Stealth games can be a real “love it” or “hate it” genre with many games being very divisive. Ereban: Shadow Legacy had a difficult job. Taking a genre that can frustrate so many and adapting it to suit a wider audience. Baby Robot Games worked to create a game that was exciting, along with having the more challenging stealth aspects many who play the genre are more used to. Ereban: Shadow Legacy was batting against odds with making a title suitable for anyone, no matter how familiar they are with the genre, yet they seem to have pulled it off.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is set in a future where the race of Ereban is near extinct. Ayana appears to be the last of her kind as she wakes up on a large ship and is asked to go through a series of tests to experiment with her powers. Ayana is confused and disoriented, appearing not to remember anything leading up to the moment the game starts. This creates a lot of distrust for the calm female voice that is instructing Ayana through the opening of Ereban: Shadow Legacy.

The player has to work their way through this section, which also acts as the tutorial for the gameplay. The tutorial leads to a trap that reveals those on the ship are not there to help Ayana unlock her Ereban powers, instead they intend to steal them. But Ayana manages to escape the ship with the help of a character named Mira. When the women escape, the ship they are on crashes onto a planet, with Mira being injured and Ayana having to travel alone for a while to help her and find out more about those who had her trapped.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy offers a fantastic amount of variety to the gameplay. You can play in a variety of styles, either using stealth to your advantage or taking a more lethal approach. There are rewards at the end of each level that relate to how you play, whether it be a silent approach, or managing to kill every enemy on the map. There are powers contained in a skill tree that can be moved through in different ways to create unique playing experiences.

The unique aspect of Ereban: Shadow Legacy is the way the player is encouraged to hide from the light. While in shadows the Ereban have the ability to sink into the ground and walls in the dark. This mechanic makes any excursion that takes the player into a well-lit area an instant threat to you. It is like a reverse horror game, the lighter an arena the more fearsome every one of your foes will feel. This is a great way to put you out of your comfort zone, your expectations are subverted and how you think about playing is flipped on its head.

Sinking into the ground allows you to move around undetected at a slightly faster speed while burning through a stamina bar that you can increase as you play. In this shadow form, you can also move onto walls making gaps that would not be possible suddenly open to you. This feature is a lot of fun when it is first introduced but due to the layout of some of the training rooms, it seems as though it will wear thin swiftly. However, the game prevents this by making the environments build in interest swiftly with the rate of your skill as you learn to manipulate the controls.

An example of this is found in an early room where the gap you need to cross is in direct light, making it impossible to get through. However, once you have interacted with some controls a fan strikes up, moving a shadow across the room and allowing you to travel with it. It is small moments like this that keep the gameplay fresh and let you become really immersed.

Later, once Ayana has left the facility you are on a planet that is mostly bathed in sunlight, making it harder to get around the location. There are trees and rocks that cast large shadows making a more intricate path you need to follow. This does expose one small issue with the shadow form which is the speed at which you move. The speed is fantastic for creeping up on an enemy as it is quite fast. You can dart up behind someone and take them down.

However, when you are trying to finesse a more complicated route it can be a bit fast to get around tight bends. Once you hit the light in Ereban: Shadow Legacy Ayana will burst out of the ground right away which can lead you to plummet from the area you were just climbing. This is by no means game-breaking, but having an option to slow down a little could be very helpful.

Another way to get over larger gaps is jumping over a larger gap and merging into the floor on the other end. This can work in the light too, but Ayana will be thrown back out of the floor once she is over. This, again, adds to the dynamic and fun movement available to the player while exploring the fantastic environments that have been created.

The gameplay is all introduced through the narrative and grows with the player's understanding. Ayana’s limited memory means you learn together in a way that keeps the gameplay engaging and fun as you develop your skills. The skill tree grows organically and allows for a lot of variation in play styles. There are two separate trees the player moves through. One of these is accessed through workshop benches that allow the player to build equipment they can use in combat. Or to avoid it. The other is through finding collectables along the way.

This tree allows you to grow your shadow powers, increasing your movement abilities. The first of these is being able to use the jump button to burst out of the shadows and make a huge leap to a nearby platform. From here the movements just become more exciting and effective as you learn to use them. The other skill tree is based more around the combat in Ereban: Shadow Legacy.

These abilities can be accessed on a wheel, making one accessible at a time. The first of these is a sonar that highlights enemies around you. It is a classic choice of a first ability as it is very helpful, however the foes do not stay lit up for very long which is a little annoying. Beyond this, there are three main paths you can go down to build up your equipment including upgrading them with each workbench you find.

There is a Mine that can be thrown onto a robot to take it down, or left on the ground for them to walk onto and be disabled. There is also a Hologram that leaves an outline of Ayana which will distract the robots, and a Visor which makes it easier to navigate your surroundings. Depending on how you choose to play these can be really helpful. Someone taking a stealthier approach would want the Visor to avoid the foes, or a Hologram to use a distraction and sneak past. However, those of you more brutal may like to have a Mine to have a more offensive bit of kit.

The combat in Ereban: Shadow Legacy has a few enemy types that have to be contended with. The first is a simple Symulant which can be taken down in a sneak attack or from an aerial one. They also have a light in their face which is turned off most of the time, but when they are alerted an Ereban may be around they turn it on. This means if you are in shadow form when they are near you they can cause you to burst out of it. Any of the Symulants perform a one-hit kill if they catch Ayana so it is vital to keep away from them.

The other enemies are variations of these. There is one that can revive other Syms that have been taken down, putting them back on patrol. There are also ones that can perform attacks at a great distance, as well as others with incredible movement abilities. The progression to new enemies is done really well, moving to new ones that are each harder than the last in a way that is a natural increase in the difficulty levels.

The Syms make it a necessity to be confident using the shadow abilities as getting around them without it, or even taking down everyone, requires effective use of it. An example of this is when jumping from a great height. If you just jump and land on the ground you will be hit with a huge stagger that creates a sound, alerting any Syms that are too close. However, leaping down and blending into the ground as you hit it is completely silent and effectively stealthy.

The combat is really fun. The attacks are responsive so any time you fail you know it is your fault rather than the game being ineffective in some way. Moving around the map is also so much fun. Being able to leap from the shadows and wizz around the map invincible is so exciting.

The environments in Ereban: Shadow Legacy have to be exciting and fun to explore due to the emphasis on moving around the environments. These areas are fantastic, the level of detail that has been put into them makes maneuvering them a lot of fun. On top of this, the character models are also very cool. Every character has something unique about their look making them more memorable. The cell shading has been done really well and adds to the stunning graphics.

The sound is equally effective when it comes to adding to the ambiance of the world in Ereban: Shadow Legacy. The voice acting is also very effective, which is again a nice addition to the world you are in. Along with this, the music is well-placed and builds appropriately ineffective moments. The sound also becomes deadened while in the shadow mode which is an effective way of representing Ayana using her powers.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a great addition to the stealth genre. Subverting expectations with a well-lit area being the most dangerous possible. The story is engaging and works as an excellent backdrop to the great gameplay. The movement is swift and exciting, and the combat is really well implemented. The world feels real and fleshed out, while also being fun and stylized with the cell shading graphics. Ereban: Shadow Legacy is well worth playing, being a great introduction to more stealthy games.
 

Mariella Deadman (@MariellaDead)
Editor, NoobFeed