Aragami: Shadow Edition Review – Spirit of Vengeance

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Ninja Vs the World

Aragami: Shadow Edition opens with players taking control of a spirit known as an Aragami. Aragami are summoned as spirits of vengeance that must enact their revenge on those who harmed the person that summoned them. There’s a hint that your Aragami is more than just a spirit, though. Nonetheless, he works with an imprisoned young girl’s spirit to stop the evil Kaiho Empire.

There is a sense of mystery and action going into Aragami: Shadow Edition. I was curious to find out more about the Aragami while excited to see what new challenges faced me in each level. Did it deliver on its premise? Let’s talk about it.

Hide and Sneak

Aragami: Shadow Edition is a stealth game all the way through. Each level is a series of sections where there are multiple guards patrolling the area. To get past them, you must either take them out or move undetected. If you get hit once, then you’re sent back to the start. With so many games incorporating stealth segments just because it’s the trend with AAA games these days, I have to admit that it was a nice change of pace to see a game make that its sole focus. This means that every power-up and every advancement builds on this mechanic, forcing players to see each section as a puzzle they must overcome efficiently.

The way the game emphasizes shadows as the primary source of camouflage is brilliant to say the least. With each section having organic lighting, it makes players see the world in a different way. They’re looking in every nook and cranny to see what their escape route is and how to get there as quickly as possible. As the game goes on and much larger sections are introduced, they serve as a great of way testing your skills with the mechanics. You’ll start in forests, but eventually use the shadows in a city to get through.

Unfortunately, Aragami: Shadow Edition isn’t without its flaws in design. The most notable one is the animations. At first glance, you’ll notice that the animations can be stiff and awkward (especially for rooftop kills). However, their problems go beyond visual quirks. The animations take so long that it’s nearly impossible to take out two guys that are talking to each other. By the time you’re finished cutting the soldier down and sheath your sword, you’ve already opened yourself up to death. It doesn’t help that some sections in the game send you back quite a ways, forcing players to repeat entire segments upon death. You can imagine how many times I would die because the animation took too long and I had to beat an entire section again. It gets quite frustrating.

It also doesn’t help that the game can’t keep a steady frame rate. It tried to run at 30 fps, but it would commonly drop and even skip frames as the game struggled to load populated locations and action-heavy moments. When the game was originally released on PS4, it had the same problems. However, with a re-release, I was hoping that the developers would take the time to make it run smoother.

A Revenge Plot

Aragami: Shadow Edition is a game that has players unraveling mysteries about who they are, the enemies they’re fighting, and the girl they’re helping. That said, it’s hard to get invested in the plot when the dialogue is so generic and the story beats are so rushed. Keeping names together is difficult for those who aren’t committing them to memory, and reveals have to be explained to make sense.

Speaking of revenge plots, the game has a bit of a vengeance moment itself. For those who were disappointed with the problems of the main campaign get the Nightfall expansion for free, which adds about two hours of additional content and takes place before the main story. It looks and runs a bit better, and it even plays better. Animations feel smoother, leading the experience to be more well-realized. Had Aragami: Shadow Edition been reworked to play like the Nightfall DLC, it would be nothing short of great.

System reviewed on: Nintendo Switch.

Disclaimer: A review code for Aragami: Shadow Edition was provided by the publisher.