Shadowgate – A Classic Reimagined

I’m all for the recent trend in revisiting classic games with a modern twist. When I heard that Zojoi was starting a campaign on Kickstarter to breathe new life into one of my absolute favorite games, I was ecstatic! Shadowgate was very likely the most difficult puzzle based game that I had played back on the NES. It was a huge influence on my love of the point and click genre and now it will frustrate and perplex an entirely new generation of gamers. With its release yesterday, I’m sure that it has done exactly that. 

Shadowgate places players in the role of the “Seed of Prophecy” destined to bring down the evil warlock that has taken up residence in the living castle, Shadowgate. And just like the original, this new edition is played from a first person perspective with text narration and command button based interface. This time around players will have the aid of Yorick, a talking skull with more attitude than should ever persist beyond death. The story being told in this reimagining is full of depth and intrigue. You’ll interact with the wizard, Lakmir, through a series of cutscenes that tell the tale of Shadowgate and the evil that befell it.

Some old puzzles remain intact, some have been updated, and many more are entirely new. This Shadowgate is even more brain meltingly difficult than the one on the NES ever was. Thankfully there are three difficulty settings to choose from to allow newcomers a chance to get a handle on things before they run screaming to the internet looking for a guide. Yeah, I’ll admit that I’ve been playing my review copy for almost a week and I’m hopelessly stuck on master difficulty. The library is killing me and I have been desperately wishing there was a forum I could use to talk with others about it. (Edit: now that the game is live, there is a handy discussion forum here.) I’m sure the puzzle will seem far less obtuse once I understand the solution. I have become quite familiar with the image of death in the game.

Two bridges, one chasm.

I am in love with the graphical treatment that Shadowgate has received. Anyone who played the original will feel the nostalgia while traversing through a multitude of familiar rooms that have received gorgeous facelifts. Every room looks like a painting. Actually, each room is a newly painted rendering full of detail that wasn’t even remotely possible in previous iterations of the game. I mean, just look at the title image or the image to the left depicting the infamous twin bridge room. It’s at once familiar and very new. The newly added cutscenes are done in the same style and bring a level of story to the journey that previously only existed in comic form.

For those with an undying love of the original Shadowgate, there are some options which will be of considerable interest. Players who wish to relive the past can turn on retro music, text, and transitions. Retro music replaces the new orchestral score with the original chiptune score from the NES days. Retro text changes the normal text block back to the original quill cursor revealing the descriptions of each room. And finally, retro transitions brings back the room to room transition (complete with sound effects) to replace the current fade transition.

I know that it wasn’t the first platform for Shadowgate, but the NES is the bar by which this new edition will be measured in my mind. I’m thrilled that this isn’t simply a remake with a new look (though I’d have still loved that), but a reimagined version that remains incredibly faithful to the original. I can’t imagine any fan of Shadowgate not being thrilled with the chance to once again delve into the depths of the castle with new puzzles to contend with and knowing that old walkthroughs will provide little to no help. Seriously, they’re not getting me anywhere. Pick it up on Steam, and let me know if you find the list of authors I need for that darned library bookcase!

You’ll be seeing a lot of this cheerful guy.