Wow, where to even start... Also long review ahead, soft spoilers as well.
For the record, I rarely write reviews, especially on Steam. Everhood 2 is an exception, to say the least.
First things first this game is proof that you should never listen to negative reviews [unless it's valid criticism].
Most of the complaints seem to be from people expecting it to have a borderline same story or vibe, which is beyond stupid, at that point it would be a dlc.
I understand that people care about story, but let's be for real, story in video games objectively is not the main priority. Video games were always about entertainment itself.
Yk a video game, where you PLAY something and not trying to seek a movie-like experience. In that regard, Everhood 2 is an improvement over the first one.
PROS:
Butter smooth gameplay mechanics, combat feels just right. High risk high reward moments were shining in this one.
Arsenal is not very diverse but that really isn't an issue, also upgrades are very simple, which I rather prefer for this game.
Music, may genuinely be the greatest video game OST ever. The peaks are incredibly high and nice visuals just complement the sounds even more. "Shade Dance Battle" track is seriously fantastic.
Visuals are incredibly pleasing to look at, well at least for my taste that is. World is noticeably different compared to everhood 1 but the sauce is still there, just upgraded.
Sound design in this game is also phenomenal. Atmospheric sounds really set that unnerving "something's wrong" tone and I love that.
Speaking of atmosphere, it's beyond well done here. I really like the locations and vibes of them, and mix of the 2d/3d environment screams how this is a video game, it's all about fun
Boss fights are lovely, great music and patterns. Stacking notes never felt so satisfying in Everhood like this before. You being able to fight them again post-game is something to be appreciated.
Characters, for me at least, were way more memorable in this one. Rats, cats, vegetables, robots and of course, gods.
Spectacle factor of this game was off the charts. Flashy, colorful and chaotic, they did a marvelous job.
Workshop support is there, which is great for those that seek extra content.
Perfect length, not too short but not long and draggin either, also it being so chaotic and flashy with a lot of boss fights makes it great for a replay.
CONS:
One huge con that I have encountered, but it ultimately didn't ruin my experience, as the game was still fresh to me even on a new file, is ... that dragon boss fight.
I have played on a normal difficulty and I killed him first try, which led me to an alt route skipping one whole section of the game. It is frustrating that, as a scripted boss, it should have been way harder to kill.
It was not a game ruining experience as I got back there on my new save quickly.
While I personally kind of even liked that, it's very easy to get lost in this game and the hints where to go are very few.
To be honest all my other complaints are minor and they'd be just some unnecessary preference-based nitpicks, which just goes on to show how great this game is.
The reason why I am even writing this review is how much this game shocked me. I had mixed expectations as I liked the first one a lot and I love spectacle-based games, but negative reviews discouraged me from buying it.
Finally I gave it a shot, and have beat it under 24 hours, sleep included. 11 hours of pure joy. No single player game has ever made me do this, no kind of other media either. Whole experience felt as a very surreal energetic dream.
While it is understandable that people cry when listening to music whether it's because it's sad or beautiful, this ost made me tear up because some of the tracks were .... hard ? Yes the tracks were going so hard being hype as hell,
to the point of me tearing up. It's obvious that I am a type of person that loves this stuff, but still it seems underappreciated. Overall, with full confidence and my fairly rich 14-15 years of gaming experience, I can say that Everhood 2
is the greatest game I have ever played, period. Words cannot describe how much I have enjoyed it from beginning to the end. It's a masterpiece. Please if you can, give it a shot, I have never been this pleasantly surprised by a game, ever.
... hood.
10/10 Work of art and something to be proud of looking back on, genuine achievement in gaming
