Evoland is a homage to video game RPGs and their evolution throughout time. It takes particular inspiration from The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Diablo and when I originally played it back in 2013, I found it to be an enjoyable experience. In fact here is what I wrote as a Steam review for the game back then, “It’s a great fun, nostalgic experience. As a fan of Zelda and old-school Final Fantasy, I loved it.”
So when the Evoland Legendary Edition appeared as a release on the Xbox One last year, I thought hey I liked that game and this version comes with the sequel I never played, I should get it when it goes on sale. I did, played it for a hot minute and then moved on to whatever the latest hottness was (I think it was Anthem and sometimes I make bad choices).
Anyway, after Christmas I was looking for something short to jump back in to without having to really think about it too much and I saw Evoland sitting there begging to be played. Turns out, Evoland is still a fun, nostalgic experience. Traveling through the history of video game RPGs through the 32-bit era is a cool idea.
As Clink (a mixture of Cloud and Link) you’ll come across treasure chests that unlock upgrades to the game. Stuff like movement, enemies, sound effects, 16-bit visuals, etc… It’s cool to see the game grow each time and it is the main draw of the game and once it stops evolving it loses a little of its appeal. Fortunately, it knows when its overstayed its time with you and ends.
The story here isn’t anything to write home about. It’s pretty standard hero saves the world type stuff and it plays off of Final Fantasy VII a whole lot, complete with an Aerith-like death scene for the other main character. The gameplay on the other hand, while super simplistic, changes styles enough that it keeps things fresh. Sometimes you’ll be exploring dungeons in a Zelda style action RPG system, other times, you’ll face off against enemies in a Final Fantasy active time battle system, and there is even one area where you ape Diablo style hack-n-slash gameplay. My favorite part though is the time puzzle where Clink has to go to the past (back to a 16-bit style) and make changes so he can access areas in the future. It’s an awesome use of the evolution aspect of the game and one I wish was explored more.
All in all though, the return to Evoland was a good time and maybe now I’ll get around to playing Evoland 2.
Played on: Xbox One
Also available on: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, iOS, Android
Time to finish: 3 hours
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