In this Shady Part of Me, a nameless, faceless, light-afraid little girl teams up with her own shadow in settings obviously drawn from her imagination. The first moves in a 3D universe, while the other progresses on a 2D plane. These two entities may be intimately linked, but they evolve independently of each other. The player can therefore switch from the little girl to the silhouette as he sees fit, the control of one having no direct impact on the other. To put it more simply: the shadow is absolutely not attached to the little girl. The level design still prevents us from separating them too much, because the two "heroines" must constantly cooperate to be able to move forward in the sets. If death potentially awaits them at the turn (a little girl who finds herself in the light or a shadow who comes up against brambles), this is never a problem because it is possible to rewind time, and therefore the action, at any time. moment.
This principle, already seen elsewhere but still not widespread enough, is much more pleasant and practical than a traditional save point. It allows you to chain the tests at will, knowing that the gameplay of the game focuses mainly on puzzles based on shadow and light. Through various mechanisms, it is usually necessary to modify the 3D environment in such a way as to reshape the 2D terrain, and thus open a passage to our double flattened. But sometimes it will be up to the silhouette to activate certain levers in order to facilitate the progress of the little girl who, we remember, is totally incapable of walking in the light. Shady Part of Me does not hesitate to play with perspective, orientation, and multiple light sources in order to further enrich its puzzles. The latter always remain well calibrated, the most complex being reserved for the optional collection of birds, made of paper in the "real" world or of shadow on the 2D plane.
SHOW ME YOUR DARK SIDE
That said, the game's success is at least as much about its atmosphere as its gameplay. The universe, both childish and disturbing, is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland as well as Limbo or Inside. Rooms filled with giant toys, dormitories and other fairgrounds are all the more disturbing environments because the shadows do not always correspond exactly to what they should be. Thus, a simple folding of paper in the shape of a boat will project a shadow equipped with a mast and a sail, while a rubber duck will turn into a realistic animal silhouette. The narration, deliberately mysterious, takes place not only through the dialogues between the little girl and her shadow but also, in a very elegant way, by the display of words or sentences superimposed on the decorations. Moreover, whether we choose to play with English or French voices, we can only be convinced by the acting of the actresses (Hannah Murray for the international version, Cindy Lemineur for the VF). As for the soundtrack, it has the intelligence and the subtlety to split. Understand by this that by passing from the little girl to her silhouette, and vice versa, we are entitled to an orchestration slightly different from the current piece. Shady Part of Me is therefore a very pleasant little indie game. Obviously, we can always blame him for his lack of scope, since five to six hours are enough to complete the adventure. However, it is possible to significantly extend this life by going in search of the few hundred birds hidden in the scenery or behind fairly tough puzzles. Finally, our biggest regret (and it's still not very strong) concerns the absence of a local cooperative mode, which would have allowed one player to control the little girl, and the other her shadow.
