Game 2 of 2024: Shadows Over Loathing

Shadows Over Loathing

Developer: Asymmetric
Publisher: Asymmetric
Platform: PC
Genre: RPG

Difficulty: Moderate
Hours: ~14

Finished: Yes
Final Rating: 9.5/10

I absolutely adored West of Loathing. I played it with the Steam Link app on my phone so I could play it in bed before finally going to sleep. I wandered the map in hopes of more zany random encounters.

But.

Is the same true of Shadows Over Loathing?

Yes! Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes.

Well written, clever, hilarious, and surprisingly deep, Shadows Over Loathing is a hearty, satisfying experience.

There's an arachnophobia and arachnophilia setting if you're into that kind of thing.

The story starts off with the main character, custom made by you of course, getting a letter from their Uncle Murray beseeching them to come to Ocean City to help with an experiment.

Of course, when you get there, Murray has vanished. You need to solve the mystery of his disappearance by travelling to such places as The Big Moist, a university where you can get jumped by frat dudes and clouds of abstract numbers, and a county that has been overrun by a fossil fuel company. There are a ton (and I mean a ton) of items to gather, from hats (which you equip for stat changes), pants (same), weapons, and shoes (which don't change your stats but change your walking animation). They are almost all hilarious and reflect the game's unique character.

Every scene is given that unique Loathing touch.

Combat is turn based and can get surprisingly hard at times. There are fights where the enemies hit like Mac trucks and you need to make full use of your items and abilities in order to time your attacks correctly. Shadows Over Loathing throws you a bone here; when you hover over enemies you get to see what their next attack is going to be (and they can't be cheesy and change it). This way you can prioritize your actions and make sure you survive another round.

Sometimes there are fights that are just too tough. When you get beaten, you don't die but basically expelled from the fight with an additional perk (sometimes good, sometimes bad). There are often ways to bypass these fights if you have certain items or perks or if your stats are high enough.

I guess if I had one criticism, it's that I had enough experience to buy all the abilities by mid-game, and I didn't really grind or anything. I did try and explore all the locations I found, which might have had something to do with it. I never found money an issue and was able to buy all the stuff I needed. You also find a ton of items and weapons in the field.

I know the art style isn't going to be for everyone, being a black and white stick figure game, but I think it's quite well done and effective. There are some cool, simple graphical effects here and there, but nothing I would describe as ground breaking. I guess if extreme graphical fidelity is something you need, steer clear, but I would urge any RPG fan to grab this immediately.