Living in the Shadow of the greats.
The trailer for Shadows of the Orient showed me a much different game than what I had in my hands the moment I entered its world. From wielding weapons, dashing through the air, or stomping on my foe, I found that I had to nearly complete this adventure to see most of those things, weapons and abilities that are locked behind a store that you might not even see. While the bulk of this adventure is sound, the execution was not what I had expected.
As you attempt to rescue missing children, you’ll take on the role of a martial arts warrior known as Xiaolang. He can punch, throw fireballs, double jump into the air, climb rocky walls, and bounce or slide on them. While he can also do the aforementioned things in the opening paragraph of this review, those abilities are locked behind a storefront where you’ll spend one of several currencies.
From gold to emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, these gems are rolled out fairly generously, but when you have to collect 300 of them to earn the dash and another 150 for just the sword, it becomes a problem. While I was collecting my fair share during my playthrough, I was just able to purchase the dash at the start of the final act. Once I obtained the dash, you start to see how the whole game was designed around it. While this makes backtracking through previous stages easier to do to collect more currency, that sort of replayability doesn’t suit a level by level platformer and feels more suited to that of a Metroidvania.
Currencies, abilities, and equipment aside, Shadow of the Orient is a fine enough platformer that unfortunately doesn’t bring something of its own to the table. As refined and inspired as this game is, we’ve seen everything this game does before. Platformers are a dime a dozen on the Switch. In fact, you can rarely browse a store page without one being present. Hell, I’ve covered at least a dozen this year alone across numerous news pieces. So, in such a crowded genre, just being playable isn’t a great look, you need to stand out; and Shadows of the Orient simply does not.
The stages in Shadow of the Orient are multi-directional and this is only due to a having a need of exploration to hide away the missing children. You’ll find switches to pull that unlock their cages, and then a platforming or enemy challenge to solve in order to approach them. Levels have checkpoints, some more sparingly than others, or even not at all, and I had one level not mark as complete, making me have to start from Act 2-3 all over again should I quit the next level at any time. 2-5 saved just fine, but oddly enough, 2-4 never once cared to.
I also had a very weird technical issue that resulted in this review being late. Normally, if a game is available on Switch, I’ll opt for that version so I can take it with me to work. I’ll switch it to airplane mode so that I don’t have to worry about wifi or any sort of connection. However, every single time I respawned or opened a chest, it would demand I shut off airplane mode, with the same issue should I turn it off, but requesting that I connect to a network. Why this game demands an internet connection is beyond me. At home and connected? Flawless experience.
Spread out across three acts, you’ll experience the biomes you expect in a game like this. Lava, jungle, snow, etc. Each level has three kidnapped children to find, with colored keys and chests that contain about as much currency as it takes to reunite the key with the lock, making them not only pointless, but also unsatisfying. Most levels, and most of these children, are found in hidden areas that are largely easy to spot given that you only need look for a long unobstructed wall to pass through. While it’s not every wall, your odds are far better that there is something there than there isn’t.
I want to return the dash, as out of all the purchasable upgrades, it feels the most damning to put behind a paywall. This is because some levels, attacks, and platforming challenges feel suited to it. The headstomp, upgrades to your fire attack, and weapons are one thing, but given you are making a platformer, holding back a key method of mobility is bizarre. I also want to point out that the store initially looks like it has only three items, with taking a bit to realize I had to tab over to see more options. Why everything wasn’t on one page is beyond me. Again, just a lot of bad ideas here that would be so easy to fix.
Shadows of the Orient should be right up my alley. Pixel platformers are often joyous and engaging, but here, the game felt like it was fighting me at every step. You cannot mount up ledges, so you can only rely on the wall bounce, making some platforming to be more obnoxious than enjoyable. The currency shop and airplane mode issues zapped so much life out of what could have been a fun experience. Had the dash been available from the start with a better way to climb up when you are right at a ledge, then Shadows of the Orient would be downright impressive, instead of another platformer I’ll forget about by next week.
Developer - Delores Entertainment.
Publisher - Delores Entertainment. Released - March 27th, 2025. Available On - Nintendo Switch, Xbox One/Series X/S, PS4, PS5. Rated - (E 10) - Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.