Lost in Shadow
Encyclopedia
Lost in Shadow, known as A Shadow's Tale in Australia and Europe and as in Japan, is a puzzle platforming video game developed for Nintendo's Wii
console by Hudson Soft
, the first game of 2011. Lost in Shadow is played largely in the background of the game environment as the player controls a boy's shadow
, which must climb the shadows of a tall tower, rife with puzzles and enemies. He is accompanied by a sylph
that can alter the direction of the foreground light sources, altering the alignment of shadows upon which he climbs. There are times in the game when the boy is able to materialize into the 3D world and briefly interact with the objects themselves as opposed to simply their shadows.
. The player must navigate each level, fighting enemies, and using switches and levers to open up paths. Selected platforms can be rotated to provide different routes. At certain points, the player is given control over light sources in the foreground which can be moved to alter the layout of the level.
that had previously created Kororinpa
and its sequel
for the Wii. The original inspiration came from the game shadow tag, the objective of which is to step on an opponent's shadow. Director Osamu Tsuchihashi was reminded of his experience with the game as a child when he saw some kids playing tag in a park. He conceived the concept of Lost in Shadow as a result, combining it with an earlier idea of a title revolving around climbing a tower. The atmosphere and setting of the game was based on a disused tower in Tokyo
and an abandoned racing track in Negishi
, the latter of which Tsuchihashi was intrigued by after he coincidentally came upon a photo of the location. For the lighting of Lost in Shadow, he tried to recreate the horizontal incidence of sunlight while playing shadow tag, and the muted color palette used in the title was inspired by ancient Japanese art
. The enemies in the levels were made to convey a sense of fear and sadness, and were thought of as "it", the current chaser in a game of tag.
The shadow protagonist of the story was left unnamed because Tsuchihashi did not want to over-characterize it. Similarly, chief designer Masakazu Echigo kept its shape fairly simple not to obscure it on the various surfaces it is casted on, and sound director Shohei Bando was faced with the challenge of creating sounds a shadow would make. The health system of the game, centered around the weight of the shadow, was based on Duncan MacDougall's alleged determination of the human soul
weighing 21 grams. Hiromasa Ogura, who is a character designer of director Hayao Miyazaki
's Studio Ghibli
and had previously worked on the anime
films Patlabor: The Movie and Ghost in the Shell
, was commissioned as the art director for the game and drew the Japanese box cover, as part of a team of seven graphic artists. The music composed by Takasi Watanabe is mostly ambient
in nature, and is supplemented by the image song "Hinagiku" from artist Gutevolk. The team conceived the easier puzzles in the game with a computer program, though actual toy block
s were used to model more complex ones, resulting in a lot of trial and error. However, most of the development time of one and a half years was spent on creating and adjusting the shadow engine which posed many unforeseen problems for the game's programmers.
, Kristan Reed praised the game as "an outside bet for Game of the Year", with his only criticisms being the difficulty level
and lack of anti-aliasing
.
Eurogamer
called the game "as insubstantial as its hero.", lamenting that "it's no longer enough to simply come up with a concept and let it do the heavy lifting for the entire length of a game."
Zero Punctuation
stated "It's a cute idea, but it'd better suit a short concept game like Limbo. It's way too long, and I gave up on it." As well as saying the game is extremely reminiscent of Ico
.
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console by Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
, the first game of 2011. Lost in Shadow is played largely in the background of the game environment as the player controls a boy's shadow
Shadow
A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the...
, which must climb the shadows of a tall tower, rife with puzzles and enemies. He is accompanied by a sylph
Sylph
Sylph is a mythological creature in the Western tradition. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air...
that can alter the direction of the foreground light sources, altering the alignment of shadows upon which he climbs. There are times in the game when the boy is able to materialize into the 3D world and briefly interact with the objects themselves as opposed to simply their shadows.
Gameplay
Lost in Shadow is a 2D platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. The player must navigate each level, fighting enemies, and using switches and levers to open up paths. Selected platforms can be rotated to provide different routes. At certain points, the player is given control over light sources in the foreground which can be moved to alter the layout of the level.
Development
Lost in Shadow was developed by the team at Hudson SoftHudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
that had previously created Kororinpa
Kororinpa
is a video game for Nintendo's Wii video game console. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2006 as a launch title for the Wii, then in Europe on February 23, 2007 and North America on March 20, 2007.-Gameplay:...
and its sequel
Marble Saga: Kororinpa
Marble Saga: Kororinpa is a video game for Nintendo's Wii video game console. It was released in North America on March 17, 2009, roughly two years after the original title Kororinpa: Marble Mania...
for the Wii. The original inspiration came from the game shadow tag, the objective of which is to step on an opponent's shadow. Director Osamu Tsuchihashi was reminded of his experience with the game as a child when he saw some kids playing tag in a park. He conceived the concept of Lost in Shadow as a result, combining it with an earlier idea of a title revolving around climbing a tower. The atmosphere and setting of the game was based on a disused tower in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and an abandoned racing track in Negishi
Naval Housing Annex Negishi
The Negishi Housing Complex is an enclave of United States Forces Japan operated by United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Yokohama, Japan. It serves as a residence complex for the U.S. military.-Facilities:...
, the latter of which Tsuchihashi was intrigued by after he coincidentally came upon a photo of the location. For the lighting of Lost in Shadow, he tried to recreate the horizontal incidence of sunlight while playing shadow tag, and the muted color palette used in the title was inspired by ancient Japanese art
Japanese art
Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
. The enemies in the levels were made to convey a sense of fear and sadness, and were thought of as "it", the current chaser in a game of tag.
The shadow protagonist of the story was left unnamed because Tsuchihashi did not want to over-characterize it. Similarly, chief designer Masakazu Echigo kept its shape fairly simple not to obscure it on the various surfaces it is casted on, and sound director Shohei Bando was faced with the challenge of creating sounds a shadow would make. The health system of the game, centered around the weight of the shadow, was based on Duncan MacDougall's alleged determination of the human soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
weighing 21 grams. Hiromasa Ogura, who is a character designer of director Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
's Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
and had previously worked on the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
films Patlabor: The Movie and Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell (film)
"See You Everyday" is different from the rest of the soundtrack, being a pop song sung in Cantonese by Fang Ka Wing. It can be faintly heard playing in the marketplace scene, when Batou is hunting the ghost-hacked puppet....
, was commissioned as the art director for the game and drew the Japanese box cover, as part of a team of seven graphic artists. The music composed by Takasi Watanabe is mostly ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
in nature, and is supplemented by the image song "Hinagiku" from artist Gutevolk. The team conceived the easier puzzles in the game with a computer program, though actual toy block
Toy block
Toy blocks , are wooden, plastic or foam pieces of various shapes and colors that are used as building toys...
s were used to model more complex ones, resulting in a lot of trial and error. However, most of the development time of one and a half years was spent on creating and adjusting the shadow engine which posed many unforeseen problems for the game's programmers.
Reception
Lost in Shadow received generally mixed to positive reviews. Writing for MSNMSN
MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
, Kristan Reed praised the game as "an outside bet for Game of the Year", with his only criticisms being the difficulty level
Difficulty level
In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game. Arcade games as well as many early console...
and lack of anti-aliasing
Anti-aliasing
In digital signal processing, spatial anti-aliasing is the technique of minimizing the distortion artifacts known as aliasing when representing a high-resolution image at a lower resolution...
.
Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
called the game "as insubstantial as its hero.", lamenting that "it's no longer enough to simply come up with a concept and let it do the heavy lifting for the entire length of a game."
Zero Punctuation
Zero Punctuation
Zero Punctuation is an ongoing video game review series created by comedy writer and video game journalist Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw and published by the online magazine The Escapist.-Background:...
stated "It's a cute idea, but it'd better suit a short concept game like Limbo. It's way too long, and I gave up on it." As well as saying the game is extremely reminiscent of Ico
Ico
is an action-adventure game published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game around a "boy meets girl" concept. Originally planned for the PlayStation, Ico took...
.