The music is consistently excellent and, paired with a generally good combat system, makes for a strong enough experience to be worth recommending overall. But various problems with the details of said combat system and a weak story keep Everhood from breaking past a 7/10.

Regarding the combat, it generally worked out. The music keeps the fights engaging and ensure that they never last so long as to cause the game to drag. And while the core parts of the combat system worked well, the game's attempts to increase the difficulty later on added more to frustration than enjoyment. Flashing lights, motion blur for projectiles, screen distortions, and various other visual effects are a terrible pair for gameplay that is dependent on timing and precision. And while they do succeed in making the later fight harder, it rarely felt like a satisfying way of doing so.

As for the story, Everhood has a very interesting premise but none of the details ever contributed to it in a meaningful way. To avoid spoilers, you learn some very important facts about the world of Everhood around the 2 hour mark that tries to contextualize the events around you and your purpose in being there. And while the info you learn is a very neat foundation, actually looking at the world and characters with this information in mind rarely seems to make much sense. The way everything is set up and how the characters behave just doesn't feel true to what the story is suggesting and this makes the interesting premise fall pretty flat for me.

Everhood is still a pretty decent game overall. Its fairly short and is pretty cheap so there isn't much of a meaningful barrier to entry. So I'd still suggest giving it a shot regardless, just avoid setting your hopes too high.

A vida e a morte são temas muito trabalhados em qualquer meio de entretenimento, livros, séries, filmes e jogos, mas a forma como Everhood trabalha nesse tema é diferente e um grande alívio dos clichês atuais. O jogo brinca com a filosofia do estoicismo e niilismo de um jeito inteligente, existe morte, mas será o fim? O medo de deixarmos de existir de um momento ao outro é realmente necessário? Haverá reconciliação. Temos tanto medo do futuro e de não aproveitarmos bem a vida, que a existência do fim nos amedronta de viver, perdemos entes queridos ou animaizinhos que representam um grande apego para nós que ficamos desolados. Porém o que importa é que haverá reconciliação. Se você não acredita em vida após a morte, ainda assim recomendo dar uma chance para esse jogo, é uma fonte de conhecimento e você poderá experiênciar um ponto de vista diferente do seu de uma forma bem orgânica e divertida :)
Depois de jogar mais algumas horas do jogo e encontrar algumas batalhas extras e apreciar as músicas de algumas batalhas eu senti que precisava refazer minha análise. O jogo é muito bem trabalhado e muito bem feito, não consigo ver um ponto negativo até agora, realmente acertou todas minhas expectativas.

Shelving this one for now. I can say with certainty that this game is good though. The character designs, art, and dialogue are all really enjoyable and it overall has a unique identity to it that many will resonate with.

The rhythm gameplay (which is a replacement for anything RPG related, battle wise) is really cool, but at the same time feels kind of disposable? Attacks come at you like DDR arrows and its up to you to jump and dodge out of the way, later gaining the ability to parry and attack back. That's it. And surprise! It gets really difficult and in its format, becomes a bullet hell. To keep my take on the gameplay short: I'm already indifferent to the combat in this game, and as it gets harder, my motivation to keep playing just kind of dies, sorry.

Also, I know I said that this game does have a unique identity... but holy shit dude, the undertale inspiration, I'm so sorry, I said the U word. You all know the deal by now with "RPGs" like this one, but the story beats are what really get to me. I like what they're doing with the themes enough that I did appreciate it from a existential standpoint, but.. sparing people or killing them? Really? Wonder where you got THAT from. Sorry but when that was introduced, the identity of this game got muddled for me. Even more so with how much of the quirkiness was hit or miss. A few gags were awesome though, don't forget that.

And the music is kiiind of forgettable. There are some standout tracks and interesting production, but.. of ALL things to have very little identity??? For me, it's the OST. You'll come across a banger track and then you'll do a fight so quick you don't remember a second of the music. Why?! It's a rhythm game! I kind of had this problem with HI-Fi rush, but that OST was far from bad. This one on the other hand feels very meh to me. I just feel like there should have been stronger intent with the impact of the music. For me, its just not a strong aspect of this game.

I want to close by saying this: give this game a shot! It might be your new favorite thing! The characters are cute and the comedy is solid. The story may take you away with it's lore and you might even fall in love with the challenge of the rhythm gameplay! Might return to this one and take back what I said on a few things. Support indie games!