I used to love the previous GemCraft games, so i was quite excited when I saw there was a new one. And it doesn't disappoint: New features enhance the game experience and previously successful features were kept. The game satisfies on all avenues: Mechanics, narrative, progression, visuals, audio, overall design and concept - you name it. GemCraft Chasing Shadows is certainly a worthy successor for this series, and also my personal Tower Defense favorite right next to Bloons Tower Defense.
With the amount of time i have already played this game I couldn't possibly give it any less than 5 stars. The only less-than-optimal things I can think of are: A) That every now and then, there is a lot of text on the screen. Going through the tutorial or opening the options for the first time can be slightly disorienting with so much information stuffed into tiny spaces. And B) I would've liked an in-game help summary of all the keyboard shortcuts. I am all over those, but with so many of them, most shortcuts were forgotten rather quickly. I would've liked an in-game cheat sheet for this, maybe a seperate tab in the options somewhere.