Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Evoland & Evoland 2 - Wrap-up

I bought Evoland 2 specifically because I was hoping its combined play time with Evoland would be more than 20 hours. I wound up playing it for 22 hours by itself. I should probably retroactively separate the two games and go back and play Evoland four more times. Maybe if I ever wind up having too much free time on my hands, though even then Portal is at the top of my list for such silliness.

I don't want to say too much about the end of Evoland 2. The plot kind of fell apart and the final boss had two side-scrolling shooter stages. The high point of my last six hours was the tactical-rpg section and the low point was the mandatory rhythm game boss battle. Overall, it continued to follow the pattern established by the previous sixteen hours - I wanted to give it an award for cleverness while simultaneously wringing its metaphorical neck for making do things I didn't particularly enjoy.

Taken as a whole, the Evoland games are the most idea-driven gaming experience I've had since Antechamber. And while I thought the first game didn't have enough space to let its ideas mature and develop, astoundingly, I thought the exact same thing about the second game, despite the fact that it was nearly six times longer. I mostly enjoyed myself playing these games, but it was at times a removed enjoyment - I appreciated the thought that went into them much more than the actual games themselves.

I don't think I'll ever play either one again, despite having 10-20% of the collectibles still left to find. For the first one, the story and world simply aren't distinctive enough to ever draw me back. For the second one, I'd be too worried about having to replay a stealth, shooter, or rhythm game section. Even so, I think the series was one of my better purchases. I feel like a more complete gamer for having experienced them.

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