Shadow Man (PC/DC/N64/PS1, 1999)

• Parallel world theme (kingdom of the dead kind of place called Deadside where the player char (Mike) turns into Shadow Man and if he dies in the real world he ends up there - similar to Soul Reaver or Zelda 3), The mechanic isn't as fleshed out though - the "dark world"/deadside is a separate world here besides when you get to fully explore the liveside areas (which only make up maybe a fifth of the game or less), Your Shadow Man form has a few differences (can climb walls behind "blood waterfalls" using the Poigne, is immune to falling or drowning and can be made immune to fire, can upgrade the main gun)

• Partially non-linear structure (more than one coffin gate can be opened at various points in the game and there are some branching paths in some sub areas, can choose which bosses to face when besides the first one - collect special keys and use on the gates to their areas, have to assemble the l'eclipser before you can explore the liveside locations properly - can only see a little bit of them before doing so)

• No in-game maps (the game came with a very vague map)

• Can teleport between worlds and visited sub areas at any point using an item you get near the beginning, Some shortcuts within sub areas (there could've been a few more though considering the lack of maps and some are one way)

• Gain mainly weapons and key type abilities besides the wristlets/poigne, using the l'eclipser item in the real world locations changes the enemies and what you can reach there, the flambeau weapon can also be used as a torch - useful in some areas until you find the flashlight

• Some sequence breaking possibilities (can reach some dark souls sooner than intended, in a couple of rooms you can ignore pressing a switch or skip the intended platforming segment with some smart platforming)

• No journal/quest log feature but you can see how many dark souls are left to collect in each sub area as well as in the whole game via the pause menu

• Story/lore exposition is mainly done via dark and poetic monologues by Mike when entering new areas and tomes with text and images (similar to Soul Reaver/System Shock 2 respectively - these help a bit in figuring out what to do next at times and one of them is basically required)

• Upgradeable charge attack+shadowgun lock-on range (?)+voodoo weapon ammo capacity (based on your level - collect dark souls) and life bar (100 red pots/cadeaux per HP)

• Some decent platforming, spatial awareness and timing puzzles; basic switch puzzles

• Save feature (anywhere, 7 slots - each one only shows a letter to note which area you're in (?) and not time taken nor current stats) - loading takes you to the beginning of the area you saved in though

• Infinite lives (dying just puts you in Deadside if you were controlling Mike at the church or back at the beginning of the current area (or the one you just teleported to) if you already were in Deadside or in one of the boss areas as Mike, there are also some checkpoints within sub areas - when luke's ghost appears it means you've reached one)

• Alternate ending of sorts - special game over cutscene for if you die to the final boss

• Non-interactive dialogue with NPCs, Can get advice on what to do next from a couple of NPCs but it's usually too vague to be of much use

• Can't keep health items for later use

Playthrough (PC) - Mini-Review (N64)

Influenced by: Probably Zelda series, Tomb Raider series, possibly Silent Hill, Seven (movie), Heretic II, MDK, Medievil

Influenced: Possibly Soul Reaver, American McGee's Alice