I don’t want my readers to forget that Yacht Club Games still remains to be one of my favorite game studios of all time. As much as my recent reviews and articles talk about FromSoftware, Arkane Studios, Team Cherry, and Supergiant Games, my heart will always remain with the guys who created a happy go lucky platformer that helped make my childhood and middle school years a bit more bearable. Middle school was a little rough for me, because I didn’t have that many friends and some students made fun of the conditions I lived with at home. However, my middle school years were made better with a small handful of games. The games that defined my middle school years and helped serve as distractions from my lonely lifestyle include Breath of The Wild, Pikmin 3, Halo: Combat Evolved, and of course my personal favorite. Shovel Knight.
This game ended up on a basic porcelain platter one day and what looked like a boring bland meal ended up being a five out of five star dish in disguise. Some of you may be thinking I’m exaggerating, but that’s how much I enjoyed Shovel Knight back in the day and I still really enjoy it now. This is what I believe to be one of the few best examples out there of how to make an excellent video game. There are only a few other games that can hold up or exceed this level of game design for me. Bloodborne, Hollow Knight, and Hades. There is one thing that all four of these games have in common, even though they are all part of different genres. It’s that they challenge the player at a consistent pace and stack several ideas onto each other to create unique scenarios. If you fought the same type of enemy in the same arena over and over again then it’s going to get repetitive. You basically set up a stagnant challenge where the game either gets too easy or doesn’t change at all with the player’s rising skill level. You may want to change the structure of the arena, what type of enemy there is, maybe put them in a group, make sure that group isn’t just type as well, put a few obstacles around the arena, take the abilities and mechanics the player has and make full use of them, and above all else put them to the test. You can use whatever weapon fits you best in Bloodborne, but eventually they’ll have to switch up or take a different approach.
Shovel Knight is the first game that taught me this approach and it does it so well. The main character controls very simply, but the game puts you into levels set up in a way where they get more complicated and require the player to master what limitations they have. Shovel Knight may not be the best indie choice for some due to it’s goofy writing or simplistic nature, but to me it is a platforming masterpiece that expanded it’s universe with each expansion. It was actually Shovel Knight that got me into trying out more indie games and exploring new horizons with the gaming landscape.
So you may expect me to be really excited when I saw the reveal trailer for Cyber Shadow. Another retro styled hardcore sidescroller being published under Yacht Club Games. The studio is mostly composed of talented developers, but they also help out with the publication of select indie games. They helped Inti Creates with Azure Striker Gunvolt which was inspired by the Mega Man series, and recently Mechanical Head Studios with Cyber Shadow which was inspired by Ninja Gaiden. The game started off small at first with only one person working on the game that being Aarne Hunziker, but development picked up when Yacht Club saw it on Twitter. They decided to welcome Hunziker at Mechanical Head into what they called the Yacht Club family. The work process for Cyber Shadow sped up and expectations grew even further.
I for one was one of those very fans who was extremely excited for this game, but kinda forgot it as time went on. It’s not that development lagged on longer than it should have, but the last year or two has been a lazy one for games. 2020 was a rocky road of a year and 2021 is shaping up to be the most uninteresting year in video games. I forgot Cyber Shadow released earlier this year and didn’t pick the game up until recently. It's sad that I didn’t purchase the game earlier, because this is a pretty good game. It’s not as good as Shovel Knight in my opinion, but a majority of my expectations were met with this. It even reminded me why I should keep my hype up for future releases. Today we’ll be talking about why I loved Cyber Shadow and why it deserves your attention. So sharpen thine blade and prepare to venture through the streets of Mekacity.
Story
Cyber Shadow takes us to the cyberpunk neon-lit streets of Mekacity, a place home to both humans and machines. It’s a city of dreams and you are one big dreamer. That’s right we’re not going to let last years’ most “biggest” game slide behind us like a kid covered naked in grease who tripped over while rollerblading. Anyways, the city was flowing with thousands of human citizens and due to the population numbers the higher officials had to create machines to counter any forms of crime that may arise. With cunning edge technology, the scientists of Mekacity were able to manufacture machines, otherwise robots, to protect the people and maintain peace on the streets.
Before there were robots though there was a tribe of ninjas that brought peace and balance. These ninja warriors moved swiftly like leaves blowing through the wind, could cut down any foe that stood in their way with precise accuracy, and spent every day constantly training to follow their code of honor. They were connected to a plain known as the Spirit Realm which granted them powerful spiritual abilities only trained ninjas could earn, and they were led by what they call the Master. The key individual who guided them towards sacredness and the path the Dragon God wanted them to follow. She was the most skillful of them all and she had close ties with her father who was the smartest mind in Mekacity. Doctor Progen, otherwise the one manufacturing the machines and high tech weapons of Mekacity. These two key individuals maintained the peace and balance I mentioned earlier, but one day something went wrong. Dr. Progen one day went mad in his laboratory and converted his soul into a robot body practically making him immortal. He unleashed an army of robots onto the city and ordered them to kill any breathing creature. Hundreds of lives were taken during the robotic scuffle and soon the streets were wiped clean as a nuclear blast struck the heart of Mekacity.
This leads us to where we are now. Months after the nuclear blast. We follow the role of Shadow, a trained ninja warrior who was part of the sacred ninja clan and was one of many warriors to lose his life in the middle of the nuclear blast. He was the second most skilled member in the tribe and he almost held up to the skillfulness the Master had. They formed a close bond together and Shadow often went on dangerous missions the Master would usually go alone on. They were a duo. Basically a noble knight who wouldn’t give up and a guiding shield through the storms of darkness. The two were sacred fighters, but the nuclear blast separated them. Shadow was severely wounded, but his soul was transferred into a robotic body. He was then placed into stasis and woken up several years later to the apocalytpic streets of Mekacity.
A little robot known as L-Gion, who took the form of his short goofy friend Gio, broke him out of stasis and claims the doctor hovers several feet above the city planning his next step. He has decided to harvest the spiritual powers the ninja clan protects and use them for his own bidding. The Master has been hidden in an unknown location and it’s up to Shadow to save her from containment. The mad doctor has sent several killer robots to patrol the streets and they won’t stop until Shadow is defeated. As Shadow you must fight back against the robotic storm, unlock the sacred powers the clan protected, and stop the mad scientists before it’s too late.
Gameplay
Cyber Shadow aims to capture the feeling classic retro side-scrollers had. The main influences being the original Ninja Gaiden and a small sprinkle of Mega Man X from what I can tell. Wait, didn’t I write down a similar statement during my Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment review from a long time ago? Well, yes, but it's much different this time around. Remember Cyber Shadow wasn’t developed by Yacht Club Game, rather the one man team that is Mechanical Head Studios, so there’s going to be design differences between the two. The game is much harder compared to Shovel Knight and in some cases it’s designed to push the player to their utmost limit. The goal of each level is to make it from Point A to Point B alive. That sounds really simple on pen and paper, but getting there isn’t easy. There are tons of enemies, environmental hazards, and big tough bosses that will stand between you and progression.
Luckily, Shadow is outfitted with numerous moves to navigate around swiftly and fight back against any type of enemy. He has a basic slash that allows him to deal damage and kill foes. Attack an enemy enough times and they’ll go down with a small shatter and explosion. Shadow has a health bar and if that goes down to zero then Shadow will be obliterated. You’ll be kicked back to your last checkpoint and have to make your way back through the obstacles you just faced. You also have a spirit meter and spirit is used for your abilities outside of your basic slash attack. As you progress through the game you unlock new abilities and some of these abilities can be used to gain more mobility and traction. Some of these abilities consume spirit as stated. Shurikens that can damage foes from afar, a deflect that turns enemy projectiles into your own, a plunge attack which can be used to bounce off of enemies pogo-esque, an upward fireball spread that hits anything above you, a sprint and dash attack that zips you across large gaps within a second, and wall climbing to reach higher areas.
Near the end of the game you unlock a charge function which can be used to charge any one of your abilities. A charged slash that deals more damage than your basic attacks, a sticky explosive shuriken that detonates within a short period of time, your plunge attack can be initiated quicker, a double jump to reach higher areas, turn your fiery spread into fierce dragon heads, or dash slash numerous times in a row. This game feels more focused on how you get through a fight rather than navigation.
Enemies come in a wide range of flavors from small grunts, beefy grunts with large health pools, enemies that move quickly towards you, enemies that shoot projectiles from afar, and flying little bastards that are made to annoy the player. We can all agree that flying enemies are always the most annoying enemy types in video games. Some enemies must be approached from a specific direction as they will eat away at your health bar if you don’t. Some enemies will pose as minibosses and they won’t respawn after you defeat them which is very nice, because oftentimes they have a lot of health and they show up in sections where your health bar may be less than halfway full.
There are several items to pick up while venturing through levels and they will mainly help you along your journey. Health refills, spirit refills, power ups like a charge blaster or blade extension, or energy points. The energy points are basically your currency in this game, but it doesn’t function like in Shovel Knight where you go to a shopkeeper and purchase new equipment. You don’t even lose energy points upon death as the distance between each checkpoint is longer than you think and it would be punishing to make the player go long distances to retrieve them. Instead energy points can be spent at checkpoints to offer boosts during sections of a level. Sometimes saving enough energy points for the right time can make a difficult section much easier. The functions you can unlock for a checkpoint include a full health refill, a full spirit refill, and the dispense of whatever power up is fit for the level section. These purchases are often expensive, so decide whether you want them or not.
Bosses are the true challenges in Cyber Shadow, because if you aren’t careful you may die within seconds. It’s all about understanding their attack pattern, learning when to dodge, and knowing when to use your most powerful attacks to dish out the most damage. Every boss has like two phases and the second phase is usually more trickier. Before you continue forth in a new chapter you are offered to explore previous levels using new abilities you unlock, because there are secrets hidden in each stage that may possess upgrades to your maximum health and spirit gauge. Bosses will drop stat upgrades as well, but sometimes you may want to take the time to find the upgrades as they make later sections of the game more bearable. That’s all I really have to say about Cyber Shadow. Hopefully you can stop Dr. Progen and bring peace back to the once faithful Mekacity. God, it sounds like I'm describing a Power Rangers episode.
Thoughts
Cyber Shadow is a game that mosrly lived up to my expectations and reminded me why I love Yacht Club Games. They may not be developing games anymore now that the last expansion for Shovel Knight is out, but they’ll for now be publishing good ones made by other talented indie developers trying to find a place in the market. Hunziker spent a few years crunching away at Cyber Shadow and for the most part it was worth it. Let’s address what I enjoyed about this game the most. The pixel artwork is great, nostalgic, and when this game wanted to be beautiful it knew how to properly initiate those moments of beauty. The soundtrack is awesome as well possessing the bopping beats that retro styled games like Shovel Knight have. Some of you may not like the Shovel Knight soundtrack and get annoyed by it, but it’s one I particularly like for how energetic it is. The controls are tight and Shadow never felt too clunky or floaty to control. He moved where I wanted to go, snapped towards the opposite direction when I needed to, and performed abilities when I needed. We’ll touch more on that soon.
The story was pretty well written. I don’t think it’s a brilliant story and it can be forgettable at times for how slowly it’s told. I’m fine with how serious the plot is, but there wasn’t anything that made me go “wow!” and keep pushing forward to see what happens next. You can have a serious plot with gruesome moments, but at the same time you have to make sure it’s engaging. The story of Cyber Shadow is still really good though. It’s a tale about clinging onto hope and always getting back up during the darkest of times to continue pushing towards your goal. Remind me of Shovel Knight and how it as well followed a story about hope. Some of the lore and background of the world is explained through computers and virtual logs, so it takes the approach where if you are fully dedicated to the world then you’ll look into every bit and corner.
Cyber Shadow is also hard, and when I say that this game is hard I mean this game will slap you in the groin at times because it is not forgiving. Sometimes a platforming section will be made hard because flying enemies will be buzzing around you, environmental hazards will stand in the way, all the while tanky blokes attack you at the same time. There is so much stuff going on that a few platforming sections may get overwhelming. The checkpoint system is very nice as you can make sections much easier, but what sucks is the distance between you and your next checkpoint. Enemies don’t drop health refills and the times when you do find one are often very rare or sparse. So most of the time it’s endurance rather than skill and mastery. Some enemies will launch attacks that home in towards the player and they are downright unavoidable at times. The bosses have huge health pools at times and they can be really annoying with how quick their attacks drain your health bar. To the point where three to four hits will kill you, so you can’t really mess up. However the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge is just enough to keep me playing.
Now there are a few more complaints I have with Cyber Shadow that deal with a few sections and design choices. The deflect ability is wonky as hell. The way it works is that you press the direction the projectile is coming from at the right time and turn it into a launchable shot that can be sent out using your slash. The deflect is also the same button as what makes Shadow move around, so oftentimes you’ll walk into your own death rather than deflect as you intended. “Isn’t it a skill that requires good timing?” Not if it’s wonky and doesn’t register at times! It sucks that enemies drop spirit refills, but don’t drop health refills which would have made progression much easier. The final boss can kiss my ass as it took way longer than it should have. Won't explain why, but dear lord the difficulty just spikes at this section and unreasonably so.
Cyber Shadow may get annoying with it’s inconsistent difficulty spikes especially with the bosses, but it is still a game I can recommend. The passion is there and it's a top notch product. It’s fun, addicting, and rewarding once you pull through those tough encounters. I’m not saying it’s the next Shovel Knight, but it’s another well made retro sidescroller. In the end I am going to give Cyber Shadow an 8/10 for being pretty good.
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