A playthrough of Zojoi's 2014 throwback graphic adventure for PCs running Windows, Shadowgate. Played through the Classic mode on the Master difficulty level. Many have fond memories of Icom's original 1987 MacVenture title, and still more yet recall playing the Kemco NES adaptation and the subsequent GBC port of Shadowgate. It was so popular that it received a novelization (part of the Nintendo "Worlds of Power" novels for children) and two official sequels, Beyond Shadowgate for the TurboDuo, and Shadowgate 64 for the N64. As good as the second and third were, they weren't commercial successes, and unfortunately aren't remembered as well as the first. But no matter - Shadowgate is a classic, no question. So how does this "remake" hold up? Fantastically well, I'd say! It was done by the creators of the original game after running a successful Kickstarter for the project, and it feels exactly like you would hope it would. The interface is FAR better: it can even be removed from the screen almost entirely if you prefer using the keyboard shortcuts! Hiding the interface is ideal, too, since graphics are amazing. They aren't anything special from a tech standpoint, but the detailed paintings that make up the castle brim with detail and tons of tiny little animations to bring life to what would otherwise be a pretty dull, static presentation. It looks like a moving storybook, and the lighting flourishes like the rolling fog, running water, and swirling flames all look great and blend convincingly, avoiding feeling liked they've been cheaply tacked on. The soundtrack is also pretty phenomenal. Some of the tunes are remixes of music from the NES version while others are original, but they are all beautifully orchestrated, striking a balance between drama and ambience without overpowering the environmental effects. Of course, if you for whatever reason don't like that, there is an option to use the music from the NES game instead (along with a pixely-looking throwback mode using mock 8/16-bit graphics, and the option to use the NES game's screen transitions and letter-by-letter text display). If this remake was merely the original game with a great facelift, I would've been quite satisfied. Hold on just a second though: despite the castle seeming the same as you've always remembered it at the beginning, there is a lot of new content here. Tons of new puzzles, loads of new descriptors, and a fully rewritten, fleshed out plot that stays very close to the original all give it a massive boost for the old fans. If you played the first one and know it inside out, you'll have a good start here, but don't worry. There's plenty to uncover, and it all fits naturally with the original content. Shadowgate is a fantastic remake that I think largely succeeds because it does what it wants to do. It's not bowing to any massive publisher's demands. It's not shoe-horning the game into some wildly inappropriate genre (thank God they didn't turn the castle into an "open-world" game with sandbox mode!), and it doesn't care about alienating people with its design choices. It's old-fashioned (just a nice way to say "completely archaic"), mercilessly difficult, and it's happy to show you the door if you don't like that. That's pretty refreshing, and pretty innovative - in the most ironic way possible. So guys, the second game that you mention at the very end... how about that? Oh, and that first voiced in-game cutscene - Is it just me, or was someone channeling his best Bane impression there? And in the second room of the castle, is that King Graham of Daventry lying there dead in front of the altar?! :D ____ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete (
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