Shadowflare is a underrated gem amongst a booming franchise being a "Diablo" styled game it has been overshadowed by it's competitors, released in 2001 to the Japanese public a year later to the U.S created by Den-Yu-Sha but don't let that stop you this game has a lot to offer. Shadowflare gives you the selection of male or female character, followed by the auto-selection of your class depending on what weapons you use the most early into the game.
Don't let the screenshot's fool you it may be old but the graphics are just as good as any other game of it's time I have run the game up to 1360 x 768 resolution without any pixelation so I can assure you that won't be a problem. Shadowflare also runs smoothly with some pretty good fighting animations and spell animations the game lives up to the "Diablo" standard achieving a highly fluid battle system.
Shadowflare gives a spin to the "Diablo" formula straight from the start giving you a dog companion that you can switch for different dog's that reside in towns, The dog's come in a range of color's and elements, the dog's start with a level capacity of 5 in the first town also each time you switch dogs the experience resets to 0 which I must admit can make the game slightly more of a grind then it should already be but is balanced out by the enemies available to you even from early in.
The dog's are a highly useful tool in this game as the large hordes of enemies begin to pile up and outnumber you, as even when your dog is under leveled it can be used as a spacing tool or a projectile weapon with it's dash attack (Tab +Right click) giving you that edge when your feeling overwhelmed. Shadowflare also uses the dog as a sort of tool hitting out of reach switches and and retrieving items amongst the fray of battle. Overall the dog is a highly useful part of the gameplay and if leveled correctly can be the thing that saves you from death more often then not.
The game has a 8 element system as shown to the left,. The 8 elements are fire, water, earth, thunder, holy, dark, gel and metal, this system adds some depth to combat as you must now think about the enemy's you encounter having a elemental attack or defense, the first 7 elements mentioned are damage orientated allowing you to increase the damage you do to certain enemy's and decrease the damage they do to you depending on the element of the enemy, the 8th being metal which increases your ability to avoid elemental damage all together. Along your way through the game you acquire gem's and crosses with different percentages and elements, as you progress the percentages become higher, eventually allowing you to become a elemental nightmare capable of defeating even the strongest enemy. This power can increase the damage of your elemental based skills an example being the thunder bolt skill acquired early in the game.
Shadowflare's biggest strength and also biggest weakness is it's music, the game has a majority of great soundtracks but sadly the game's lack of overall funding leaves it with only 8 soundtracks and around 2 of those being average at best. For the most part you will never hear the not so great soundtracks but they are still there.
Shadowflare's main enemy is orcs/goblins and most of the time your job will be to kill off a particular one or retrieve a item, as time goes on your mission becomes more to stop the invasion then anything else destroying spawn points and to destroy hordes sadly their is not a lot more depth to it then that. The game has a steady progression allowing you to learn a new class once you have mastered your current one, this keeps the game interesting and adds replay value.
The controls are fairly easy to understand and work with, and a very handy quick command for those finding themselves lost is H (for the help screen a full display of the controls). the game's combat is composed of a three class system (Warrior wizard/witch and hunter) each with their own skills to complement, The game also features a over power mode in which the player has a blue aura surround them and has a large speed and damage increase. Battle can be repetitive with the continual horde slaying, the game tends to make up for this with the range of flashy skills available and different looking enemy's. Shadowflare also features a multiplayer of up to 4 people with the amount of orcs/goblins thrown at the player this is a much appreciated feature and made the game a lot more enjoyable.
In conclusion This game is both a small enjoyable nostalgia trip for those retro Action/Rpg fans and a good starting game for those wishing to join the ranks of the retro gamer, with a pretty good soundtrack and a unique way of handling the hordes the game is a timeless classic, also considering it's small size (188mb's) and it's rarity (No longer sold as of 2013) if given opportunity this is one game you should not pass up.