Many months ago, while looking through the list of upcoming games, I came across a special physical edition of Ereban: Shadow Legacy. At first glance, I assumed this must be some sort of remastered game, but it turns out it is an indie game from 2024 making its console debut! Furthermore, I did the thing that everyone is taught not to do with almost every single book, movie, and game. I judged it by its cover. In this case, I judged Ereban favorably, as the cover art is quite fascinating. Now the question stands: Is the game as fascinating as the cover art? Let’s find out.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy takes place in a futuristic universe that has recently recovered from a devastating war. Out of the ashes of the war, an energy company has emerged as the predominant power broker in the region due to the promise of bringing energy to everyone as long as peace remains in place. They have achieved this ability by capturing energy from a local star. What started as a potentially noble goal and duty has caused this energy company to be corrupted and instilled terror in various parts of the galaxy. This is where we find our main character, Ayana, the supposed last of her kind, who is trying to take advantage of the company’s resources to locate any survivors of her race. However, the company has other ideas, hence our story of survival and struggle begins.

The gameplay of Ereban: Shadow Legacy is primarily focused on stealth and exploration. Throughout the various stages, you are set to traverse various obstacles by using the main character’s unique stealth abilities. These abilities allow her to traverse shadows in a variety of unique ways. Everything from wall riding, climbing, and many other abilities over the course of the game allow you to get through the stages. Due to stealth being a core part of the game, combat is optional. There are certain situations where taking out a few, all, or none of the enemies can be easier for getting through different stages.

Depending on what you do, your grade for each level changes. Depending on your performance, you earn medals, which include things like destroying all enemies, not destroying any enemies, and not being detected by any enemy during the duration of the stage. While I am not one for achievement hunting, this definitely caused me to retry levels a few times just to see what I could’ve done differently. The one thing that I didn’t like about the gameplay was the occasional jankiness with the camera while traversing certain areas. After a bit, I got used to this happening, but I hope that it can be addressed in a future update.

While the story themes of Ereban: Shadow Legacy are rather cookie-cutter in familiarity, the universe of Ereban is still unique enough to keep players interested. The mystery of the Ereban species, the debate between what is good and what is bad, and the overall message that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” are the three core tenets of the story. One of the things that I greatly appreciated is that the game is fully voice-acted, which is something that I wasn’t sure of until I started playing. While the animated cutscenes don’t always match the voice work in terms of intensity, a good chunk of that primarily has to do with the limitations of the models used in the game, so they have certainly done the best they could without being ridiculous. 

Overall, Ereban: Shadow Legacy is the stealth game that we have been waiting for. While it is not as complicated as Thief, Splinter Cell, or Dishonored, this is still a good time for those looking to scratch that stealth itch. This game is also a good starting point for those who are brand new or unfamiliar with the stealth action genre. I implore everyone to give this game a chance for its unique gameplay mechanics and fascinating universe! If you are looking for other PlayStation 5 game recommendations, consider checking out Mike’s review of Finding Frankie right here. 

A PlayStation 5 review copy of Ereban: Shadow Legacy was provided by Baby Robot Games for this review.

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Ereban: Shadow Legacy

19.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Good Sound Design
• Interesting World
• Simple to Learn Controls
• Replayability via Stage Medals

Cons

• Some Weird Camera Changes