Harken back to yesteryear with the Secret of Evermore-like Shrine’s Legacy. We’ve got 2.5D action RPG swords, staves, and spells slung about for 15 to 20 hours for your millennial enjoyment. Games’ve moved past the 16-bit era? Get off my lawn! Puzzles, exploration, collectibles, one spell in an arsenal of four that is completely busted, hidden walls, talking cats, adolescent dialogue, awkwardly forced swearing—Shrine’s Legacy has it all!
Rio, a teenage boy from a small village, dreams of saving a princess. Puh-lease. You’re dreaming small, bud. How about the whole world? Well, someone’s gotta get this sleepy country bumpkin out of his hamlet, and that someone is Aklor: armored, archetypal villain extraordinaire. This guy shows up and he’s after the Sword of Shrine. Wouldn’t you know it? Rio’s got the sword in a fancy glass case. And his last name is Shrine!
Our acne’d hero meets Reima, a mysterious girl who wants to help him, as she isn’t a big fan of Aklor herself. The two gallivant all over Ardemia (the world) in search of gems to power up the Sword of Shrine. Aklor wants those, too, but he also wants to kill the two upstarts. So, he does what all good villains do and sends his least capable general to thwart the progeny of an ancestor who already defeated Aklor once before.
Each of the eight crystals is guarded by a massive beast (boss) in a dungeon. These crystals grant spells to Rio and Reima, who can expend mana to assist them in battle. Nothing earth-shattering here: enhance their sword to heal, ignite enemies, freeze foes, etc. To get mana back, they have to smack enemies with sword or staff as if powering up a battery. Combat flows simply, as well, with players running around timing hits when enemies leave themselves exposed. Or you could do what I did and pop the healing buff to mindlessly beat enemies through their attacks. Surprisingly fun.
Ardemia’s full of hidden goodies, and the open world map design is one of Shrine’s Legacy’s best features. The world forks and hides paths tastefully, making it eye-catching and engrossing to explore. Spells can sometimes impact the world, so Shrine’s Legacy bleeds into the Metroidvania genre, as returning to old locations can grant passage to a goodie or secret shop. The world map doesn’t articulate exactly where players are unless they enter a dungeon, which provides a grid-based map to help players navigate the sometimes labyrinthine catacombs leading to a gem.
Functionally, exploring dungeons is the same as walking around the open world, but getting to the boss has a distinct feel to it. Most dungeons have a puzzle theme that uses a previous spell and can feel boxy in its design. Save points generously dot the map, which is consistent in tone with Shrine’s Legacy’s general difficulty. Aside from a couple bosses, the game’s fairly easy, but challenging enough to maintain one’s attention, and I played single-player.
For those flying solo, the inactive character follows the active one, and switching takes a single button press. I often did this when mana reserves got low or I needed to heal the ally because they were taking too much damage. As referenced earlier, the healing spell is kinda busted, but potions give players the opportunity to heal in a more traditional style for this kind of game. Crafting potions requires money and resources, which are somewhat challenging to accrue. Potions can also permanently grow stats with specific types of collectibles, though don’t expect any surprises here.
Sidequests keep the world feeling uniform as NPCs task Rio and Reima to lead them somewhere, meet them in a location, or hunt for a trinket. This gave me an excuse to revisit old locations with new powers, so while I was satisfying the quest, I also found new paths to tread; I imagine this is part of the intention of the sidequests: providing players purpose for backtracking and giving them plenty to do.
While the side quests are enjoyable from a gameplay perspective, the overall dialogue in Shrine’s Legacy is fine. Stylistically, I found conversations reminiscent of days of olde, but because the atmosphere matches a bygone era doesn’t necessarily make it good. Still, not every game needs sophistry or vocabulary-rich exchanges in an attempt at maturity. For a game that looks like Shrine’s Legacy, the young adult approach maintains consistency.
Distinctly 16-bit in appearance, Shrine’s Legacy was clearly crafted with care. Pixel art doesn’t have to be basic, and Shrine’s Legacy is evidence of that. Spells commit flair, locations are detailed in layout and unique imagery, hubs win the eye’s attention with varied decor, and enemies animate uniquely with no copycat foes. If this era is your thing, the visuals will win you over easily.
Similarly, the music capably carries the SNES (not Genesis) banner with playful, earnest beeps and boops. Ruins have a mysterious, eerie tone to them, while towns have the upbeat cheer one expects. Although the soundtrack doesn’t boast any standout hits or surprises, the music is expertly composed and complements the era’s feel with the use of modern hardware (again, not Genesis).
Unfortunately, Shrine’s Legacy isn’t a hidden gem or a sleeper hit for a few reasons. The chief reason is that games that lean heavily on nostalgia—like this one—have to be careful not to feel too much like old games. Old games aren’t made anymore for a reason. Most successful titles like this add elements that may not have even been possible thirty years ago; they feel retro while having modern sensibilities. If you’re a purist, Shrine’s Legacy’s going to scratch that itch just fine.
I also ran into a host of bugs and awkward graphical issues, such as walking into what should have been dense objects as my characters went completely under them. This has a cheap feel to it, and happened often enough to irk me a bit. I also occasionally got stuck in walls, the game crashed or froze, and quest progression was sometimes unclear. These happened infrequently enough for me to put them at the end of my review—and I have made grievances about this stuff at the start of some reviews—but still impacted my experience. We also hope developers will patch this stuff out, but not all devs will do that, sadly.
The other issue I have with Shrine’s Legacy is that the characters and world lack power. This part’s hard because making a truly impactful story that is worth people’s time and money is core to an RPG experience. I enjoyed the characters and world, but I know some will find these aspects largely forgettable. Rio and Reima grow together over the course of the journey and noticeable changes occur, but their personalities lack depth and unique voice.
Of the retro titles out there, Shrine’s Legacy is a cut above. Several games like this may feel like cheap-to-develop cash grabs, or like someone made them just to relive the old days but doesn’t know how to make a good game. I’m critical of this style of game. Despite its failings and mediocrity, I enjoyed my time with Shrine’s Legacy. A bit simple, a bit weak, a bit buggy, but full of outstanding map design, charm, and great ideas. I hope the developers find some success and make an even better game in the future. I’ll be waiting.
