I played a lot of RPGs growing up. Wizardry, Ultima, Might and Magic absorbed many hours of my life. As did the Phantasy Star and Shining Force series on the Master System and Mega Drive. That's "Genesis" for you Yanks.
I didn't have a Nintendo of any sort as a child, and my cousins did not like to share controllers on their units. It was not until late last decade that I got a DS-lite to play through Etrian Odyssey, a game with callbacks to the games I was playing on the PC.

So this means Evoland 1 has nostalgia, but not my nostalgia. This is a world inspired by Zelda and Final Fantasy. Despite this, I can appreciate the references it does make, and played through the entire game over few days between checking after work emails and eating/sleeping.

The main gimmick of Evoland is unlocking the world in forms of different eras and styles of RPG games from the last few decades.

You start off in a highly pixellated Game Boy Zelda world. There's nothing notable in the way of plot or story, you're a nameless protagonist on a quest to save the land from whatever evil is out there. Somewhere...

With your sword you can stab in four directions and make your way to the end of the map. By opening treasure chests you quickly upgrade visual style and player abilities, moving quickly into the next decade.

The game then moves into the 16 bit era, with higher resolutions and more interactivity. Combat can take different forms. Mini quests are available. You get to give the player character a name! 30 minutes have passed.

After this you move to the 32bit era, 3D rendered polygons! 3D movement! Push Puzzles! Flat Shading! Textured Polygons! HD Remake!

Yeah, I didn't follow the Nintendo/Sony path of RPGs but it is nice seeing it happen at high speed compared to how it happened in real life.

The downside to all of this is that it happens very quickly, you move from one mode to the next without really being able to do a lot with it. In total, I spent about 5 hours with the game. A lot of this was grinding and seeing what the limitations are, and this can easily be cut down to far far less.

My advice would be to quickly advance forward, you'll naturally have enough HP in the Timer Combat modes as you make your way through the game, and the real boss battles have a different health meter and work in real time.

I feel it is meant to be experienced in tiny bites and played though fast. I gather the sequel expands the idea of having an actual story, as opposed to what is tried here.

While there are parts where you can use a blue-crystal world item to swap between 3D and retro modes, the puzzles are so few and so simplistic it is a little lacking.

There was huge potential here. Squares that can only be traversed in one mode, or destroyed in another. Element interactions once you get the bow weapon. Timer based puzzles when you have the bombs.

Alas, it all amounts to a few easy puzzles in one dungeon and a few smaller maps that nets you all the star and card achievements.

Collectable Cards do have an in game bonus in that you can use them to play an in game card game. Double Twin.

5 random cards are drawn from the deck of those you have collected, and the Computer player does the same. Each edge of the card has a value. You have a 3x3 grid on which to place them.

Swapping each game, one player lays down a card of their choice on the grid. If the other player places a card that where its edge faces a lower value edge, the card is captured. With the aim being of having the most coloured cards on the grid.
It's possible to win with only a small number of cards, even low valued ones, due to the nature of the RNG.

I'd of liked to of seen this game unlocked from the main menu. It's a neat little time waster.

I feel like I may of complained more than is required on this one. It is fun, but shallow, and missing all the potential it has.

Despite this, it is worth a look if on sale and you like the games it is based on.

Oh, and: Alys Brangwin's death can't be matched for the emotional impact it had on teenager me.

Game Acquisition: Fanatical (Chronicle Bundle)
Platform Used: Steam
Tweet Threads: 1 - 3 March 2018
PC Used: Scorptec Venom 2009 MK2

OS:Windows XP SP2 or later
Processor:1.7 GHz single-core
Memory:1 GB RAM
Graphics:Directx 9.0c compatible video card
DirectX®:9.0c
Hard Drive:100 MB HD space