Hands On: Lost in Shadow

For those who haven’t heard of this unique title heading to the Wii from Hudson Entertainment; Lost in Shadow is a puzzle platformer that puts you in the shadows. You are the personification of a young boy’s shadow who is, in essence, trying to climb a tower to reunite with his body. To get to his body he has to climb a giant tower before nightfall, and the only way is to interact with the shadows, climbing them, and interacting with them.

From what I gathered from my representative who demoed the game to me; the story itself is pretty much a giant mystery, as there is a huge tower set in an alternate world that rises far beyond everything around it. The people who live there know not who built it, nor why it was built. All that is known is that the tower casts a large shadow across the lands,  as well as contains shadows that move by themselves, as if animated by magic.

The game itself revolves around a young boy, who has found himself turned into a shadow. He doesn’t have any memories as to how he came to be in the tower, nor does he know what he is doing. That is until he runs into a light spirit known as “Spangle” who informs the boy that he needs to climb the tower before night fall.

Spangle helps the player navigate through the realm of shadows by moving tangible objects in the foreground. This changes the shadows in background, and allows the player to climb or move further into the level. As the character progresses, he has to collect memories, which are in the shape of pillars of light and shadows. This gives him the power to complete the level, and destroy a giant wall of shadows blocking his path. Early levels have 3 or 4 of these that can be gathered by completing puzzles or just progressing through the level.

If you think you’re going to be a shadow in the background throughout the entirety of the adventure think again! There are unique portions of the game where you are allowed to pass through a door of light, invigorating your character with light itself, allowing him to manifest into a tangible form capable of interacting with objects. This allows him to push or interact with objects that Spangle can’t move.

There are a mixture of levels too; so it’s not all linear platforming, and generic puzzle solving. There are levels where you have to race through, as well as battles with gigantic shadow monsters with weapons that you have collected.

Lost in Shadow is expected to hit store shelves sometime in January of 2011.

What are your thoughts on this game? I’d like to know Infendo!

An artist from New York. Will has been writing, designing, and loving video games since he was young. He has traveled across the United States, and parts of Canada in order to learn more about the world of gaming. After visiting E3 for the first time in 2009, he has vowed to return there and show off a game of his own. In his spare time he tinkers with electronics, programming, and of course collecting video games.