendered. Even the backgrounds looked like someone had painted them on a canvas. It all works together really well and makes sense as you play.

Of course, I haven't seen much of the game. I didn't purchase a house, which was promised to be pretty cool. The 2-D scrolling nature of the game wouldn't seem to fit housing very well, but most of the inns and taverns I visited showed that a player house could probably be pretty impressive.

Perhaps my main complaint about the game really results from more of those limitations the game has. As you pass through different areas, you are met with loading screen after loading screen, sometimes in ridiculous numbers. You go into a bar, it loads. You get the quest and walk out, it loads. You walk into the next section of the map and it loads. Some areas are so tiny and tacked together with so many load screens that the flow of the game is interrupted. The situation reminds me of Dofus and the game's constant loading. Of course, Wakfu came along and showed how loading screens could be eliminated -- so I wonder whether the same strides could be made for Shadowtale? Either way, the loading screens are very fast, and I rarely waited more than a few seconds.

Quests are plentiful in the game, but it seems that the big thrill comes from linear main story quests that carry players throughout the game. The story is a little muddy to me now, but I was sent to rescue a duke or captain from the inside of a castle. I had to meet up with a female thief character, and in a neat little use of instancing, she broke into the castle to let me in. I found it challenging but didn't have any issues until I got deeper into the castle, at which point I had my butt handed to me. Luckily, I can leave, level up some more, and come back to fight another day. If I got lost or separated from my goal, a simple arrow pointed the way to my target.

There's a lot of good in Shadowtale. Would it be enough to satisfy older or more advanced gamers? Probably not, but it definitely could be a blast while playing with kids or with a group. The animations and combat are responsive and actually very satisfying, so the game should be experienced if just for that. Try it on your laptop next time you're sitting in bed, or give it a whirl in between main games. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Next week we'll be looking at another 2-D scroller style game, Dragonica. I should probably know this, but didn't this game shut down a while ago? Either way, gPotato has an EU site up and running, so join me in-game. My character's name is Beau on the Fenir server. Now, go log in!

Each week, Rise and Shiny asks you to download and try a different free-to-play, indie or unusual game, chosen by me, Beau Hindman. I welcome any suggestions for games -- drop me a note in the comments or email! You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Raptr!