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Aragami is a game I never played on its original release as it slipped past me, but then stealth is what this title is all about.
In short, you’re an assassin, and there’s a supernatural tinge to how you go about things, but in short, whileyou collect some items and destroy others, the real fun here is the ability to quickly zip about and fight the enemy known as ‘Kaiho’, a bunch of mystical warriors who control the light (presumably they know where they switch is – ho, ho, ho). They begin wielding swords, but soon come the archers, along with more difficult baddies, and you need to keep your wits about you in order to complete each level.
You have shadow essence, allowing you to teleport into dark areas in each of the 13 levels, and it’s this teleportation aspect which takes a bit of getting used to as, initially, it makes it feel like one of those (rather annoying) VR games where you can’t walk about, and must ‘hop’ from space to space. However, this is how your shadow spirit gets about, so you need to get with it, and after a few minutes, it is easy to get to grips with, so it’s not difficult to pick up and play, and it becomes much more enjoyable than said VR games.
Keep out of the light, and stay in the dark, to build up your shadow essence, and if you swap light and dark, with black and red, respectively, it could almost be Bullseye coming back. Sorry for the nostalgia trip, but this game has also given me very pleasant nostalgic memories.
Aragami: Shadow Edition – Gameplay footage (PC, 1080p HD) – DVDfeverGames
Aragami is very much a stealth-based game, and reminds me of elements from both Hitman and Thief, two of my favourite game series of all time. In both games, the enemy will spot you from time to time, you make a run for it, and even though (in this, at least) there’s not a huge amount of space to disappear within, they’ll STILL give up along the way, and quite quickly, too!
In addition, you’ll build up skill points to get new shadow techniques and upgrades, the former including casting shadows further ahead, in well-lit areas, so you can jump into them, so this is building nicely as you go. Add to this the ability to change your skins, and you’ll also meet the mysterious Yamiko, an ethereal figure who’ll appear when you least expect it, to tell more of her story.
When going through the levels, it’s sometimes easy to run through, but it’s tough to master, especially since additional run-throughs of each level finds some baddies in slightly different places, so it does cleverly wrong-foot you.
For this game, all the elements that make it up are worth a straight 8/10. It’s hugely enjoyable, and gives off the inviting atmosphere, but it doesn’t tax your PC, massively, nor your senses (other than just being frustrating at a lot of times) and there are occasional issues such as characters falling through a fence, or rather partly ‘appearing’ through it, because they’re too big for the area they’re walking along.
This re-release also includes the Nightfall DLC, which has 4 new story chapters and 3 new Shadow Techniques, as well as multiplayer, but I’m just one for the single-player experience.
Aragami: Shadow Edition is out now on PC/Steam, Xbox One and PS4, all via their respective online stores.
Important info:
- Developer: Lince Works
- Publisher: Maximum Games and Merge Games
- Players: single player, multiplayer
- Languages: Otherworldly!
- Subtitles: English
Aragami: Shadow Edition – Announcement Trailer – Playstation
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
8 8 8 8 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.