Shadow and Ink

Shadow and Ink

This game was well-balanced. At first I thought it might be overwhelming, with options for fast travel and separate screens for inventory.

Instead, its fairly well balanced, and moderately more linear than it might appear. It's a Japanese setting with references to Borges, the American West, and other non-Japanesisms. You encounter a fairly magical land with talking trees, magical shadows, and rivers of ink.

In this world, you are tasked with creating magical books using recipes requiring a sheet of paper, a bottle of ink, and 1 or more magical items (kind of like witch hat atelier, which I haven't played but I have played a ripoff of). Then you find the person who needs the book.

There's a lot of game here, but it's not too hard to lawnmower through options when you get stuck. More fun is finding the person who needs help. Like many such combination games, the possibilities grow larger and larger until you reach a turning point and they start dwindling until only one option remains.

I feel like it's almost slightly overtuned, a great deal of apparatus (images, music, helpful UI, checks for your progress) for a plot and premise that is perhaps 20% thinner than it ought to be, like David wearing Saul's armor. But in a competition filled with long games, I appreciated a smooth and pleasant experience with a fun variety of characters and a large number of satisfying resolutions.