Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King | PS4 Review

Beautiful, bleak, and bold by design. That is what I think of when I think of "Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King". It is an ambitious soulsborne title with a fresh take on the genre, if lightly so. Filled to the brim with it's own fleshed out lore, and key characters it quickens the pace of combat, makes it more player friendly, and renders it more forgiving than anything that's come before it. It immerses the player in a darkness shrouded Limbo wherein the protagonist, a nameless wanderer, finds himself guided by a curious skeletal apparition known as Y'AAK. It is through this tour guide of sorts, and the many NPCs found along the way that the plot, and history behind the involved alien races are disclosed. Details hidden in and out of plain sight. There for those who want more than just combat or exploration. While the game does have it's own unique appearance, story, and world it does not innovate too much on the given mechanics though ...

As the wandering lost soul that you are in Shattered you'll find the story unfolding through sparsely placed textual memos, NPC conversations, and panel driven cutscenes lined up along a semi-linear path. By talking to select vendors, and key characters you'll learn more about a certain King of creation that has vanished. That and a world which is now plagued by demons, and darkness in his absence. You being dropped right smack dab in the middle of it all trying to figure out who you are as well. 

Initially awakening in Limbo you scramble about picking up life fragments, and your first two weapons. The weapons being a heavy sword, and a energy projectile. With these two weapons you can fight off the resident Demiurges which are the demons of the realm. These creatures with weapons and shields come in various forms along with the occasional bigger badder boss variety. You'll find that the lesser enemies can be beat forthright with their attention focused on you or through stealth back stabs by crouching, and slowly approaching them from behind. Leaving the bosses with full-on attack patterns that you'll have to learn in order to prevail. Using both offense and defense. The defensive side of combat, as it were, includes the ability to lock-on, sprint, dash/air dash, double jump, and parry enemy attacks. Things dependent upon stamina. Some of these abilities are also used in the environmental exploration that comes in both 3D and 2.5D formats which transition fairly seamlessly through alternating camera angles. Mastering these abilities is the key to progress.

After a short trip through the early part of Limbo you will happen upon the game's hub or base area in which you'll visit the various vendors for upgrades, and travel through portals to different areas of interest to gather materials, items, and gear for the future enemy encounters. Vendors here include one that allows you to upgrade base stats through essence collected from fallen enemies and items. The stats being Vitality, Stamina, Strength, Mysticism, and Knowledge. Each of which play into how your character functions, and what types of weapons he can better wield. Alongside that vendor is one for catalyst upgrades, and trading. You can upgrade your catalyst item count, and power. This of course requires the correct catalyst items. You can also trade essence for materials that can then be used in the actual Catalyst mechanism. This Blacksmith-like unit will let you use gathered materials to craft other materials, single use items for health and stamina as well as key items. You can even upgrade weapons here. Both things will cost you materials plus essence. It should be noted that the developer did away with the loss of essence upon death, and thus there is no need to go back to where you died to gather up those lost essences. You do have to worry though about saving progress, and that is done through Limbo shrines that are activated a lot like the campfires in other soulsborne games. Activating them acts as a checkpoint, and a place to refill all three of your governing meters including the one for life, stamina, and energy which is used for your secondary energy weapon.

Progressing through the game will take revisiting the heart of Limbo for upgrades, and passage through the portal doors that each lead to a different area. These areas are uniquely themed and named. With their own enemies, secrets, and items to find. You'll even encounter bosses that will need to be defeated in order to fully complete the game. That, and lore. Within each given area you'll find that the view will transition at some points going from a traditional soulsborne 3D to a sort of side-scrolling 2.5D kind of perspective. The camera does this automatically when the point of change is approached. It is in these various environments that you will need to hone your platforming skills. Applying your double jump, air-dash, and interaction options for switches, and such. Nothing in the game is outright explained in the way of where or why though you are given hints in which directions you should be headed. That being said there are often times branching paths to choose from, and out of the way areas that harbor secrets like special items, and chests. It pays to explore, especially for lore sake.

Through the OPTIONS, and Down on the Dpad menus you'll be able to do things like equip weapons, assign quick use items to cyclable  DPad slots, and check on your character's stats. These things as well as viewing the game's map, and the codex which is the games hub for information. It's a simple, and user friendly way to manage your playthrough options in this inspired soulsborne title.

The Verdict ...

What drew me to Shattered initially was it's art style. It had a unique look to it that was both artsy, somewhat surreal, and definitely on the dark side of things. The use of whites, greys, and blacks with the occasional splash of neon color really made it stand out in an inviting way. Going into it I was glad to find out that the developer tried to do, and create their own thing. Even if it's core mechanics were heavily inspired by former soulsborne games things like the dash, and air-dash as well as the double jump added a layer of opportunity not usually seen in the likes of Dark Souls or Demon Souls. Combat was refreshingly fast paced, and the enemies weren't so brutally difficult to deal with that it was off putting. Meaning you had time to enjoy the world, and it's lore without getting frustrated at dying cheap or unforgivable deaths. The only issues I found were some map glitches where getting trapped in environmental set pieces were a thing. That, and the platforming bits which felt a little floaty, and loose at times. Other than that it was a rock solid experience that did impress enough for me to recommend the game. I do think it's a good buy at the current asking price, and especially since I saw the developer was willing to fix things with updates and patches. This is definitely, and obviously a passion project with a lot of heart put into it. I do like it.