There's so much to say about this game that I feel like cannot properly capture the magic and ethereality that is Evergrace. It is an awkward, clunky, jank of a mess video game with the most atrocious dialogue and questionable story, BUT MAN does it FEEL so good to play. I'm not saying in the "oh this kinetically plays well," but in a "this game is so weird and unusual but I cannot find myself to stop playing and exploring its world" sense. The environmental design of this game is really unlike ANY game I've played, and I feel confident to say there really is no game LIKE Evergrace in terms of environmental design.
If I HAD to describe Evergrace though it would have to be a fever dream high fantasy type of game where the monsters are confusing to look at, the world doesn't make sense, and the people are just as confusing. Everything just looks desolate and macabre. I know with the limitations of the PS2 console there's only so many objects and NPCs FromSoftware could place without crashing the game (lord knows I've had some terrible frame drops just from more than one enemy spamming attacks at me as well), but something about that emptiness really brings out the macabre and desolate vibes that I want to say is more coincidental than intentional. The game just oozes atmosphere and surreality for days.
The gameplay is okay though. Aside from the dialogue and story which I will touch on in a moment, the gameplay while clunky and awkward functions well enough in the bare minimum aspect. It is not your usual hack and slash type of game. While you CAN hack and slash, it's more than just about how fast can you pull off combos, but being diligent and precise with your attacks because attacking is contextualized through pressure. Meaning, the harder you press the square button the harder you hit. So you can't just hit willy-nilly whenever you want and how often you want. It's weird, but I actually don't mind that as much. Seeing how FromSoftware went with their SoulsBorne games, I'd say its on brand with their programming and design. Just don't expect anything high paced like Devil May Cry.
I will say that this game is definitely not a "proto-souls" game as Kingsfield is probably more appropriate for that, but I will say that this game is probably more ideal for getting beginners into the Souls type games. The game feels like a "SoulsBorne for kids" type of game with its fun literal character customization where you can dress your character up in anything you want and the "grinding" aspect of the game isn't that tedious at all. You don't really need to grind to beat the game unlike most other games.
The story and dialogue is probably the worst aspect of the game, mainly the story as I don't know WHAT the hell went on, but it's not worse as in its not redeemable, but more as in its so bad its hard not to just laugh at it and say "well, they tried!" People speak so out of context and the dialogue often does not match what is subtitled so I found myself chuckling at how clumsy it is. I know some games you'd need to play through them more than once to understand the story, but I genuinely don't think this game is one of those stories because MAN I seriously do not know what the hell went on during this playthrough. I'm not hating though, I went in knowing that this game wouldn't be great story-telling wise. It very much is an A for effort kind of ordeal for me though.
One thing about this game that I think helps add to its "what the hell am I playing" appeal is the music. I don't think the environment alone would make this game stand out so much as it does as the music is just absolutely wild. It's a fusion of many different genres, mostly just some different styles of indigenous folk and rock music, but the compositions feel very calculated and intentional. I know the composer Kota Hoshino is a making music by ear individual rather than using theory, and I think this game GREATLY benefited from that.
Overall, I'd say this game is DEFINITELY an acquired taste to beat, but I think should be experienced by almost everyone who is into JRPGs/obscure video games as it feels like such a unique and unusual game that is lost in the sands of time, but hopefully with ThorHighHeel's YouTube video on FromSoftware video games this game will have garnered more attention!
I'd recommend this game to the following:
-Fans of FromSoftware SoulsBorne games
-Fans of JRPGs who are looking for something new and weird
-Into games with really weird visuals/music
-Video game preservation enthusiast
-oddly enough, if you like Zelda you might like this game as it does capture that same dungeon design but more unforgiving.
If I HAD to describe Evergrace though it would have to be a fever dream high fantasy type of game where the monsters are confusing to look at, the world doesn't make sense, and the people are just as confusing. Everything just looks desolate and macabre. I know with the limitations of the PS2 console there's only so many objects and NPCs FromSoftware could place without crashing the game (lord knows I've had some terrible frame drops just from more than one enemy spamming attacks at me as well), but something about that emptiness really brings out the macabre and desolate vibes that I want to say is more coincidental than intentional. The game just oozes atmosphere and surreality for days.
The gameplay is okay though. Aside from the dialogue and story which I will touch on in a moment, the gameplay while clunky and awkward functions well enough in the bare minimum aspect. It is not your usual hack and slash type of game. While you CAN hack and slash, it's more than just about how fast can you pull off combos, but being diligent and precise with your attacks because attacking is contextualized through pressure. Meaning, the harder you press the square button the harder you hit. So you can't just hit willy-nilly whenever you want and how often you want. It's weird, but I actually don't mind that as much. Seeing how FromSoftware went with their SoulsBorne games, I'd say its on brand with their programming and design. Just don't expect anything high paced like Devil May Cry.
I will say that this game is definitely not a "proto-souls" game as Kingsfield is probably more appropriate for that, but I will say that this game is probably more ideal for getting beginners into the Souls type games. The game feels like a "SoulsBorne for kids" type of game with its fun literal character customization where you can dress your character up in anything you want and the "grinding" aspect of the game isn't that tedious at all. You don't really need to grind to beat the game unlike most other games.
The story and dialogue is probably the worst aspect of the game, mainly the story as I don't know WHAT the hell went on, but it's not worse as in its not redeemable, but more as in its so bad its hard not to just laugh at it and say "well, they tried!" People speak so out of context and the dialogue often does not match what is subtitled so I found myself chuckling at how clumsy it is. I know some games you'd need to play through them more than once to understand the story, but I genuinely don't think this game is one of those stories because MAN I seriously do not know what the hell went on during this playthrough. I'm not hating though, I went in knowing that this game wouldn't be great story-telling wise. It very much is an A for effort kind of ordeal for me though.
One thing about this game that I think helps add to its "what the hell am I playing" appeal is the music. I don't think the environment alone would make this game stand out so much as it does as the music is just absolutely wild. It's a fusion of many different genres, mostly just some different styles of indigenous folk and rock music, but the compositions feel very calculated and intentional. I know the composer Kota Hoshino is a making music by ear individual rather than using theory, and I think this game GREATLY benefited from that.
Overall, I'd say this game is DEFINITELY an acquired taste to beat, but I think should be experienced by almost everyone who is into JRPGs/obscure video games as it feels like such a unique and unusual game that is lost in the sands of time, but hopefully with ThorHighHeel's YouTube video on FromSoftware video games this game will have garnered more attention!
I'd recommend this game to the following:
-Fans of FromSoftware SoulsBorne games
-Fans of JRPGs who are looking for something new and weird
-Into games with really weird visuals/music
-Video game preservation enthusiast
-oddly enough, if you like Zelda you might like this game as it does capture that same dungeon design but more unforgiving.
Mur96
2 years ago