This is not to say that everything attempted succeeds, because the segments tend to go on long enough that the player will see everything they have to offer. Shiro Games references a lot of video game history in this title, all the way back to early arcade titles, and the impressive cornucopia of styles on display keeps things fresh until the conclusion. As Evoland 2 proceeds, the player will find side-scrolling action areas, overhead shoot-em-up interludes, a one-on-one fighting match, an island governed by Double Dragon-style beat-em-up mechanics, a stealth section, and a continent with multiple tactical battles, among other variants. Evoland 2 at first seems to be concentrating more heavily on action-RPG mechanics in The Legend of Zelda vein that don’t vary much between the game’s different epochs, but this is merely a cover for the great variety of genres Shiro Games references.

Watch that smirking bearded guy in the back – something’s up.Įvoland was content with creating battle systems openly emulating The Legend of Zelda and ATB Final Fantasy titles, with a Diablo interlude too. While its text is much less typo-ridden than the first Evoland, this one has enough mistakes to still be distracting. Evoland 2 leaves a few too many concepts under-explained though, choosing not to make explicit a number of ideas that would have helped in figuring out how things got to their current state. Its world is realized well enough to be interesting, and the characters are a likable bunch making their way through its temporal contusions. Unraveling this temporal conundrum eventually involves a pair of additional allies and the possibility of ending space-time altogether.Ĭonsidering the narrative of the first Evoland was a skimpy clothesline of clichés included for no better reason than to make clear its inspirations, the level of interest Evoland 2 achieves is commendable.

After proving skilled with a blade by defeating a challenge summoned by the demons, the hero and Fina wind up transported fifty years into the past, during the war against demonkind.

Offering the inspired advice that seeing his earlier surroundings might jog the latent memory, Fina escorts him to the woods only to come upon a trio of demons attempting to unlock an ancient artifact for purposes of destruction. Some of the things it tries to do aren’t wholly successful, but the effort is impressive.Įvoland 2 begins with a mute, amnesiac hero being awakened by a young woman, named Fina, who brought him back from the forest. The result is something that pays homage to many titles over the years, in a wide variety of genres, and keeps coming up with new things to show the player. Shiro Games takes a little bit of that concept for Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum Disorder, but actually attempts to make a full-fledged game out of it this time. The first Evoland was something of a tech demo, allowing players to experience firsthand the changes RPGs have seen over the years, just condensed into a slim package.

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