Developed by Chris Nordgren & Jordi Rica and published by Foreign Games, Everhood 2 is a 2d top-down RPG from the same family of games as Undertale.
Going on too long has many risks: boring the other guy, losing your point, or sounding like a self-absorbed lunatic. However, a game going on for too long just gets lost in the bland territory. Today, however, I want to talk about a game with a 5-star length but lacking variety, which made them shoot away till only 1 was left.
I am talking about Everhood, a 2d top-down RPG from the same family as Undertale, with a submersive combat system… that never changes and only gets longer and longer as the game goes on.
Everhood 2, the Forgotten Plot
You play as a character, I think I named myself, but can’t remember who falls into a rabbit hole and are isen away from their lovely white void home. After getting attacked by a giant hawk, they are told to go out into the world and save it from destruction or something…
As you can probably tell, I never really connected with the story, my frustration grew the more I played and, eventually any guidance just felt like the path to follow, kind of deal. I just know it had something to do with saving the world or something.
I mentioned Undertale earlier, but sadly, the animation style is as far as we go. There are very few characters per area to talk to, and most are just background fluff with two and, if you are lucky, three lines of dialogue. Barring the aforementioned giant hawk, every story’s progressing character feels quite binary and would only exist to usher you to the next scene.
The One Thing Everhood 2 Gets Right… Kind of
The real deal maker(and eventually, breaker) was the combat. Just like Undertale, combat begins by interacting with a hostile NPC. The game cuts away and brings you to the combat system stage.
Imagine Guitar Hero or any similar rhythm game; that is the platform we see. A lane is split into five. As combat begins, different coloured rays would come down the splits at random speeds.
To attack, you must consume a collection of the same coloured rays and shoot them back at your enemy. You can move left or right to collect or avoid rays. If you fail to absorb a ray and it hits you, you lose health. The more rays you collect, the stronger your attack will be.
Two different coloured rays cannot be collected at the same time and would result in the collection returning to 1 for the latest coloured ray.
Sound Fun?
Well, it’s because it is. It was amazing to experience this gameplay in Everhood 2.
Alas, the law of diminishing returns is as real as the smell of a dying dog’s farts. Combat after combat after combat after combat, the only difference ever being the size of the enemy’s health bar, made me end up hating this game with a passion.
The Final Verdict
Starting with a unique combat system that was fresh and engaging, until it wasn’t. The game is beautifully drawn, but it’s all a thin veneer over the pale and lacking characters and dialogue. The story that starts with an intrigue slowly feels like a lifeless backdrop to other ideas.
However, I want to reiterate, the gameplay is good. It is unique and has charm.
In short, Characters are forgettable, dialogue is sparse, the and world is lifeless. And the only good thing, the gameplay, is very repetitive.
As far as my recommendation goes, I feel disappointed, but I cannot turn anyone away. So in these troubling times, I shall leave you with a scarlet 7.
