Evoland Legendary Edition is a double pack of both the first and second games onto Switch. I had the pleasure of trying out these two fascinating games and I came away with some distinct impressions! What Evoland does is something that becomes more than a gimmick and I bloody loved it.

Developer: Shiro Games

Publisher: Shiro Games

15+ Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $19.99

Evoland was a relative unknown to me when I picked it up. Having been told by multiple writers it was awesome I was keen to give a go. What I ended up with was an entertaining history lesson in gaming! All jokes aside, Evoland 1 was the most ‘tech demo’ like game I have ever played. It wasn’t exactly bad, but I really felt like it was always leading up to its sequel. At just two hours long this confirms its status as the definitive taster dish, a classic prawn cocktail. So I decided to just split this review into a small section on the original, before diving into the ‘true’ Evoland later on.

Evoland – The evolving demo

So, where to start. Evoland was not an amazing experience. As I said, it really does feel like the start of much more. A way to say, ‘Hey guys! This concept can work! Guys?! Guys! Trust me, look!’, and it does this job well. It is a really charming 2-hour experience, with a cute story to match. The main idea within this series is to make a world in which your character evolves, this comes through an evolution of art styles (GameBoy, SNES and early 3D), game features such as saving and changing the style of the battles you face. The game itself was mechanically sound, I was impressed that despite it being such a small adventure it really felt a complete game.

It is certainly unique. I really did think that the entire first game was defined by showcasing this idea. The only time it really played a big role in gameplay was during a forest section in which going backwards and forwards in time affected the world around you as well as the art style. Fortunately, this was a taster of what would take place in the sequel, but as the highlight of the first game, it shows how grounded the experience was.

The first game is nothing special. This isn’t the worst in the world though because of the Switch release containing the much-improved sequel! So without further ado, let us get on to the premium package within this Legendary Edition of Evoland.

Evoland 2 – Main Course and Dessert!

Evoland 2 is the equivalent of taking Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival and then saying ‘screw this crap’ and dropping a fully fleshed out Animal Crossing Switch game (Get it done Nintendo). In any sense, compared to the first ‘game’, Evoland 2 blows it out of every single drop of water it can find. It is sooooo much more fleshed out and really feels like a complete adventure. It isn’t perfect, but it really delivers on a unique and well thought out concept.

Now lets get one thing straight. Unlike most games, Evoland contains about 500 different genres of gameplay. Side-scrolling, shoot-em-up and top-down Zelda to name just a few. This really is a celebration of the history of games, it crams as much in as possible in order to hit as many games as it can. And you know what? The team behind this have done a bloody good job of nailing most of these, not much is lost from such a variety of content. Now don’t expect the platforming to be like Mario, but it certainly felt solid enough for the experience Evoland 2 told. This coherence really surprised me, because it really works so seamlessly. It never felt like a mash-up of genres, rather a sequence happens and you realise it makes sense. Whether that be a street fighter tribute or 2d platforming, it made sense.

Having never played a shoot em up, I really enjoyed this segment!

One style of gameplay dominates the rest though. The majority of your time will be spent in a top-down Zelda game, complete with hacking combat and puzzles to solve. I love top-down Zelda so this was a massive reason why I kept coming back to the game. I thought the puzzles were fairly strong and the combat sufficed, although it did get frustrating in a certain bomb sequence. . . DAMN YOU BOMBS!!! Although it does bring in other gameplay styles, Evoland 2 recognises that players are mainly here for this particular style of play, so understandably it occupies most the time played.

Progressing the Evoland 1 formula is shown most in the expansion on the time travel mechanic. Whereas in the original it was confined to one solitary section of the game, it encompasses the sequel. The entire game and its story are built upon time travel, and showing it to you through visual changes. In the later game, it really helps you keep track of the period you are in, and all the styles are great to look at. In the first game, I found the section that weren’t, ‘Link to the Past’ top-down really ugly. Fortunately, in the sequel I had no complaints, even the world maps looked nice and the environments were delightful. At times it is hectic, but that’s only because your character, Kuro, is on a hectic adventure himself.

Speaking of the adventure, Evoland 2 breaks away from the originals tribute act to produce a modern classic adventure. There are references to nearly every game that has ever existed, but there is still an adventure here. A handcrafted one unique to Evoland, I cared about the characters, and I cared about the world. It manages to remove itself from the original so much so that it doesn’t really feel like the same series. For even if you took away the ‘gimmicks’, the game is still a bloody good one. There is no reliance on them, rather they complement and support a superb story which exists outside of it.

Hmmm. Doctor Who anyone?

Don’t get me wrong. Evoland 2 is still a fundamentally fun adventure. With constant quips, references and jokes throughout, it doesn’t aim to be super serious. This same area from above? Yeh, it contains another Nintendo reference as well as WoW, Evoland 2 wants you to have fun. It manages to bridge serious and playful tones incredibly well, and it suits the pace of the game. Even when you consider that there is some seriously dark stuff explored, I mean some messed up stuff happens in this world, I never played without a beaming smile on my face. The world is just so charming, even for someone who isn’t being hit by all the nostalgia it attempts to produce.

Speaking of Nostalgia though. There is one specific part of Evoland 2 which made me squeal with joy. THE PROFESSOR LAYTON REFERENCE PLEASE NINTENDO GIVE ME NEW PROFESSOR LAYTON! Ok, be professional Tom. As soon as I saw this I was instantly jumping around my room with joy, this for me made me appreciate this experience so much more. As dumb as it sounds, seeing a reference which personally generated emotion within me was really quite humbling. It evoked a younger version of me within my much more jaded self, a callback to younger more innocent gaming days. Sometimes these references are a bit too much, I felt like some were there to just be like, ‘HEY! LOOK AT ME! I AM A REFERENCE, LAUGH PLEASE! RELATE PLEASE!’

The most important part of a game is if its fun. And when I looked back on my time with the Evoland duet that was the word I used to summarise my experiences. They are fun games, plain and simple. Yeh, the original is a bit of a tech demo but even its rudimentary nature still allowed enjoyment. Evoland Legendary Edition should have been my first Golden Heart of the year, however, there is a massive issue in the Switch version which needs to be addressed, as well as a few other points I want to raise.

Evoland’s Poor Evolution

Evoland 2s biggest issue comes in the performance department. The ‘3D’ sections suffer from some really severe frame rate issues and the overworld will occasionally glitch out in such a way where you can’t even see your character anymore. As a result, I dreaded the future era of the game because I knew my experience was going to be bad. This is even more significant when you consider the rest of the game runs at a smooth 60FPS. I am not particularly picky with frame rate but when it drops so obviously and completely pauses at times, it is something worth discussion. The overworld issues completely halted my process at times as I had to blindly find a location to enter so I could reset it.

At a certain point, the game opens up with (In my opinion) little direction to the player. Especially with the time travel mechanic it can become quite confusing and slowed down my playthrough. I ended up using a guide at some parts just because of how convoluted it got. Thankfully the story keeps you engaged but the gameplay turned into a slog at times as I had no clue where to go!

I also thought at times the dialogue carried on for too long, of course getting the story across is important. However, if this is in a way in which I end up mashing ‘A’ in other areas to try and get to the actual interesting part of the game I have issues. The story itself is brilliant, but what was around it at times was incredibly dull, which is a shame. I had little desire to go on side quests and such because I couldn’t be bothered to face the text that would follow.

Both games are definitely fun adventures, the sequel is where the bulk of your game time is going to be spent of course, but even the original is a decent experience. If the frame rate issues don’t bother you, I can wholeheartedly recommend it to you. However if not it is worth waiting on news of a patch before buying, it really hampered the experience for me. I enjoyed my time in Evoland and it is a really great option if you are intrigued by its mechanics.

Hope you found this review both informative and fun to read! Evoland was a really good experience and introduced me to some new genres to try out! A really good January release was Octahedron, check out our review! To keep the conversation going go follow us on Twitter and join our Discord. Also check out our brand new merch store!