Evergate Review

Evergate is a title that has a fairly ambitious goal, making use of certain ideas from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, yet still trying to show something original. If Ori and the Will of the Wisps intrigued you and you were hoping to find the exact same features in Evergate, stop! As you will see shortly, Evergate has a few points in common with the title from Moon Studios: both are platformers and both are somehow ‘fairytale’. However, in my opinion, the title of Stone Lantern Games has in some way succeeded in being original. Here is my Evergate review on Nintendo Switch.

THE AFTERLIFE IS REAL

The narrative of the title takes place in the afterlife. Ki, aka your character, is a soul from the afterlife. At the beginning of the story, the game will welcome your little protagonist into the new reality, a sort of limbo between life and another. The Reaper accompanies Ki towards Evergate, a portal capable of projecting the souls towards the next life cycle.

The first series of mysteries that you are going to encounter during this experience will happen here. Instead of reincarnating, they force Ki to relive the memories of some dead who lived a very long time ago. The writers of Stone Lantern Games have written a plot that runs extremely well. The system of memories works, fascinates, and excites me. You never fall into the cloyingness of the already seen.

WIELD YOUR SOULFLAME

Is it still possible to do something original in a genre where everything over the years already has been done? Well, probably yes. Evergate’s gameplay revolves around a multifaceted and difficult to master mechanic: the Soulflame. This is a ray capable of pulverizing almost everything.

How do you reach the highest platforms of the various levels that you will face? With the Soulflame, of course. Ki, while jumping from platform to platform, can make use of the Soulflame. In the middle of each jump, if the Soulflame is triggered, it will prompt slow-motion accordingly.

In this temporal juncture you have an opportunity to aim and fire at some semi-invisible crystals and plates. This will generate a shock wave that will come back to you, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible positions. As I mentioned earlier, they can still do something original in the platform genre. Evergate shows this in the simple setting of each level.

Starting each scenario you will find yourself in front of a background and many platforms, crystals, and semi-invisible plates suspended in the void. Most times, especially in the second part of the title, you will have difficulty in reconstructing the path to take, since the elements are randomly placed each time. To reach the finish line, you just have to do the good old trial and error.

You will need to try and try again until you succeed (if you have played even one title in the TrackMania series, you will know this mechanic all too well). Evergate therefore proposes a curious mixture of platform and puzzle, and skill and mind. To complete some levels, you will have to brainstorm, and in that lies the good (or the bad, it depends on your liking).

TRAVELLING JOY-CON

Take note that the gameplay in Evergate is rather difficult. There are also dangers lurking in the levels like murderous swallows, leveled with thorns and demonic crows. It may happen then, that after having sweated in seven shirts and more, you face extreme frustration.

At this point, for a simple oversight, you will find yourself pressing ‘X’ (respawn) instead of ‘Y’. This is where disaster happens. When doing this Ki will magically position itself at the beginning of the level. Due to this annoyance, your poor Joy-Con will start traveling in different dimensions, it’s inevitable.

Evergate does nothing but bring to mind the old memories (or nightmares) that only old-school platformers could give. Whether you want to call it Dark Souls to platforms or the new Cuphead, Evergate is a real challenge that hardcore gaming lovers will probably appreciate.

The difficulty increases gradually, and Evergate gives an impressive aspect of replayability. At times though, it has to be said, some levels felt really overly demanding. However, the title will provide you with dozens and dozens of puzzle levels. In addition, considering that solving them will be a challenge to put on your resume, the game will most definitely keep you busy for a good number of hours.

TOP NOTCH AUDIO

When referring to the graphics in Evergate, the title of Stone Lantern Games shows its indie side of the game. The lighting is not the best and far from Ori’s visual magic. The title appears graphically dull and flat. Sometimes they present the platforms in replicated sections of one another.

However, the audio used in the game is quite another story. You will hear real orchestrated pieces, symphonies, choirs, and arpeggios. I am talking about something definitely comparable, and probably superior, to what we see in many triple A titles.

Finally, there is nothing really to say about optimization. I found no signs of any drops in my frame rate. On the Nintendo Switch, the experience is fluid and respawning is almost always a pleasure. My advice, however, is to avoid playing in portable mode. The various levels appear excessively small, and Ki is almost an invisible dot on the screen of your Nintendo Switch.

CONCLUSION

And here we are at the end of this journey into the afterlife. Ki’s path is long, difficult, and exciting. I tried to explain to you why Evergate seemed to me an original title and quite different from Ori and the Will of the Wisps. The heart of the Moon Studios experience was exploration while Evergate offers, as mentioned, a puzzle platform journey.

The experience touches the heights of difficulty that are sometimes punitive as a true old-school platformer. Perhaps a little too much. It will be up to you to decide whether to accept the gauntlet launched by Stone Lantern Games. The game disappoints in its graphic component, but is then resumed with a musical performance that deserves a standing ovation.

Do you want to try PQube Limited and Stone Lantern Games’ Evergate? What do you think of my Evergate review on Nintendo Switch? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Are you interested in more puzzle platform games? Check out our reviews for Battletoads, My Friend Pedro, Gris, World of One, Clockwork, and Never Alone.