ShadowMan is still relevant in 2021 - a ShadowMan Remastered analysis 

"All 120 dark souls" Gwyn having an aneurysm.

I can’t wait for the console release. One of my favorite games of all time. For we are many.

The game has such a unique atmosphere. The metroid style progression is so rewarding too.

Currently playing the new horror mode, I love it! I wish there were more games like this instead of live services bs

This is outstanding! A thoroughly excellent and enjoyable delve into a platformer that has hooked me earlier this year for many similar reasons. The amount of depth you go into to draw out every bit of the experience is awesome, and you do a wonderful job compiling it all into a very entertaining script. Wonderful stuff!

This is my favorite Shadow Man review and trust me Ive seen many. Great job! Very thorough and well executed. This game has captivated me since I can remember. It's presence and level of immersion make all the flaws irrelevant to me. Love this game.

Great Analysis of a N64 favourite game of mine! I also played it back in my youth and was mesmerized by its weird world building and the horror lurking in each corner. Playing the NY Stage of Avery Marx back then was for me the horror since he popped out of thin air and you notice it before when the music gets filled with dread In the Remaster they changed it for the other too, that they appear throughout the stages at least once before reaching the final place. About the Legion Analysis of its Plan: I rather think here, that he intentionally knew and foresaw that ShadowMan would collect them all so he never hindered him even while slaughterhing the Five. As you mentioned too, he was betting that ShadowMan would fall to the corruption so that he can gain them without much trouble. Violence was only supposed to be as a last option imo. If you actually lost to him, a video clip would play how ShadowMan was the Catalyst for all of it since the beginning thanks to the prophecy he planted long ago. In the end, Legion took the Dark Souls unto him as foretold but not as he planned. For me it was interesting if the power of the dark souls overcame Legion and ripped him apart in the last moments before credits roll (asylum crashing down)

Legion had hoped Mike would collect all the dark souls to power up to defeat him. However, this was a ploy to get shadowman to essentially bring all the dark souls' legion, and his forces could not get too such as the ones guarded in the blood temples. Legion did not anticipate Mike becoming more powerful than himself. A few uno reverse cards were played at the end.

This will forever hold a special place in my ♥

Funnily enough, when I hear the Moonlight Sonata, is always think of Resident Evil. It came before this game and Jill played it.

I've been going through your videos and I gotta say you're doing a great job. Especially with these hour long videos. They're so light and breezy that they just fly by.

I'd love a sequel video diving into some of the atmospheric and environmental storytelling. The blunt and surface level storytelling is indeed a bit mediocre, but there is a lot of storytelling in the world itself that gets glossed over. The Temples feel ur-ancient. Undisturbed even by Legion. The game is so wrapped up in the End of All Things and the Temples are a glimpse of the beginning. The first time we go Deadside, the wailers we encounter don't even attack us. They just mill about crying, weeping, and flinching in fear as you come near or pass them. They are outside the Marrow Gates. They have not yet accepted oblivion as their reality. These are clearly meant to be ordinary, recently deceased people who have just died and found themselves in Hell. The sorrow of the voice acting for these first wailers has been burned in my mind for 25 years. It is so unnerving and completely perfect for what is being conveyed even after all this time. Shadow Man isn't afraid of a little loving gothic camp but they take tbe right things 100% seriously and this first trip to Deadside was one of them. And while these first wailers are harmless, you can still destroy them completely and eat their souls, or simply watch them fade away to true nothingness. I think this first trip to the first Deadside area may be the greatest horror moment in any story and any medium... and no one talks about it! As another commenter noted, the hookmen and chainsaw hogs chop up captured Deadsiders that seem like ordinary people who had died. In other Asylum levels you see transportation infrastructute and crates, some of which partially open which show heaps of chopped up bodies and viscera. Those are then sent to the Experimentation and Play Rooms for melding into True Forms and the implanting of a dark soul using one of those machines. How about the early childhood music box horror ambient music in the dark engine areas? In cheaper horror this would be distorted into a horrific soundscape with cheap filters. Shadow Man plays the notes normally, but the melody they form has this hollow and increasingly maudlin vibe. This is an externalization of Michael's guilt and those horrible memories of his family's final moments seared into his mind forever. As we get closer to the core of the dark engine, we hear this haunting music as Michael grapples with his guilt by chasing a phantom of false hope. How did I figure out how to open a corpse portal? The theatre in the Cathedral of Pain. Purely environmental. All of this is nowhere to be found in dialogue. It's demonstrated in the world and through exploration. I'd like a few flairs like a Legion/Mike encounter partway through the plot, but generally I wouldn't have it all amy other way.

for anyone wondering there have been many updates to the remastered version of shadowman, including a new game plus and iron man mode unlocked via konami style codes, and a weapon you unlock by finding secret collectibles

I was so obsessed with this game I spent so long finding all the souls and unlocking all the hidden dead side weapons no matter how many times I replayed the game it was difficult to remember where everything was 😂

What a game, i was totally mesmerised by it in 99 and if someone had said in 2022 there would be an amazing remaster for me to enjoy it all over again i would have laughed at such a notion, as it stands the game is definitely of its time but its a time i think was the best in gaming that being 1995 - 2005 pure fun is whats missing for me in subsequent years. Having finished the remaster and am looking up everything on youtube i can about it, speedruns, reviews obscure details, guides to100%ing it etc but your video however is the very best review on the game without a doubt throughly enjoyed it and will point anyone i can to it in future, oh and i did indeed subscribe, "for we are many!"

I'll admit that I don't know anything about Vodou beyond the negative portrayal it gets in fiction, so it was very interesting to hear that a video game (and presumably the comic it's based on) adapted the religion into its story. Thank you very much for giving us some details on this faith! A shame to hear the actual plot of the game didn't think everything through and faceplanted a little bit in the end, but it's clear that this wasn't a phoned-in job and I'm glad the parts of the game that worked work so well. However, I wonder if parts of the game's narrative failings come from the fact that it was made during the era of collectathon games; if nothing else, the mechanics of that genre might explain why some of the Dark Souls don't have better hiding places.

Discovered your channel via your Unreal video & then stumbled across this fitting tribute to an underrated gem. Back when Blockbuster game rentals were a thing, we rented the N64 original from there, I don't recall if I beat the game before having to return it, but I did later pick up the Dreamcast version & played through it several times, the mood & atmosphere this game evokes is unmatched in my mind. As for the remaster, I dare say it's Night Dive's best work to date, high praise I feel, considering their work on the first 2 Turok games & Doom 64. The restored content, whilst not quite up to the same level of quality as the base game, was a delight to experience. Thanks for this video, I'll likely be checking out more of your work in the future. ^_^

Legion literally explains to you at the end why he wanted you to collect the dark souls.

That was a really good analysis

With the latest update 1.4 now gives us a reason to collect every cadeaux. A new level 10 coffin has been added in the Fogometers that leads to a door requiring all 666 cadeaux. Behind both door leads to a new item. A light soul. Collecting it will make the shadowgun permanently fully charged. Meaning the player no longer needs to press and hold the fire button to charge the shadowgun. Also in 1.4 are a new collectable and weapon. The bloody teddy bear. In every area there is a hidden teddy bear. Getting to them is interesting. These collectibles are hidden in out of bound areas, behind a fake wall and seemingly out of reach areas. All requiring a specific parkour or skill exploit. For example in the temple of fire (toucher) one teddy bear is hidden behind the loading zone leading back to the Paths of Shadow. You have to constantly seamlessly side roll up the slope as the wall pushes you towards and around the loading trigger. Once your in go to far end of the bridge and the teddy bear will be there.

You got everything right, except the horror of the true ending. Legion tricks Mike into giving him his teddebear before the final boss battle. Mike is now forever stuck in deadside (until 2nd coming) which gives zero explanations and is trash IMO. This is the best overview and review on this game i have ever seen. Salute! I have an exclusive remix of the marco theme Tim made for me! Even cooler! I'll link it if you respond

The game got yet another update and now it adds more things, and the asylum has been under heavy reconstruction

For me the most incredible part of the experience was how the Playrooms were handled. You're given enough time to get comfortable with the setting and themes, and when you entered new areas previously the music that played remained consistent, until the Playrooms. The way the music drops as soon as you're presented with the Asylum's "experiments" was pure genius.

outstanding, great work

yo, really cool video, old gaming has something different from nowadays releases, i miss them

im going through the game atm so i cant finish the video, but its well made so far 👍 (meant the video, but the game too. once i got used to the controls, i couldn't stop playing, despite being really lost sometimes. i'll push through grr) I've noticed two videos now mention the lack of a map, so i guess they patched it in, both in-game and including a PDF document

Played this in mid 2000 It has one of the best soundtracks/scores of video game history. I love the African instruments that were used & the atmospheric music. Each song fit perfect for every moment and level. The story was excellent. Gameplay (I’m in the middle) but it really didn’t matter to me because the music,story and visuals were AMAZING!!!! Part 2? I don’t know wtf happened.but From what I saw….. I didn’t even bother to play it 😂😂😂😂it just looked like trash.

Hell yeah, it's also on the switch. im going to download and spend the weekend lost in nostalgia

Hi! That video was awesome! Thank you! I'm sorry to relive this comment section years later, but it seems you are very nice and are still answering comments. I never got to play this game back in the day. I almost bought it for my N64 but end up buying a different game I don't remember now. I'm glad I skipped most of the story bits as I don't get spoiled. I'll come back to it, if I play the game. Which comes to the reason of my comment. I'm interested in buying the remastered version as it is on sale now on both GOG and Steam. I have a question. All reviewers are praising the new controls, but how do they work? I love playing on PC with mouse+keyboard. Does this game allows me to control Mikes movement with WASD and the camera with the mouse at all times? Does A and D strafes while you aim with the mouse? It seems that the game has a sort of auto-aim. It is not a problem at all, but can you still select targets? How does it work exactly? Did you play with mouse? How is the sensitivity, is it smooth? Also, this remastered version got updates and new contents after launch, is it true? Can I change the FOV? Nightdive loves to add FOV sliders and I appreciate it so much. I'm sorry to bother with so many question, but I'd appreciate any help, if you don't mind. Thank you!

the ending was so dumb, he just found out that luke wasn't there after all, and then he's just like: YEEAAAH I RULE

The map is on the book files wheres explains shadow mans powers. I found it reading a long Hope it helps

Shalashaskka brought me here... I have no regrets.

I don’t know why I picked up this game as a kid. I didn’t know why I saw the appeal. There was something creepy about it but I was drawn in. It gave me the creeps but I didn’t outright scare me like most horror games has. There was a depressing dread that followed. At the time I was sort of a re-practicing catholic but I was somehow obsessed with stories of prophecy and apocalypse.

Some of the textures absolutely look like they have been AI upscaled.

the map is not mssing in the remaster btw

I watched this again as I'm about to jump back in and play more agyer I beat The Punisher.

I actually preferred 3 of the 5 being in Gardelle county jail. I did not like the restored levels. Also the boss battles are kind of perfect to what the game is striking for, and Michael tells us. The 5 are disposable to Legion. They just needed to open their gate for his armies. They are nothing to him, nor are they nothing of a challenge for Mike. They are nothing to him. Just "people" that need to be stopped. Like he says himself "I found the how the five reaches liveside, but it's always daytime when i arrive, maybe i should hold off until night, which is not easy as they are after my blood" Meaning he *could* have just waited and they would each fall easily to him and the nature of the Shadowgun. They are pawns. Not important to Legion, other than leading Mike to fulfill his own faked Prophecy. The enemies are very much the terrifying nature of the environment. JAck would have killed himself either way, He would still be able to meet Legion. It is just a story device for us to understand something grander is at foot. Jack is the true ripper though, as the intro takes place the same year the ripper killings stopped. The very month. For Legions prophecy to be fulfilled, all of the five need to die. Everything is leading up to the final boss, where Mike was always intended to sit the throne and get sucked dry of the dark souls he (which Legion knew) he needed to collect to even get there. Therefore i forgive the lack of cool boss mechanics, as the entire point is how par for the course they are in Legions and Mikes eyes, They simply possess a dark sou, something Mike could deal wth normally if it were nighttime. And right before the game, in the unique comic book run before the game, there WAs a test run like Jaunty deduces. Their death is meant to happen. Everything is meant to happen. Nothing was not as Legion predicted as he wrote the prophecy. They needed to open the gates, and be a reason for Mike to finally confront him. The five are, again, nothing. Jack built the asylum (making him the true leader of the five, The lizard king is only led to believe HE is the true leader because of his EGO. A way to easily get him to just do as LEgion says. His ego is apparent in his intro to the fight. They are all puppets. Nobodies. That's what's so amazing. The entire game is Legions plan. Everything except him receiving all the dark souls when beaten, killing him was his plan. Everything was as it was meant to be until you beat both his forms. Legion couldn't obtain them himself. He had msanged to gather around 15 OPENED Govi. He cannot open them himself, but gathers them to Asylum etc so Mike can easily open them, consume them and lose to Legion. The Dark souls are not something shadowmen deal with, this was the one time they were something a shadowman had to collect. So the story is actually perfectly executed knowing the entire story. (I know who each serial killer is supposed to be, i know why the story is how it is and wy it is. And it's perfect. Before the remastert we were a tight knit fan group on FB which Tim Haywood was the leader of, and we talked in depht about everything, personally. Just an example, Marco Cruz isn't modelled after ANY serial killer. He's directly based (down to his outfit) on Robert Deniro from the movie Cape Fear. It's insane how perfect the story is. LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!! AMA!

Why didn't you SPOILER WARN Thief ending?

Shadowman is 10× better than doon eternal