Metal Gear Solid Fans Won't Want to Miss This New Indie Title

Metal Gear Solid Fans Won’t Want to Miss This New Indie Title

• Ereban: Shadow Legacy brings back old-school stealth mechanics, focusing on conflict avoidance and clever traversal in a dark sci-fi world.
• Unique shadow-merging mechanic sets Ereban apart, requiring players to use lighting and shadows strategically for complex maneuvers.
• Like Metal Gear Solid, Ereban intertwines strong gameplay with an engaging narrative, offering a captivating plot that earns praise.

Likely the most common title that comes to mind when discussing the stealth-action genre is Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series. Aside from last year’s Metal Gear Solid Master Collection and the upcoming remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, there haven’t been many recent titles in either the franchise or the stealth genre. Even formerly stealth-focused series like Assassin’s Creed have morphed into action RPGs over the last several entries, and similar open-world action titles include stealth as an option rather than the focus. Ereban: Shadow Legacy, the debut game from indie studio Baby Robot Games, aims to change this with a bold adherence to old-school stealth mechanics akin to Metal Gear Solid and other 5th-generation classics.

Part Aragami and part Splatoon in its unique shadow-merging mechanic, Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a purely stealth-focused experience that gives players the option to approach its semi-open world zones as a conflict-avoidant sneaking expert or a silent takedown master. Similar to Kojima’s original intent with the Metal Gear series, Ereban rewards players who skillfully maneuver around encounters rather than rushing headlong into them, and its narrative provides just enough incentive to push through to the end to seek out answers regarding its intriguing and dark sci-fi take on the stealth genre.

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Ereban: Shadow Legacy’s Signature Mechanic is a Twist on Classic Stealth-Action Gameplay

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The main stealth mechanic of Ereban: Shadow Legacy is the titular main character’s ability to merge with shadows and travel through them, emerging either after a meter runs out or as soon as light touches the area. Aside from this signature ability, players can expect the traditional mechanics of a stealth game: sneaking, crouching, silent takedowns, distracting enemies, etc. What gives Ereban its own unique place in the genre is the way that it forces the player to consider lighting as a crucial component of traversal, using shadows to execute complex maneuvers like wall-runs, aerial takedowns, or accessing hidden air shafts to reach secrets.

It’s not all that dissimilar from the protagonist’s ability in the Aragami series. But where those games allow players to create their own shadows to avoid enemy detection, Ereban forces the player to survey the environment and use situational awareness to either silently confront or bypass enemy sentries. This results in each of the game’s semi-open world zones having multiple different pathways to reaching an objective. Also, while it might seem like a mechanic exclusive to more modern stealth-action experiences, it’s worth noting that Ereban: Shadow Legacy pays a clear homage to Tenchu in how it incorporates light and shadow as one of its primary considerations.

Both Ereban: Shadow Legacy and Metal Gear Solid Place Twin Emphases on Gameplay and Story

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Convoluted as it is, the Metal Gear Solid timeline represents one of the greatest narrative arcs of gaming, taking players through decades of global conflict and a complex interwoven conspiracy involving the Philosopher’s Legacy and the one man inextricably connected to it: Big Boss. The stealth-action gameplay of Metal Gear Solid is undeniably groundbreaking, but the stories and characters of each game are what have continued to elevate the series to its now-legendary status. One of the greatest strengths of Ereban: Shadow Legacy is its similar approach to intertwining strong stealth mechanics with an engaging mystery pulling the player along.

The protagonist is supposedly the last of a dying race of beings — the titular Ereban — that stand as the last lingering defense against the total domination of a faceless megacorporation. This corporation, Helios, comes off as benevolent, but the various chapters that Ereban is split up to gradually reveal more and more layers about the Ereban’s past, Helios’ goals, and the energy crisis facing this dystopian sci-fi world. Ereban might entice fans of stealth-action games with its excellent homage to games like Metal Gear Solid, but its captivating plot and unique twist on the genre help to solidify it as a genre highlight that more than earns its “Very Positive” rating on Steam.

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FranchiseMetal GearPlatform(s)Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Switch, PS5, PS4, PCReleasedOctober 24, 2023Developer(s)KonamiPublisher(s)KonamiGenre(s)Stealth, ActionESRBM For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence