A good Metroid-like title is always a great distraction. Just over a decade ago, a genre that is now swimming in new titles was hurting for a new experience. In the year 2025, 2D action-adventure titles are now in abundance, and the bar has never been higher on what makes each title a “special” experience. This is the exact line 9 Years of Shadows straddles. 9 Years of Shadows features a stunning 2D action-adventure title presentation, with solid level design and top of it’s class music, but due to an oversaturated genre, the cracks in its armour show now more than ever.
9 Years of Shadows tosses players behind the trusty glaive of Europa, and it’s made abundantly clear off the rip that the developers at Halberd Studios are mythological fanatics due to the constant stream of references to Greek paganism. Europa is charged with restoring colour and sound to the world —literally and figuratively—and after a confrontation with a nefarious demon and a meeting with a floating stuffed animal bear named Apino (yes, I’m serious), you find her purpose in taking down the curse and restoring colour to the world.
Your floating companion, Apino, is coated in an air of disappointing mystery, and how everyone treats the character is equally frustrating. While the player (you, the person with the controller) may continually ask “what exactly is helping me on my journey?”, you come to find the stuffed bear has so many functions and powers. All NPCs seem to exalt the bear, and it’s a shame it’s a literal stuffed floating bear that serves to drive the story’s vehicle forward without explanation.
It’s true, teddy bears can provide comfort in desolate settings (like a dentist’s office) and the world state of Talos is suffering immeasurably, but even Seth McFarlane’s Ted brought a soul, however foul-mouthed he is.
The conveniences derived from using a slew of vague descriptions, such as ‘Apino’s light projectile can take down the darkness,’ but not giving the player any sort of payoff makes it difficult to care about them. It’s even more frustrating when the companion speaks in a dialect that cannot be understood. While this is all by design, the lack of a meaningful companion drags whatever story 9 Years of Shadows has down with it. Out of everything in 9 Years of Shadows, the stuffed bear really does not fit in.
After meeting the stuffed saviour, it’s made apparent that Halberd Studios pulled out all the stops for 9 Years of Shadows soundtrack for the better. Talos is home to some of the best music in Metroid-like titles, and I’m not kidding. Halberd Studios recruited a dream team of composers helmed by Composer/Director Miguel Hasson. The soundtrack features an all-star lineup with help from renowned composers: Michiru Yamane (Castlevania Symphony of the Night), Norihiko Hibino (Bayonetta, Metal Gear Solid 4), and Manami Matsumae (Shovel Knight, Mega Man). This dream team almost forces these 9 Years to be spent with the volume all the way up.
Controlling Europa has all the trimmings expected in a 2D action adventure, and Halberd Studios smartly leans into its inspirations. Europa can backstep like Symphony of the Night’s Alucard, and she has inner monologues like Samus in Metroid Fusion when riding an elevator that gives needed exposition to the world. Plus, she can equip new elemental armours that give 9 Years another layer of thought to combat. Europa can obtain three aspects (lightning, water and fire) to help her restore Talos to colour, and Halberd Studios uses this mechanic smartly. When using the water aspect, Europa can change her dress into a fish tail, and she can swim through water and up waterfalls.
This is where Halberd Studios rolls up its sleeves. 9 Years of Shadows is at its absolute best when you’re figuring out a new mechanic, and Halberd demands you dance through these new obstacles without error. In one instance, I met many running waterfalls, where I had to use momentum to eject Europa out of the water and fling her through the air to get to the next area, similar to how Shadow Labyrinth uses Pac-Man. When pressing the transform button, Europa can go into and out of her mermaid form.
“…it’s made apparent that Halberd Studios pulled out all the stops for 9 Years of Shadows soundtrack for the better.”
Halberd then gives a labyrinth of excessive waterfalls that forces the player to master this mechanic before moving on. 9 Years of Shadows does this with every power it gives to the player (aside from a double jump, you press X twice). This smart level design kept me engaged to see what happens next, and these challenging stages drove me to continue on for more challenges. Halberd Studios really did deploy some great level design.
Speaking of, 9 Years of Shadows deploys a potion system similar to Blasphemous, but instead of actual potions, you can hug Apino to restore energy. In 9 Years, Europa starts off with only two hit points and a bar of energy. By dealing damage, Europa can gain energy, and by shooting with Apino’s light powers, it reduces the energy.
If you have any energy stored, getting hit by an enemy is equivalent to Sonic the Hedgehog getting hit with rings in his pocket; no matter how much you have, you’ll be protected if there’s even a sliver. This adds to the stress of exploring the Talos world, and smartly gives me a sense of urgency when losing one hit point in the early stages.
The symbolism of hugging a teddy bear, giving Europa relief, is the best use for it, and restoring energy by use of something else aside from an estus flask adjacent is refreshing. What adds to the overall high stakes is how long it takes to restore energy through Apino, it really seems to like hugs for as long as possible, while enemies with different coloured outlines beeline to end your life.
On top of changing outfits to traverse levels, combat is affected in a huge way by the armour system. The lightning aspect is called the “Grace of Zeus,” and aside from these surface-level names, the rest of 9 Years of Shadows’ correlation with Greek mythology is entirely skin deep.
While you can draw lines between any protagonist of any game and The Odyssey, it would have been less of a bummer if there were something else in play from the borrowed mythological names aside from ‘it’s Zeus because lightning.’ The same can be said about adultery, but 9 Years of Shadows doesn’t feature the King of Olympus in anything but name.
“9 Years of Shadows is at its absolute best when you’re figuring out a new mechanic, and Halberd demands you dance through these new obstacles without error.”
Every enemy is coated in a coloured outline that tells the player ‘Oh, I should use fire here’ and it’s that simple. Red outlines take extraordinary damage from the fire aspect, etc. While 9 Years of Shadows is dripping with some of the best biome designs, level platforming and musical prowess, combat and enemy design leave a bland taste that is summed up by ‘press colour switch, attack with lightning, repeat.’
Scores of enemies on screen march at you, and Europa’s big halberd can cleave them by equipping the proper colour. This leaves one of the main components of 9 Years a little further behind than the rest of the ensemble and makes the sum of its parts worse for it. When 9 Years of Shadows flushes the player’s retinas with such excellent visuals and slams your ears with outstanding music and sound design, combat sticks out like it doesn’t belong when compared with the atmosphere.
Boss battles are big and epic, although they also sometimes feel a bit confusing. After facing off against a big serpent-like underwater boss, two more serpents appeared when flooring the first. While this surprise does feel thrilling, it’s notably dampened when it just feels like the original fight squared. That being said, Halberd Studios choreographs each fight meticulously, and it always feels like it’s the players’ fault and not poor development. Halberd Studios crafted a sharp design, even if it feels a little lacking.
9 Years of Shadows is a feast for the eyes and ears. Halberd Studios gives players a 2D action-adventure title loaded with excellent music and exceedingly beautiful pixel artwork. Europa controls well, and the player has to be deliberate in their actions if they want to come out of the other side of great level design. But, combat feels more stale than it should for the visual component, and a storyline dampened by vague contrivances and convenient musical NPCs permeates the entire experience. 9 Years of Shadows is a solid debut effort for Halberd Studios, but one that doesn’t innovate enough and leaves the player feeling like it is missing something.
