Aragami: Shadow Edition

I am a bit 10 years late to this review, but I really want to stress how much of a masterpiece this game is. Aragami 1 is the first Indie game that made me realize the potential of what a small team of passionate developers can do, unlike the corporate video game companies that make generic AAA video game slop. While this game might lack in some areas, in terms of "standard", it excels at everything else. Let me explain to you why # Art over rEaListic Graphics This game is 10 years old and was built in the now-outdated Unity Engine (AI says version 5.4), but because the team made the characters look "cartoonish" for lack of a better term, the game can easily withstand the wits of time in terms of how it looks. It's the same reason why I can still play DMC3, which looks anime-ish rather than looking realistic, unlike DMC5 Aragami's art style kinda reminds me of Samurai Jack, since when I think of Aragami's core ability, I am reminded of the Samurai Jack episode with "shinobi, warrior of the night," where a ninja hides in the shadows. Speaking of abilities, let's talk about gameplay. # Gameplay (Noncontextual controls) The gameplay of Aragami 1 is its greatest strength and is the sole reason why I consider Aragami the best stealth game I've ever played. Tenchu had the cool ninja characters, but the controls in WoH/Fatal-Shadows are just not that good. The Hitman games feel more like a puzzle stealth game rather than an action-stealth game Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world slop that copies modern Assassin's Creed slop. Aragami, on the other hand, is a traditional level-based game that gives players tools to sneak around enemies and kill them stealthily if needed. The best part about the controls of Aragami is that it has minimal contextual requirements to perform.Some games are very contextual when it comes to performing anything, instead of building "gamey physics" to let players play around with the mechanics.Other than that, the extra abilities given to the player might make the game easy later on, but it makes the gameplay more fun rather than "boring" because it's unchallenging. Try clearing all levels on the hard difficulty while killing all enemies is so much fun.Besides that, there is the small stuff I wish to praise # The small stuff (Story & music) So let's praise the one thing that I liked about the game, and I wished they had played with the lore they created in Aragami 2 ## The story The story of the game revolves around the main 2 characters: Yamiko and her sidekick spirit, Aragami (the player). As you progress in the story, you get to know these 2 characters while the game gives you traditional cutscenes, the lore about the past, and the world they inhabit. For those who listen closely to the guards, you might have found out that more people can control the "essence" of other elements that are not light and dark. In the castle level, at the start, 2 guards speak about the Earth benders, although they use a different term to describe "benders." This means that the world of Aragami is essentially an alternate universe like Avatar. Other than that, I am very glad that I took my time to understand the plot, which paid off in the end. And I wish that one day, the company that made this game would be resurrected, pun intended XD. ## Soundtrack The soundtrack of Aragami reminds me of the good old times when the West had this image of easy Asia, where everything was about martial arts, ninjas, samurai, chi or "ki", and of course, the theory of elements (water, earth, fire, air, light, and darkness) It's nice. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but still have to give it a point of praise ## Nitpicks My only nitpicks are the following: - I wish they could have implemented split-screen co-op and not just online - Maybe toss in 1-2 enemy types, because there are a total of 2 (regular guards with swords, and Archers) - Kinda wished we had at least 2 more levels to have a total of 15 levels, instead of 13. - Yamiko's boss fight ends too quickly. I wish the level could test our mastery of the abilities we have gained so far. # Summary I really wanna thank the Indie team that created this game, and I really hate myself for only now playing this game, after 10 years. My faith in the gaming industry has been restored, and the only games I'll be looking forward to playing are Indie games. I just wish that Aragami 2 had continued the mechanics of the first game.

El mejor juego de sigilo para Nintendo Switch, jugabilidad, historia y ambientación exquisitas. La signature edition es una joya. Totalmente recomendado