Throughout the course of the game you're sure to run into chests which, when opened, unlock everything from basic controls, to sound and even the third dimension. Now, while I did really enjoy my time with Evoland, the game is probably about four hours long, and while the references and cheeky little call backs to popular games like FFVII and Diablo were pretty funny at first after about an hour or two it just started to feel like complete fan wank. The references quickly became like a sausage roll; doughy and sorta tasty but with absolutely no nutritional value. That being said, combat was always fun and if you've played any of the Legend of Zelda titles then you should already be proficient enough to dispatch whatever comes your way, there's also FF style turn-based combat sprinkled throughout the game coupled with random encounters. I don't think I need to say it, but random encounters while you're trying to navigate the world map suck more ass than any of the instruments at your local dildo removal clinic. Bad analogy, but you get the idea. On top of the occasionally infuriating combat and the predictable references the game boasts some brilliant art and a pleasing soundtrack, which oddly reminded me of Kingdom Hearts, though listening to the sound your character made while running was like having a Ritalin munching woodpecker going at your head. Oh, I forgot to mention something brilliant, you can name your character.
I suppose now that I'm done whining about the gameplay I can talk about the sto- Wait a second! Towards the end of the game you receive an Airship which lets you quickly travel around the world map without those freaking awful random encounters, but my question is this: "Why couldn't I have gotten it sooner?" The guy that owned the damn thing was calling me a hero the second I crawled out of the woods with his niece. Not the usual reaction, eh what? Anyway, after I'd gotten the keys to his Airship, the only place left to go was to the Mana tree to fight the final boss, I just feel like the pace would have been a little better if the characters weren't ambushed every ten steps. But let's put all that aside and talk plot! Your character wakes up in the woods with only the ability to walk right, and after walking right for a little you eventually figure out how to walk left, baby steps are still steps, I suppose. After a little wandering about the place you make it out into the world map and set off for a village on the horizon. After collecting some gubbins there you emerge 15 years older and brandishing a shiny new sword. As you leave the town you find a girl that has been attacked by monsters, you fight them and receive one generic female spell caster, who is also the love interest and thus your adventure to defeat the evil being causing the land to dry up and become endless dunes of random monsters begins. On the whole the plot is stable if a bit generic but as I mentioned earlier, the game is pretty much fan wank. Though it's strongest point is this: It can be penetrated from all angles.
Of course what I mean by that is that it's the perfect game for beginners. The combat is varied, it shows off different art styles and should leave any noob full to bursting with interest in other games and perhaps even tossing about a little of the lingo. For veteran gamers though, it has enough references to keep you smiling even if it does get a little bland by the end, and if you've been playing a lot of triple A titles lately then this will certainly cleanse your pallet, even more so if the name of the publisher of those triple A titles rhymes with "Supersonic farts".
- Tomas
- Tomas
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