Shadowgate: Difference between revisions

[[File:shadowgate_title.gif|frame|<small>[[The Divine Comedy|Abandon all your free time, ye who enter.]]</small> ]]

 

 

Famous among adventure games for its innovative and groundbreaking story. Just kidding. The story is just a typical story of a hero venturing into the lair of the [[Big Bad]] to take him out and save the world. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|So what]]? The real stars of the game are [[Have a Nice Death|how many deaths are possible,]] and the diversity and size of the castle itself. It's hard to say the exact percentage, but there are actually a few YouTube videos of all the possible deaths.

Yet, for some, that is half the fun of the game. For others, it's the still challenging puzzle solving, since this game has a time limit, which is relatively uncommon now.

 

 

It got a couple of sequels, ''Beyond Shadowgate'' for the [[TurboGrafx-16|Turbo CD]] and ''Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers'' for the [[Nintendo 64]].

 

Compare ''[[Uninvited]]'' and ''[[Deja Vu]]'', both by the same developer.

{{tropelist}}

* [[Armor Is Useless]]: The game and instruction manual gives a few references to your hero's armor... and you can get a spiffy new helmet, shield, and gauntlets from the castle. But everything still kills you. You should have been a purple-underwear-clad nudie like Ace Harding in the beginning of ''Deja Vu II''.

* [[Ascended Extra]]: Lakmir plays a ''much'' greater role in ''Shadowgate 64'' than he did in the original title.

* [[Booby Trap]]: Numerous, such as for instance floors that open up, a mirror that leads to outer space, and what not.

* [[Chained to a Rock|Chained to a Wall]]: The chained woman in the original {{spoiler|who's really a werewolf and will handily kill the player if freed}}.

* [[Darkness Equals Death]]: You have two torches. You have to keep at least one of them lit, or else you'll stumble around in darkness until you die.

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: At the end, you are offered her hand as part of the standard reward.

* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: And how!

* [[Guide Dang It]]: Unless you are using a guide or have a buddy along to guide you, trying to complete the games without knowing what specific item goes on what specific spot/enemy will drive you nuts.

* [[Have a Nice Death]]: The descriptions are varied, and can get fairly graphic.

* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: Someone would have to make a video game of [[Tomb of Horrors]] to make a more dangerous place.

* [[The Many Deaths of You]]: Either this game's greatest strength or its greatest weakness, depending on who you ask. Unless you happen to know just the right sequence of events, you're going to die. A lot. It leads to a [[Try Everything]] [[Pixel Hunt]] some of the time.

** So what's the "special" torch for? Killing a wraith. Wait, what?

** Well, you obviously need that cloak for heat protection.

** The hellhound's only weakness? A vial of water. Not holy water, just water (at least there is no indication until you throw it). Must suffer from Wicked Witch syndrome.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: Good luck beating the game without at least a hintbook. The remake adds a few ''Myst''-style puzzles on top of that.

* [[No OSHA Compliance]]: There are more than a few things in the game that will collapse if you try to walk on them or climb them.

** One room is a hall of mirrors, and you have to guess which mirror to smash to continue. Smash the wrong one, and you get sucked out into space, or the broken glass kills you.

* [[Troll Bridge]]: A troll who wants a toll. Or he'll kill you. {{spoiler|Of course, this being Shadowgate, he'll kill you even if he gets it. Possibly justified in the first time you see him you don't ''have'' gold, and can only get by him by hitting him with a spear. The second time, you ''do'' have gold, but he's probably pretty sore about you hitting him with a spear}}.

* [[Unwinnable By Mistake]]: After defeating the Bridge Troll for the first time and making it a significant amount further, don't backtrack to the other side again before you learn the "Humana" spell, or you'll never be able to cross the bridge again once the troll has climbed back up.

* [[Violation of Common Sense]]: You can USE the sword or the spear on yourself... Which results in the hero killing himself. Goodness knows why you would want to do that, but you can do it.

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