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9 Years of Shadows

in library

4.2/5

( 449 Reviews )

4.2

449 Reviews

English & 1 more
Offer ends on: 10/20/2025 09:59 EEST
Offer ends in: d h m s
19.997.99
Lowest price in the last 30 days before discount: 7.99
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
Safety and satisfaction. Stellar support 24/7 and full refunds up to 30 days.
9 Years of Shadows
Description
A fateful night of sorrow and ancient magic changed the life of a young child forever, and with it, everything else as mankind knew it. For 9 long years, the world has been submerged in the deepest of shadows, robbing every object and living creature of their color, their joy, and most impor...
Genre:
Action - Adventure - Metroidvania
Tags:
Adventure, Action, Indie, Fantasy, Story Rich, show 8 more... Atmospheric, 2D, Exploration, Female Protagonist, Pixel Graphics, Platformer, Magic, Metroidvania
Critics reviews
64 %
Recommend
Softpedia
8.5/10
CGMagazine
7/10
User reviews

4.2/5

( 449 Reviews )

4.2

449 Reviews

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Product details
2023, Halberd Studios, ...
System requirements
Windows 10, Intel Core i3-9100F, 8 GB RAM, GT 730, Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system...
Time to beat
6.5 hMain
9 h Main + Sides
9.5 h Completionist
9 h All Styles

Game length provided by HowLongToBeat

Description




A fateful night of sorrow and ancient magic changed the life of a young child forever, and with it, everything else as mankind knew it. For 9 long years, the world has been submerged in the deepest of shadows, robbing every object and living creature of their color, their joy, and most importantly, hope.


Many brave souls have tried to venture inside the corrupting depths of Talos Castle, a long-abandoned orphanage from which the curse stemmed. All have failed, except for one. Armed with little other than her halberd and sheer nerve, Europa’s daunting quest is clear: enter the castle, find the source of darkness, and return color to the lands before it is too late.



However, this adventure is not for Europa to face alone. In her most desperate hour, Europa encounters Apino, a cute magical bear with the ability to heal, cleanse the corruption and protect his allies.


While exploring the castle, Apino can shoot powerful projectiles at enemies, open locked doors and shield Europa from ranged attacks.




Enhance your battle prowess by acquiring elemental armors. Master the might of lightning, water, earth and fire to defeat a vast assortment of enemies.


Use the elements to your advantage to travel the map dynamically, surprise bosses while you change armors on the fly and perform strong combos. Obtain special abilities to swim against waterfalls, travel underground tunnels or glide through warm air currents to access hidden locations and uncover their secrets.





Meet enigmatic composers that will aid you in your mission. With the special appearance of Michiru Yamane and Norihiko Hibino, both as NPCs and composers of several tracks tuned to 432hz, a soothing frequency used in what’s known as healing music. And there is more to music than meets the eye. Hidden bosses with musical attack patterns lurk in the shadows ready to strike. In fact, music is the binding thread that brings gameplay and storytelling together; from collecting musical notes, to performing a healing lullaby to restore your health, music is all but the soul of the game.

© Halberd Studios & Freedom Games. All Rights Reserved.

System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
Safety and satisfaction. Stellar support 24/7 and full refunds up to 30 days.
Time to beat
6.5 hMain
9 h Main + Sides
9.5 h Completionist
9 h All Styles

Game length provided by HowLongToBeat

Game details
Genre:
Action - Adventure - Metroidvania
Tags:
Adventure, Action, Indie, Fantasy, Story Rich, show 8 more... Atmospheric, 2D, Exploration, Female Protagonist, Pixel Graphics, Platformer, Magic, Metroidvania
Works on:
Windows (10, 11)
Release date:
{{'2023-03-27T00:00:00+03:00' | date: 'longDate' : ' +0300 ' }}
Company:
Halberd Studios / indie.io
Size:
1.3 GB
Links:
Forum discussion
Game features
Cloud saves
Controller support
Overlay
Single-player
Languages
English
audio
text
Español (AL)
audio
text
Critics reviews
74
Top Critic Average
64 %
Critics Recommend
OpenCritic Rating
Softpediaby Andrei Dumitrescu
8.5/10
Nine Years of Shadows is a good Metroidvania with an impressive presentation and intriguing world. Gameplay mechanics will be instantly familiar to any genre fans and easy to understand for newcomers. There aren’t too many surprises in the narrative but it is imbued with a sense of optimism that kept me engaged.
Read full review »
CGMagazineby Philip Watson
7/10
9 Years of Shadows is a solid 2D action-adventure title that is very pretty to look at, and could be recommendable to those who don't focus on combat.
Read full review »
Reviews powered by OpenCritic
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User reviews

Posted on: November 29, 2024

ResidentEvilBrony

Verified owner

Games: 83 Reviews: 2

nearly perfect

Good. great art and an amazing design. only sight issues personally with things being a bit TOO smooth for a pixel graphic game. (water movement) but other than slight issues like that a good experience.

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Posted on: December 28, 2024

Wozing

Verified owner

Games: 68 Reviews: 1

It's okay. It's fine.

It has some great features of metroid/vania games. It's remniscent of some good times. HOWEVER, it's quite lacking in mechanical depth. It feels shallow to play. What's worse, there's a mechanic to "shoot aura" at things, but your aura is also your health. If you get hit, you lose your health, and you just have to piddle around until you can gain a fraction back in order to hope to shoot the boss again. But if you get hit again, go ahead and just play dodgeball for like 3 minutes while you wait for a chance to get it back. Overall, it's passively fun in some parts, and actively a nightmare in others. 6/10

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Posted on: January 22, 2025

LuckyIuck

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 1

Fun Metroidvania

Pretty linear and respects your time, still some secrets but no major backtracking. Gears of War reload mini-game makes the game maybe a bit easy. Boss before earth armor did not spawn first time, but did after reloading. Unfortunate crash towards the end of the game. If you enjoy metroidvanias and are looking for a shorter one, I would recommend this.

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Posted on: January 23, 2025

perequerili

Verified owner

Games: 88 Reviews: 1

Nice art and alright metroidvania

There's two problems that wore me down both related to boss fights: 1) It looks like about half the bosses have no checkpoints before their fights, for seemingly no reason. You have to run across multiple screens. And those screens can have annoying stuff in them. 2) Every time you come back to a boss fight, you have to sit through their introduction. Every. Single. Time.

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Posted on: February 1, 2025

ShinQueue

Verified owner

Games: 216 Reviews: 2

Great game

Looks good feels good sounds good. a tad simple but works well.

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