Shadwen

Lore & Background

The game follows an assassin named Shadwen, who embarks on a quest to kill the king. She must also protect a young girl named Lily, whose father was taken to a quarry by kingsmen and whose mother died in the recent spring. Lily kept herself alive by finding food and shelter through the summer, but struggled as weeks passed. She meets Shadwen while trying to steal apples from a tree in the city graveyard. Lily's mother used to tell her stories where kind and gentle people came out on top, and Lily's opinion of Shadwen can change depending on if she sees Shadwen kill people.

Shadwen lived in the Dark Forest and was hired by the current king to kill the former king. The current king went back on his word to pay her and instead burned down the forest where she lived to try to kill her. Seeking revenge, Shadwen makes her way to his castle to either end his life or exact payment. The game was announced in December 2015 and released on 17 May 2016.

Reader's Guide

Shadwen received 'mixed or average' reviews on both PC and PlayStation 4 according to Metacritic. Destructoid reviewer Joe Parlock was disappointed in the PC version, noting that it wasted the potential of a really cool premise. Hardcore Gamer writer Jordan Helm was more positive, saying that the tactically-focused stealth gameplay enticed him to continue playing. The game's significance lies in its narrative focus on the relationship between the assassin and the girl, whose moral judgment of the player's actions can shift. Additionally, the PlayStation 4 version is notable for being one of the very few PS4 games not playable on PlayStation 5 due to an unfixable loading screen bug, marking a rare technical limitation in backward compatibility. The game was developed and published solely by Frozenbyte, with no mention of any other parties involved.

Did You Know?

• Shadwen was developed and published by Frozenbyte.
• The game was released on 17 May 2016 for macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Windows.