Developer: Shiro Games
Publisher: Shiro Games
RRP: £14.99 (Steam, Humblebundle), £15.69 (Gog.com)
Released: 25th August 2015
Available on: Steam, Gog.com and Humblebundle
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: 14 Hours
I have to say it, I’m stumped. I’ve been staring at this page now for a whole day and I just can’t think of an introduction. At least not one that doesn’t give something important away when it comes to this game. So yeah, you could call this a copout, but I prefer to think of it as honesty.
Evoland 2 is, well its a lot of things put first and foremost its a JRPG in the vein of Final Fantasy, after that its… just so many things. I’ve been tempted several times to list them all off, but its much more fun to find out by playing.
As the numerical value in the title suggests this game is indeed a sequel, although the two have no connection to each other beyond a developer and basic idea. The original game (Evoland) followed along some of the major development milestones of JRPG’s (albeit loosely). This one however prefers to genre hop covering genres like the traditional JRPG, Super Mario style platforming, brawling and many more. Typically when a game tries to wear this many hats something falls flat because of the split resources or lack of technical ability. In this case though I didn’t find a single mode that felt mishandled or lacklustre.
You gather party members as you go, each of which provide a ability that can be used in a variety of ways depending on the genre you are playing at the time. These powers can be upgraded by finding some hidden objects and people in the overworld which allow even more flexibility.
The world has all sorts of critters for you to take on in real time (except where a mini game demands it). Once you’ve dispatched one of these foes they’ll occasionally drop coins and health. So far so standard, however they may drop experience instead, meaning that not every enemy is going to pay toward your experience thus making levelling a little more challenging.
There are lots (and I mean lots) of mini games. My personal favourite being ‘Game of Cards’, this card game is one I wish existed as its own stand alone game like the Witcher 3’s Gwent.
The only problem that I actually have with the genre hopping is that the different modes don’t last long and sadly most can’t be replayed. Which is a real shame as I would love to continue playing the tactical RPG part.
This game goes heavy with referencing games some of them being more subtle than others, but it doesn’t stop at games. They also go in for anime and movies too… because if your gonna be doing referential humour you may as well hit it all.
Now the question remains, is it worth it? For me its a solid yes. Evoland 2 does everything that a sequel is supposed to. It improves upon the core concepts, introduces new ones and even looks better doing so. It’s very clear to see that this game had a much bigger budget than the first, everything shows a lot more polish.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Evoland
Saturday Morning RPG
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
