Other modes drag on far too long, like the Chrono Trigger-inspired turn-based combat section (which takes place in a lab ripped straight out of that game’s 2300 A.D.) and high-flying bullet hell section (which features only a handful of enemy types and bosses that are super-sized versions of them). Whether it’s in 2D or 3D, Kuro runs too slowly and his sword swings lack impact. The fact remains that it’s vaguely unsatisfying to play. Perhaps it’s because the developer wanted to differentiate Evoland 2 from its sources, or perhaps it’s because they simply lack an understanding of what makes those games good. In theory, this is true, but the game falters somewhere less tangible, less straightforward: the feel is totally off. One would think that by borrowing from some of gaming’s most celebrated franchises, Evoland 2 might have a variety of exciting modes to offer. We’re talking stuff like “Some kid in green came in and broke all of my pots while shouting ‘hyah’! Can you believe it?” and “It looks like this computer was used for something called WoW… whatever that means.” Yaaaaaaaaaawn. Instead, the player is subjected to trite, transparent allusions to popular games. Most of what is said does little to develop any character in a meaningful way. Worse still, dialogue is almost entirely bereft of interesting content, and there’s a ton of it to sift through. Generic forests and dungeons are populated by slimes and skeletons, while many NPCs are wholesale ripoffs of characters like Bioshock Infinite’s Elizabeth, EarthBound’s Paula, and Secret of Mana’s dancing merchant. Its overall design, on the other hand, is creatively bankrupt. The visuals are distinctive and the sheer scale of their undertaking from a development standpoint is impressive, especially when one considers that the game world exists in quadruplicate. The game opens in 8-bit monochrome, but it eventually cycles through several other graphical styles representing the NES, SNES, and PlayStation. The core of the Evoland 2 experience is a top-down action RPG, chronicling mostly-silent protagonist Kuro’s misadventures through time and space (read: different eras of video game history). It relies on quantity over quality, throwing a barrage of half-baked game modes at the player, all the while quoting “Hyrule this” and “1-Up Mushroom that” in a vain effort to be amusing. There is no subtlety in Evoland 2 its avalanche of verbatim references scream like a petulant child demanding to be acknowledged. There’s a difference, however, between making a sly nod to a beloved franchise and overtly plagiarizing someone else’s good ideas. Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum Disorder is a game built entirely upon the ones that came before it, taking cues primarily from the Legend of Zelda series and mixing it with a whole host of other genres. Nostalgia capitalization is very much a trend in the modern gaming sphere original ideas are increasingly difficult to come by, so it makes sense that some developers look to past successes for inspiration when making their own games.
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