Arkane is a studio known for making highly immersive and creative games, and every time Dishonored or Deathloop or Prey are mentioned, I want to say, "oh yeah, I love Arkane games". I then immediately remind myself that, of the four Arkane games I've played, Dishonored is the only one I've completed. As demonstrated by my incomplete Dishonored 2, Deathloop, and Redfall saves, I've realized recently that I like the idea of Arkane's immersive sims more than actually playing them because of how intimidating they can be to both get into and stick with.
Thankfully, with Ereban: Shadow Legacy, a stealth platformer from Baby Robot Games, I think I've found a great entry point to the genre. In my mind, it just barely ticks enough of the genre's boxes that it qualifies as the lightest of immersive sims, mixing player choice, open missions, and a versatile array of abilities to help you complete your mission, with the main one being the Splatoon-inspired core mechanic, Shadow Merge.
The urge to merge
In Ereban: Shadow Legacy, you play as Ayana, the sole survivor of the titular Ereban who have all mysteriously vanished since the end of a violent energy crisis. As a humanoid Ereban, Ayana can fade into shadows, rendering her completely undetectable to enemies and allowing her to glide across most shaded surfaces as a shadowy blob. Shadow Merge is essentially the kid-to-squid mechanic from Splatoon, except instead of firing jets of ink to create paths to swim through, you're restricted to the existing shadows cast by the sun and lights.
I opted for a less lethal approach for my playthrough, so slinking past enemies by finding clever paths around, over, or through obstacles with Shadow Merge was necessary, but also always made me feel like I had really outsmarted Ayana's robotic foes, the Syms. I love that the developers at Baby Robot Games clearly appreciate Splatoon's basic movement ability a lot, so took it and expanded it for a completely new purpose in Ereban: Shadow Legacy – now it's a viable stealth, movement, combat, and puzzle tool. It's a simple mechanic that's executed almost perfectly, feeling satisfying to use however you see fit, whether that's a lethal or non-lethal approach.
However, as a hero in a light immersive sim, Ayana needs more than just Shadow Merge to beat the Syms and their masters at the Helios megacorporation. As you progress, you can unlock even more Shadow Powers, buy smaller enhancements, and craft upgradeable gadgets. The Shadow Powers are obviously the main draw, and being split into lethal, non-lethal, and mixed categories, there's a lot of choice when it comes to using it all.
With my slightly more merciful approach, my first new power was Shadow Blind, letting me chuck a blinding orb at a Sym so I could slip past even without Shadow Merge. If I was feeling a bit more murderous, I could've unlocked Shadow Portal instead, which lets you swallow up a dead robot body with a black hole, leaving no trace of your exploits. But I especially loved the final non-lethal ability, Shadow Control, which lets you harmlessly possess an enemy for a limited time, allowing you to move freely without putting other Syms on high alert.
Admittedly, even with just the powers you unlock from the story, Ayana is very powerful by the end of the game, and Helios' Syms don't quite level up to match this. That means Ereban: Shadow Legacy certainly isn't a challenging stealth game – remember you have an ability that makes you completely undetectable right from the start – but that's a big part of why I think it's such a great introduction to the more intense world of immersive sims.
Over the course of the game's small six-hour length, you'll quickly learn and master Ayana's Shadow Powers and gadgets to evade or utterly dismantle Sym patrols, making you feel like a ghost in the night by the end. But gadgets and Shadow Powers need to be used sparingly thanks to limited uses, and small mistakes can still cost you dearly, resulting in getting zapped by an angry Sym. Even when things do go badly, a generous checkpointing system means you never lose 30-minutes of patient, cramp-inducing sneaking as you might in other games, and you won't have to rely on save scrubbing either. All in all, it makes Ereban: Shadow Legacy a highly forgiving experience that still leaves plenty of room for relishing the shadows.
Ereban: Shadow Legacy is out now on PC. See what else we've been enjoying in our Indie Spotlight series or see what's on the horizon with our roundup of upcoming indie games.
