PS5

Published on April 17th, 2026 | by Nay Clark

Ereban: Shadow Legacy Review (PS5)

Sometimes the only way to see the truth is to hide in the darkness. Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a fast paced stealth platformer developed and published by the small Spanish indie studio Baby Robot Games. The game originally launched on April 10, 2024 on Steam before making its way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on April 16, 2026. Stealth games are everywhere these days, but many modern ones lean heavily on gadgets, combat options, or open world systems that sometimes overshadow the core idea of simply being stealthy. Back in 2016, Aragami captured something special with its clean mechanics, strong use of shadows, and simple but focused design. Ereban: Shadow Legacy feels like it picks up that torch and runs with it. Considering this is the first game from Baby Robot Games, the result is surprisingly polished. The experience is tightly designed, well paced, and easy to jump into. Going in blind makes the surprise even better because what you find is a stealth game that feels focused, dense, and genuinely fun.

You play as Ayana, the last descendant of a forgotten race known as the Ereban. Her people possessed special abilities tied to darkness and shadows, powers that have mostly faded from memory in a world now dominated by technology and corporate control. The game opens with Ayana infiltrating the facilities of Helios, a powerful mega corporation run by a sentient artificial intelligence that claims to be trying to save a dying planet. Through Helios, you begin uncovering fragments of Ayana’s past and hints about what happened to her people. Things quickly spiral out of control, and Ayana finds herself cast out into a much larger world where the truth behind Helios and the fate of the Ereban becomes the central mystery.

Ayana herself carries a lot of personality. She is sarcastic, determined, and not particularly interested in following anyone else’s rules while she hunts down answers. The story leans into classic science fiction ideas about corporations, artificial intelligence, and morally grey worlds where the line between good and bad is rarely clear. In a way the game even flips the idea of darkness on its head because shadow becomes your ally rather than something sinister. The narrative unfolds across eight chapters and can be finished in roughly 6-8 hours. It does not try to overcomplicate things and instead keeps the pacing tight, revealing enough to keep you curious while still leaving room for interpretation about the larger universe.

The overall structure of the game is simple and very focused. Each level drops you into a location with a goal, whether that means reaching a destination, activating machinery, recovering items, or navigating different sections of a facility. These objectives sound straightforward but the environments are designed in ways that constantly challenge how you move and think about stealth. The game also tracks how you approach each level. After finishing a stage you receive a ranking based on efficiency, speed, and stealth. Letter grades range up to S rank and are determined by things like how often enemies spotted you, how many times you died, and how you handled encounters. Medals add another layer of challenge. Completing a mission without being detected earns the Ghost medal. Eliminating enemies leads to the Ruthless medal. Avoiding combat entirely earns Merciful. This system encourages you to replay levels with different strategies and routes, turning each stage into a small puzzle box that can be solved in multiple ways.

Ayana moves like a traditional stealth character at first. You can run, crouch, and jump while navigating through facilities and ruins. What makes her special are the abilities tied to her Ereban heritage. The core mechanic is Shadow Merge, which allows you to dive directly into shadows and move within them. Once merged with darkness you can travel along surfaces, slip past barriers, climb walls, and reposition yourself without being seen. This ability has a meter that limits how long you can stay inside a shadow, and stepping into light drains that energy very quickly. Because of this, shadows become both a pathway and a resource you constantly manage. It turns every environment into a kind of living puzzle where you are always searching for the next safe piece of darkness.

Traversal becomes surprisingly creative as the game progresses. Shadows from moving windmills, spinning fans, fences, and even drones passing overhead can create temporary pathways that let you reach otherwise impossible areas. In some cases sunlight hits objects at specific angles that cause shadows to move across the ground, forcing you to stay within that shifting darkness if you want to avoid detection. The constant interaction between light and shadow gives the levels a sense of movement and experimentation that keeps things interesting from start to finish.

Most of the enemies you encounter are robotic security units equipped with flashlights and scanning devices. Their lights are your biggest threat because they can break your connection to shadows and reveal your position almost instantly. Watching enemy patrol patterns becomes crucial because one wrong step into a beam of light can end your stealth attempt. While avoiding enemies is the safest approach, Ayana has other options. Throughout the levels you collect Shadow Orbs that allow you to upgrade your abilities. These upgrades unlock new tools like sonar scans that highlight enemies and collectibles, decoys that lure enemies with sound, mines that temporarily stun opponents, and defensive shields. You can also blind enemies or create distractions to slip past patrols. These tools use scrap materials that you gather in levels, which means you cannot spam them endlessly and still need to plan your approach carefully.

Combat exists but it is intentionally limited. Ayana carries a blade and can eliminate enemies through stealth attacks or aerial takedowns when positioned correctly. If enemies become fully alerted the situation becomes much harder to manage because their lights and gadgets restrict direct combat. This design keeps the focus on stealth while still giving you enough freedom to play aggressively if you plan things carefully.

While stealth and shadow mechanics are the core of the experience, the game also includes some traditional platforming sections. Most of the time they work well, but occasionally they can feel a bit awkward. Ayana’s jump is fairly short and sometimes requires precise timing that is not always obvious at first. There are moments where repeatedly tapping the jump button helps you clear certain gaps or navigate tricky sections. Some ledges allow you to cling to the edge using shadow abilities, while others do not, which can occasionally feel inconsistent. These moments are not frequent enough to ruin the experience but they do stand out when they happen. Fortunately the game uses fair checkpoints so mistakes rarely send you too far back.

Visually, the game has a striking cel shaded style that works perfectly with its light and shadow mechanics. The environments feel carefully constructed so that lighting is always a meaningful part of the gameplay. Shadows stretch across walls and floors in ways that guide movement and shape how you approach stealth. The environments range from futuristic facilities to ruined cities and ancient structures that have been repurposed by modern technology. While there is not a huge amount of environmental variety, the art direction uses color and lighting effectively to keep areas visually interesting. Ayana herself also reacts to the lighting around her, with her colors shifting depending on whether she is standing in light or darkness. Performance on PlayStation 5 is very smooth, with no noticeable stutters or technical issues during play.

The audio side of the game adds a lot of personality to the experience. Even though the story carries a serious tone, the dialogue often leans into humor and playful banter. Ayana’s voice performance (played by Cissy Jones, known for her roles as Delilah in Firewatch, Joyce Price in Life Is Strange, and Nora Everhart in Call of the Sea) stands out in particular. She delivers her lines with a mix of sarcasm and determination that fits her character well. Some lines can feel a bit cheesy, but there are also moments where the emotional delivery genuinely lands. Enemies occasionally talk to each other during patrols, and some of these exchanges are surprisingly funny. Listening to robots casually complain or tease each other while you hide nearby adds an unexpected layer of charm. The soundtrack by Johan Holmström ties everything together nicely. The music captures the sense of mystery and movement that defines the game, and the main theme especially sticks with you.

Final Thoughts?

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a stealth game that understands the value of focus. Instead of trying to do everything, it builds its identity around shadows, movement, and clever level design. The result feels a bit like stepping back into the era of compact PS2 games where levels were designed with care and the experience trusted you to figure things out without constant handholding. What makes it even more impressive is that it comes from a small team making their first game. You can feel the passion behind it in the mechanics, the art style, and the thoughtful level design. The ranking system, different playstyles, and challenge medals also give the game plenty of replay value for anyone who enjoys mastering stealth systems. 

It may not be the longest adventure, and a few platforming quirks occasionally show through, but the core experience is strong enough to make those issues easy to overlook. If you enjoy stealth games that reward patience, experimentation, and creative movement through environments, this is absolutely worth checking out. It is the kind of debut that makes you curious about what this studio might do next, and hopefully the shadow filled world of Ereban is something we get to return to in the future.

About the Author

Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.

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