Evoland 1 from pack Evoland Legendary Edition
- Genres : Adventure, RPG, Action
- Publishers : Shiro Games
- Developers : Shiro Games
- Players : 1
- Consoles : Nintendo Switch
- Languages : Japanese, English, French, German
- Release date : February 07, 2019
Evoland is a small game which I heard about on Social Medias.
At the beginning, it was a small game that was released on Windows all the way back in 2013. It was then developed on different consoles as well as the Nintendo Switch with Evoland Legendary Edition that assembles Evoland 1 and Evoland 2.
I’d rather play on consoles, so I decided to take the game on Switch.
Evoland in a few words
It’s a small game that retraces through an action/RPG game the evolutions that video games went through as years went by.
It is developed and edited by Shiro Games. Its concept is original and made to discover or rediscover the evolution of video games through the years.
Presented like that, it doesn’t seem that interesting. And still, that is what makes that game so good!
One quickly notes the evolution on a graphics, music and gameplay point of view. We are quickly intrigued to know what the next evolution that we will unlock will be. Furthermore, each evolution is accompanied by a touch of humour… that is really nice!
My in-game experience
I adore the concept. As soon as the game begins, I was smiling while reading the developers’ notes. I laughed when I died three times one after the other on the first small monsters at the beginning! I realised I had completely lost the habit of not being able to move diagonally ^^’
After the nostalgia of my first game gone, I played more seriously. I progressed step by step from a small black and white pixelated 2D game and without music to a 3D universe with smoothed out graphics, music and even ambiance lighting.
The evolutions are unlocked by your character when opening a chest or a significant advancement in the story. As such, the combats become more and more enriching as you go along your progression and are very diversified. I loved it!
Furthermore, the game is full of references to action/RPG that are today considered as classics: Zelda, Final Fantasy, Diablo… those little references are very enjoyable and enrich the adventure.
The exploitation of the concept
The evolution concept is particularly well exploited.
In a first time, one quickly realizes that those evolutions greatly improve the gameplay and makes the life of the player easier. Each improvement is accompanied to a small touch of humour showing which problem was corrected. It’s nice and it makes one smile.
In a second time, the evolution concept is put forward to solve enigmas with throwbacks and jumps in the future of a same map. Some of the actions only being possible in one period.
One feels that the developers are huge fans of the genre and it really is enjoyable to play and discover those evolutions, references and tips one by one… that are usually hidden into the game.
The story
It’s not really the strong point of the game. It is pretty short, but does a simplified compilation of RPGs in general. That also constitutes one of the notes of humour from the developers.
However, it makes the player want to continue playing… enough for making me say at the end of the game: “But… but I still wanted to play some more!!”
Small conclusion
I loved this little game, but it left me wanting for more. I finished it in about 3 hours and I would have liked to play it for a couple more. It made me want to play again to my old GameBoy RPGs!
Thankfully, Evoland 2 is in the pack that I bought on Switch. I am going to plunge straight ahead into the 2nd game to go back in this little universe on the evolution of video games through the ages.
PS: I gave it 15/20 because I would have liked a somewhat longer lifespan. I was really frustrated in the end.
