Shadows of the Afterland – A Supernatural Point-and-Click Adventure

“If there is an after, I hope it’s not dark. And I hope you can remember. I’d hate to wander around in the dark forever, not knowing who I was or what I was doin’ here, or not even knowing that I’d ever had anything different.” – Richard Bachman

Overview

Shadows of the Afterlands is a new game from the creators of Intruder in Antiquonia. It is a point-and-click adventure in which players can cross between worlds and possess the living to uncover the truth and get to the bottom of a supernatural mystery!

Narrative

Shadows of the Afterland begins in Madrid in 1960, as a young woman dies under strange circumstances at the local zoo, tragically leaving behind an impoverished husband and child. During her transition from life to the afterlife, her soul arrives with the memories of Carolina, an integral part of the Madrid police force who has not yet been born and has no memory of dying. Carolina embarks on a detective case to deduce whose body she is occupying and how she can be doing so when she does not exist yet.

The narrative is told largely through varied, convincing, and lightly comical dialogue with a sizable collection of NPCs, such as César, a former ghost agent, Gaspar, a friendly street salesman and source of assistance, and the frosty clerk Emilia, who greets Carolina when she first arrives at Eternity’s Vault, the reception to the Afterland. Each of the characters is quite distinct and has their own backstory and personality. In fact, it is even possible to enquire as to how each one came to be in the afterland, which yields some interesting stories!

Gameplay

The point-and-click gameplay within Shadows of the Afterland is very well constructed. It has a classic retro feel overall but offers a more streamlined experience than some older titles, which often present more convoluted puzzles and require the player to travel back and forth between scenes to an excessive degree. It features typical inventory-based puzzles that simply require some logic and attention to detail, and provide a good level of satisfaction when solved.

There are a number of locations within the game, and travel is relatively quick and easy. Each area is of a reasonable size and can be traversed on foot, with increased movement speed activated by double-clicking. Upon exiting an area, players are presented with a map with which they can fast travel to any other unlocked area. Shadows of the Afterland also offers some accessibility options, such as a dyslexia-friendly font and different methods for progressing dialogue.

Some notable mechanics are Carolina’s eventual ability to cross between the lands of the living and the dead, as well as the ability to possess living beings. Objects cannot be taken between realms, and ghosts cannot interact with objects or people in the living world without possessing a live human being. This all adds another dimension to the puzzles by adding different avenues to explore to find solutions. There are also a number of obtainable items that are powered by ‘the gravy’, that is to say, magic, which can help Carolina when more extraordinary solutions are required.

Styling

Shadows on the Afterland uses vibrant pixel art with a retro vibe befitting of such classic point-and-click gameplay. It uses a mostly cool palette, favouring blues, purples and pinks with some pops of high saturation and almost neon shades. The music is quirky and mysterious, utilising a range of instruments such as strings, woodwind, piano, and xylophones. There is a good selection of tracks, with a range of sounds, melodies and tempos. Some of the soundtrack is very reminiscent of Danny Elfman movie scores (think Beetlejuice).

Summary

Shadows of the Afterlands is a fantastic example of a point-and-click game, providing all the fun and nostalgia of a classic point-and-click game while refining mechanics, puzzles, and exploration for a more succinct and satisfying experience overall. It offers an intriguing narrative, engaging gameplay, vibrant pixel graphics, and a quirky and varied soundtrack. Overall, it is a very enjoyable game that will take around 8-10 hours to play, making it pretty good value. I had a lot of fun playing this game, and I’d happily recommend it to fans of the point-and-click genre.

If you enjoy slightly spooky point-and-click games, you may also be interested in these reviews:
The Night is Grey – Murder is Game Over – The Darkside Detective

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