I often enjoy getting the chance to play a game set in an existing universe that I know nothingabout. Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings is one of those. What this game ended up being is an unexpected combination of right up my alley and outside of my neighborhood. And Iloved every second of it.
Taking direct inspiration from the Legend of the Five Rings (or “L5R” for those familiar with it) universe oftabletop and card games, Shadowveil is a deckbuilding roguelike with strategy elements. It’s also an auto-battler, which for me tends to be a tough sell because I like control in my games — but especially in my roguelikes. That being said, the layer of strategy needed to be successful kept me more thanengaged.
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LEARNING ‘SHADOWVEIL’ IS THANKFULLY EASY
One thing I love about Shadowveil is that the game does not assume familiarity with theuniverse. You get a detailed tutorial explainingcombat, the cards, and the items you’ll be using in your runs. Once the game let me loose, I didn’t feel like I was being left to flail helplessly. I had more than enough to get going, Ijust needed to continue to learn through playing. And if I ever got stuck, there’s a great helpscreen in the pause menu to refresh things.
After the tutorial in Shadowveil, you meet two characters, Hida O-Ushi and her brother HidaSukune, both members of the Crab Clan. You receive a choice between which character to start your story with. O-Ushi is the warrior and Sukune is a strategist. I chose O-Ushi becauseshe came off like a badass and I thought the story would be more fun from her point of view.I later discovered I made the right choice because she often screams “IT’S HAMMER TIME” before fighting. Both characters have full voice acting and their own set of battle traits.
You fight your battles in Shadowveil on static stages with hexagonal spaces to deploy your units. You receive two command points to start which allows you to deploy two units and start the battle. More command points can be obtained throughout the run by getting Fortitude Boons. Beyondthat, using the terrain, placing your troops correctly, and taking advantage of traits are all key toeliminating your enemies.
MASTERING IT IS A DIFFERENT THING ENTIRELY
My first few battles went well enough, I took note of where the enemy’s attention was goingwhen I placed my troops and tried to force a split. And then I ran into the ghosts. Theyproceeded to stomp me out with little to no effort. I wasn’t frustrated, it made sense. Whyshould I be able to attack incorporeal enemies? It was surprising to see that addressed inShadowveil‘s dialogue after I returned to base.
At base camp, you can unlock the different areas by playing the game and reaching certainpoints. The Barracks allow you to level up your characters, the Magistrate gives you sidequests outside of the main story, and the Emissary lets you communicate with the families ofyour clan. In fact, Shadowveil encourages you to abandon your run when necessary to headback to base camp and make improvements. And it makes sense. Sometimes, you lose that next battlebefore you even get into it.
Once I started to get into Shadowveil‘s rhythm, I found that combat is way more involvedthan just clicking “Start Battle” and hoping you made the right decisions. Choices made inbetween fights matter too. As you proceed, you gain fortitude. Which, when leveled up, will allow you to gain Command Points, Scouting Party, or Jade. Jade is an important resource as it allows you to rest at a camp in between battles and heal your team. The roguelike elements kept me coming back as most battles felt like a function of my planning as opposed to the game just outright kicking my ass. Shadowveil doesn’t want to punish you, it just wants to beat you.
‘SHADOWVEIL’ HAS SOLD ME ON A STYLE OF GAME I STAYED AWAY FROM
I’ve never been huge on tactics-style games like Fire Emblem. While Shadowveil is not explicitlythat, it does have elements of those games. And I like what I see. The most important thing that this game does is make me interested in the world that it’s based around. The story is great, the dialogue is occasionally funny, and the world-building shows a universe worthy ofexploration.
I will say that while Shadowveil does a solid job of mixing multiple styles of games, its flaws lie in doing just that. To me, a roguelike doesn’t need to justify its existence through its narrative, but it does help. I feel like Hades messed the game up for everyone else. As far as the auto-battler nature of the game, there are times when it feels like the game makes weird decisions on where to send your troops. It’s a difficult juggling act that Palindrome Interactive is performing, but I’d say they hit the mark most of the time. But when the game misses, it is noticeable.
It’s not easy to make a game for the people who already know the IP, yet make itaccessible to those who don’t. Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings does just that. And while I’m still working through my struggles with the auto-battler portion, I can’t wait to dive further into the world.
VERDICT: RECOMMENDED
Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings is out now on PC. A code was given by the publisher for review.
