The first time I saw Halberd Studios’ Kickstarter campaign for 9 Years of Shadows, I was immediately intrigued. Every successful Kickstarter usually has a distinctive identity or plan, so seeing the beautifully rendered pixel art that Halberd Studios had prepared immediately captured my attention. Now that 9 Years of Shadows has been released, I can honestly say that it exceeded my expectations, though it does have a few rough edges.

9 Years of Shadows puts you in the role of Europa, a young woman who seeks to end a dark curse that has befallen her homeland. 9 years prior, all color drained from the world, and her parents fell victim to the creatures that came out of the cursed land. Since then, Europa has trained as a warrior, hoping to end the curse and save her ruined land. As she ventures into the mysterious castle where the curse originated, she meets a ghostly teddy bear named Apino.

Armed with Apino’s abilities and her own strengths, Europa seeks to find out the truth behind the curse, her missing memories, and the mysterious Apino. She’ll need all the help she can get, so rescuing the musicians scattered around the castle is vital to success. Additionally, as you progress you’ll gain elemental armors, which will give Europa new movement abilities as well as new combat options.

9 Years of Shadows plays out like a typical Metroidvania, though the combat plays more similarly to a Souls-like. Europa has (initially) two health gems and a magic bar. The magic bar serves a dual purpose as an over-shield and as fuel for Apino’s abilities. If you run out of magic, you can refill it partially by hugging Apino or fully by completing a timing QTE. If you take damage without any magic in your bar, you’ll lose a health crystal, after running out of health crystals you die.

This system is fairly frustrating because it makes survival a resource game where you constantly have to balance using Apino’s magic for exploration and combat, as well as hoarding it for survival. You can refill your magic bar by damaging or killing enemies, but during boss fights, this isn’t sustainable. Additionally, healing with Apino takes time (like channeling in Hollow Knight) so in hectic fights, you’ll die often.

I wouldn’t find it so frustrating if there were autosave options or difficulty options. However, not only are there no difficulty options, but saving is limited to save rooms. This means that if you die in between save rooms (spaced relatively distant from each other) then you usually lose quite a bit of progress. Luckily save rooms are (usually) close to boss fights, so it isn’t that hard to get back to a boss if you die.

It does become an issue though during multi-phase fights since there are no checkpoints, so a death requires you to do the entire fight over. There’s also the problem of the game crashing, though the dev team is working on stability issues as part of the next patch. At this current stage in the game, using elevators, passing between rooms (occasionally), or respawning after deaths can sometimes lead to a crash.

If there was a manual (save anywhere) option I’d just suggest saving regularly. However, currently, all you can do is try to be careful about saving when you can and just be prepared to redo sections. If you’re willing to ignore the rough edges of the combat and the crashing though, you’ll find a lot to love with 9 Years of Shadows.

The art style is a feast for the eyes, and the soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous. The story is also incredibly intriguing, so I could easily see it becoming a classic on par with Hollow Knight. There are a variety of side quests, secrets, and collectibles to find as well. This includes items to strengthen your armors, increase your health and magic, and lore crystals to read.

On PC I also found it strange that the accessibility menu was so limited. Also, there are only 2 resolution options available, 1920×1080 and 1280×720, which could be strange if you’re wanting to play in windowed mode as I do.

While it isn’t the most accessible Metroidvania I’ve played, and it does seem to have some growing to do, I really like 9 Years of Shadows. Usually, after a few crashes, I would call a game a loss until there were more updates. With this game, I’m excited to get back into it, even if it takes me some time to progress. I do hope the devs consider some accessibility options for difficulty though.

If you’re a Metroidvania fan, you’ll love 9 Years of Shadows. Soulslike fans will probably love the combat, but more relaxed players may not be as fond of it. From an artistic standpoint alone, 9 Years of Shadows is worth your time. It’ll be even better once the crashes get resolved, but you won’t be disappointed if you check it out now regardless.

A PC review copy of 9 Years of Shadows was provided by Halberd Studios for this review.

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9 Years of Shadows

$19.99 USD

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Gorgeous Visuals
• Beautiful Soundtrack
• Fun Exploration and Mobility
• Intriguing Story
• Lots of Side Content

Cons

• No Fast Travel
• Magic System is Frustrating
• No Difficulty Options
• Only Two Visual Resolutions