A young man by the name of Eike Kusch takes a stroll around the peaceful and patriarchal town of Lebensbaum in Germany. The next thing he can see is a very unusual room filled with bizarre objects, and a voice is speaking to him from nowhere. Suddenly, a great blow obscures the vision in his eyes, and the next thing he can see is a very strange room filled with bizarre objects. Eike is informed by a mysterious being known as Homunculus that he has passed away as a result of being stabbed. Eike is brought back to life by Homunculus and given a device that allows him to travel through time. This occurs just a little while before Eike was killed. From that point on, the miraculous second chance that Eike had been given transforms into a never-ending competition against the clock as he works to break free from the bonds of his fate. Eike will need to travel back in time as far as the 16th century in order to change the course of events and prevent the unidentified person from carrying out his murder. While he is there, he will have to meet people who are closely connected to his own existence and alter the very fabric of reality.
Shadow of Memories is an adventure game. In North America, the game is known as Shadow of Destiny. The game does not have any aspects of action, and there is no health bar for the protagonist either. In each chapter, there is a time constraint during which Eike must figure out how to thwart the attempts of the killer to take his life. Traveling across time to other hours, days, years, and even centuries is the primary means by which this goal might be accomplished. It is possible to save Eike’s life by retrieving an important object, engaging in a discussion with a certain individual, or carrying out one of the various actions available in the past. The use of time travel requires energy units, which can be discovered throughout the town through searching. If Eike is unable to accomplish the task at hand within the specified amount of time and avert his own murder, the chapter will need to begin again from the beginning.
The player will have multiple options to select from and the opportunity to alter the course of events in a variety of different ways while playing the game. Because of the time-traveling mechanic, many of the game’s objectives can be completed in ways that aren’t linear, branching the narrative and eventually leading to a total of eight distinct conclusions. Six of these conclusions can be attained during the initial playthrough, and the remaining two can be unlocked only after the first six have been completed.
