9 Years of Shadows Review Summary

Stunning Art and Music: The game features an amazing and unique art style with beautiful music that creates a captivating atmosphere. Players consistently praise the artistic direction, pixel art, and soundtrack.

Enjoyable Metroidvania Gameplay: The game is praised for its fun and engaging Metroidvania-style gameplay. It is recommended for both beginners and fans of the genre, offering a classic but well-executed experience.

Easy-to-Use Map and Controls: The game features an easy-to-navigate map with useful markings and color-coding. Controls are also noted as easy to use, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.

Enjoyable and Relaxing Experience: Players find the game enjoyable and relaxing, with a gratifying experience from start to finish. It offers a mix of fun and challenging moments.

Engaging and Well-Written Story: The story is described as fun to follow, engaging, and well-constructed. It is simple yet charming, making it easy to understand and enjoyable.

Boring and frustrating boss battles: Many players found the boss battles to be monotonous, poorly designed, and frustrating. The bosses were often too easy, repetitive, and lacked integration into the storyline.

Short and easy gameplay: The game is shorter than expected and lacks replayability. Additionally, the game is considered too easy by many players.

Frequent bugs and glitches: The game has several bugs, including minor bugs, input-related bugs, graphical bugs, and bugs at startup. These issues affect the overall gameplay experience.

Lack of enemy variety: Players noted a lack of variety in enemies and their actions. The game could benefit from more diverse enemy types and attacks.

Uninformative and outdated map: The map is not informative, lacks useful details, and is outdated. Players found it difficult to navigate and motivate themselves with the given map.

Metroidvania-style gameplay: The game follows the classic Metroidvania loop of exploring, fighting, and unlocking new areas. It is similar to Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, offering a good introduction to the genre.

Combined health and mana system: The game features a combined health and mana system, which is a unique resource management mechanic for health recovery and attacks.

Well-designed map and levels: The game has good level design with well-designed levels that encourage exploration and backtracking.

Mixed gameplay reviews: The gameplay is described as tranquil and suitable for beginners, but it also has problems and basic combat. Some players find it satisfying and recommend it, while others note its short duration.

Unique boss fights: The game features unique boss fights with different gimmicks, move sets, and mechanics, providing diverse and challenging encounters.

Frequent bugs reported: Many players have reported encountering various bugs throughout the game, ranging from minor issues to significant glitches that affect gameplay.

Game freezing during endings: A common issue reported is the game freezing during the ending scenes or credits, which significantly impacts the player experience.

Audio issues and looping: Several players have experienced problems with sound effects, including looping audio and glitches that persist until the game is restarted.

Elevator glitches and issues: Players have encountered various glitches related to elevators, including animation bugs and issues with elevator interactions after pausing the game.

Softlocks and progression blocking: Players have encountered softlocks and bugs that block progression, forcing them to restart the game or reload saves.

Metroidvania fans recommended: The game is highly recommended for fans of the Metroidvania genre, including beginners and enthusiasts. It is also suggested for those who enjoy similar games like Castlevania, Metroid, and Hollow Knight.

Worth it on sale: Many reviewers suggest that the game is worth purchasing, especially when it is on sale. It provides good value for its price during discounts.

Short and satisfying experience: The game is recommended for those looking for a short and satisfying experience. It is suitable for casual players or those who want a quick gameplay session.

Good value and price: The game is seen as a great value for its price, offering a worthwhile adventure and solid value for money.

Unique mechanics and balanced difficulty: The game is praised for its unique fighting system, interesting health bar mechanics, and balanced difficulty, making it stand out in its genre.

Community fair range: $8.00 - $18.00.

Game completion: 11.0h.

Players find the game enjoyable due to its art design and progression mechanics, but repetitive combat and lengthy boss fights can be tedious. The fun anchors around acquiring and using new abilities and armors.

Reported time to anchor: 1h.

Friction: Repetitive combat; Lengthy boss fights; Backtracking.

Unlock drivers: Acquiring new abilities; Using new armors.

Genre Enthusiast: Explores thoroughly, appreciates art and music, and enjoys the challenge. Motivation: Enjoyment of the Metroidvania genre and its unique elements. Stance: sale.

Veteran Explorer: Explores thoroughly, compares to classics, and enjoys the challenge. Motivation: Seeking new experiences within the Metroidvania genre and comparing them to classics. Stance: sale.

Completionist: Explores thoroughly, focuses on achievements, and may replay sections to unlock everything. Motivation: Completing the game to 100% and unlocking all achievements. Stance: deep sale.

Steam Deck: The game has a mix of positive and negative feedback regarding its performance on the Steam Deck. While some users report issues with controls, performance, and stability, others have had a seamless experience with good performance and enjoyable gameplay.

Linux and Proton: The game generally runs well on Linux systems and Steam Deck, with some minor issues reported on Steam Deck. The overall performance and stability are positive, with users experiencing smooth gameplay and no major technical issues.

Missing characters issue: There is a known issue with characters going missing in the game, and a solution has been proposed.

Controller support suggested: Players have suggested that the game would benefit from controller support.