The gaming with the thrilling experience of the world of martial art with the legendary ‘Shadow fight’ skyrocketed the world with 40 million users worldwide. But all of a sudden, this dawn turned into dust on September 29, 2017, when Shadow fight was shut down. But after that, it left two of its offspring by the same developer, Nekki, called Shadow fight 2 and Shadow Fight 3.

Resultantly, the millions of fanboys turned into two camps; one who loved SF2 and the other the staunch voters of SF3. Still, among this much Shadow fight legacy, there remains a different opinion regarding these two game versions. Let’s reveal the difference between these two contradicting but amazing shadow fight versions.

As a shadow fight lovebird, keep reading the whole blog post and discover which version best matches your preferences.

Shadow fight 2 is a quirky combination of RPG and fighting in ninja touch. Developed by NEKKI, it has an iconic touch of story that lets you sink into the world of darkness and survive like a protagonist shadow samurai. Apart from its single-player story mode, its multiplayer RAIDs also give goosebumps to Shadow fight fans.

This version was succeeded by the SF2 Special Edition, which introduces an enticing story of young Sensei. After that, a Nintendo Switch version came to the fore with its distinguished SPARING mode and local PvP matches. But in all its forms, Shadow Fight 2 remains at the heart of its fans.

Shadow Fight 3 is a sequel to Shadow Fight 2 with a far more complex story, characters, and graphics. It was developed by NEKKI and advanced by Banzai. Games. It was released on July 17, 2017, in Canada after passing extensive beta-testing, whereas on November 16, 2017, it went worldwide. This game introduced some unique concepts, unlike its predecessors.

Some change-oriented fans welcomed this change, but it was staunchly criticized by many people expecting Shadow fight 2 continuations. Thus the following are some differences between the two versions that have bifurcated the fans.

Game Story-line

There is no second thought about the charming and charismatic story-line of shadow fight 2. In shadow fight 3, the story mode takes a back seat. SF2 portrays a simple plot story, which appeals to the mind.  

Diametrically opposite, in Shadow fight 3, the story takes a twist that the people don’t expect; the Shadow that was once a protagonist turns up into a demon. Some fans claim that the Shadow in SF2 opens the gates of Shadow for its gains rather than any community cause; thus, he is no longer a hero, which is not the case in shadow fight 3.

High Quality Graphics

When it comes to graphics, shadow fight 3 takes the lead. It has a better presentation of characters, layout, UI and interface. Clearly, in this era, we can not neglect the graphical breakthrough. Most people prefer Shadow Fight 3 to Shadow Fight 2 because of its more advanced graphical control. Additionally, the cordial theme of Shadow is well explained in the third version rather, and SF2 can not be rightly explained in 2D.

Play-to-Win Game

It is a general perception that Shadow fight 3 has become a more play-to-win game with the involvement of more monetary transactions. You need more money to buy a royalty pass, promote your weapons, and win the game; otherwise, it will take ages. This was different in SF2, where one had to wait for the energy restoration of their character.

There were non-monetary ways to get promotions in the game. Diametrically opposed, in SF3, you need different gems to play the entire game, which is nearly impossible without investing in it. For instance, you can not deal with super armour. Roughly, you would be losing 3/5 matches in the wait of your weapon being able to go through armour.

Additionally, it has an ad reward system that really sucks! People frequently love the previous versions due to their simple mechanism.

Shadow abilities

The most prominent edge that SF3 has is its far-extended shadow abilities. The Shadow in SF2 was more curtailed in powers and abilities. But on the other hand, some more magics and enchantments improved the game-play in SF2.

Continuation of Old characters

Some might find Shadow fight 3 as boring as compared to SF2. Mostly the people who have played Shadow fight the second version keenly find all the continuations monotonous in its next SF3. You can not compare Marcus in SF3 with Titan in SF2 because Titan is an antagonistic character, whereas Marcus is a good one.

It has introduced some of the old characters in a new way, such as lynx, Shadow and may. Additionally, there are now different mods available, along with story mods. And on top of everything, it has added raids now. Thus in 2023, SF3 has many things to offer you.

Looking at SF3 separately, it has many intriguing features that you need to know, as follows:

1. You can customize your moves for weapons and also for armour.
2. There is no energy refill system; thus, you are always ready to fight.
3. Similarly, it doesn’t require any upgrade time.
4. Far more advanced graphics are available in it.
5. You can use up to 4 special shadow abilities now.
6. The story-line of shadow fight 3 is far more complex and has different twists. Therefore it is far more interesting than a simple plot of taking revenge from demons in SF2.
7. Event fights are available now.
8. Interestingly there are 3 different fractions available now. For instance, you can play as a ninja, knight, or samurai as per your choice.
9. It provides more perks up to 11, whereas SF2 provides only 9. Moreover, you can change these perks anytime rather than wasting your orbs for enchanting every time.

Without any technical debate, I would say that most people have nostalgic feelings about SF2. The primary reason is that it precisely replicates the true idea of Shadow Fight, i.e. simple, realistic and story mode. Thus any new addition to it only entices them a little.

Therefore, there is a plethora of positive feedback from the salty fans of SF2. Many fanboys oppose the advancements especially introduced by the SHADOW FIGHT 3. therefore, if you want to draw a neutral conclusion about these two versions, you first need to come out of this nostalgia and make a neutral assessment.

Although having some sharp differences, both versions have some cool similarities. Based on these commonalities,  a great many fans agree. Following are some prominent common points between the two:

Campaign Mode

Both Sequels have a campaign mode where you must defeat different enemies to advance through the game. You will come across different chapters in this campaign mode that follows a sequence to move forward.

RAIDs

Both of the versions offer multiplayer mode to you. This model is also known as RAIDs. In SF2, this online multiplayer mod is called Tournaments, while in SF3, it is called Duel. Additionally, you can invite anyone to play online, or even you can join a faction to participate in faction wars.

Story mode

Although contrasting, both versions have a similar story mode. Whereas there are too many differences between both stories. The SF3 story is pretty much complex and twisty, whereas the story-line of SF2 is much simpler and thus leaves a huge impact on gamers.

As a crazy Shadow Fight fan, I have played all the shadow fight versions SF2, SF Special Edition, Nintendo Switch, and SF3. Still, I am on Marcus’s plane right now. Comparing the two is a very subjective question, but it remains a matter of your preference. In 2023 Shadow Fight 3 just outperforms, and you must go for that.  But I wouldn’t have said that back in 2017.

Overall, people are more nostalgic about shadow fight 2. They have been mesmerized by SF2 so much that they don’t want to replace those soothing memories with some new version. For example, both game generations have outstanding music. Still, people are more nostalgic about the music track available in SF2.

It would be unjust to let down SF3 with the argument that “it should have kept the shadow themes”, as most of the salty fanboys keep saying it. But we should judge both of the games as neutral ones. If you compare Shadow, fight 3 with Shadow, fight 2 in 2017, then obviously, SF2 wins. But if you do that in 2023, then for sure, SF3 is far more advanced.