Contrast

Contrast has a brilliant idea - what could happen if we could shift into shadows and live in the umbral world? The developers really had lightning in a bottle here, and the 1920s setting is just perfect. The game also deals with two of my favorite themes in fiction - that being "what is real?" and the image of the double, the reflection, the...other.

You play as Dawn, the "imaginary" best friend of Didi, a young girl who appears to be retreating into fantasy to deal with the break-up of her parents. While running around a beautifully imagined world you shift into shadow to solve various puzzles. I want to live in this video game. There are not many games I can say that about, the only other one being Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The atmosphere is just THAT good. This would be the perfect game if it were not for one molar-crunching flaw. The controls are a nightmare. The sticks are too twitchy, the buttons are unresponsive and the camera is epileptic. You'll be shouting and swearing a LOT during this game. I finished it in four hours and I'm happy I stuck with it to the end, it's just a shame that no updates have been made to fix the bugs.

And if you think that the voice of Didi's surrogate dad is familiar, it's none other than Elias Toufexis who also voices Adam Jensen in Deus Ex.

There is amazing potential here and, for the most part, it's a wonderful game, but the controls cripple it.

There are 22 trophies/achievements (I could only manage 15) and trading cards included, as well as a lovely soundtrack album.

Contrast is a pretty enjoyable game that has a good perspective on the gangster times using shadows. Sure, it's just a your cheesy gangster story and the game can be glitchy. But it makes up with good graphics, great gameplay style as a player would play as the shadow, puzzles that give the player time to figure out to solve, a fun scavenger to look out for collectibles and learn what we get around the levels, and it does have heart that comes to the right place. This would be a choice for those that are into the gangster genre like the Goodfather franchise, but maybe not to leave your expectations too high for this game. It's obviously not in that kind of level with The Godfather films, but this is a pretty fun puzzle theming for the game to work with.

This game is a forgotten gem. The story feels like Moulin Rouge mixed with The Twilight Zone. A beautiful blend of humor, sadness, and surreal emotion. The voice actors did an outstanding job, and the music is unforgettable, deeply emotional, and perfectly crafted. I honestly don't understand why this hasn't been remade yet for modern consoles like Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC. This game was way ahead of its time almost a masterpiece. It deserves to be on any list of the top 100 games of all time, yep not a joke. It left a permanent mark on me as a player.

It's a shame that more people aren't talking about this game, but I'm genuinely glad I got to discover it through Game Pass. I never imagined it would affect me this much. Finding it felt like uncovering a hidden treasure one of those rare games that stays with you long after you finish it.

You gotta remake the game!