Aragami: Shadow Edition (PC) Review

In the hustle and bustle of today’s gaming environment where most games are built using a speed / spray and pray type mentality, it’s refreshing to find a game that rewards precise planning and execution all whilst stealthily hiding in the shadows.

Aragami: Shadow Edition is and a stealth action game developed by Lince Works where you are a  spirit called upon to exact revenge on a clan who overthrew and murdered its way to power. You must harness the power of shadows to move quietly and quickly through each level either killing everyone in your path or staying undetected and completing the objective.

You goal to recover six talismans which will lead you through a variety of different stages and encounters on your way to rescuing Yamiko, an orphan who is held captive in the main protagonist’s temple. Each of the talismans provide you with a set of memories that seem to have a strange and familiar feel to them but you’re unsure why just yet.

The gameplay is fantastic in the way it makes you really think about the way you approach each guard. Do you watch their movement and strike at the right time? Do you leave them alone and move past? Are there any other guards around? Will they see you? Or hear you?

Mix in great art styling of traditional Japanese water colour anime with the gameplay and you’ve got a pretty great basis for an amazing game.

There have been very few Ninja games that have come out recently that live up to the tradition of stealth and even fewer games that incorporate both stealth gameplay and the intense action of perfectly timed kills. Thief and Dishonoured are the closest games to come out recently but either of those don’t quite live up to the level of Aragami.

Aragami is easily one of the best (if not the best) stealth Ninja game to have been developed in the past 10-20 years. The unique blend of stunning visuals, fantastic storyline, excellent gameplay and variety of play styles is truly something to behold.

This game is captivating in all the right ways and definitely one you have to play.

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