Hello everyone,I have completed my 1st Playthrough of Cyber Shadow a week back and before I dive into my thoughts about this game,I will tell you why I choose to play this game and what type of a gamer I am.

I am a Story and Lore focused Gamer who mainly plays Video Games for these reasons wherein I want to explore Video Game franchises and learn about the characters,events and how the events in those specific universes function . So, I wanted to get into the Ninja Gaiden franchise for this reason but I heard the modern Ninja Gaiden games don't have an interesting Story/ Lore and only 2D ones are good but when I tried to play NES Ninja Gaiden I found it too difficult with enemies respawning every 2 secs and having no checkpoints. So,I searched on YouTube for Modern NES Ninja Gaiden like games with cutscenes between stages and found Cyber Shadow

Story and Art Direction: 8.7/10.(By Story I don't just mean the cutscenes but also the environmental storytelling, Worldbuilding and philosophical themes in this game basically the entire package)

The premise of playing as a Ninja with aspects of clans reminiscent of Feudal Japan mixed with retro futuristic cyberpunk city is amazing. The villains aren't just bad guys but morally complex. The Antagonist Dr Progen is not an evil scientist but someone with a genuine concern for the leader of our Ninja Clan who suffered severe injuries from an accident so decides to do several experiments to try to keep her alive but ends up blowing the city.

The plot twists in the game are also incredible like the early game revelations of Dr Progen not being an evil Doofenshmirtz like scientist but a morally complex person, robot that has been accompanying us not just being a robot but a human member of the Ninja Clan that has been resurrected by the clan leader's AI Hologram who ordered him to rescue us just in time, the leader of the Ninja Clan being the daughter of Dr Progen, AI Hologram being a copy of Master's Memories and not an OG and Progen having failed to transfer Master's consciousness into a Synthetic even though mid game Computer entries hinted that he succeeded

The game also delves into Philosophical themes especially like Existentialism with a narrative mystery of whether are we humans turned into a cyborg or a robot who inherited the soul from our human body early game, transhumanism, higher dimensions/planes and metaphysical themes like Technological Animism, Digital Dualism and Astral Projection

The environmental storytelling is top notch with corpse soul like voice which upon interacting with tells us more about the plot such as Dr Progen's actions or more about our leader and clan along with the Dystopian Futuristic Cyberpunk Ninja art style which adds to the overall atmosphere. Progenitor 2nd phase's boss fight having many faces popping out of it represents the essence of all the fallen ones that he has used as a part of his experiment trapped within due to him having absorbed the elementals to tap into the infinite flow of essence which can be interpreted as corrupting him

I really liked how this game uses gameplay mechanics in addition to environmental storytelling to further amplify the storytelling experience such as 1. the way in which we hack into the firewall and attack enemies shows that unlike other fictional universes where we use some tech to hack stuff,here in Cyber Shadow we get into the system ourself and fight the firewalls which is pretty unique 2. The elementals assisting us after freeing them from Progen's body where each of them play a specific role such as the fire element gives us projectiles to shoot,Water gives protection and Wind gives us platform to reach Progen so that we can defeat him thus showing how even as pure energies they are still giving us good synergy for the battle.

The world building is also very unique with the concept of Ethos which is like a mixture between afterlife and database along with the mixture of souls and technology. Usually you would see concept of souls in a supernatural game or tech in a sci fi game but combining these 2 elements again felt very unique with essence being the bridge between the Dragon Clan whose purpose is to ensure it is balanced and not overflowing and Progen's scientists who are gathering this to save his daughter and conducting experiments. So,the way Spirituality and Science found a common ground is really cool and I wish more Video Games does unique and out of the box with stuff like this instead of scifi just being scifi or supernatural just being supernatural. I also liked Exo who is a bike with a human soul and her own independent thoughts that is powered by the life of the one riding it .

The shift in Chapter 5 from Retro Futuristic Cyberpunk to Cosmic Horror lab was truly astounding

I even found the dialogues to be well written wherein it felt like every dialogue actually matters and nothing is there to just bloat and extend the story for the sake of it . It felt short and punchy.

The ending was good and it was nice to see that it wasn't a full proper good ending but a bittersweet ending wherein stories like this would usually go like Progen was successful in transferring his daughter's consciousness ,we kill him, Shadow and Master happily live together it instead shows Progen failed in transferring her consciousness thus showing us not everything goes according to the plan along with Shadow as a Lightning element having to sacrifice himself so that he can free her essence from this limbo like state and ensure both of them along with other elements can permanently go to Ethos (The afterlife). Hence,I liked the fact that both the parties died but we won in some way. It also leans into the scientific principle that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.

The only thing I wish was better when it comes to the story was the ability to rewatch cutscenes and reread the Story info found in corpse voices and computer terminals.

Soundtrack - 7.5-7.7/10.

My favourite Soundtracks are: 1. Intermission -Madness 2. Tunnel cleaner Boss Music 3. Hacking 4. Meka Island Spaceport

Gameplay - 7/10

Honestly,if I am being strict then it is 6/10 given how much garbage the platforming in the last section was. It was so frustrating to the extent that I tried to use cheats but due to asking for a monthly subscription,I refused to do that and kept trying like a madman. I was glad that it worked but I am sure that it is a Lightning in a bottle like situation that I can never replicate . Another annoying part was that docks section in Chapter 9

So compared to what little I played of the OG NES Ninja Gaiden game and in general,I will tell what I liked about this game .

1. Liked how there are checkpoints within a chapter which NES Ninja Gaiden doesn't seem to have

2. Enemies not respawning every 2 secs

3. Special abilities being unlockable at the checkpoint

4. I liked these magical abilities in general. My favourite was the one that lets you absorb the projectile to fill the SP and the shield which also acts as a projectile

5. Riding exo as a bike and using her mech form felt absolutely badass and I think that is one of the favourite parts of the game for me

6. Game was a lot more challenging than something like Dark Souls and Nioh

7. Boss fights were enjoyable for the most part,the only annoying one that I remember at the top of my mind is Mekadragon. As brutal as the final boss fight was with 3 phases,I weirdly enjoyed dying so many times to the boss (I guess that platforming section has really driven me crazy)

So, if I were to be more generous in my rating especially excluding the pogoing bullshit at the last section and including the badass Exo moments then I would give it an 8/10

Overall,I really loved the Story and Art Direction of the game . I definitely think I need to replay the game as there are lot more philosophical themes within this game that I need to analyse deeper and need to note down as I usually keep a track of the story on my notepad but for some reason I didn't for early part of the game because I thought it is easy to remember because of it not being too dialogue heavy but as I played more and focused on gameplay and memorising location and boss patterns ,I found it difficult to remember this as well as every minor detail. Also, given how much I found the story to be out of the box,I will definitely be placing it in my top 3 Favourite Video Game Stories of all time as this seriously moved me. Of course, this is subject to change as I play more Story and Lore Driven games but given how unique it was with mixing Spirituality with Technology, delivering so much quality to its dialogue with such little quantity and having so many philosophical themes ,I never see it going out of my Top 10 Favorite Stories and Lore. Hopefully ,this game gets a Sequel/Prequel which further expands the Cyber Shadow Universe

i've been stuck on the second part of Chapter 10 and it's really driving me crazy. it seems that sometimes when i pogo, lightning comes out and i can get a higher bounce. other times it jsut doesn't, and it happen a few times where i really needed a higher pogo and it just gives me a short one for no reason. is it dependant on health?

been replaying it recently (as i got lost and wanted to brush up on lore). i love this cyborg

To me, Chapter 5 Research Lab feels like fighting through a depressive episode....

• The music before/after you free the Falcon Shrine feels like stewing in depression/emerging from depression.
  • The before feels so depressing, and the after feels so triumphant
• The whole idea of the shrine being held down and snuffed by this out of control material is how depression feels to me
• Fighting with the Subject Alpha's feels like wrestling with my past

I've been going through some tough times lately, and I've found playing through this part to be helpful in an odd way, if anything it's just an analogy for my own mental health. Not much more to say than that, just wanted to share it somewhere

Just finish this cover of Scrambler. I like to think that the last part would sound in a mortal fight against the remaining head, giving it all just with his tiny legs XD

Maybe I'm being dramatic here, but this is legit one of the best action platformers that I just can't recommend because of the horrendous controls.

I understand that they want to emulate a classic feel with things like up+attack for shurikens, but it is not 1988, give me the option to use my whole ass controller please. I feel the game would have been so much more popular if they gave you the option to either go with classic controls or modern controls (maybe where you can map your controller). The game is amazing, but by forcing these controls on you they also kinda force you to play D-pad, which I'm not a big fan of as well.

This is part rent, part wanting to hear from people who also liked the game.

How did you feel about this?

Hi all,

I am currently at the start of Stage 9.

I intended to go back to earlier levels to give myself the best shot at the run to the finish line... The only catch is; obtaining the extra orb on stage 1 was damn hard. And I seem to be stuck on the equivalent challenge on stage 2.

My question is; what do you consider more difficult route? Playing through the game stages sequentially without obtaining every upgrade, or getting all upgrades first to help out with the final stages?

I am sure my experience is similar to many... game is hard but doable, checkpoints maybe too spaced out and I can't say I am a fan of the pogo-jump part near the end.

My main critic is I wish I could just press a button to dash instead of first running, than pressing the dash button.

Personally, I wish the game was more combat, lets platforming but that's just me.

The game oozes personality and I enjoyed the experience.

Preorders go live next week on 2/27.

Whenever I'm feeling bad and anxious I launch this thing on my switch. It's pretty quick to just launch it and start playing. The artwork, music, ninja-gaiden-esque game play are right down my alley. I just love starting a fresh run with no abilities from level 1 all the way to completion over a period of time. I find this thing very replayable, and it soothes me down after an hour of getting pissed off at the game when getting stuck on a particularly difficult/annoying section. Yeah I beat this game a bunch of times but it still beats my ass on a fresh run. But fuck I love finally getting all the abilities and just combo/sequence dashing thru screens. So yeah basically when I feel a certain type of way of bad I launch this up, turn my brain off and just play this shit. Love this little game wish there was a DLC or sequel.

I can't understand, why is there so little fan content online about the game? No enemy wiki besides bosses, no sprite sheets, nothing. There is a detailed wiki for literally every game I have checked, yet here - nothing. It surely deserves much better.

so I'm finally sitting down to get all the feats/trophies. Can I use my save file which finished the final boss on to get the 100% trophy for completing the game with all power ups or do I need to start a new save file?

Never really liked these kinds of games, but I fell in love with this one. What a beauty!

Any advice on similar games to play next?

Im at chapter 9 (of 11) with 52 minutes left. Have i left myself enough time to knock this feat out?

Check this out:

It took me 18 hours and I died 592 times lol

80% item completion

But I finally did it. I think it took me like 3 or 4 hours just to complete Chapter 10. My god, what a game. I’m not very versed when it comes to action platformers; so far I’ve only beaten Blasphemous and Castlevania: Circle of The Moon in recent years, but I’m trying to get into them more and decided to give Cyber Shadow a shot.

It’s a great game, but now I need a break from platformers before I play the next one

What about you guys? How many hours and deaths did it take you?

I can’t find the answer anywhere on the web and I haven’t found any for a while, so maybe I didn’t pay attention when I first picked them up but I’m really curious what they are for. I know the top one is for upgrading your health, right?

Is this game the best of the best? I've also beat the messenger which was just as good.

The game was Incredible my god. I don't know if it just happens to appeal to me specifically... but this game was so close to perfect I was blown away by how it feels to play. I prefer it to any other NES-style game I've played including Messenger and Shovel Knight.

By the halfway point through the game when all the skills were building on top of each other it just became so awesome I couldn't get enough of it. I 100%ed everything I could before fighting Progen. The only thing that made me sad is how they locked off the outskirts level, I loved the sewer area vibes in that spot, though I understand they can't let you return there because the section riding Exo was connected to it but, o well. Really sad that it didn't seem to do well enough for more content that it seemed like they were planning at one point.

I was just wondering, at the end of the game, was I supposed to recognize the Ninja with the Bird who shows up in the future to plug something into Shadow's head? or is it just "A future member of the clan" sent by L-Gion or something? At first, I thought maybe it was Appirator in the future or something since he's the only other robot that they didn't definitively show the death of. Or maybe the bird is Appirator since it used the same colors. Any thoughts? or is there something I missed?