Review: Beyond Shadowgate (2024)
An outstanding and surprising sequel that gets everything right
You would be forgiven for thinking this was a re-release. See, it's not the first game to bear the title Beyond Shadowgate - that'd be 1993's TurboGrafx-CD title... er... Beyond Shadowgate. Yes, it's a tiny bit confusing; I had assumed prior to writing this review that the TCD Beyond Shadowgate didn't involve its original creators (hence this do-over) but research suggests that, to some extent, it was based on elements of an unreleased design document for a direct sequel to the NES Shadowgate. What we have here, then, is that sequel at last, though this isn't one of those projects that has been programmed for the older system. It's a PC game with a NES ethos, though that's primarily down to the game's input and tone rather than its visuals, which are significantly more advanced than the 8-bit while still capturing its vibes.
The appeal of Shadowgate lies for me quite specifically with the NES game rather than the original Macintosh version. Despite its reputation for killing you at every opportunity (which is well-earned), the game is surprisingly friendly. While there is a concession towards a limited lives structure thanks to its unusual torchlight system (keep 'em lit or it's Game Over), the experience is overall rather friendlier than you may expect, with non-torch-based demises simply dropping you back into the game to have another go. Speaking for myself, I likely wouldn't have had the patience to play Shadowgate if not for this sensible concession to the player's time. And, along with the game's vivid death scenes being somewhat atypical of most anodyne NES fare, I suspect this is an enormous contributor to the fact that when people think of Shadowgate, it tends to be of its initial Nintendo incarnation.
It's thoroughly sensible that developers Zojoi and GrahfMetal decided to base this new Beyond Shadowgate on its NES predecessor - it was the biggest seller and therefore penetrated popular culture the most efficiently. Thankfully, it was also the best version - for my tastes, anyway. Now here we are, one successful Kickstarter later, with 2024's Beyond Shadowgate do-over, based on the original design doc, many times larger, with more quality of life features such as saving and a hint system. For me, this came out of nowhere - while I was aware of Shadowgate and its 2014 remake (not to mention Shadowgate 64), I'd completely missed the new Kickstarter and only discovered Beyond Shadowgate when I happened to see a random social media post about it. Barely a minute had passed before it was in my Steam shopping cart and downloaded - and it didn't disappoint, delivering everything I wanted from a game of its type.
I hadn't played NES Shadowgate. Or, at least, not for any meaningful length of time. But I've always had enthusiasm for gamebooks, specifically the Fighting Fantasy series from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. And that's basically what this is, enhanced by a strong interface for uncovering every possible angle of exploration. While it's inspired by D&D campaigns, it's the multiple-choice nature of the gamebooks that it brings to mind first and foremost, helped along by the old-school visuals meaning that scenes cannot, by design, be too complex or inscrutable. While puzzle solutions aren't necessarily simple, ut's always clear what can and can't be interacted with. Your game pieces are laid out bare. You'll never be at a complete loss to progress, or at the very least have a number of options to consider at any given time. This mechanical transparency, along with retaining the NES game's friendlier take on player death, makes for a thoroughly compelling experience that eschews frustration and provokes interest.
It's striking just how cleverly designed Beyond Shadowgate can be, with the opening prison escape section cleverly teaching you everything you need to know about its gameplay without overtly taking you aside and railroading you into anything tedious. The new and panic-inducing manner in which the Reaper warns you of imminent death is a wonderful real-time engine of horror - though if working a point-and-click interface against the clock irritates you, it's possible to switch to a turn-based system. I'll also note at this point that the game can be conttrolled with a mouse as you'd expect, but it feels to me that it's designed around the controller, as was the NES original, so it feels most authentic when played as such.
Beyond Shadowgate is a very difficult game to review without my just gushing superlatives. The thing is, there's basically nothing wrong with it, nothing I could take fault with that wasn't ultimately an intentional aspect of its design. Some people don't like the original Shadowgate, so it could be argued that Beyond Shadowgate does nothing to appeal to them. But it does! It removes the frustrating and rather senseless element of constantly refreshing your torches for fear of instant death. So even haters have no real excuse not to at least engage with this sequel. For someone like me who came to Beyond Shadowgate as someone not especially knowledgable of the original, I'd say I'm now a fan of both. In fact, going back to the NES game only increased my appreciation for this belated sequel. This is a brilliant adventure game of a unique breed, a well-considered piece of design which offers a style of gameplay you simply don't seem to get outside of the work of its creators - Deja Vu, Uninvited, et al, all of which are sweetly homaged here.
The only thing standing between you and beating Beyond Shadowgate is your own ingenuity, or lack of it. All the tools are here to make this the greatest game in the series not only to play but to experience as a story. The writing is smart, funny and full of personality, the puzzles are challenging and logical, and the aesthetics are perfect - shout out to the chiptune soundtrack from Orie Falconer. I'd recommend checking it out even if you don't like the original game - it's that big of an improvement. Oh, and for what it's worth - I've seen some chat about the game's price being high; it isn't. I promise you're not being short-changed. This is a big game with plenty to see. I suggest seeing it sooner rather than later. Beyond Shadowgate retains and polishes everything that worked about the NES game, while removing or fixing everything that didn't - then adding more besides. I have taken to calling it Beyond ShadowGreat.
