Shadow Walker Message Board

Game Arts announced that its original WiiWare action game, The Magic Obelisk, will be available on the North American Wii Shop next Monday, December 28, for 500 Wii Points. The game, released in Japan as Shadow Walker: Boy of Shadow, Fairy of Light, stars a tree spirit named Lukus, who travels the world in search of the most beneficial place to turn into a tree, and a light spirit named Popo, who uses his ability to create the shadows Lukus requires to move. Game Arts got its Wii experience through the co-development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the subsequent creation of TMNT Smash-Up, but the developer is better known as the creator of the Lunar and Grandia RPG series, as well as the shooters Thexder and Slipheed. In the announcement of the North American date, Game Arts president Kazuki Morishita called The Magic Obelisk "a game that has been truly a labor of love for us."

We didn't have to wait long after the Japanese release of Shadow Walker to hear news of a localized version. Game Arts opened a site for The Magic Obelisk, as the puzzle adventure will be known, though it bears a 'TBA' release date. Two trailers have been translated to English (and are available after the break), making the shadow path creation gameplay even easier to understand -- and explaining the story, kind of: "Experiencing meaningful encounters and partings ... a pair of spirits travel through the world to find the meaning of existence." Sounds ... deep, for a game about a little boy and a fairy pushing rocks around. The game's info page makes it a bit more concrete: Lukus is a tree spirit who wants to find the perfect place to become a tree "to find to help somebody in the world," and a light spirit named Popo travels with him. Now that sounds more like a video game premise.

Learn the ropes to walk in the shadows.

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WiiWare is officially back in Japan, with one of the most content-rich updates we'd ever seen. Just Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth would be enough to make this week remarkable, but Game Arts' Shadow Walker and Bit.Trip VOID are available as well, along with an oddity from D3!Not enough? How about four Virtual Console games, including a Sonic & Knuckles with the lock-on feature intact? Or a budget DSiWare game about blowing up asteroids to save the Earth? @SIMPLE Series Vol. 5: THE Judo (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points) Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) Bit.Trip: VOID (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Shadow Walker (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) Championship Lode Runner (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Sonic & Knuckles (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Face Off (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Rolling Thunder 2 (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Earth Saver (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Puzzle Selection Monthly Crossword House vol. 6 (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Hills and Rivers Remain (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)

One week from today, Game Arts' Shadow Walker: Boy of Shadow, Girl of Light will be released on WiiWare in Japan. To mark the occasion, Game Arts released a trailer (after the break), demonstrating its adorable character design and puzzle-based gameplay.Okay, so Hudson's Lost in Shadow, which isn't on WiiWare, is about a boy who is a shadow, using other shadows as platforms and making new shadows to travel on with the help of his fairy companion. This game, which is a download, is about a boy who can only walk in shadows, and whose fairy companion helps him create shadow paths.Despite the extremely similar premise, the gameplay looks quite different. In this game, you control only the fairy, creating paths for the boy to walk through. [Via Andriasang]

The game makes a first appearance on WiiWare in Japan.