The objective of Shadow of Memories is to guide player character Eike Kusch through the fictional German town of Lebensbaum (Life's Tree) as he travels through time to prevent and unmask his murderer.

[4] In the prologue and each chapter, Eike dies, is resurrected by the non-player character Homunculus, and travels back in time before his death with the intent of changing events to prevent it.

However, he is resurrected by Homunculus, a djinn or genie, who offers to send him back in time to prevent his death and gives him the time-traveling digipad.

Along the way he encounters several characters: Dana, a modern-day waitress whom he accidentally brings back to the year 1580 and loses; the present-day fortune teller, who tells Eike the hour of his death; Eckart Brum, the curator of a private art museum who lost his wife and infant daughter in a shooting; Dr. Wolfgang Wagner, an alchemist living in 1580 with his wife, Helena, and their two children, Hugo and Margarete; and Alfred Brum, the great-grandfather of Eckart.

[20] Zdyrko disliked the low amount of detail on the characters and some of the background, but enjoyed the "lighting and particle effects", particularly the snow and night.

[5] Vestal praised the different visual depictions of Lebensbaum, and felt that high level of detail in the backgrounds helped to somewhat counterbalance the low-resolution of the game's graphics.

[5][6] Zdyrko described it as "first-class" and believable, and commented that since much of the PS2 version consists of dialogue, flawed voice acting might have ruined the game.

[4] Kevin Krause of GameZone gave the PlayStation 2 version eight out of ten, calling it "a relatively short play, as it can easily be finished in one day.

"[33][b] Jon Thompson of AllGame gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "an outstanding adventure game in terms of thematic and narrative structure.

"[34] However, Jason D'Aprile of Extended Play gave it two stars out of five, saying, "The main, and probably only, draws to this adventure are some great story concepts and its minor replay value.

'Shadow of Destiny' is a cool idea, but the lack of meaty gameplay, awful dialog, and a short game time make this a minor footnote in the history of the PlayStation2's library.

"[35] Edge also gave the Japanese import four out of ten, saying, "If the same amount of care had been placed in the game dynamic, Shadow Of Memories might have been less of a disappointment.

"[36] Mark H. Walker of The Electric Playground gave the PlayStation 2 version eight out of ten, calling it "quality adventure gaming at its best.

"[38] Christina Gmiterko of Adventure Gamers gave the PC version three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "I wouldn't say that the gameplay is the high point here.

[42] After Shadow of Memories, Kawano wrote and directed another game with a time-traveling element: the 2008 Nintendo DS title Time Hollow;[43][44] it focuses on seventeen-year-old Ethan Kairos, who awakens in a world where his parents have been missing for twelve years, and his quest to find them.