The confusing journey of Shines Over: The Damned | Review

A journey in search of something

The story of Shines Over: The Damned can be described as curious, definitely, because at no point in the adventure do we receive any kind of clue or information about what our character is doing. To avoid sounding too rude, before the gameplay begins, a message about sacrifice is presented, making us understand that it is about redemption, as if we were in limbo looking for paradise, but we must go through some trials before that. At least that was my interpretation.

Right at the beginning, it is already clear that the adventure will be lonely, if it were not for the appearances of a German Shepherd dog, which can be considered a kind of spiritual guide for our character. At first, he seems to be the narrator of our mysterious quest, but soon we realize that it is not quite like that, because he simply appears on the way, without any kind of interaction, leaving everything even more disconnected.

We not only have the presence of the animal, but the image of a woman appears in various flashbacks, which makes it clear that there is some kind of involvement with the character. But this is something that remains only in our imagination, as we have no more interaction other than vague and meaningless memories.



As if all this were not enough, Shines Over: The Damned also features spirits, specters, ghosts, hauntings...or something of the sort, that appear out of nowhere, but soon it becomes clear when the creatures appear and the jump scare factor quickly loses its charm. Perhaps this is not even the real intention of the game.

In fact, it is even difficult to affirm if the game really has a background story, because here everything happens out of nowhere and the events and appearances make no sense, they have no connection or plausible explanation. The lack of a narrative line complicates things a lot, even though the game seems to want to explain the reason for this quest, if it even exists.

I confess that I am not a big fan of collectible items, but certainly in Shines Over: The Damned they could come in handy to offer plausible details of why we are in this limbo.

Frustration in the form of gameplay

As if the story not making much sense when we put the elements of the journey together was not enough, the gameplay does not favor it at all. Here we are talking about a walking simulator with puzzle elements, but that not only lack a bit of creativity, but the mechanics fail miserably.

In order to progress through the scenarios, we must solve very simple puzzles, such as jumping on platforms, pressing stones in the correct order, and collecting orbs to complete the level. The big problem is that the inaccuracy of the jumps is something that definitely made me consider quitting the game at several moments. There were countless times that I died by missing a simple jump. Mind you, I am not talking about something intricate, but rather simple platforms that only require one jump.

As mentioned earlier, there is also the challenge of selecting the elements in the correct order, following what is being shown. It may seem obvious, but perhaps due to some bug in the game, do not give up if you press them correctly, because even if the game restarts the challenge, you were probably correct. The feeling is that the game was released at the worst possible stage of development.

You may be wondering if the orbs function as a type of collectible, but no. You must collect them, but for no apparent reason. They are positioned in places where reaching them guarantees death. But do not worry, because it will not be lost.

Senseless monsters

If the story is completely senseless and the gameplay does not help, certainly the horror aspect is a strong point of the game. Wrong answer. If Shines Over: The Damned is called a horror game, it fails with a lot of class.

The game fails to build any kind of tension during the almost 2h30 to finish it. From time to time, some creatures jump on the character and it is necessary to press the R1+L1 triggers, exactly like a QTE (Quick Time Event), for it to disappear. But as mentioned earlier, the probability of dying because you theoretically did not press the buttons fast enough is huge. 

The scare that the game provides is more common in the first flashback, but it quickly becomes repetitive when it happens again. Of course, the appearance of monsters in front of you could cause tension, but it becomes something only annoying over time.

Graphics and penny soundtrack
At this point in the analysis, you certainly are not expecting memorable graphics and soundtrack, right? Good thing, because once again the game does not deliver anything memorable or relevant to be considered a horror game.

The setting is summarized in only three types of scenarios (villages, caves, and lake), but even so they manage to be extremely similar, with similar items in both, very poor in details and rendering issues.

Being named as a horror game, we could expect a more ambient soundtrack, creating moments of tension at the right time, but in Shines Over: The Damned the music practically does not exist, only making its presence felt in the jumpscares of the creatures, but even then they do not make any positive impression.

No shine on the horizon

Shines Over: The Damned promised to be a horror game, but one that does not use any kind of weapon and invites the player to go towards the unknown on a journey of discovery. Certainly it fulfills the first requirement positively (not using weapons), but it fails to engage at any moment.

The lack of interest was only not greater due to the fact that achievements happen naturally, without any challenge (only the patience), and the time to finish is short. The feeling that remains is that it is a very raw game, that needed a reformulation to be able to deliver 5% of what is shown in its description.



The feeling is that the studio tried to reach a higher level than it can actually deliver at the moment. It is sad to say that the only positive point is the short duration, but even so the imprecision of the controls almost made me quit it several times.

Shines Over: The Damned was played on a PS5, kindly provided by the studio.