Solve puzzles using light and shadows to guide two girls as you switch between a 2D and 3D world.
Shady Part of Me
Developer: Douze Dixièmes
Price: $15
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Shady Part of Me is a puzzle-platformer, but it has a bit of a twist on the usual platforming gameplay. You play as two characters who travel through the game’s levels together. One is a shadow girl, who exists in a 2D world and can interact with shadows like solid objects. Shadows cast on the environment’s walls are the platforms she travels across, walls that block her progress, or levers she can interact with. And these shadows come from objects in the 3D world, in which you control the second character, an ordinary girl.
However, the 3D character is afraid of being in the light. Therefore, she must stay in the shadows. In this way, you have one character who must be in the light and one who must be in the darkness, and since they share a world, a lot of the puzzles depend on how you manipulate objects in the environment. For example, the girl in the 3D world might pull a box back toward the light, casting a larger shadow that raises the platform the 2D girl is standing on, which then in turn lets her pull a lever that moves another object into the light and casts a shadow for the 3D girl to cross through safely.
Some of the puzzles are very simple, but others pose quite a challenge and really make you think about how you can use all of the pieces to alter the world in the way you need. Fortunately, there is a “rewind” mechanic that lets you quickly undo any action, so whether you die or simply realize you made a mistake, it’s never too difficult to get back to where you want to be. As you progress through the game, a few additional mechanics are added to the puzzles to keep them feeling fresh, such as the shadow girl being able to walk on walls or ceilings if the shadow she’s standing on is aligned in a different direction.
There are also collectibles throughout the game in the form of origami birds. Many of these require even trickier puzzle-solving to reach, and each rewards you with an additional word or phrase of dialogue written in the background. While collectibles are missable as you travel from area to area, you can replay any part of the game to look for any you missed.
Now, the story in Shady Part of Me is told in a few different ways. First, there is dialogue between the two girls, as well as another character introduced at a certain point. Next, there is text that appears in the background of the game, sometimes to echo what one of the characters said, sometimes to emphasize a related matter. It’s apparent almost immediately that the story is some sort of metaphor rather than an actual journey the two characters are taking. To me, this diminished its impact somewhat, but it might not bother other players as much. Either way, it’s still interesting to watch as further pieces of the story come to light–although it remains fairly ambiguous even at the end.
The story is also told at a very slow pace. One puzzle area might give you a line or two of dialogue between the girls, while the next one continues the conversation with another line. It progresses so slowly that it can feel a little tedious, but since the game is fairly short, that’s not too much of a problem. The story is also split into distinct acts, which are not only tied to important developments in the narrative, but also are reflected through significant changes in the environment.
Shady Part of Me has a great visual style and a fantastic soundtrack that emphasizes the moodiness of some of its scenes, as well as solid voice acting for its major characters. Above all, the way it plays with light and perspective for its puzzles is very well-done and makes the puzzle-solving the high point of the experience.
The Final Word
The story might be a bit too slow and ambiguous for some, especially when it comes to the ending, but Shady Part of Me is filled with clever puzzles that should appeal to fans of the puzzle-platformer genre.
-MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
