Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
The verdict on

Shadow Fight 3

45
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

Shadow Fight 3 offers engaging combat and customization but is heavily criticized for its aggressive pay-to-win mechanics, excessive ads, and frustrating difficulty spikes that hinder free-to-play progression.

4.7★ lifetime (208,575) Free + in-app purchases since 2017 by Nekki Limited updated 0.6 mo ago recent negative 38% 120 reviews across 4 regions
Pay-to-Win Difficulty Spikes Ads Combat & Graphics Technical Issues
5★381
4★116
3★93
2★81
1★279
recent reviews across 4 regions, vs the 4.7★ lifetime average

Shadow Fight 3 is a fighting game praised for its fluid graphics, unique universe, and strategic combat system. However, recent reviews highlight significant issues with its monetization, including frequent ads and paywalls, making progression difficult for non-paying players.

What users like

  • Engaging and strategic combat system with good animations and effectsR89R38R42R45
  • Good graphics, customization, and unique weapon stylesR89R42R50R347
  • Offers a variety of game modes and a relatively good storylineR89R26R50

What users complain about

  • Aggressive pay-to-win mechanics and frequent in-app purchase promptsR8R12R18R29
  • Excessive and unskippable ads that appear after every matchR1R17R32R39
  • Bosses and events are often unfairly difficult, especially for free-to-play playersR2R5R7R10
  • Progression is extremely slow and grindy without spending moneyR3R12R79R273
  • Technical issues like lag, crashes, and account transfer problemsR6R27R48R52
  • Limited duels and other content restrictions for free playersR46R189R292

Latest update · v1.45.3

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

Version 1.45.3 changes: - Technical improvements added - Several bugs fixed

Recurring themes

Pay-to-Win negative
Many users report the game is heavily pay-to-win, with essential upgrades and powerful gear locked behind paywalls or requiring extensive grinding. Bosses and events are designed to be extremely difficult for non-paying players, pushing them towards in-app purchases.R8R12R18R29
Ads negative
A significant number of reviews complain about the overwhelming frequency of ads, often appearing after every match and sometimes being unskippable, severely detracting from the gameplay experience.R1R17R32R39
Difficulty Spikes negative
Reviewers frequently mention that certain bosses (like Sarge, Gizmo, Shadow's Descendant) and event challenges are excessively difficult, often feeling rigged or requiring specific paid gear to overcome. This leads to frustration and a feeling of unfairness.R2R5R7R10
Combat & Graphics positive
Despite the monetization issues, many users praise the core combat system for being fun, strategic, and having good animations. The game's graphics, customization options, and unique weapon styles are also frequently highlighted as strong points.R89R38R42R45
Technical Issues negative
Some users report issues such as game crashes, lag, network errors, and problems with account recovery or data transfer. One user specifically mentioned losing all old gear after logging back in. The developer's notes claim 'technical improvements' and 'several bugs fixed', which directly contradicts ongoing user reports of crashes and other issues.R6R27R48R52

Who it's for

This game is for players who enjoy challenging fighting games with deep combat mechanics, good graphics, and extensive customization, and who are either willing to spend money on in-app purchases to progress or have significant patience for grinding R89R45. It is not for players who dislike frequent ads, aggressive monetization, or unfair difficulty spikes that hinder free progression R1R18R29.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew heavily negative, focusing on monetization and difficulty, which contrasts with the high lifetime rating. This suggests a negative trajectory in user experience, possibly due to recent changes in game balance or monetization strategies.

Frequently asked

Is Shadow Fight 3 a pay-to-win game?
Yes, many recent reviews indicate that Shadow Fight 3 has become a pay-to-win game, making it very difficult to progress or defeat bosses without spending money on in-game purchases R8R12R18R29.
Are there many ads in Shadow Fight 3?
Yes, reviewers frequently complain about an excessive number of ads, often appearing after every match and sometimes being unskippable, which negatively impacts the gameplay experience R1R17R32R39.
Is Shadow Fight 3 harder than Shadow Fight 2?
Some players find Shadow Fight 3 to be much harder and less fair than Shadow Fight 2, especially for non-paying players, due to overpowered bosses and a reliance on in-game purchases for progression R2R361.
Can you play Shadow Fight 3 offline?
One user requested an offline mode, implying that the game currently requires an internet connection to play R15.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R89] 3/5 · US Good Game but Greedy Decisions: The combat in this game is pretty good for a mobile title. Timing, precision, and varying up your moves are at its core. There a plethora of game modes to keep you entertained. Each weapon style is unique and there are enough weapons, armor sets, and abilities to make this game feel like an RPG. Your character and their equipment truly feel like your own. With th
  2. [R38] 4/5 · US I like it: It’s fairly decent, I like the combat system
  3. [R42] 5/5 · US The best game ever: I really love the game because I love graphics ,duels, customization ,events and everything and set’s like namestealer Dragon within and more
  4. [R45] 5/5 · US Pretty good game: The game is actually not that bad if your patient even tho most people think the Bosses are unfair I mean they are a bit unfair but that’s the point Bosses there meant to be like that to make the game challenging and the bosses are not that difficult either it’s just about strategy mainly and the weapons u use but mainly upgrade your helmet that’s what makes your shadow abilities
  5. [R50] 5/5 · US LOVE IT!! But please, Nerf Shadow’s Descendant.: Grade freaking A game. I love it! I really did enjoy the armor styles, the Factions you can choose, it’s just so good! Events are fire, The Raids are also pretty good, and story’s fire!! But, I just have one issue. I feel like Shadow’s Descendant is too OP. I’ve tried every armor set I have, every faction, and I can’t beat him. But, I still gave it
  6. [R347] 3/5 · GB Great game let down by diminishing returns: To echo what many have already stated, I have a love / hate relationship with Shadow Fight 3. And there is so much to love: the fluid graphics, lovingly rendered; the unique SF universe that you become a part of, the fact that fights are not merely random ‘press any button blindfolded and hope for the best’ scenarios, rather epic battles which require
  7. [R26] 5/5 · US In my top three games: I genuinely have no words for this game. I thought it was gonna be one of those lame. Low effort games when I first downloaded it, but it’s actually has fun fights a relatively good storyline challenging bosses that don’t bore you and keep your attention I have nothing that I dislike about this game keep doing the good work.
  8. [R8] 1/5 · US Pretty much Pay2Win: Towards the end of the game they make it pretty much impossible to win unless you pay for new gear. Mind you the equipment is like $40 bucks and is pretty much useless afterwards.
  9. [R12] 3/5 · US Event and new duel: So I love the game it’s great really fun but the only issue is that is not free to play friendly most the stuff you have to spend days grinding for just to have a small chance to get it and most the good stuff are locked behind pay walls and most the hard challenges in events are hard if you don’t have the sets you pay for
  10. [R18] 1/5 · US Ultimate pay-to-win mechanics: It used to be a nice game, but nowadays it’s the pure definition of pay to win. Devs managed to collect all annoying money-begging mechanic, that gamers hate: loot boxes everywhere, battlepass, unlimited in-game advertising like “buy this, buy that” literally after every action you made (you can’t turn it off even with paid subscription - very annoying) paywalls that
  11. [R29] 1/5 · US Pay to win, Spam the best attacks: Not worth getting invested into. Bosses will just spam unblockable shadow attacks and you’ll waste all your currency you just paid real money for and be left with no new weapons or gear to show for. Pay to win hit this game hard
  12. [R1] 1/5 · US Too many ads: Some ads can't be closed no matter how long you wait. It's really annoying. · translated
  13. [R17] 3/5 · US Remove the ads: The ads shows up after a match which I don’t like,you have to fixed that.
  14. [R32] 3/5 · US It’s ok: I love it but there’s just too many ads
  15. [R39] 1/5 · US The ads are disgusting and can't be closed: It's one thing to have ads, but you can't even close them. · translated
  16. [R2] 1/5 · US Game so bad: This game is unfair to non-paying players, the boss power-ups are too strong, and overall, it's much worse than Shadow Fight 2.
  17. [R5] 3/5 · US Hard: For me it is to hard and im 18
  18. [R7] 4/5 · US Red: I’ve been trying to defeat the ronin but it just like impossible
  19. [R10] 1/5 · US Hate it: To hard
  20. [R3] 1/5 · US ..: How am I supposed to upgrade my weapon when every time I defeat a boss it doesn’t give me any upgrades any time u pass a level you need to pay to get an upgrade or it’s literally impossible to upgrade your weapon or armor great graphics and easy to control just impossible to upgrade without paying $10+ any time u wanna upgrade
  21. [R79] 1/5 · US Unfair and way too grindy: I grew up playing the 2nd game which was amazing. Best of our time, so of course I’d play the 3rd one. I’ve gone so far in the story that you have to GRIND for days upon days just to collect useless gear to finish your gear collection which apparently makes you stronger to fight the boss. Completely stupid. Not only that but when you play events, your gear power and stre
  22. [R273] 3/5 · GB PAY TO PLAY: It’s a great game, no doubt. Amazing graphic, Decent storyline, Excellent interface Unfortunately it’s pay to play. You cannot advance without paying. I played it and got hooked immediately, but here are the down sides: You can only level up through the main story Acquiring the currency is EXTREMELY difficult. Beating Sarge as a f2p is almost impossible. Overall great game tho.
  23. [R6] 1/5 · US Lag: Tell me why, I was in a battle and I beat a boss that was really difficult and when I won, the game closed and it took a minute to open back up and I come back to the battle unbeaten and I have to do it all over again
  24. [R27] 1/5 · US Error with the app: Why is the app not loading on my phone Everytime I try to open the app it says network error but my network is still in good condition
  25. [R48] 1/5 · US joke: This game is a joke. I played it two years ago, and when I downloaded it again and logged back in, all my old gear was gone. I even had a special move called "Japanese Slash" that I was hyped to use again today, but it's also missing. It's such a garbage game with zero account sync.
  26. [R52] 1/5 · US DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS GAME IT SUCKS AND IS SUPER LAGGY: It also steals your info
  27. [R46] 1/5 · US Unplayable: Used to be a really great and enjoyable experience. Now duels are locked behind a timer, the endless story is boring and kneecaps you with “too little stability” AKA purchase more stuff to be able to keep playing. I dont get who is having fun with this anymore. Are you guys all spending a fortune trying to play this garbage? There’s literally a pop-up asking you to buy stuff every time
  28. [R189] 3/5 · US Spending gems for raids: This game is a very good game and the combat system is fun. But one problem I have is the concept of paying gems to skip the raid fights cooldown. It’s unfair because if someone spends money on the game they are guaranteed to get first place in raid battles cuz they just use a bunch of gems to skip each cooldown. I usually get last place because of this stupid concept.
  29. [R292] 3/5 · GB New update ruined it: Was a great game but the new update put a limit on how many duels you can do a day. Kinda ruined the game for me and I lost interest but it’s a good game before the update
  30. [R361] 3/5 · GB pay to win: fun occasionally but the amount of pay to win is unbelievable, every time you open the app you get a load of offers for OP weaponry and armour to upgrade your kit. once i got an offer for a bundle of 1000+ power for each piece of kit and it said “once £104.99, but now for £9.99”. whoever buys the most bundles is the best in the game. HUGE downgrade from shadow fight 2
  31. [R15] 4/5 · US Request: It’d be cool if it can play offline too

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store