Разработчик: Ithaqua Labs
Описание
Those that succeed and become paired go on as full mages, those that do not are considered nothing more than hedge mages. There are no exceptions and the ritual has never failed…
Until the day Ash receives a mark and no fellow graduate to match it.
Now she must discover the origin of her mark and attempt to solve the greatest magical mystery that the Mountain has ever known.
Brilliant Shadows – Part 1 of the Book of Gray Magic is 57,023 words long, estimated at 3-6 hours of game play depending on read speed.
There are 3 different endings depending on your choices, as well as a few larger branch options within the story.
Plus, the main character is a lesbian necromancer who specializes in undead plants!
All spoken lines are fully voice acted, and the game features an extensive original soundtrack with 25 awesome songs.
Поддерживаемые языки: english
Системные требования
Windows
- OS *: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor: 1.5Ghz Processor or better
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics Chip
- Storage: 400 MB available space
- OS *: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor: Pentium 4 or better
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics Chip
- Storage: 500 MB available space
Mac
- OS: Mac OS X 10.6 / 10.7 / 10.8
- Processor: 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or better
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics Chip
- Storage: 400 MB available space
- OS: Mac OS X 10.6 / 10.7 / 10.8
- Processor: 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or better
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics Chip
- Storage: 500 MB available space
Linux
- Processor: 1.2 GHz Pentium 4
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Storage: 500 MB available space
- Processor: 1.2 GHz Pentium 4
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Storage: 500 MB available space
Отзывы пользователей
Typically, a visual novel has no gameplay, and this places an extreme burden on the narrative. Brilliant Shadows is crushed under this burden. Devoid of even the most basic attempts to emulate a medieval or feudal culture beyond cliche visuals and terminology, I couldn't help but think of cheap, printed-on Halloween costumes. The script lacks even a crumb of verisimilitude. Every other text box is laden with current dialogue or something so profoundly out of step with reality it could only be the product of modernity. Consider the absurdity of a political system where a democratic election would elevate someone with no social standing to the status of "King" and that said status would convey no political or social benefits to his family members. I think we are supposed to see this as a positive example of Enlightenment values safeguarding against corruption, but all I see is someone who has no idea how humans or societies actually function. I found the dubious anatomy of stuffing your torso with the magical organs of your victims to gain their powers more believable. The romance is also severely undercooked and the actual plot is rushed. This is called Part 1, but "Prologue" would be much more appropriate.
If you're going into this expecting a charming lesbian romance, you'll be sorely disappointed. Yes, the main character is gay, and yes, there is romance, but it is far from the focus of the story. Think of this more as the standalone prologue to a fantasy epic.
I love playing Visual Novels, but haven't been able to get into them lately. This one grabbed me and pulled me in, though. loved the artwork, the characters, and the stories. I love VN's that have Voice Acting in them too, and it was well done too. I can recommend this VN.
Beautiful art, immersive music and great voice acting ! Almost half the cast is LGBT, including MC :]
There's a good amount of moments where you have to make a choice, even though the number of possible routes is low. Once you've finished the game you can predict what are the other endings easily.
But the story and the world stay enchanting, and the characters are very attaching *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
I started and finished this in one go. It had been sitting in my library for quite a long time and I regret not playing it sooner.
The voice acting is one of if not the best I've ever encountered in a VN!
There's only two things I found frustrating: the lack of an auto mode, and the inconsistency of the art. Don't get me wrong, almost all pieces are really well done, but the face of Ash changes so much over and over again it prevented me from fully immersing myself.
Brilliant Shadows is the first part in the Book of Gray Magic series. It is not that long – just about 5-7 hours of reading for one playthrough– and serves as an introduction to this world of Shadow, Light and Gray.
The story
This visual novel starts out when Veronica Ashmar (or just Ash) is getting ready for a big day – the pairing ritual. According to the tradition, necromancers have to pair up with a paladin after the graduation from the Mountain, a special magic school. Each of them will receive a special mark that will determine who is supposed to be together with whom. However, this is not the only reason why Ash is so excited: she is desperately hoping that her best friends and secret love Prudence will become her lifelong partner. They have known each other for a long time, so it would be only natural if the ritual chose them for each other.
But life (even in visual novels) can be tricky, as we all know. During the ritual, everything goes wrong – Prudence is paired up with one of the most unpopular mages and Ash receives a mark that nobody else seems to have. Now, in order to graduate and become a full-fledged mage, Ash needs to find her mysterious partner and decide if she is ready to give up her love for Prudence.
What do we have inside?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1445189986
Pros
- The art. This was what caught my attention when I first saw the game - Ash looks absolutely gorgeous, Prudence is lovely, Hektor is cute and scary at the same time, and other characters are neatly drawn. I like their design, as well as CGs, some backgrounds, and UI design (but not all parts of it). Characters’ sprites are partially animated and have different emotions. There are also many animations that looked really good and add some new colors to the story. The scene with horses is great! It really felt like characters were moving all along. And the quarrel between Ash and Hek was so intense thanks to animated moments!;
- The writing. It is consistent and I noticed just a few typos here and there, but no major problems with grammar and vocabulary. There were also some good jokes, and dramatic scenes made me feel a whole specter of emotions, from being sad (the scene between Ash and Hak in her room) to angry or even scared (Ash’s madness);
- The story and the characters. Even though the game is not that long, I still think that it is more than enough to present this story in its full glory. There are no loose ends or plot holes and the characters are well-developed. I liked Ash and it was interesting to follow her along the plot twists and memories. Other people in the game also had distinct personalities;
- Music. I think all tracks are good and bring new flavor to the story – they went well with all scenes and there was a nice variety of them;
- Voices. Every character has a suitable voice actor and I did not find any of them annoying…except for just one girl…;
- UI design. It is special and you can see from the very beginning that developers paid a lot of attention to bring it in line with the story and characters. There is a cursor that looks like a dark green rose; at the bottom of the dialogue zone you will see to green leaves that work as arrows; the Menu looks like a big black rose at the bottom right corner; and the Settings menu is so beautiful! However, there are still some minor aspects I did not like and I will mention them in the Cons.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1445162876
Cons
- Some parts of the UI. The main thing that bothered me was the black font in the Settings. It would be better to just leave the green color instead, while it is visible enough and goes well with other parts of the design; black letters are barely readable, in my humble opinion. The second thing I would like to mention is that the text is right in the middle of the picture most of the time. Sometimes it hid parts of characters or scenes; maybe it is just me being more used to the dialogue zone at the bottom and under pictures, but I still felt somewhat uncomfortable from time to time, so I cannot but bring it up among the Cons;
- The beginning of the story is a bit rushed, in my opinion. I would rather they gave more information about the characters and the world before getting deeper into the story;
- Not all backgrounds are equally good. For example, the one during the ritual could have been better – it is very simple and shows nothing more than silhouettes of people;
- During the fighting scene a wrong picture of Ash appeared – she was wearing combat clothes, but when her expression changed to anger, she all of a sudden got dressed in her usual attire – it seems there was some mistake in coding;
- And just my personal complaint – Belinda’s voice was killing me almost each time I heard it. I thought only Japanese visual novels have high-pitched characters, but how wrong I was!
My thoughts about the game
To my mind, Brilliant Shadows is a good visual novel for adults that has some awesome features like distinctive art, some interesting animations, beautiful user interface and suitable music. However, some small shortcomings might spoil the impression when you just start the game. Still, I do not think that they are game-breaking in any way; so, if you just continue playing, Brilliant Shadows will lure you into a fascinating world of magic where laws can be pretty harsh and having the same mark on the hand can even take your life away. And I am quite sure that it will be difficult to leave it without finding out the truth.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1445300692
P.S. The scenes after the ending were just hilarious!!! I was laughing like crazy. The person who decided to add them to the game is a genius!
You can find more reviews at my personal Curator Page. Please, give it a read ❤
Brilliant Shadows-Part One Of The Book Of Gray Magic is an adventure visual novel developed and published by Ithaqua Labs. For fourteen years Veronica Ashmar has studied and prepared as a necromancer alongside her best friend Prudence who is training to be a paladin. They both have had high hopes since they were children that someday they would be paired together as mage and warrior for a life full of knowledge and adventure. The "pairing ritual" entails binding together a necromancer and a knight for a lifelong intertwining that serves to balance their opposing powers and bond their lives together forever. Finally the day has come as Veronica and Prude's group of graduates of the Mountain gather for the ceremony. Once completed it will inscribe each person's hand with a particular mark and those two people with the same mark will thus be paired indefinitely. The pairing ritual has always successfully bonded two marked individuals together...until now that is. Upon completion of the ceremony, Veronica suddenly finds herself marked but without another graduate with a corresponding mark to bind with? In this delightful visual novel, follow Veronica Ashmar on her fantastic adventure filled with intrigue, combat and romance to uncover the mystery of her suspicious mark.
Visually, this is a truly beautiful V.N. with a very lovely art style that steps away from the traditional manga influence that you typically see in most visual novels on Steam. It's really refreshing to come across visual novels that try something different with the artwork. Don't get me wrong because I love manga but it's great to have a different experience from time to time. With that said, the illustrations here are gorgeous and nicely shaded while also filled with bright vibrant colors and depth of field as well as lighting effects. For the immersion factor, the characters facial expressions change depending on their mood and they blink their eyes which is also a nice little touch while adding some much needed life to the typical static nature of the visual novel genre in general. Also, this V.N. has voiced dialogue and it is handled quite well in my opinion even though I tend to prefer my visual novels without it. Nevertheless, the voice actors sound endearing, genuine, believable and follow the script quite nicely throughout the captivating narrative. Speaking of which there are a few choices that you will have to make as the storyline progresses so choose wisely...or not. In conclusion, Brilliant Shadows-Part One Of The Book Of Gray Magic takes you on a nicely stylized visually alluring journey filled with emotions, romance, just the right touch of comic relief and a fascinating mystery to solve.
This visual novel was a very entertaining experience for me and just highly enjoyable from the beginning to the end. The compelling story was well written while also thought provoking and that was coupled with some wonderful sound quality and absolutely fantastic illustrations. Speaking of which, this titles unique artstyle was quite eyecatching and something that I would like to see more of. This was a visual novel that I just couldn't put down and I really wanted to continue the thrilling adventures with this very memorable group of people. Thankfully that wish has been fulfilled because a sequel, "Pale Spectrum-Part Two Of The Book Of Gray Magic", has been recently released which I very much look forward to reading. As far as options go, there are the basics like sound and music volume. There are no Steam Achievements to hunt down but Steam Trading Cards are available for collection and the wonderful original soundtrack by Johnathan Johnson is also included. And as a final treat, there is even a "blooper reel" of sorts available at the end of the novel where you get to hear all the highly talented voice actors totally mess up their lines during recording. It's completely hilarious and highly entertaining to listen to. This is something unique that I've not seen implemented in any other visual novel before and I would like to see many more voiced V.N.'s do something similiar. In summary, if you are looking for a thrilling fantasy story ripe with adventure, romance and suprising plot twists then look no further because Brilliant Shadows-Part One Of The Book Of Gray Magic is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of the visual novel genre. You definitely won't be dissapointed with this selection.
Excellent visual novel.
Pros:
- Beautiful artwork
- Decent writing
- Interesting story and characters
- LGBTQ inclusivity
- Racial inclusivity
- Good amount of choices and endings
Cons:
- (Spoiler-ish) The good ending was kind of meh for me. Like, Ash (the protagonist) and Terra kiss at the end and that seems a bit rushed. I know that there's reasons for them to feel connected in the story, but the ending felt empty because of lack of development between those two characters.
I definitely recommend this to VN fans and those who enjoy fantasy/romance.
Brilliant Shadows is a Visual Novel set in a medievalesque fantasy setting. Spurting an intellectual vacuum for drama to unfold.
The game employs beautiful artwork, both colorfully vibrant and more dark and ominous when the narrative dictates it, moreover this is also skillfully portrayed in the different emotional states the characters go through. The soundscape and voice acting also lends its own share of magic to produce an enthralling narrative. The main cast is well fleshed out and stroke me as adequately multidimensional. There are three different endings to the game depending on what choices you pick throughout the game, they seem to control the protagonists outlook on life, if she'll turn out good or "evil".
There's a free prequel Embers of Magic on steam that gives a short but well presented idea of what to expect of this VN, even if it's tone is more lighthearted.
This VN doesn't have an auto-play function, apparently due to engine limitation, which almost made me put the prequel aside, I am glad I didn't. In the long run it didn't annoy me too much as every character was voiced in both the prequel and in this VN.
This game is great. It's actually the first visual novel I ever purchased, and I didn't know if I liked this style of game so it took me well over a year to actually play more than the first five minutes but I am so glad I came back to it. The characters are wonderful, the story is engaging and definitely builds tension and interest well. The art is gorgeous. I can't comment on the voice acting/music since I was secretly playing it at work and therefore had it muted, but I'm sure they're also good, given the quality of everything else in the game.
I've only gotten one ending and am eagerly looking forward to the others. I've also purchased this as a gift for a friend and am hopeful that the sequel will be out soon. Highly recommended for anyone who loves fantasy, visual novels, and very well done queer protagonists.
Brilliant Shadows is a lovely, colorful visual novel, with its own unique fantasy setting and lore of paladins, necromancers, grey mages, and the like. If you're like me, a devoted fan of anything fantasy-related and you're currently looking for a refreshing, non-anime visual novel, then Brilliant Shadows is an audiovisual treat you will surely enjoy.
Pros:
- One of the few VNs I have played with voice acting, and it certainly did it right with an array of skilled VAs at that. They added more personality to the already well-developed characters.
- The art is just so beautiful and amusing. Certain scenes make you just want to step back and stare. The vivid colors breathe life into the already compelling story.
- The setting, the characters, as well as the fantasy world they have built and introduced is more than enough for you to take in in a single chapter visual novel.
- I greatly welcomed the character diversity, with its mild LGBT themes. It made every character special, and even relatable, in their own way.
- Provides you more than enough hours to complete all possible endings and read through all of the dialogues.
- With all of the rich content (and more!) packaged into one visual novel, the full price is well worth it. Kind of makes me guilty that I got this on sale.
Cons:
- The art in some of the scenes were too good, I kind of wished they would be 'unlocked' and easily viewed after reading them.
- Related to my first con, I personally found the text size too big and awkward, as they covered some of the art.
- Some of the choices feel too limited, and have little impact on the ending you will get.
[*] Small typos and differences in text and voice acted lines.
Overall Rating:
8.5/10
Thank you, Ithaqa Labs, for creating such a wonderful visual novel! I shall be eagerly awaiting chapter two.
I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy this game. As many dissapointing games do, it had a very promising beginning, with lots of fantasy, magic, school, friendship and so on, but from there it dragged, the writing let it down and the voice acting didn't help either.
While there were plenty of good moments, excellent art and music and thought provoking player choices throughout, I felt I couldn't engage with standard fantasy characters talking like millenials, and the twist at the end not only came out of the Big Book of Cliches but felt wildly inconsistent with the tone the game had started in.
I'm sure plenty of people will like this game, especially as the music and art are fantastic, but I didn't.
I really enjoyed this first part! The story is quite interesting, the characters are likable (Hektor is my favorite), art style was really awesome, and the VA was great. I got the 3 endings (and the third one was so creepy haha) and enjoyed them. I’m looking forward to play the second part! Good luck to the developers.
9/10.
Before playing this, I had decided that I was not a fan of the "Visual/Interactive Story" genre. But, after picking this up, my entire view has been thrown against the wall. While originally I was concerned that adding in visuals voices to character would take away enjoyment, I have discovered that instead being given a concrete step upon which to envision my characters was refereshing. And I haven't even got to the story itself. Going into this, I was unsure as to if this was going to be a rather generic fantasy story, but BS's (Yeah, great initals for a game right?) openess and more realistic approach to topics such as homosexuality and love had me much more inthrawled into the different characters relationships. And being able to control the main characters actions stripped that sense of when you read a book and you cant tell exactly what's going to happen because a character does something and then spending the next five minutes whining about their stupidity. But all in all, this game/book was an amazing experience, and I cannot wait for it's sequel!
P.S: If the developers need any young, male australian voice actors I would be happy to oblige!
Signed with a cocksure attitude,
Mr. New Foxy
So I watched Dodger play this and enjoyed it enough that I had to buy it just to support the Devs. I also wanted to see the other endings and I was not dissapointed. Ending 2: Finding a Balance was even better than the first ending. I hope they use that one going into part two.
Refreshing, unique, and captivating.
A little background about myself - I'm not a big visual novel 'buff', the most experience I have in such games would be the Phoenix Wright games on handheld, but after watching a youtube video of the game, I was immediately drawn to the story presented, and after doing a little bit more research, promptly purchased the title and completed my own playthrough several times to get the different endings, and little changes in plot based on choices.
Given that I've just explained I'm not big into visual novels as a gamer, I still enjoy a good story, and this title definitely has a good story. Presenting a very different world from the norm in most media, with Necromancy not necessarily being evil but instead another school of magic that's balanced out by Light magic, the game does a good job presenting the basic principles of the world at a good pace, and the player also gets the opportunity to learn more about the world if the right choices are made.
I learned that the voice acting in the game (FULLY voice acted) was actually a stretch goal of it's kickstarter, and I have to say it helped breath life to the characters, and it was quite refreshing to hear new and different talent in an industry that sometimes feels only a handful of voice actors are always given work. (I hear voice actors like Jennifer Hale and Steve Blum across a LOT of titles, across different mediums, and while definitely great voice actors, it's once again so refreshing hearing new talent). While the writing can also stand on it's own, the acting definitely helps you understand what kind of personality each character exhibits, and makes them that much more memorable. From the character designs to the backgrounds, the artstyle is also beautiful to look at, and speaks of the artist's talent in presenting this world and the people who live in it.
There are some games, or even TV shows, that you can play or watch for a while, and then you need to take care of something else. Then there are others that grab your attention so much that you forget where the time went, or you're compelled to finish in one sitting. This is one of those games. I finished my first playthrough until the wee hours in the morning (totally worth it xD). I'm so glad this is part one, as I cannot wait to see what else this indie dev will bring out next in the story.
I'm gushing about this game. I just found it yesterday through Dodger on YT and had to rush to buy it. The diverse races and sexual orientations for its characters set this apart from a lot of other games. Ash, Prude, and the gang all feel very real and the voice acting cast is really good too. I'm finding myself craving another chapter and look forward to supporting this game in the future.
I really really enjoy the story of Brilliant Shadows. Great art work, very good story telling well worth the price there asking for it. Even has a blooper reel at the end after the credits. The only down side I can think of it's only part one. At the end they leave you wanting more. Seen 2 of the endings so far very different from one and another which is really great. Would highly reccomend it to give it a try!
Tl;dr: This game is fantastic.
Authentic dialogue, great voice acting, unique and diverse characters, wonderful music, engaging plot. The world draws from some classic tropes and mixes them together in a lovely blend. And yet, despite how unique the setting is, exposition never bogs down the dialogue. The writing explains things naturally, without feeling rushed or full of itself. With the exception of a few moments, every plot twist or character motivation makes sense.
Brilliant Shadows is marked as book one. I worried this would mean a cliffhanger ending, but that’s not the case. The ending leaves you wanting more without feeling cheap, just like the first book in a great fantasy novel trilogy should.
Even if you’re not a huge visual novel fan (I’m certainly not), pick this up.
Oh, and the blooper real at the end is amazing. Seriously. Stick around and watch it. You’re welcome.
Very nice game, 10/10
everything was done just right, and the story and art is something new thus very entertaining. You can easily empathize with the characters which are very diversified personalities.
The price and the tag "part 1" could confuse it with an episodic game, but it is a complete story arc. Think of it like book 1. It's length of 6 hourse is quiet entertaining and compared to other products the price could even be higher.
Only thing i hope for part 2 is that we can influence romance options and who you end with.
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Дополнительная информация
| Разработчик | Ithaqua Labs |
| Платформы | Windows, Linux |
| Ограничение возраста | Нет |
| Дата релиза | 22.01.2025 |
| Отзывы пользователей | 93% положительных (147) |