Shame Legacy - Game Review
1Shame Legacy - Game Review
Hello, fellow gamers, welcome back to the "Veteran Game" channel. Today we're delving into the murky and haunting world of the survival horror game, "Shame Legacy", developed by indie creators Fairyship Games and Revenant Games. As a die-hard horror game enthusiast, I was naturally drawn to its promise of an intricate blend of stealth and puzzle mechanics. However, my hopes soon faded, leaving me mired in the truly disappointing and aptly named Shame Legacy.
Diving into the horror gaming scene, we often stumble upon narratives woven with amnesia and menacing entities. Sadly, Shame Legacy does little to stray from this worn path. The game thrusts us into the shoes of a man, William, waking up in a 19th-century cultist village bereft of his past. His journey to recover his memory is marred by a persistent demonic figure and plagued villagers. The story, though slow to develop, lacks a distinctive edge, resulting in a vague and confusing narrative.
Shame Legacy's gameplay loop stands as one of its most exasperating facets. It marries elements of a walking simulator with stealth and puzzle-solving, but the stealth components, which hinge heavily on crawling and hiding, quickly grow monotonous. A noise mechanic is introduced, which attracts villager attention based on your movement sounds. Get spotted and you face inevitable death most times, saved only by a one-use item that offers defense through a baffling quick-time event sequence. Once used, you enter a panic mode, defenseless until you find medicine. The concept, while interesting, lacks practicality and adds more frustration to the gameplay experience.
The game's AI pathing is, to put it lightly, disastrous. A slight misstep can result in detection, and while there are hiding spots, they are often useless due to the game's restrictions and their impractical placement. Compounding these problems, the absence of a manual save feature forces repeated cycles of dying and reloading autosaves. Add the invisible sound traps, crucified enemy alerts, and obligatory chase sequences, and you have an infuriating experience with a monster chasing you for no clear reason.
The game's puzzle-solving sequences do bring a level of satisfaction. However, the convoluted nature of these puzzles, with obscure clues and crucial elements hidden in the environment, result in more guesswork than meaningful gameplay. A lack of highlight on important objects turns the game into a painstaking scavenger hunt, with crucial items like matches becoming nearly invisible.
One major question that arises is why this game is priced higher on consoles compared to PC. As someone who played on PS5, the subpar performance, prolonged load times, and constant screen tearing didn't justify the price difference. Add in the fact that Shame Legacy offers no additional content or accessibility options, and you're left with a questionable price point. Visually, the game doesn't impress either. The environmental assets and characters appear static and blurry, a letdown for a game that only offers about 2-3 hours of gameplay and charges a significant amount for the quality of experience provided.
To wrap up, Shame Legacy, while not completely unplayable, certainly doesn't hit the mark. It disappoints with its vexing mechanics, scanty content, underwhelming performance, and steep price. If the premise of Shame Legacy entices you, I'd recommend waiting for several patches and a considerable price drop. Even then, bear in mind that you're stepping into a cliché and unsatisfying horror experience. The shame in Shame Legacy is all too real. Thanks for joining me on this review and, as always, happy gaming!