So Shadow at the Waterās Edge seems to be a fan favorite in the clue crew and these are the reasons it is genuinely one of my least favorite ND games.
Movement- Right off the bat, movement feels awkward. I like games where you can spin around a room and really absorb all of it. At the ryokan, I felt so claustrophobic, and not in an atmospheric way. You could only do 90 degree turns save for one section of the main lobby, and that drove me up the wall. Yumiās apartment, the Pachinko Parlor, the expo- they all suffered from this issue. I think the ryokan was lazily designed as well. Itās very symmetrical and feels small.
Atmosphere- The atmosphere they were going for did not match the look and feel of the game. The music was terrifying, but the ryokan had a very light color scheme which canceled out the eeriness. After the same loop of songs plays over and over and nothing scary happens, the atmosphere is completely lost.Ā
Characters- I did not like any of the characters in this game. None of them. Iām not a voice actor/accent Nazi, but you could really tell it was white people doing a Japanese accent this time. Yumiās voice was too high pitched for me. Rentaro made me cringe, and not because heās awkward. Itās because of the writing, which Iāll get into later. Miwako annoyed me. How much can a person complain? Takae was a little better because she reminds me of my own grandmother and her infinite wisdom, but still. Not one of the infinitely more memorable ND characters. After my first play through, I legit did not remember anyone's name. That never happens in a ND game for me.Ā
Writing- My main problem was that the 20 something year old characters in this game talked like they were 15. The dialogue was very cutesy. Awww...Rentaro is so awkward. Yumi is so perky. Miwako is so uptight. Isnāt that so adorable? No. Itās not. Jane Penvellyn was more mature than all of these stereotypes combined. And Iām serious. Each character in this game was an Asian stereotype. You had the wise, traditional grandmother, the trendy cute girl, the geeky tech guy, and the hardworking, serious girl who doesnāt make time for fun. Stuff like this doesnāt offend me, but Iāve seen it a million times, and it doesnāt make for good writing or a good story.
Puzzles- I donāt mind a hard puzzle, but when a puzzle is a waste of time and exists solely for the sake of having puzzles- thatās when I get irritated. I like Sudoku in real life, but I donāt need to play it when all I want to do is solve a ghost mystery. I especially donāt need to do it FIVE TIMES. This goes back to the things I said about a conflicting atmosphere. Thereās nothing creepy about Sudoku, so when that eerie music comes on, it kind of turns the whole game into a joke. Ā And the end puzzle was such a waste of time, I went straight to a walk through which spoiled the jump scare that comes afterwards.Ā
Jump Scares- This game didnāt scare me. No, not the mirror scene. No, not the shadow scene. No, not the drowning scene. The āghostā looked really fake. I know that it was a robot, but it looked unpolished. Like the graphic designers forgot to add a layer of texture or something. So if the atmosphere didnāt work for me, the characters didnāt work for me, the puzzles didnāt work for me, and even the scares didnāt work for me, what am I left with? A game that I truly did not enjoy.Ā
Good Parts- But, the game did have some parts I enjoyed. Letās start with the title. Itās named after a scene that you could totally miss if youāre not paying attention. If you are lucky enough to see the shadow at the waterās edge, youāre in for a creepy, somber surprise. I liked Takaeās story about the gardens of the ryokan and the quote, āthe world has become many different things, but in here things always stays the sameā (or something along those lines).Ā The music was gorgeous (specifically the songs Kasumi and Pop). My favorite part of the game, though, has to do with that story Takae tells about the bird trapped in her house trying to escape from the window. In the end sequence, you see that bird fly away as the ghostly shadow disappears, and that part gave me chills. It was very good symbolism.
Anyways, these are my thoughts on why I think SAW is overall a bad game, but if you like it thatās cool, too.
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