So I Tried… Evoland II

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for the PC version of Evoland 2.

What I thought it was

A stroll through the gaming genres of yesteryear and today, as a sequel to the stroll through the RPG styles of yesteryear. This may be a bit of a cheat, as I know more or less exactly what I’m in for, given the fact that I’ve read our review, and played the original.

"Separate beds? Hmm, I wonder why he wants to stay outside..."

What it actually is

For the first half an hour, it’s a fairly decent 16-bit Zelda knock-off. It began with a tutorial in an 8-bit monochrome style, before the opening mock-anime cutscene. Then came a 16-bit town as you awake with no memories, and have to find a sword. Solving a puzzle resulted in a Professor Layton-esque ‘thinking, thinking, got it!’ animation, which I was utterly charmed by. You go through a forest ‘dungeon’ and fight a boss, then things take a turn for the coloured 8-bit!

Yes, these squirrels did throw ninja stars...

Will I keep playing

As I only got to experience three (technically two) game styles, I’m eager for more. I want to play and find out what happens next! Will they return to 16-bit? Will they stop the goblins? Will it go 3D?! Such questions! Sure, I could look it up on a Wiki, and it’s been a while since I played a classic Zelda game, but this is more than worthy of the moniker Zelda-like. Until it shows me more game styles and I end up loving those, too.