9 Years of Shadows Review: Pretty as a Picture, but Plagued by Darkness

As someone that once had a pretty hardcore crowdfunding addiction, I feel like I’m always trying to justify my impulse purchases. To myself, if nobody else. Because as much as I try to research projects, there’s almost an inescapable certainty that some of them will turn out to be stinkers, while some may not even get produced. Which is why it’s really refreshing to play something I had a hand in crowdfunding, and it turns out to be one of the most enjoyable Metroidvanias I’ve played in quite some time. That game is 9 Years of Shadows, developed by Halberd Studios and published by Freedom Games. Not only does it embrace the conventions the genre is known for, but it does so in a fresh and enjoyable way. That said, it’s currently held back by some pretty serious technical issues. Keep reading to discover why it should still be on your radar.

Go Into the Light…

First, let’s focus on the positive. The entirety of 9 Years of Shadows has a gorgeous, hand-drawn aesthetic which first drew me to the project. What’s impressive is that, unlike some projects, this one actually got prettier as development progressed. This is a world devastated by a powerful curse that literally sucks all color and life out of everything it touches. As a result, the main character, Europa, loses her parents to this tragedy. Europa isn’t willing to let depression take her, though. Instead, she vows to investigate the source of the curse in Talos Castle and defeat it, or die trying. In fact, the introductory area of the game follows this ill-fated journey while teaching you the control basics. Our heroine gives it her best shot but ultimately falls in battle to a massive, shapeshifting reaper creature. But, lucky for us, that’s not where her story ends.

Glorious Color

Europa is saved by a ghostly teddy bear creature named Apino. Not only does he save Europa, but he restores color to the corrupted Talos Castle. Apino may not be a great conversationalist, but he helps Europa in surprising ways. For one thing, he shoots energy that can shatter dark crystals which block her path. For another, his energy literally keeps her alive and free from the curse that has seeped into every corner of the castle. And yes, you can and should hug him, since doing so heals Europa. This mechanic reminds me of an obscure Metroidvania called Chronicles of Teddy, though thankfully, it’s an incidental correlation. Both games may have a furry mascot friend, but 9 Years of Shadows is far more streamlined and much less irritating to navigate. At least when it works as intended, but more on that later.

Other than Europa and Apino, you’ll discover a small band of musicians. They’re a mysterious bunch and appear to have a spark of divinity, not to mention being imbued with magical skills. A pair of sisters will reward you for finding musical notes by either increasing your energy meter (which essentially doubles as your health) or boosting your base health, which affects how many times you can take critical damage after your meter is emptied. Keep in mind, you use energy whenever you fire off one of Apino’s projectiles, which you’ll need to do often.

Besides the sisters, the other main musician is actually something of a blacksmith. He’ll help you reforge armor that Europa finds as you explore the castle. Each set of armor has a distinct elemental affinity, which in turn is affected by elemental strengths and weaknesses inherent to different enemies. Though I didn’t find the elemental strength and weaknesses super intuitive, I appreciated how the game offers this as a way to help you deal more damage without Europa getting vastly overpowered, like Alucard in Symphony of the Night. That said, I’m not entirely clear what benefits are obtained from going to the blacksmith, and the game isn’t very clear about it.

Rainbow Energy

I should probably talk a bit more about how health works in this game, as it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. Since Europa’s health and energy share the same meter, that means that if you take too much damage, you’ll be unable to fire off Apino’s projectiles. Besides opening some sealed doors, this is also key to defeating crystalline enemies and unlocking complex mechanisms. If you’re touching solid ground and are nearly out of health, you can spend a moment to hug Apino and recover a little. But if you really want to fully heal Europa, you’ll have to have good reflexes.

If you take fatal damage when low on health, a quick time meter will appear on the screen. If you hit the button when it lands on the marker (which is always in a different place), Europa heals fully. Here’s my problem. This often happens in the thick of battle, which makes it very difficult to focus on the meter. I usually was flummoxed and struggling to survive, especially during the frenetic boss battles, and as a result, regularly missed the prompt, forcing me to wait for the right moment to hug my little buddy. I’m not a huge fan of this mechanic. I appreciate how unique it is, but I think it needs to be highlighted more clearly for the player. I’m more used to recovering health via items found about. Here, the only ways to heal are the aforementioned ones, as well as using a save point.

Armor Makes the Maiden

Though I don’t love that mechanic, I really enjoy the vast majority of platforming in 9 Years of Shadows. At first, Europa can only walk and jump around, swinging her mighty halberd. She gets the ability to double jump, a staple in the genre, and much more besides. Each set of armor gifts her different abilities. Besides using elemental affinity to trigger switches, you’ll also learn how to transform. Europa can become a mermaid, gifting her the ability to swim up waterfalls and burst out of the water; turn into a snake and burrow through earthen channels, laying bombs as you go; and take on the mantle of a mighty phoenix, hovering on drafts of hot air and getting more air by exploding on nearby enemies.

Not only are all these transformations pretty epic, but Europa will instantly change armor if in a threatening environment. For example, you’ll come across rooms full of poison. Once you have the Gaia Armor, the moment you walk into a poison room, you’ll don that armor, letting you focus on attacking foes. Later on, you’ll be able to dance through lava and rooms full of boiling heat. It’s neat how you can instantly shift armor, and it’s used to great effect for puzzles. One example is a room full of alternating curtains of lava and water, which you’ll navigate effortlessly.

Brutal Beasties

While the platforming is a lot of fun in 9 Years of Shadows, I’m not quite as enthusiastic about the combat. While it’s fast-paced and enjoyable for the most part, it’s also very one-note. You’ll be doing the same basic attack combo the entire game, other than a mostly useless charged swing attack. As for boss battles, those fall into two camps. Battling speedy mini-bosses who rush around the arena harrying you, and true boss battles. Those are almost like small puzzles, with you weaving and dodging attacks, then using Apino to shatter crystal sections before you can attack their exposed weak point. I much preferred these boss battles, though I did get tired of how they all relied on Apino’s projectiles.

Besides exploring the castle, defeating bosses, and getting new armor and relics, there’s a good amount of optional content in the form of quests. You’ll get them from the musicians, and they always involve finding and defeating a powerful beast. These are the mini-bosses, and they’re a wild bunch. There’s a maddened dwarf, a garbage-throwing brute, a living suit of crystalline armor, and much more. I love the variety, and you’ll get pretty well rewarded for fulfilling these quests. Other than that, you’ll find hidden rooms with musical notes and other goodies to keep you exploring even after you roll credits.

Somber Beauty

Visually, I adore 9 Years of Shadows. Not only is it gorgeous and bursting with color, but it pays homage to several classic Metroidvanias. There are references to Metroid Dread, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and more. I especially appreciate the elevator sequences where Europa silently thinks to herself, though the still cutscenes are also attractive. I know there’s a lot of debate over whether or not games count as art, and I can wholeheartedly vouch for 9 Years of Shadows in this regard. The music in the game is just as fantastic. Orchestrated by Michiru Yamane and Norihiko Hibino, it’s equal parts dramatic, classical, and just a joy to listen to. It adds a ton of emotion and gravity to the adventure and combined with the wonderful artwork, it makes this a game that I feel everybody should play.

Room For Improvement

Now, I’ve said many great things about the game, and I meant every word. But if you fast forward to the end of the review, you might be wondering why I scored it the way I did. The simple answer is that the PC build of 9 Years of Shadows is plagued by more than just a curse. It’s plagued by a ton of glitches and problems that hindered the experience. I credit Halberd Studios with fixing a bad one early on as I was playing, but there are a ton of others still present. One constant headache is that the game has a tendency to quit on its own without warning, usually when I tried to continue after losing to a boss.

There’s also one mini-boss battle against something called the Hecate Trick. It summons homing bombs that beep loudly and then explode. But even after beating it, the sound of the bombs kept beeping incessantly, forcing me to quit and restart before it stopped. Probably the worst was fighting something called the Shadow of Demise. It’s already an irritating fight, forcing you to constantly hover over drafts of hot air, bouncing off meteors and avoiding gouts of flame. Usually, those gouts would give you a preview before they struck, allowing you to dodge. Other times, they would appear instantaneously, forcing me to suffer a lot of unnecessary damage. Those issues are bad but far from all of the quirks I’ve encountered. While I really enjoy the game, these absolutely need to be ironed out before I can wholeheartedly recommend it to every gamer.

Still Needs Some Tempering

I can’t pretend the glitches I encountered in 9 Years of Shadows weren’t frustrating, especially as a backer. I can only hope that Halberd Studios and Freedom Games take my complaints to heart and does everything they can to patch these problems as quickly as possible. Because underneath all the glitches, there’s a truly fantastic adventure, and one I still really enjoyed. If you’re a fan of Metroidvanias, definitely put this one on your wishlist. Just maybe wait on pulling the trigger until the developers have had a chance to make some necessary fixes.

Final Verdict: 3/5

Available on: PC (reviewed), coming later to Switch; Publisher: Freedom Games; Developer: Halberd Studios; Players: 1; Released: March 27, 2023; MSRP: $19.99

Editor’s note: The publisher provided a review copy to Hey Poor Player.