46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron (fan translated as E.V.O.: The Theory of Evolution) is an RPG, about one step more primitive than the Dragon Quest games published by the same company. You control one character as they progress through the different eras of life on planet Earth, fighting turn-based battles with damage being based on stats that you control directly. Once you’ve pushed a stat to its uppermost limit, your character evolves into a completely different creature with different abilities in battle. The story itself is somewhat similar to Search for Eden, but much more fleshed out with a lot of different stories for each era that the game explores. And while Search for Eden ends with humanity as the pinnacle of evolution, The Theory of Evolution goes a bit further into the future…
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Even if the gameplay itself is really archaic even when compared with Enix's earlier JRPGS, E.V.O The Theory of Evolution stands out as one of the most unique and beatiful stories you'll see.
I played the console EVO game something like half my life ago and thought it was super average with some really interesting concepts, but was sad I didn't live in a reality where it shaped up to something more. Little did I know I was already living in a reality where The 4.6 Billion Year Story existed and I'm immensely blown away by it. Like genuinely, this might just be a top 10 RPG ever for me, and easily my favourite game on the PC98.
The in-game graphics aren't quite up to par with the wonderful mode 7 visuals of the SNES game, with fairly standard visuals for the system (likely to save on space) but the portraits and cutscenes very much make up for it 1000 fold. The depiction of the dinosaurs dying is unlike anything I've ever seen in media and it truly made me feel bad for the most predictable "plot twist" ever. I'm always amazed when PC98 artists manage to make screens that look like they came straight out of an old ass OVA.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1156847687476457492/1208832081619329124/image.png?ex=65e4b79b&is=65d2429b&hm=0ad2863e98a196b94910ec2b07733f44e02d92fc44099ddc35e2fb690628212a&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=1177&height=662
In fact, the designs are just stellar all around. The portraits are colourful and feel like they had such an attention to anatomy, I wouldn't have figured some of them were original to the game if it wasn't pointed out in the in-game encyclopedia. And what a hilarious message indeed!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1156847687476457492/1208832199520952320/image.png?ex=65e4b7b7&is=65d242b7&hm=d4f6524b44cba88173918ca5be7ba85ec5ef59c719ecd005e49fd33144a1aee7&
There are 3 things that really set this game apart from Search For Eden. The first is that the encyclopedia teaches the player a lot about all sorts of different animals like dinosaurs every time they evolve. The second is that the timeline goes quite a ways beyond what is in the SNES game, with the human character actually feeling like a big deal instead of the weakest evolution in the game.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1156847687476457492/1209017264993599518/image.png?ex=65e56412&is=65d2ef12&hm=2838d37a715ce3ffc996eeeb9bf90db489aeebbaf74848b5e82570c76a5f29b3&
And the last thing, most importantly, is the religious and political elements. The epic wars are great, but the Biblical symbolism and use of Lady Lucifer as a villain truly elevate the experience. She is seriously one of the most fun villains I've ever experienced in a video game which is saying something. Even without any voice clips, her evil laugh haunts me.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1156847687476457492/1209002061601972304/10.png?ex=65e555e9&is=65d2e0e9&hm=82d991915c968d9691977d345525d735b5e7a06fdb5dad88204eac2b6ba4d4b7&
The story is just incredible. The joke endings are probably the one area where the console game wins, but seriously the story in 4.6 Billion Year Story is one of the best I've ever experienced overall. I was really flabbergasted watching all my frens die; there were no punches held whatsoever and it truly did a great job highlighting how vicious the life cycle was IRL for the animals of the past. The epilogue legit had me crying with how inspirational it was. Really insane how far the timeline went given it started with a fish running away from other fish.
As for the gameplay? I actually enjoyed it a lot! Though I will add the caveat that I played it with speedup via the NP2Kai core in Retroarch, complete with Joy2Key to force controller support.
4.6 Billion Year Story is a nice early example of a game with no random encounters thanks to everything being on the map, predating even the likes of Chrono Trigger by years. Escaping battles was reliable too! I loved grinding for EXP by just holding the speedup key and running back and forth until i triggered dozens of evolution events. It was strangely calming tbh? I also dig the lack of MP system and the fact there are no boss fights until the end; the latter especially reminded me of Wizardry. Unlike the console game, each evolution is just a flat upgrade. Literally the biggest thing I could complain about with this game is maybe that the combat itself is super average and I wish there were more overworld interactions depending on the player's evolution, but the final battle with its status ailment tug-o-war makes up for all that imo. After all, status ailments are rarely helpful in JRPGs so that really struck me as a memorable finale. It was also nice not having to worry about items or anything since the player could just stand still or find health replenishment spots where ever in the world maps.
Oh, and the OST is great. A lot of the music is shared in common with Search For Eden, but I just prefer how it sounds here. Not to mention how killer the final boss' death cry is.
I highly rec this game to any fans of classic JRPGs, Japanese PC games, or the console equivalent EVO game. Simply a masterpiece, all in all.
The in-game graphics aren't quite up to par with the wonderful mode 7 visuals of the SNES game, with fairly standard visuals for the system (likely to save on space) but the portraits and cutscenes very much make up for it 1000 fold. The depiction of the dinosaurs dying is unlike anything I've ever seen in media and it truly made me feel bad for the most predictable "plot twist" ever. I'm always amazed when PC98 artists manage to make screens that look like they came straight out of an old ass OVA.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1156847687476457492/1208832081619329124/image.png?ex=65e4b79b&is=65d2429b&hm=0ad2863e98a196b94910ec2b07733f44e02d92fc44099ddc35e2fb690628212a&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=1177&height=662
In fact, the designs are just stellar all around. The portraits are colourful and feel like they had such an attention to anatomy, I wouldn't have figured some of them were original to the game if it wasn't pointed out in the in-game encyclopedia. And what a hilarious message indeed!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1156847687476457492/1208832199520952320/image.png?ex=65e4b7b7&is=65d242b7&hm=d4f6524b44cba88173918ca5be7ba85ec5ef59c719ecd005e49fd33144a1aee7&
There are 3 things that really set this game apart from Search For Eden. The first is that the encyclopedia teaches the player a lot about all sorts of different animals like dinosaurs every time they evolve. The second is that the timeline goes quite a ways beyond what is in the SNES game, with the human character actually feeling like a big deal instead of the weakest evolution in the game.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1156847687476457492/1209017264993599518/image.png?ex=65e56412&is=65d2ef12&hm=2838d37a715ce3ffc996eeeb9bf90db489aeebbaf74848b5e82570c76a5f29b3&
And the last thing, most importantly, is the religious and political elements. The epic wars are great, but the Biblical symbolism and use of Lady Lucifer as a villain truly elevate the experience. She is seriously one of the most fun villains I've ever experienced in a video game which is saying something. Even without any voice clips, her evil laugh haunts me.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1156847687476457492/1209002061601972304/10.png?ex=65e555e9&is=65d2e0e9&hm=82d991915c968d9691977d345525d735b5e7a06fdb5dad88204eac2b6ba4d4b7&
The story is just incredible. The joke endings are probably the one area where the console game wins, but seriously the story in 4.6 Billion Year Story is one of the best I've ever experienced overall. I was really flabbergasted watching all my frens die; there were no punches held whatsoever and it truly did a great job highlighting how vicious the life cycle was IRL for the animals of the past. The epilogue legit had me crying with how inspirational it was. Really insane how far the timeline went given it started with a fish running away from other fish.
As for the gameplay? I actually enjoyed it a lot! Though I will add the caveat that I played it with speedup via the NP2Kai core in Retroarch, complete with Joy2Key to force controller support.
4.6 Billion Year Story is a nice early example of a game with no random encounters thanks to everything being on the map, predating even the likes of Chrono Trigger by years. Escaping battles was reliable too! I loved grinding for EXP by just holding the speedup key and running back and forth until i triggered dozens of evolution events. It was strangely calming tbh? I also dig the lack of MP system and the fact there are no boss fights until the end; the latter especially reminded me of Wizardry. Unlike the console game, each evolution is just a flat upgrade. Literally the biggest thing I could complain about with this game is maybe that the combat itself is super average and I wish there were more overworld interactions depending on the player's evolution, but the final battle with its status ailment tug-o-war makes up for all that imo. After all, status ailments are rarely helpful in JRPGs so that really struck me as a memorable finale. It was also nice not having to worry about items or anything since the player could just stand still or find health replenishment spots where ever in the world maps.
Oh, and the OST is great. A lot of the music is shared in common with Search For Eden, but I just prefer how it sounds here. Not to mention how killer the final boss' death cry is.
I highly rec this game to any fans of classic JRPGs, Japanese PC games, or the console equivalent EVO game. Simply a masterpiece, all in all.
insane ambition and incredible that it was all well executed. ik the gameplay seems monotonous but after a while it really plays out like an ongoing science fiction novel. the limit to your imagination is the fucking end of time and space my dude
In terms of portraying evolution this game misses the mark of realism hard, but in terms of a unique story, it's so good, so good soundtrack too.
a goblin could body the entire dinosaur age according to this game canonically
what starts off as an innocent little jrpg about fighting prehistoric fish quickly becomes much more. not the greatest game mechanically, but very creative and unique nonetheless. just play it. it's short and doesn't overstay its welcome