9 Years of Shadows – A metroidvania with serious composer prowess

9 years of shadows (not 8, nor 10) is a metroidvania set in an abandoned orphanage. You’ll play as a noblewoman named Europa trying to break the curse on the building How to do that? Well, you have to go into the dreams of orphans of course! You’ll be jumping, sliding, slashing, and dashing through beautiful pixel worlds, joined by your companion Apino. In the spirit of metroidvanias, you’ll be finding collectibles, power-ups, and general bits of lore throughout. The aesthetic looks absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait to check it out.

Freedom Games is a publisher I’m fairly familiar with. They deal in indies and have produced some absolute bangers. One of my favorites was probably this year’s Dreamscaper (developed by Afterburner Studios), which I reviewed, and still spend far too much time playing. They are passionate about indies and I think 9 Years of Shadows is proof of that. Pairing up with Halbred Studios for this game seems like just the ticket.

I mentioned in the title some serious composer prowess. I wasn’t lying. The slate of composers brought in for 9 Years of Shadows is insanely impressive. It includes Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane. Mega Man composer Manami Matsumae. And Metal Gear Solid composer Norihiko Hibino. They’ve even put in the effort to make sure the music is at 432Hz, which offers the most relaxing soundwaves. Whether this will make you slower at boss fights because you’re so relaxed is yet to be determined. You can check out the 9 Years of Shadows trailer below, and wishlist the game on Steam here.