Shad'O Reviews

Did not enjoy this game the slightest. Frustrating gameplay that more or less forces you to do some "Tower Juggeling" where you have to sell towers and build in new spots on almost every level. To bad for a game that has a very nice artstyle that i enjoyed.

There are few games that I find myself unwilling and unable to complete. This is one of them. It has an interesting mechanic of territory control (pushing shadows back with your imaginary tower-friends), and it creates a nice sombre tone with its cut-scene art. However, it is ultimately a tower defense game that lacks player-friendliness and failed to have an impact on me. Skill points that you allocate are absolutely permanent. If you find yourself unhappy or unable to progress because of your skills, you'll have to restart the game from scratch to repick your skills. Further, winning battles leaves me unsatisfied, and I'm more irritated than distraught when I lose my units, little yellow plushies with no personality. The cut-scene art is nice, but the inexpert voice-acting can be grating if you pay attention to it. Lastly, installing this game means you have to install Quicktime as well. This is how the game plays its cutscenes. It's pointed out in the requirements (har har as if we read those), but if you have the same hate on Apple I've noticed in some Steam threads, then this is just icing on the "Try something else" cake. I only recommend this game to hardcore tower-defense game enthusiasts who enjoy skill-picking with no backtracking, and who do not listen to cut-scenes.

Game is asking for QuickTime to be installed before it runs. Installing QuickTime doesn't fix the issue of the game not starting. That's before you even look at the massive security QuickTime as old unsupported software with security flaws published.

Lots of cool ideas for a tower defense game. Namely the MMO-style boss fights, fog of war mechanic and unique bonus stages. The difficulty spikes can be discouraging at first, but knowing which spells and companions to pick and upgrade is the key to get through the campaign. It's a solid experience.

The only real con I have with this game is that everything is sooooo slooooooow. There are only two speeds, very slow and less slow - and even with them I have tons of time just sitting and waiting. Even the map and menus are slow, lots of unnecessarily slow animations for things you have to see many, many times. Other than that, the game is fine - well made, runs well on my machine, cute, and balanced - but sooooo slow.

Never buy this game, it needs specific version of QuickTime, it will not work without this bullcrap. Plus even tho Quick Time has exploits and will put your PC at risk.

Ensure that your eyes are nearly 100% closed while playing this game, and you will be well-prepared. Trust me, this strategy has proven to be highly effective for me in this game. It appears that my primary purpose for being born is to reach this moment and give this game a try. Please make arrangements for a casket now.

Requires you to install quicktime, but doesn't work with current version. So if you already have quicktime you have to uninstall it and then install QTLite to get this game to run. If you actually need to have quicktime installed for something else to function (iTunes), QTLite will break that. Even GFWL games gave me less problems than this game. IF you can get it to run, it's a decent tower defense game. But I'd take Pixeljunk Monsters, Kingdom Rush, or even Super Sanctum TD over this, since you can actually just install those and have them work.

Fun tower defense. Requires replaying some of the scenarios until the mobs' abilities are learned. Two minor cons are apparent: Quicktime installation is required and the poor English translation of a somewhat mediocre over-arching storyline detracts from the game slightly, however the basic concept of fighting inside one's nightmares is otherwise well executed and lends itself to interesting environments. - Skinny from the Fat B*stard [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/skinnyfat#](curator link)[/url]

Shad’O: +/+ Unique setting and storytelling style. +/+ Unique use of FOW (fog of war) with towers allowing vision. +/+ Solid graphics, music, and sound effects for a TD. +/+ ‘Special battles’ that unlock rewards. +/+ Fun boss fights. +/- Very generic & limited tower options. +/- Upgrade choices are permanent. +/- Magic system requires you to actively collect mana. +/- Towers have health and can be killed (they can also be healed). -/- Lack of stats for levels limits replay value or the desire to perform well. -/- Only two difficulty options. Shad’O is not hard enough. -/- Game can be beat using only 3-4 out of the 10 towers (with the last boss requiring only two towers to beat). -/- Voice Acting. -/- Requires you to download QuickTime or QT Lite in order to play. Verdict: 6/10. The style is what stands out most in Shad’O as well as the few boss fights. But it’s a very generic TD game and probably only worth a play through for hardcore TD fans desperate for anything new.