Remember how I was gushing over Final Fantasy VI impressing me a whole bunch a couple days ago? I really can't say the same for Lost in Shadow. It started off cool enough with an interesting concept and an eerie but alluring art style. A puzzle platformer where you're a shadow and have to manipulate the real world to open up paths in the shadows? Great! Sadly, the game gets dragged down by some really dumb design choices. First off, the puzzles in the game are straightforward and don't require much thought past "flip this lever" or "manipulate this item". They also stop introducing new elements before the halfway point, which only adds to the slowly-growing tedium. Worst of all is the extreme cases of artificial lengthening the game employs later on. Once you climb the tower, the game makes you go through it again just to grab some items, and then at the very end makes you go back and collect every. single. memory. in. the. game. just to open up the path to the final boss. By the time I was halfway up the tower for the second time, the fun had completely stopped. I had to eventually force myself to keep playing the game, which is never a good thing. It's especially disappointing considering how cool the idea was at first and how well-realized the art style is. This could've easily been another breathtaking gaming experience like Shadow of the Colossus, but as it is, I can't recommend this game for a full-price purchase.