ShadowSide

This was a challenging walking simulator. And that's what this is, in essence, a walking simulator. Once upon a time, the main challenges of walking sims, were its slow pace and barrenness, and its slow walking speed with no running function (dear esther). Adrov here, created a walking simulator here whose challenges rise above those basic walking sim challenges.

Let's create some mystery here:
- This is not a platformer walking simulator (although there is a moment here and there where you'll be "platforming")
- This is not a puzzle-based walking simulator, i.e. call of the sea style.... (although, some achievements have basic puzzle functions to them and are not related to going through the game. In other words, they don't matter unless you're curious or an achievement hunter.)
- this is not a survival horror walking/running/hiding sim. (Although, there are very brief moments where you'll be running from something or someone and if you don't you die in the game.
- this is not a wall-shifting runaround-the-same-area walking sim, ie layers of fear style. (But there are a couple moments where something happens behind you and you can't go back.)
- this is not an open-world walking simulator, ie kona. (No, there are many maps, all linear, the biggest "open-world" map is the abandoned village and you can complete it in minutes by simply going straight to the docks.)

This walking simulator is none of these, and yet this one was challenging to go through. Not buggy challenging either. Just... the way the developer designed the maps. They are not easy to traverse until you know them. And how the story goes with the things that happen in each chapter/part... for example, the nest chapter was rough and tough and tricky for me. I went through it a second time like I owned the wind.

The story is a strange one, and I'm still trying to piece it all together. This game, from beginning to end, happens across several months. We are all used to playing first person games where the events happen then and there, as if on the same day. But not this one. A day or a week or three months could pass in-between each part, thereby carrying the story that far during level load times. Once the level is loaded, you might still be thinking same day, but... time has passed in the game. This may confuse the story for people.
Also, the story is one of spiritual possession. You'll get that from the start of the game. But there' s a massive twist to all that, with little twists within, and the story goes so far as to explore a reasoning behind such a thing. At least it seems that way by the ending.

I think the scope of this game was a touch too big for just this one developer, that I think it may be a good idea for the dev to revisit this story idea here, even revamping this game a bit, when he's paired up with another dev or three who can really bring this... dare I say it... this beast of a walking simulator into the large life that it should be. It has its boring walking sim moments, but that's normal. Its the rest of this game that stands out. Most especially the visuals, which I can tell from the placing and design, that the dev took great care to create beautiful scenery, unique scenery, tricky enviroments, and a wealth of diverse situations. Even with all the gray-ness to the visuals, and the age of this game, it all looked great.

I would only recommend ShadowSide for the walking sim enthusiasts, for its not a generic "just another walking simulator" game, but a rather challenging and unique one, that may or may not frustrate you if you're new to the genre. The story is rather mature, it being a strange spiritual possession type of story happening amidst members of law enforcement. Military eventually come into the picture, because the madness doesn't stop at a spirit possessing law enforcement officers and creating havoc, but begins with a spirit looking for vengeance on law enforcement, and the story just goes deeper and deeper from there.
I have my opinions on such matters, and the developer appears to be exploring the idea instead of being malicious with this very real fact and phenomenon.

I played Investigator several times many years ago, loved it so much I bought many copies of it. I would still say that walking simulator was more enjoyable than this one. Simply because it wasn't as challenging. But story wise, this one might be better. I have Coldside installed. I'm looking forward to checking it out, for this dev has a unique vision of walking simulators that I have personally enjoyed so far.