Evoland/Evoland 2: Intriguing concept that went the wrong direction.

I originally skipped these games - ironically - because of the pixel art. I know that's strange given I favor older games. But I wasn't interested in paying full price for one on a modern console. Since this was on a steep discount I took the leap. It's hard to say if I regret the purchase, frankly.

Generally speaking, I felt more "attached" to the first game than the second; and I would have loved for the first to be longer and stronger. Evoland 2 felt like it was trying too hard and ended up introducing some annoying elements as a result.

What I Liked

Evoland 1

The idea of unlocking elements via natural progression - things like "gravity" - was intriguing. It played out like some sort of child's storybook - that's not a bad thing for a role-playing game that's not taking itself too serious.

The enhancing of the world graphics and music was also creative, and even the ability to buy a "Fast DVD Player" to bypass the phony "Loading..." screen for pre-rendered backgrounds (think Final Fantasy VII on PS1) got a chuckle out of me.

Evoland 2

It got started much quicker and easier than 1, putting you right into the story right away. The first parts were written very well and there was a sense of "adventure" that the first one lacked.

2 goes all-in with various throwbacks - and it's hard to tell if they're meant to be parodies or homages - to previous games of varying eras. I saw (and probably missed some) -

[Atari] Space Invaders, Centipede, Pong, Pacman

[NES] Zelda 2, Bomberman, Metroid, Mega Man, {insert some old vertical shooter...maybe TwinBee?}

[SNES] Street Fighter 2, Chrono Trigger, Zelda: LttP, Super Mario Bros., {insert some old platforming game I forgot}, {insert some old auto running game I forgot...Aladdin?}

[PS2] Final Fantasy VII

[MOVIE] Back to the Future (this is just text between characters but it's blatantly obvious)

What I Didn't Like

Evoland 1

WAY too short. Obviously it was never meant for prime time, but when you get near the end there's a segment with a character that is both expected and unexpected. The next boss fight is the last, and you're left feeling unfulfilled in general.

I also did feel moderately frustrated at the constant switching of battle engines. I know why they did it, but I wish they would have just stuck two at most and use one as an evolution of the other. The reason for this is, turn-based battle in this game is a breeze where the action-based battle tends to be a bit tricky with boss fights due to necessary strategy and timing.

Evoland 2

Frankly, there was less switching of battle engines...and it hurt the game. Let me explain that. I don't mind switching, it just shouldn't be overkill with it. It's a balance. In 2, you start with action-based the vast majority of the game. There's one section that is turn-based and it's the Chrono Trigger throwback. Then it's all action again. That's too disruptive for me. It makes sense, but it's disruptive. The turn-based was also vastly more fun than the action-based and I'm not sure why.

Additionally, there are a few segments that are horizontal platformer. These were absolutely annoying; they slow the game to a halt, because you're too busy dealing with the platformer elements. Great if you like platformers, terrible if you just wanted an RPG.

You have up to 3 additional characters; the problem is they're only there (for most of the game) to provide puzzle clearing assistance. It's not a "party" in the traditional sense, at least not until you get to the Chrono Trigger part (which was my favorite battle engine in this game).

Lastly, arguably all of the dungeons are irritating. I didn't mind the puzzle aspect, but they tended to be way too long and used "go all the way around" elements to artificially pad their length unnecessarily.

Again, I'm not sure if I regret the purchase. I think I'm more frustrated that they didn't just expand on the great things they did in 1 and just refine that experience rather than going a completely different direction. Evoland 1, if it were the same basic concept but just heavily fleshed out with a user-selectable battle engine, would be a Top 15 all time for me.