I wish people quit comparing Everhood to Undertale. While they share similarities, they're almost nothing alike. It was precisely what made me drop the game a few years ago - I had just played Undertale and got disappointed at Everhood's "lesser" experience and apparently plagiarized style.
Now, after a few years, I finally decided to give it a second chance and, I dare to say, it's actually superior to Undertale in some aspects. So much it deserves to be analyzed as its own thing.
To begin: I loved how Everhood already establishes its intention of breaking the 4th wall right as you click "start". Without spoiling much, it's sublime how the game employs storytelling and the nature of its medium to actively challenge us - the player - both physically and, surprisingly enough, psychologically as well.
It's been a while since an interactive work has made me so thoughtful about my decisions. I'd be lying if I didn't get teary eyed during some revelations and phisophical arguments: it invites us to think about our conceptions of mortality and eternity, wrapped in a tight layer of Buddhism. And it's absolutely dripping in metaphorical beauty, if you're up to engage the game's messages in its intended higher art domain, not constrained by the physical boundaries of your direct videogame experience.
On the surface, though - and I'm not dismissing it at all by saying that - Everhood features a cast of likeable characters, fun and inventive rhythm battles (which twists and bends its genre conventions at every opportunity it gets) coated in a thick varnish of the famous "Undertale humor".
Speaking of Undertale, the only comparison I'm willing to make in regards to Everhood - beside it's humor and sometimes absurdist comedy style - is that the latter cleverly rolls both Undertale's New Game and New Game+ experience into a single coherent package. Which to me is a big plus.
Differently from the aforementioned, though, I think Everhood's lessons and truths changed me (or, in better words, instigated me to change) into a better person. It's an experience I'll carry on and keep thinking about for quite some time - and I'm grateful about it.
Now, after a few years, I finally decided to give it a second chance and, I dare to say, it's actually superior to Undertale in some aspects. So much it deserves to be analyzed as its own thing.
To begin: I loved how Everhood already establishes its intention of breaking the 4th wall right as you click "start". Without spoiling much, it's sublime how the game employs storytelling and the nature of its medium to actively challenge us - the player - both physically and, surprisingly enough, psychologically as well.
It's been a while since an interactive work has made me so thoughtful about my decisions. I'd be lying if I didn't get teary eyed during some revelations and phisophical arguments: it invites us to think about our conceptions of mortality and eternity, wrapped in a tight layer of Buddhism. And it's absolutely dripping in metaphorical beauty, if you're up to engage the game's messages in its intended higher art domain, not constrained by the physical boundaries of your direct videogame experience.
On the surface, though - and I'm not dismissing it at all by saying that - Everhood features a cast of likeable characters, fun and inventive rhythm battles (which twists and bends its genre conventions at every opportunity it gets) coated in a thick varnish of the famous "Undertale humor".
Speaking of Undertale, the only comparison I'm willing to make in regards to Everhood - beside it's humor and sometimes absurdist comedy style - is that the latter cleverly rolls both Undertale's New Game and New Game+ experience into a single coherent package. Which to me is a big plus.
Differently from the aforementioned, though, I think Everhood's lessons and truths changed me (or, in better words, instigated me to change) into a better person. It's an experience I'll carry on and keep thinking about for quite some time - and I'm grateful about it.