Shu Reviews
"Doesn't meet general quality standards to be called an enjoyable platformer."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Heavily influenced by Michel Ancel's work, Shu is an adorable platformer that is worth your time. With a simple gameplay that manages to become challenging as you get near the end of the story, this title has more than enough content to keep you playing for a while.
Shu is still a beautiful, poetic platformer that celebrates the best things about the genre as opposed to the worst.
Shu will long be remembered for its wondrous art direction and hand-drawn characters, but also for the game’s many shortcomings. It’s bittersweet to reach the game’s conclusion, a moment that comes far too soon and leaves the player without enough of a compelling reason to sink more time into it. There’s charm to be found in the experience, but, as I soon discovered, it doesn’t take long to outrun a storm.
All said Shu is an absolutely gorgeous game that can likely be enjoyed by gamers of all skill levels as long as they’re ready to challenge themselves. The darkness phases can all be beaten if you’re patient and work out how to cut corners to save time, so even if you feel a little overwhelmed at first some commitment should get you through in the end. I do wish the challenge were more evenly distributed and there were tangible rewards for bothering to collect everything but overall Shu is a solid platforming experience.
Shu is a fun yet unremarkable 2.5D platformer. Its focus on pretty art and music over reliable mechanics and tight level design comes as a serious detriment to the game's overall playability.
In conclusion, Shu is an earnest little platformer that tries its best to mimic the big boys and almost does so with it’s very solid gameplay and ability switching mechanics. It’s only a brief experience with not too much incentive to go back but at least it doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s got solid presentation too and stands above other rivals at the same price point or higher. It’s not a game I will remember for years to come or anything, but it was a pleasant experience I’m happy to have had and, aside from a couple of frustrating parts, I’m sure you will too.