Welcome to Evoland 2. If you're familiar with the first game, this second installment continues on the combined package of all sorts of game genres, but much longer (20-30 hours). It has platforming sections, classic minigames like Snake, Pong, Pacman as well as flying shoot 'm up, beat 'm up. fighting and the list goes on. However most of the time you'll be playing a platformer/adventure hybrid. Story: 5/5 The story starts off pretty cliche. You are playing Kuro who lost his memory. He's the silent protagonist which you'll play with through the game. Soon you will accidentially end up in the wrong time and you'll be trying to get back to the present. The party members may seem a bit on the surface but they are fleshed out just fine. The game actually found room for character development through the course of the game. When I finished the game I was confused regarding the story. Now that everything sank down a bit, it's simply brilliant. Graphics: 4/5 The graphics change depending on the time period you're in. From 8bit monochrome at some point up to 3D graphics. You have 16 bit, 32 bit and the 3D world. Each do just fine and look the part. The 3D era isn't very beautiful but do just fine. The world looks colourful and there has been put the effort in 3 eras. Sound: 4/5 The soundtrack is great and it has quite some catchy tunes and tributes to the first game You will also hear familiar sound effects from Zelda Gameplay: 5/5 There is lots to do in this game. It even has it's own card game system build in like Final Fantasy which is a lot of fun! But overall it plays great and smooth. I will mention you'll find the occassional bug however it has never broken my game. There are plenty of save points which means you'll never be too frustrated when you die. The changing gameplay make the game refreshing and interesting. Final verdict: 5/5 a great sequel and stand alone game that perfects the game genre mashup the first Evoland title had set in motion
I've played the game when it came out and it's been a very enjoying experience. I almost finished it so I'll write my review here. First off, the game has been covered in bugs at the release. After 26 patches the game has been more stable. Unfortunately in my playthrough I still discover bugs when it comes to inventories of one character being replaced by another's inventory. This is highly frustrating as there are shops in the game but not always reachable. Editing your save files is not the way you want to play. Bugs aside, what do we have? Story: 2/5 The story is more or less neglectible. The writing isn't the greatest but you at least know who the bad guy is and your objective. Sound: 3/5 The music is alright, though it could've used more tracks. You will sometimes play one battle for hours. At least in my case. Having the same song on repeating isn't that pleasant. However it's not bad. Gameplay: 4/5 This is where the game shines. The game is a lot of fun. Basically you own a group of units and by tactically placing them you will be able to beat the opponents. Think about Vandal Hearts or Final Fantasy tactics. A turn based tactical rpg. The battles are pretty tricky and you can easily lose track of time. This part of the game is pretty solid. Unfortunately I dislike the item degrading in the game. You are spending most of your money buying a couple of the same weapons so you do not run out of them. Once the weapon breaks it's gone. Another aspect I found a bit disappointing is the fact you do not walk around yourself, though I do recall one moment. Most of the time you can not interact with other characters and are being sent from one battle to the next. To sum it up: The challenging and solid battle system is what keeps the game shining for me, even if the game is somewhat flawed.
Armikrog is a point & click adventure that takes you literally back to the roots of point & click adventures. There is no hand holding here, no inventory and a basic cursor to work with. This game was meant to be the spiritual successor to (in)famous Neverhood. It delivers in giving people a short hommage to the Neverhood. The story is alright, fun and enjoyable for it. Nothing more nothing less. While it surely delivers in the visual department, it lacks on a lot of other fronts. - The release has been quite buggy which didn't help the game. I assume the game will be worked on in the future to clean all the bugs. - The game is fairly short. It took me under 10 hours, but I am very slow. If I knew what to do including all the puzzle solutions from the get go I assume it can be completed in around two to three hours. - Since the game is short in length I do not think it is worth the current price tag. Unless you're a hardcore fan of that kind of work, I'd wait for a sale. It pains me to say that since I love the developers for creating my childhood game: Skullmonkeys and the Neverhood, I just think the amount of content in armikrog is lacking. - The puzzles are fairly easy to solve, with a few nice ones. I personally like them but they are repeating themselves a couple of times unfortunately. The music by Terry Taylor is quite a nice listen to though. So why do I sitll give this game 4 stars? With a tiny kickstarter budget meant for 1 year of work to make the game from scratch it is perhaps a great feat that they managed to still make the game after 2,5 years. So the rating is because of the work and effort that went into the creation of it. There is no studio that makes games with stop-motion clay animation. Also keep in mind the development team has been quite small. There's only so much work three people can do and claymation takes a lot of work. That's why I see the game more as a piece of art.
First off: when it comes to looks of the game, you either like it or not. You're a princess and are going to become a queen within a year. I explicitly say within a year, because I thought I had 51 or 52 weeks when it turned out I had a lot less. When you start the game out it looks quite complex, but in all reality it's very simple. Here's the breakdown: You study up to two classes a week to get points/levels in your skills. Afterwards an event may take place and depending on what skills you've been focussing on, you might pass the event well or not. You could even end up dying. The fun is comes at not knowing what happens next. Which some people may like or may not like. It IS however a story from beginning to end. When replaying you will play the majority of same events, but you could take a different route and get a very different outcome. That's the charm of this game. Depending on the princess' mood, she can either get a boost or penalty studying skills. Events alter your mood, but more importantly, the way you spent your weekends. So you want to plan ahead how you will play the game. The music in the game is simple but it works, The only negative point to me is the length. I had hoped for a lot more weeks to play so it came a bit unexpected to me. Overall verdict: It has an interesting story but it's pretty tough to memorize everyone and everything. (Imagine how our princess feels). This game will entertain you and soon you wish it wasn't over so soon. :)
