Title: Shadows Over Loathing
Developer: Asymmetric Publications
Publisher: Asymmetric Publications
Initial Release Date:  November 11th, 2022
Available On: PC, MAC, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

Shadows Over Loathing is the next installation of the Loathing series, stuffed with even more content, shenanigans, and puns. While West of Loathing took place in the Wild West, this title dabbles a little into the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition…and the occult?

Author’s Note: This is a spoiler-free review.

Psst! Fan of this game? Don’t forget that Serenity Forge is selling physical editions!

SYNOPSIS

In Shadows Over Loathing, you travel to Ocean City to find your Uncle Murray, after receiving a rather worrisome letter from him. By the time you reach your destination, he is nowhere to be found. You partner with Jessica and Charles to uncurse artifacts while searching for clues behind your missing uncle. What you uncover is much darker and corrupt than you could ever imagine….

If that didn’t seem mysterious enough, be prepared to be overwhelmed with mobsters, monsters, and shadow creatures you meet along the way. The depth Shadows Over Loathing ventures seems to double the amount of content in West of Loathing.

In fact, you traverse over several maps in this game, divided by chapters. There is a prologue and six main chapters. During the prologue, you select your appearance and name. And much like its predecessor, the ending provides vignettes of the Loathing world based off your actions and side quests. In fact, what happens to you at the end depends on the completion of certain missions before the end game.

ANALYSIS

Gameplay

There is a lot to Shadows Over Loathing. For those that haven’t played a Loathing game yet, you can categorize this as an RPG. The battles you encounter are turn based, and experience points that can be used to upgrade your stats can be earned from fights or other miscellaneous actions or accomplishments. You must utilize your attributes accordingly, such as muscle, moxie, and mysticality to ensure victory.

Once you receive your objective, you select an area on the map to travel. During travel (which is an icon of your character’s and companion’s head), you have a chance at a random encounter. A random encounter can result in a fight, treasure, or bizarre situation I can’t categorize. The wandering function can help you discover additional landmarks to explore.

Upgrading your gear and weapons still exist in this game. Not only can you accomplish this with experience points, but you can also customize “add-on” items to give your pair of pants additional fire resistance etc. The amount of customization is overwhelming (in a good and bad way) in Shadows Over Loathing. I do feel that about half-way into the game, I had way more material than I would ever need for the rest of the game. The same goes for Meat, which is the game’s currency. However, West of Loathing taught me to never get rid of an item because you never know if you’ll need it…So, I played Shadows Over Loathing like a disgusting hoarder.

For those that are familiar with West of Loathing, here are some differences to this game:

• Additional character customizations. You can change your facial expression in front of any mirror. There are more hats, too!
• More enemy types. We got more than goblins now. We have vampires, shadow orbs, the Lizzy Gang, fish people, icky tenacles, and more.
• You can pet cats! Not all will allow you to pet them at first though. The best part is that petting the kitty will grant you their boon, such as Spooky resistance.

• Log book. You can keep track of your primary and side missions.
• Additional Crafting. While upgrading gear isn’t new, there are benches scattered throughout the game where you can craft potions, food, and weapons.
• Work for the mob. Mobster sidequests are a lot of fun.
• Learn a new language: Hobo Code. Meet and unite all the hobos and learn their language to uncover secrets.
• Sidekick vignettes. Once you travel with a companion long enough, you can spend a few minutes with them on their own “mini quest”.

• Animal companions. They can aid you in a fight. But is it truly limited to animals?

• Fishing mechanic. Because who doesn’t love a fishing mini game. Okay, so it’s not a mini game, but the irony here is the ability to fish in the most bizarre places.

The various places you explore in Shadows Over Loathing are (with minimal spoilery descriptions:

• Ocean City. Home of your Uncle Murray’s shop, a speakeasy, and bunch of run down buildings
• Crystaldream Lake. Get a breath of fresh air and explore the gorgeous vista.
• S.I.T. Campus, Porkham. You…go back to school?

• The Big Moist. It is as gross as it sounds. Muck around with some anthropomorphic gators.
• Gray Country. Industrialism at its best.
• Government Valley. Government at its best.

The side quests are boundless. On one hand, it is fantastic, as Shadows Over Loathing give players more of what they love in the franchise. However, there were a few times where the side quests were a little too obtuse and got frustrating. I stuck it out as long as I could until I caved and went to the end game. And of course, it impacted my ending.

Graphics and Sound

You get more of the same here at Shadows Over Loathing. The black-and-white aesthetic mashed with stick figures is unique and fun. It matches the silliness of series, never taking itself too seriously. Some of the artwork in various sequences really impressed me. It felt clear that Asymmetric Products really stepped it up.

The same goes for sound. There’s music to match different areas and situations. At times it gave me a quirky vibe, other times, it provided me with a sense of urgency. There were times I was trying to figure out a side quest in an area where the music was going a little hard, so I had to turn it down so I wouldn’t give myself anxiety. Overall though, the music was bangin’.

Final Score

Shadows Over Loathing is another fantastic adventure RPG from Asymmetric Productions. The core of what makes the Loathing series fun is still there, but this title clearly has the most variety and content. While that is all fine and dandy, there are times when it did feel like too much.

There’s a lot of obscurity such as time and dimensional travel that complicate the plot, and because the game has a lot of text (and I mean a LOT of text), it may be challenging for some players. For example, I love lore and reading in games, but there were times where I just clicked through the text because…it was just too much.

There are consequences to what you do in the game, and I feel there is replay value in Shadows Over Loathing. If you like RPGs and humorous games, Shadows Over Loathing should be a must play!

The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast About Video Games

The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, Stephanie Klimov, LeRon Dawkins, and Pat Klein come together with their friends, colleagues, and fellow creators to talk about their week in video games, discuss industry topics, conduct interviews, answer listener questions, and more. New episodes every Monday. Get each episode one week early and more perks over on the Boss Rush Network Patreon page.

This feed also includes Boss Rush Spotlight podcasts and Boss Rush Video Game Book Club. Get both shows early on Patreon. 

Email the Show: podcast.bossrush@gmail.com

Listen to The Boss Rush Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anchor | YouTube

Follow and Connect:
X (Formerly Twitter) | Instagram | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn

Join Our Community:
Discord | Facebook | LinkedIn

Featured Image Credit: Asymmetric Productions