MYTH Review – Walking With My Shadow

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Genre – Mystery, Thriller, Denpa Play Time – 20 hours Developer – Circletempo Steam VNDB

Walking Without A Shadow

In a world where everyone is shadowless, should you trust someone who has one? This is a tale of multiple dimensions, interweaving character relationships and even parents eating their own children. There is nothing quite like MYTH and it can make explaining its qualities to another person somewhat difficult, especially since it relies so heavily on plot twists and this constrains what can be discussed. Nevertheless, this review will endeavour to cover the ups and downs of the game while keeping away from the deeper aspects of the winding plot. One of the ways it likes to keep people guessing is through a variety of POV characters who at first glance seem to have nothing to do with one another and the small casts which surround them. In order to keep track of all these different moving parts MYTH gives ample charts and reference information to encourage theorycrafting at every turn. The most noticeable flaw in the title is its limited presentation which stems from its low budget and small development team. Is the weakness enough to draw people out of the experience and undermine its elaborate narrative? Let’s locate ourselves a shadow and find out.

Step Into The Labyrinth – Narrative And Themes

The largest reason to play MYTH can be found in the complex and interconnected narrative and the way it is carefully given to the player one helping at a time. From the moment the game starts we are presented with a mysterious world where people do not have shadows and it is here we are introduced to our first protagonist, Tanabe Meito. Not much time is initially spent here and Meito is swiftly pulled into another equally strange world by Shimon, yet it will linger in the player’s mind while leading to a pay off much later on. This process of highlighting key elements of the story for future reveals through their sheer abnormality is what makes the journey so memorable as it pulls on all kinds of sci-fi and mythological references to hint at the bigger picture. Slowly teasing ideas with distinctive yet separate elements, which invite the player to consider how they functions, can provide an incentive to form theories about how all these pieces link to one another. The way MYTH loves to jump between protagonist’s, sometimes without informing the player, reinforces these feelings of intrigue as it reframes concepts which the player may have thought they understood. In many ways the build up where all the theory crafting takes place is more interesting than the truth about what is going on. Not because the truth is boring or underwhelming, but rather the back and forth between player and game as theories are tested against new information is so incredibly engaging that it carries a powerful momentum throughout the entire experience.

MYTH is broadly series yet know how to add some levity into the mix

Perhaps it is inevitable that the strengths of a complex visual novel are also one of its primary weaknesses. This is a game so in love with its plot twists and reveals it can sometimes take it too far and they become somewhat overwhelming and nonsensical. Towards the end of the story the twists come at a rapid pace and in order to justify certain revelations there have to be leaps in logic to accommodate them. Many are inoffensive and make some degree of sense, but there are a fair few pushing the bounds of believability too far and causing the player to be distracted by them when they should be focusing on the narrative climax. The really important twists manage to avoid this fate since it is clear the developers have thought about their implementation at length, but it hurts them by proximity and a feeling of inconsistency. At the point this issue arises a player is likely already going to see the game through to the end, but it does take away from what it otherwise an emotional and tense finale.

Many Universes, Many Faces – Characters

Swapping between the various point of view protagonists and seeing their very different views on their worlds acts a major pillar for MYTH. To start out there are just two POV characters in Meito and oddly named Berserker with more being added as the game moves along. This pair perfectly captures the range of characterisation the player can expect from future POV characters. The seemly ordinary Meito contrasting against the violent and strange Berserker who is being eaten by his mother perfectly represent the extremes of MYTH's narrative space. Everyone other POV character falls somewhere within this space and expands their respective angle on the greater mysteries. Being inside their heads helps make the more esoteric protagonists, in particular Berserker, more engaging to witnesses as the player gets to see the full twisted and morbidly fascinating workings of their minds rather than the potential vague outline of them a third person view would provide. The regular switching between them helps keep the narrative feeling fresh through a constant sense of new things being uncovered and new strange worlds coming into focus. It is important for MYTH that these POV characters be as memorable as possible since they form a large part of what is a relatively small core cast and so the scrutiny placed on them from the player is more intense than might otherwise be found in a large group. As such their intense nature is a direct response to this requirement and this elaborate solution defines a lot of the game’s identity.

Berserker is a truly odd character

Beyond the POV protagonists, the main cast is a relatively small affair with each group consisting of no more than a handful of characters each. Take for example Meito, he has a total of three important characters around him, in Riri, Shimon and Sou, and together they are the people the player will spend the majority of their time as him interacting with. Such a small group ensures an intimate knowledge of their relationships and a greater number of opportunities to grow attached to them during the slower paced moments. These bonds make it more personal when the doubts about the characters’ intentions come crawling out of the woodwork and the player has no choice but to reevaluate them in the context of Meito’s story and also their appearances from other perspectives. Having this doubt weave into the protagonist switching creates an interesting push and pull about how the player feels about certain cast members due to their seemly contradictory presentation. While this is happening the game provides characterisation to all these sides of them so they come across as distinct and create uncertainty about the reliability of each protagonist’s testimony.

Pushing Through Limitations – Visual, Audio and Technical

The first thing you will notice when starting up MYTH for the first time is its low budget nature. From the simple character portraits with limited expressions to the small pool of background music and sound effects, it is a constant presence throughout its play time. Having this constant reuse of assets can lead to some sources of confusion about what is being show on screen. For example, if a background asset of a forest is used in two different characters’ perspectives how should this be thought about? Are they in the same location or is this just a strategic recycling of assets? Due to how vague the narrative can be, and the fact that both are true at different times, it muddies the player’s understanding of what is going on and hurts the viability of their theorising. It also suffers from the standard feelings of repetition from being forced to use the same visuals and audio on a regular basis. Through a clever re-framing of these assets from the different perspectives and contexts MYTH mitigates the fatigue that might otherwise be present. Keeping everything fresh with new framing is a key pillar of every part of MYTH and it is just as strong here as it is everywhere else.

Good charts are always a blessing

As the complexity of the plot and the number of cast members increases it can be difficult to keep track of everything. To alleviate this burden MYTH has a series of charts and notes which keep track of all the big reveals and character relationships. This helps the narrative avoid repeating information for the sake of catching the player up on something they may have missed and it gives the player a space to take a break and speculate about what is going on. Keeping each part as clearly defined as possible is a big focus for these charts and one of the main way they achieved this is through dividing it along the lines player’s are encountering in game. The largest example of this is how the character relationship charts are each centred around a different POV protagonists to match up with what the player is experiencing. It cannot be overstated how much these charts and notes make the feeling of playing MYTH more accessible and it is something more visual novels should include if they want to lean into complexity in their narratives.

Conclusion

Strange is perhaps the single word which best sums up every aspect of MYTH and it uses this to its advantage. The twisting story keeps the player guessing and encourages them to engage in their own theorycrafting about what is going on. This is aided by a well put together suite of charts and notes to help them keep track of events and characters. Presenting all of this through a variety of POV protagonists each with their own small main cast works to create an interesting and dynamic set of characters. It is only held back by its status as a low budget title limiting its available assets and the way it can sometimes push its plot twists a little too far.

Verdict –

Strange worlds and imaginative characters populate a rich and winding narrative that rewards the player’s willingness to engage with it. Despite its low budget presentation, there is nothing quite like MYTH.