On paper, a sequel to Evoland, which was itself a condensed, tight manifestation of the idea of paying tribute to the RPG genre, sounded pretty unnecessary to me. However, after taking what was supposed to be a short look at this game as part of the Legendary edition, my surprise could not have been greater.
Playtime: 24 hours, with 2/3rds of all collectable stars, equipment upgrades and special attacks acquired. All cards and opponents fought and beaten. Played as part of the Evoland Legendary Edition.
Pros:
+ a further development of its sequel central idea
+ the many genres and styles never stop being surprising...
+ ...and are competently implemented into a larger whole
+ gameplay gets more and more diverse towards the second halve
+ the more open structure of the second halve is
+ smart usage of the time travel concept
+ world maps are smartly designed and look great
+ the 16-bit action sequences are pretty great
+ puzzles are plentiful and rarely get frustrating
+ card game is engaging and a good motivation for exploration
+ the central quintet of heroes is engaging and sweetly written
+ the story holds more surprises than is apparent at first
+ the final boss is a real highlight and celebration of gaming as a whole
Cons:
- there is no run button!
- seriously, the movement speed is dreadfully slow and really drags down the action
- the pacing in the beginning is slow and the first dungeon feels unfinished
- team members' special attacks are too slow to regenerate
- the 3D gameplay sections extremely rough and unpolished
- level design and object placement often seems random and unclear
- technical performance on Switch is all over the place and buggy
- 2D pixel portraits look washed out and lack detail, especially docked
- jump physics in 2D feel weird and lead to frequent deaths
- instant-death spikes are pure frustration and unnecessary
- Sylph Forest dungeon is undeniably tedious
- genre tropes are overused and rarely parodied
- players unfamiliar with some of genres presented may have a tough time
Magic Moments: Playing a 2D vertical shooter out of nowhere and changing into a fighting game - Street Fighter special moves included - shortly after. Recognizing a certain laboratory as a direct reference to Chrono Trigger and having a great time with the combat system. Entering an awe-inspiring zone with curved space-time and solving puzzles in two different dimensions.
Verdict:
This game might be one of the biggest surprises in my gaming life. After the rough beginning hours and the badly designed first 3D dungeon, my finger was literally hovering over the "delete" button. Shortly after, however, I stumbled upon the card game and had a huge "Inscryption" flashback that motivated me enough to take a second look at the game and give it a chance. As a result, Evoland 2 slowly but surely evolved into a cornucupia of surprises that handles not only a sizable amount of genres and playstyles in remarkable fashion, but also tells a rather sweet story with sweet characters and a great final stretch.
The amount of surprises and fresh ideas are enough to get over the initial hump and the technical issues, and the less you know before playing, the better. So go and play it!
Playtime: 24 hours, with 2/3rds of all collectable stars, equipment upgrades and special attacks acquired. All cards and opponents fought and beaten. Played as part of the Evoland Legendary Edition.
Pros:
+ a further development of its sequel central idea
+ the many genres and styles never stop being surprising...
+ ...and are competently implemented into a larger whole
+ gameplay gets more and more diverse towards the second halve
+ the more open structure of the second halve is
+ smart usage of the time travel concept
+ world maps are smartly designed and look great
+ the 16-bit action sequences are pretty great
+ puzzles are plentiful and rarely get frustrating
+ card game is engaging and a good motivation for exploration
+ the central quintet of heroes is engaging and sweetly written
+ the story holds more surprises than is apparent at first
+ the final boss is a real highlight and celebration of gaming as a whole
Cons:
- there is no run button!
- seriously, the movement speed is dreadfully slow and really drags down the action
- the pacing in the beginning is slow and the first dungeon feels unfinished
- team members' special attacks are too slow to regenerate
- the 3D gameplay sections extremely rough and unpolished
- level design and object placement often seems random and unclear
- technical performance on Switch is all over the place and buggy
- 2D pixel portraits look washed out and lack detail, especially docked
- jump physics in 2D feel weird and lead to frequent deaths
- instant-death spikes are pure frustration and unnecessary
- Sylph Forest dungeon is undeniably tedious
- genre tropes are overused and rarely parodied
- players unfamiliar with some of genres presented may have a tough time
Magic Moments: Playing a 2D vertical shooter out of nowhere and changing into a fighting game - Street Fighter special moves included - shortly after. Recognizing a certain laboratory as a direct reference to Chrono Trigger and having a great time with the combat system. Entering an awe-inspiring zone with curved space-time and solving puzzles in two different dimensions.
Verdict:
This game might be one of the biggest surprises in my gaming life. After the rough beginning hours and the badly designed first 3D dungeon, my finger was literally hovering over the "delete" button. Shortly after, however, I stumbled upon the card game and had a huge "Inscryption" flashback that motivated me enough to take a second look at the game and give it a chance. As a result, Evoland 2 slowly but surely evolved into a cornucupia of surprises that handles not only a sizable amount of genres and playstyles in remarkable fashion, but also tells a rather sweet story with sweet characters and a great final stretch.
The amount of surprises and fresh ideas are enough to get over the initial hump and the technical issues, and the less you know before playing, the better. So go and play it!