9 Years of Shadows
Give it 10 hours
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 2 reviews are negative (42%); after 10h it's 1 in 6 (17%).
- 26% of players who start reach the ending.
- Most players drop off before “Whack-A-Nope” (Defeat the Dwarven Guard): only 70% of starters get there.
- 92% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 3,424 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 13.7h for positive, 8.6h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (92.2% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Whack-A-Nope Defeat the Dwarven Guard. Most players quit here 70% −30
- Pesticide Defeat the Tantalus Roach in the Forgotten Pond. 59% −11
- Lift Me Up Defeat the Shadow of Hope. 51% −7
- Dangerous Fistbump Defeat the Mask of Andros in the Eucalyptus Garden. 45% −6
- Eye See You Defeat the Shadow of Despair. 43% −3
- Dispelled Defeat Hekate's Illusion in the Capra Cauldrons. 42%
- Big Kitty Defeat the Shadow of Demise. 39% −3
- Heart Surgery Save Talos' Heart in Talos Core. 37% −2
- Broken Gem Defeat Locrian Sentinel in Talos Core. 37%
- Trust Issues Defeat Draythus in The Orphanage. 32% −5
- Saviour Break the curse. 26% −6
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (34)
story milestone ending side
- Bring it In Perform a Lullaby for the first time. 100%
- Bullied an Enemy Kill the same common enemy ten times. 90%
- Whack-A-Nope Defeat the Dwarven Guard. 70%
- Pesticide Defeat the Tantalus Roach in the Forgotten Pond. 59%
- Lift Me Up Defeat the Shadow of Hope. 51%
- The Last Offer Defeat Ulf. 47%
- Dangerous Fistbump Defeat the Mask of Andros in the Eucalyptus Garden. 45%
- Foul Ball Defeat Leno. 43%
- Eye See You Defeat the Shadow of Despair. 43%
- Dispelled Defeat Hekate's Illusion in the Capra Cauldrons. 42%
- Don't Bring A Gun To A Halberd Fight Defeat Issa Kabeer. 41%
- Spare A Coin? Defeat Frinise. 39%
- Big Kitty Defeat the Shadow of Demise. 39%
- Detective Find ten secret rooms. 39%
- Like Clockwork Defeat the Gear of Erebus. 38%
- Heart Surgery Save Talos' Heart in Talos Core. 37%
- Broken Gem Defeat Locrian Sentinel in Talos Core. 37%
- You're Welcome, Huntresses Defeat Link. 35%
- Checkmate Defeat Maelzel. 34%
- Friends Stick Together Defeat Limo and Nissi. 34%
- Bone To Be Wild Defeat the Reaper. 34%
- Mercy Defeat Miria. 34%
- Save Your Soul Defeat the Horned God. 34%
- Trust Issues Defeat Draythus in The Orphanage. 32%
- Fully Equipped Acquire all of the progression abilities. 30%
- Music Lover Rescue all of the musicians. 29%
- Feline Reflexes Successfully perform four quick heals with Radical Acceptance in a row. 28%
- Saviour Break the curse. 26%
- No More Nightmares Defeated the Logon Duck in the Upper Quarters. 25%
- Librarian Find all eight cartographer's journals. 24%
- Empowered Allow Hibino to complete his mission. 24%
- All The Jewels Upgrade your Vitality to the maximum. 23%
- Gotta Kill Them All Complete the bestiary. 18%
- Honed Edge Upgrade your Light Bar to the maximum. 15%