DESCRIPTION

Eike Kusch has been murdered in a violent fashion at the hands of an unknown assailant. Kusch must now solve the riddles behind his own demise.

The murder victim awakes in darkness after the brutal assault, encountering an ominous being known as Homunculus. Homunculus explains that Eike has been murdered and grants him another chance at life...for a small price. The unknown creature bestows upon him a Digipad. Using this device, Eike must travel back in time to alter his tragic end and prevent the killer from murdering other people.

After the encounter with Homunculus, Eike Kusch comes to in a familiar coffee shop, a mere half-hour before his death. To prevent his murder, he must switch between the past and present and do whatever it takes to remove himself from the black shadow of his own destiny.

With an ominous, dark atmosphere and theme, Shadow of Destiny is the first adventure game to hit the PlayStation 2; it was designed by Junko Kawano, the mastermind behind Silent Hill. In this third-person adventure, one must control the doomed Eike Kusch while solving riddles and puzzles within various time frames. Failure to prevent his death with in this time frame will result in Eike's demise; he is then resurrected and receives hints from Homunculus on avoiding his repeated fate.

The action takes place through ten chapters; there are eight main chapters, a prologue, and an epilogue. In each of these chapters, the main character dies in various ways, such as being stabbed in the back or getting run over by a car. To make progress and complete each chapter, the hero will have to talk with various townsfolk in various European eras, gather information, collect items, and solve puzzles, rather than killing traditional monsters or enemies.

Time periods include a present time setting, medieval times, and various decades from the 21st century. Each time period has a unique color scheme. While Eike can travel to whenever and wherever he wishes, there are times when he will be transported to another time against his will. Time progresses in each period in a simultaneous fashion. You will be informed as to when the murder is to take place — when the clock reaches this time, rest assured he will be killed. When there is a limited amount of time remaining before he is killed, the Climax Crisis System kicks in; doing certain things will prevent his demise in this mode.

Through the solving of puzzles in previous time periods, structures and other things will change in the present time. In order to travel in time to collect information and items, he must seek out units of energy that fuel the Digipad, for without these cells he cannot use the device. Along the way, he will meet an assortment of characters including Margarete Wagner, Eckart Brum, and a waitress named Dana. Whenever a puzzle is solved or someone offers insight to a particular event, the information is jotted in a notebook that can be accessed at any time.

When one prevents all of Eike Kusch's death scenarios, the game is over, but there is much more waiting to be unraveled. Shadow of Destiny features five different endings. Depending on how much of each chapter you've completed and the manner in which the game was completed, one of these endings will be awarded at the end. You will also receive various percentages at the end of the game that show how much of each chapter was completed. ~ Jon Thompson, All Game Guide