Evoland – is pretty ok, I guess.
The concept itself appears a brilliant move on the part of the developers – see the history of JRPG/Zelda-like games unfold before your very eyes! Watch how the graphics get better as we go along, or how you can walk in multiple directions, or how the music, graphics, and controls improve over time. In a weird way, it tries to encapsulate every trope that people love about this games with a self-aware eye and a winking nod to the things you used to “put up” with when you played these games. On that note, the little “Achievement Unlocked” thing never fails to put a smile on your face.
On the other hand, the central conceit means that the developer can’t fully flesh out anything. After all, this history lesson requires a genre-switching pull every ten to fifteen minutes you spend. So, Shiro Games seems content to copy verbatim every RPG battle system and/or Zelda puzzle you can imagine, hoping all the way that their sense of humor will obscure the lack of depth in anything. Unfortunately, that problem leads to much of the game being a “go through the motions” sort of deal where you’re simply moving forward just to move forward. Enemies rarely provided a challenge, and puzzles rarely stump for more than a moment or two. As of this writing, I haven’t gotten an in-game map, which I imagine is intentional to some degree.
Some optional puzzles make use of a “time travel” mechanic (reverting to earlier parts of the game), which actually makes sense in context here, but it’s rarely used for anything but optional stars. A copied card game (like Final Fantasy VIII, IX, or X) makes an appearance here as well, possibly giving some people an incentive to explore far and wide. As far as it goes, the game’s competent, but I didn’t find any real need to collect cards like the aforementioned games (many time, they turned into game-aiding rewards, but a four hour game doesn’t need that sort of thing).
Even so, I don’t think these various factors showcase Evoland’s biggest problem. That is, if you know absolutely NOTHING about the games which it references, you will be completely and utterly lost. Evoland will not make sense AT ALL if you grew up with different games, or never even played them enough to get a sense for their quirky oddities. It’s a title designed and crafted for a specific audience, but that audience will lament the lack of depth. Everyone else, on the other hand, might get the rather explicit Final Fantasy VII reference, but the rest just confuses them.
Should you play it? Sure, why not? It’s ten dollars, and the concept alone is worth seeing in action. But as an exemplary title in and of itself? If any praise gets given at all, it’s from an abstract conceptual level, not the actual game, and that’s a shame.
Street Fighter X Tekken – I’ve been playing a lot of Street Fight X Tekken lately. Don’t ask me why, but I am. Most people abandoned the title after the first few months of launch, but the 2013 upgrade improves elements of the game quite a bit. Turtling isn’t a viable option, and I’ve yet seen any timeouts unless they’re intentional.
It occurred to me when playing that this game mashes up both game styles fairly well, and I hadn’t noticed anyone talking about it. SFXT takes the best elements of Street Fighter and (specifically) Tekken Tag Tournament. On the one hand, the signature 2D Street Fighter style works exactly the same, and links remain pretty essential to the game. Yes, you’ve got Boost Combos (press attacks in order of strength to get a combo, and possibly switch out your partner), but that’s more Tekken-esque. Secondly, the Tekken influence comes into the fray when Tekken characters have tons of predefined attack chains with different endings in addition to normal moves. Then, having two characters really changes the Street Fighter dynamic by stressing the importance of tag combos.
Like Tekken, juggles become your best friend; tagging in requires one block of Cross Gauge (super meter from Street Fighter), and you can do this at any time during a combo. Preferably, you’ll have a move that pops the opponent high into the air, giving your incoming character a lot of time to do his part for the combo. You can imagine the power of being able to tag, as a single hit could result in half of your health disappearing. Add in gems, which can buff various stats like meter building, strength of attacks, and even speed, and watch a mistake turn into your death. Only one character has to die to end a round, so that makes tagging opportunity rather frequent.
The free-form nature of these juggle combos means that some unlikely teams come into play. Heck, just about any team’s viable, as one character’s weaknesses become another character’s strengths. I personally use Heihachi and Bryan Fury, although I’m not sure whether that’s an optimal combination. I’m guessing a Street Fighter character plus a Tekken character gives you a good mix: one who can control long/mid range, and one who dominates close range. It’s a bit like Marvel Vs. Capcom in that sense, but requires a lot more good timing and though for the combos.
Is it a perfect mix? Well, I’m no expert so I couldn’t tell you, but it’s a lot more fun and fast-paced than Street Fighter IV, so I suppose that’s a good thing. I don’t like chasing people around a stage, and Street Fighter X Tekken avoids that little pitfall by making space control difficult with all the tag team elements. So there you go!
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That’s it for this week’s Monday Update! No idea what I’m going to cover, but I hope you like it anyway!
