Ereban: Shadow Legacy review — the art of stabbing in the back

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a debut indie game by the young Spanish studio Baby Robot. The authors have created a stealth platformer where we, as a representative of a forgotten race, using various gadgets and the ability to turn into a shadow, must fight back against a corporation that has turned the world into a robotic dictatorship. And the gg editorial team, having received the game for review, went to save the world once again. It was interesting to play, especially in arenas with enemies, where you have to think carefully about every step, because even one mistake can mean losing. Although it seems that in certain aspects the developers lacked experience, Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a game that is at least worth paying attention to, because the potential of Baby Robot is already noticeable.

Synopsis.

The megacorporation Helios has established its own order in a world where absolutely everything is under its control, and robots have become more numerous than living people. In this darkness is Ayana, the last representative of the forgotten race, who will almost single-handedly fight all the challenges that Helios has prepared. Avoid or kill. Spare or devour. The choice is yours: how far are you willing to go to defeat a corporation that has turned the world into a dictatorship and destroyed the heroine's people?

4 reasons to buy Ereban: Shadow Legacy:

• You want to support a young indie studio
• Interesting stealth mechanics with shadow transformation
• Visual style that resembles a cartoon
• The ability to feel that a strong enemy can be defeated by cunning

1 reason not to buy Ereban: Shadow Legacy:

• You are a true knight and only accept face-to-face combat

Fast forward:

• What we learned after the review of Ereban: Shadow Legacy review
• Plot: a warrior alone in the shadows
• Gameplay: a lot of stealth and a few puzzles
• The technical side of Helios Corporation
• How we will remember Ereban: Shadow Legacy
• Five things you need to know about Ereban: Shadow Legacy

What we learned after reviewing Ereban: Shadow Legacy review

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is another example of how it's easy to miss interesting small projects from independent studios in the industry, because blockbusters usually take all the attention. Especially Ereban: Shadow Legacy is especially suitable for those who have long wanted to try their hand at the role of a hidden assassin. The game poses a small challenge, but at the same time allows you to experiment and look for different ways to get through. And this is exactly what you need to get to know the genre. However, if you are an expert in Dishonored or Hitman, it will be difficult to surprise you with a game by Baby Robot.

The plot: a warrior in the shadows

There is an energy crisis in the world, and in some regions it seems that the apocalypse has already come. And on the horizon appears Helios, an energy mega-corporation that claims to have found a solution to the crisis. However, behind these solutions is a dictatorship that is ready to consider any way to solve the problem, even if it contradicts all the rules and ethical norms.

But once upon a time, before Helios, her robots, the crisis and other troubles, there was a race of Ereban on the planet that had mystical powers, but did not bother anyone and found harmony with the world. Helios obviously did not like this, and the last representative of the Ereban, Ayana, who is the main character of this story, remained in the whole world.

Ayana must uncover the truth about her past and find the key to saving the universe from destruction. Throughout the game, the developers seem to keep asking you the same question: "Avoid or kill. How far are you willing to go to reach the goal?". So the fewer human casualties Ayana has on her hands, the better the ending will be, but it's up to you to choose the ending.

The game turned out to be quite good. Yes, we've seen this pattern more than once. However, I adore everything that is somehow connected with the apocalypse and the theme of the hero's struggle against the unequal power of the enemy (the latter is very familiar to me as a Ukrainian). Moreover, the game is short and takes 6 hours to complete, so you don't get bored with it all, because the story is constantly evolving. And believe me, I've seen worse plots in recent years, but it was in AAA games, and here we have a small indie studio.

Gameplay: a lot of stealth and some puzzles

The game is divided into chapters, where we need to complete one or more main tasks, as well as, at the player's request, secondary ones. Most of the time, you will have to wander around spacious arenas, and now it's time to talk about Ayana's most important ability.

The main feature of the heroine

Whenever there is no light, Ayana can turn into a shadow thanks to her Shadow Unite ability. Hiding in the shadows, you can move freely through them to climb walls, reach inaccessible places, attack from cover, or move unnoticed. It is worth remembering that the ability does not last indefinitely and has a reserve, so you will not be able to move forever in the shadows. You need to determine the route in advance and understand where you can safely stop. Although sometimes you will have to take risks and believe that your ability reserve will be enough for the final breakthrough.

In arenas with enemies, you will encounter robots that are divided into several types: regular patrols, robots that can revive their metal comrade, and snipers. You can eliminate robots from the back, but it is important to monitor the situation so that when you eliminate a robot, another one comes to meet you. If you are seen, an alarm is raised, and absolutely everyone runs after you. The robots are too agile, so the only way to escape is to find a shadow, activate Shadow Unity, and run away. However, if you are too close to a robot, nothing will help you. You are caught and sent back to the checkpoint in one blow, so the game rarely forgives mistakes.

What else is there besides the ability to turn into a shadow? Good question, and I have the answer. The player can get several gadgets during the passage. First, we will be given a scanner that will scan the area and highlight all the enemies around. You will use it the most.

To unlock new gadgets, you need to collect special spare parts and spend them on a special workbench that will come across from time to time. This way you can open binoculars, a mine, and a bait. And then each of the gadgets can be upgraded twice more, but there is one caveat.

Everything except the scanner and binoculars requires two types of resources, which are collected during the exploration of locations. So you can't just throw mines and decoys around. They are rarely used, and I see this as a disadvantage. It would be better if the gadgets had a very long recharge time rather than a resource requirement. I rarely used the rest of my arsenal because I was afraid that I would simply not have access to them at the right time. So it would be better to give a less strict limitation, because it would give the player even more variability.

You can also get abilities for Ayana. To do this, you also need to find a special resource. For example, you can unlock the ability to make a jump or walk more quietly. Most of the abilities are really useful and fortunately not all of them require resources to use.

And in between platforming, stealth and resource gathering, there will be puzzles. Most of them are not difficult, but sometimes the solution may not be so obvious. Although it's worth a little thought and studying the location, and then everything becomes as simple as possible.

Overall, it was fun to play Ereban: Shadow Legacy was interesting. But as I said earlier, the main thing is that you don't have much experience in stealth games before. Turning into a shadow, going behind enemies' backs unnoticed, eliminating them, and then looking for a solution to the task you were given, accompanied by action or unexpected moments. The single biggest problem with the gameplay is the not-so-wide arsenal, where most items cannot be used often.

The technical side of Helios Corporation

I played Ereban: Shadow Legacy on a Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 gaming laptop (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 + AMD Ryzen 5 4800H). The game on low settings almost always kept 60 frames, but sometimes there were drops to 50-40 frames. So it's best if your PC meets the recommended system requirements (Intel i7-9700k + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060). There was a bug that prevented me from continuing the game, but fortunately, the developers quickly fixed it. I didn't encounter any other critical bugs or crashes during the entire playthrough.

Cartoonish visuals and good soundtrack

The game's visuals resemble a cartoon, so it's always a pleasure to look at Ereban: Shadow Legacy has always been a pleasure to watch. Even on low graphics settings. Before that, most of my recent games had realistic graphics. I'll admit, I was a bit tired of that style and it was really cool to see something more cartoony.

The sounds in the game are also at a decent level. Robots, characters, world and effects sound great. Only the compositions didn't catch my attention at all. Against the background of such visuals and sounds, this is the weakest element.

This is how we will remember Ereban: Shadow Legacy

Ereban: Shadow Legacy will be remembered as a good debut by Baby Robot, who clearly have the potential to create interesting games in the future. The game has nice visuals, a good story, and interesting gameplay, which is primarily remembered for the mechanics of turning into a shadow. I did not regret spending time on the game, and I can definitely recommend the game to those who want to support newcomers to the industry or those who are asking themselves: "What are stealth games anyway?".

Five things you need to know about Ereban: Shadow Legacy

• Ereban: Shadow Legacy is the debut game by Baby Robot Studio
• We are looking at a stealth platformer where we play as Ayana, the last representative of a forgotten race
• The main ability of the heroine is the ability to turn into a shadow
• The game's visuals are created in the style of a cartoon
• Ereban: Shadow Legacy is best suited for those who have long wanted to quietly destroy enemies to save humanity

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