People laugh as much as they cry and that, for me, is Shardlight’s greatest strength. People scavenge and risk their lives against the oppression of the Aristocracy and some don’t trust anyone, but there are also communities, and friendships and loyal allies. The Green Lung disease and its effects, not only on the character but also on the people around her, are heartbreaking and you can feel their desperation for salvation, how much they need a cure, or at least stave off the terminal stages of the disease and avoid the quarantine zone. It’s a post-apocalyptic spy thriller, where you begin knowing next to nothing and slowly you piece together the truth, some from what you’re told and the rest from your own actions. The plot of Shardlight is just phenomenal. Accepting this request puts Amy right in the middle of government conspiracies, rebellion, the secrets of the Green Lung disease and the fatalist Reaper Cults of her city. He’s suspicious at first, until Amy mentions her name and her father, at which point the man hands over a letter to deliver to the mysterious Danton. After he helps Amy complete her task, she asks him if she can help him in any way. In there she finds the worker they sent before her, crushed under debris, slowly dying from his wounds. In comes our main character, Amy Wellard, a mechanic on a Lottery Job, repairing an old reactor. Things are so bleak that jobs don’t have a direct reward anymore, but a chance of one. The Aristocracy controls the supply of the only medicine that can manage the symptoms and while they and the rich get free access to it-as long as they remain useful-the poor have to do dangerous “Lottery Jobs,” where they receive tickets for the upcoming vaccine lottery. A disease called Green Lung is killing off the population. Genre(s): Point & Click Adventure (3rd Person) People don’t use lightbulbs anymore, but uranium shards, leaving the world in a strange green Shardlight glow. Disease and hopelessness grip the people, while the Aristocracy rules from their gilded homes. Just thinking about a game with the combination of Daedalic’s 2D art team and WadjetEye’s… everything else would be amazing.Years ago, the bombs came and destroyed the world. I realize that none of WadjetEye’s developers are very rich and keeping development so cheap is how they get to churn out classic adventure titles, but I’m not asking for much - just a higher resolution and some better walking animations would do! The little I’ve seen of Shardlight is bleak and beautiful with some cool designs, particularly the French Aristocrat look the Aristocracy boast, so it’s a shame it’s being wasted on such a low resolution game. The only bad thing I can say about Shardlight is the same problem that WadjetEye (and indeed Telltale Games) have been sticking to for a while now, and I give them stick for every game: their stubborn reliance on an aging and utterly outdated engine. I’m already looking forward to seeing the rest of Shardlight’s brain-melters. A puzzle involving a Calligraphy book where you literally have to read between the lines is almost a perfect adventure game puzzle - a real head-scratcher, but once you get it with a big “a-ha!” moment there’s a tremendous sense of satisfaction. Even in this apocalyptic landscape WadjetEye’s knack for sensible, believable puzzles is maintained… with just a taste of the fantastical to them. I only got a taste of the puzzles but I was happily impressed, with the exception of the aforementioned chalk puzzle that had me tearing my hair out. Main character Amy is desperately searching for a cure and knows one is out there, but faces obstacles in her way - not least the disease that’s slowly killing her. Well, not quite, but in Shardlight there is only a vaccine for the fatal disease Green Lung, not a cure. Secondly, the populace isn’t already dead in Fallout. First, Fallout isn’t a 2D sprite-based adventure game. Yes, I realise it’s very Fallout, but there are key differences. This is a medieval society built on the ashes and memories of modern day, and it’s hugely compelling as a result. There is literally a puzzle near the beginning of Shardlight (that I got unbelievably stuck on incidentally) where the goal is to get a piece of chalk. Simple things like medicine, housing, and even such basics like chalk are hard to get hold of. The internet, movies and television are but memories.
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