Kill the Shadow demo materializes on Steam

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Full version of narrative RPG mystery due out later this year for Windows PC

Many detective mysteries leave you feeling like you're just following a trail of breadcrumbs to an inevitable conclusion, so it's always a welcome opportunity to choose your own means of investigation, like you can in Shadowlight Sanctuary's upcoming narrative RPG adventure Kill the Shadow.

The story takes place in Darklight, a decade after a war divided the city and left those in the north cut off and forced to work tirelessly even for meagre rations. Former police officer Ah'Guang – referred to simply as "G" – plans to leave for the south but finds himself drawn instead into investigating an unusual series of crimes, from a poisoned dog to a missing Master at the temple fair, to the discovery of "dismembered limbs in the sewers." It's up to you how you want to proceed, as you can "use your eloquence, intelligence, the ability to rewind time, or even violence" to interrogate witnesses, search for clues and uncover evidence. Joining you throughout these cases is perhaps one of the strangest sidekicks in detective fiction, as G (and only G) can see and communicate with a creature known as "The Shadow," who has a taste for "bizarre stories" and is able to reconstruct "traces of the deceased" to assist in your investigations. 

Kill the Shadow blends 3D environments and 2D pixel art characters to represent a distinctive "contrast between modern and retro aesthetics." Via controller or keyboard, the game allows players to freely roam a Chinese-inspired city that seems perpetually shrouded in the darkness of night, from the "dilapidated steel forest factory [to] the muddy shipwreck dock built on water, the Zhulong Walled City blending the fictional traditional Ma Island and Imperial culture, and the bustling old city district." As you explore, you'll converse with a wide variety of fellow citizens, such as the "self-righteous Captain Wang, the foul-mouthed Little Rascal, the energetic girl with a camera, the elegant Mrs. Ruan, the rumoured goddess who can cast spells, and the elderly fish-selling lady." They each have their own personalities and stories to tell, and can help or hinder your progress depending on your choices. There are three main roleplaying abilities available – strength, spirit, and charm – to manage, and your approach will determine which avenues of investigation are accessible to you. Along the way you'll find or buy a variety of inventory items – some permanent, some consumable to replenish stats – and when you've gathered enough evidence, the deduction system will let you "collect, analyze, and connect related clues" until you've unmasked the mastermind at work – if indeed you decide to do so.

While the full version of Kill the Shadow isn't due out until sometime later this year, a playable demo is already available on Steam for Windows PC, thrusting players directly into the game's first mystery and introducing your shadowy companion.