Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King: Review

If you thought that we were talking about another pixel “soulslice”, where action and platforming run hand in hand, then Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King – not the case: here we fight in a dark world with a third-person view. But quite often the gameplay does migrate to the edges of platformers, changing the 3D perspective to 2.5D. How did this affect the game and what else is interesting about this stylish French Dark Souls?

The magic of mystery and style

I walked along forgotten paths for days, weeks and months to reach the Palace of a Thousand Doors. A place where now there was only silence. Where the wind stopped and the waves retreated along with the Great Rift. Time for the Great Exodus..

And so I, shrouded in the fog of memories of the past and the future, stood in this mythical place that has been preserved. The only place that anyone in Hypnos could find without a map or compass, during the time when the King still reigned.

And I remember the silence in my soul.

Bitter raindrops in the wind.

This is the language the authors use (and the main one among them is the French artist and designer Maxime Rene [Maxime Rene]) talk to us both in press releases and in the game itself. Nothing particularly clear, but stylish, dark, mysterious and melancholy. Yes, and it looks exactly the same. In many ways, the picture and character models are reminiscent of another “soulslick” – Ashen, but in Shattered everything is somehow darker, or something, more gothic and, again, more melancholic.

It becomes especially impressive when the https://bahis-comcasino.co.uk/login/ game changes from a third-person view to a side view:

All this, of course, refers to Dark Souls and the aura of mystery and darkness with which the plot is presented there. But in Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King, like many truly French games, you can feel your charm. Katerina Krasnopolskaya won’t let you lie.

We play for a certain Wanderer – in the world of Hypnos this seems to be a certain position, title or responsibility. In any case, he must piece together the fragments of reality and trace the fall of civilization – this world is abandoned and post-apocalyptic, and its collapse occurred after the disappearance of the King. In the process, we periodically discover new secrets of Hypnos, including about our own origin and purpose.

And besides, we fight not only with ordinary enemies, but also with demiurges – these are destroyer gods from a distant universe, who were at odds and devoured each other until they destroyed everything around them, and now, out of boredom, they “play with corpses”. We are constantly told about this and much more by a small creature that the main character meets at the very beginning, and then carries on his back – here we immediately remember the courier with the baby from Death Stranding.

Souls are not taken away here

There is much less mystery in the gameplay. In general, everything is according to the patterns and precepts Dark Souls: dodges, parries and counterattacks, stamina management, the ability to use not only melee weapons, but also magic, collecting “souls” for leveling up, bonfires as control points at which we save and are reborn after death.

In Limbo, at the player’s base, where you can return almost at any time through portals or using one of the consumables, there is an altar where we spend the collected “souls” to increase the basic parameters – physical strength, magic, health, mana/stamina reserves. The more we pump, the more points will be required for the next upgrade.

There, in Limbo, there is a forge where you can improve weapons, as well as craft consumables and materials for upgrading piercing objects.

The difference is that after death we are allowed to endlessly return for “souls” – they will not disappear anywhere, no matter how many times you die. This makes the passage somewhat easier and shifts the game from a masochist simulator towards an action-RPG (as is the case with Ashen, By the way). That is, if you constantly demonstrate great reactions and cannot defeat everyone with your “skill”, then you can play more slowly, betting on pumping up your parameters.

A world full of secrets… and jumps

In any case, it’s fun to play. Largely also because it’s fun to explore the world. There is a unique “lore”, non-trivial level design, a lot of verticality, when, for example, you need to climb and jump up stairs or fall for a long time and jump on islands hanging in the air to get to the next location. There are many doors that are closed for the time being, secret portals that need to be found to open shortcuts, ruins and obelisks with inscriptions that can only be read with the help of special stones.

In addition, the study is nonlinear. There are, for example, doors leading to the next boss, but you are free not to go there right away, but to move on and then return through the portals with renewed vigor and decide on a difficult rendezvous.

It is clear that in Shattered there are also problems. The world still feels empty – it puts more pressure on aesthetics than on richness. The bosses are not as interesting and difficult as in you know what game. Platform elements and puzzles add variety and charm to the action, but the controls and camera are not ideal – and in general it can be difficult to know where to jump.

And yet Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King leaves a positive impression. This is an extraordinary, stylish “soulslice”, distinguished by its quality of workmanship, atmosphere and well-developed world. And most importantly, this is just the beginning – as the authors assure, they have been creating this universe for 10 years and are now preparing new games in the world of Hypnos. By God, I would go back there again.

Pros: intriguing plot; non-trivial world; colorful characters; hypnotizing atmosphere; overall fun gameplay; unusual transitions from action to platforming; interesting research process.

Cons: the world sometimes seems empty; Not the most convenient camera controls and behavior, especially during platforming.