[h3] Into the Evernight is an amazing game, and I whole-heartedly recommend it. [/h3]
My review is going to focus on the gameplay and the story of the game, but I want to make myself clear on a few points before I start.
1: I don't care that this game is free. Its quality is that of a full-price Tactical RPG, and I will respect it as such.
2: From the various FF Tactics games and Tactics Ogre: LUCT (One Vision patch), to various niche games of the genre, I've seen many Tactical RPGs. I've even played my fair share of Pathfinder and D&D. I know what I'm talking about here.
3: The graphics in this game are exactly as in the store images. I find it charming. If you find it repulsive, you might not wanna play the game. Your loss, but also, your choice to make.
Now, on to the review.
[h1] The Gameplay. [/h1]
Firstly, I feel like I should point out that Into the Evernight is missing just about all the QoL features that have come to be staples of the Tactical RPG genre. You cannot reset your movement on your turn, you cannot reset your turn, you cannot jump back to previous turns, you cannot quicksave, you cannot save-and-quit, you cannot even pause the game. That is off-putting. It caused me a decent amount of frustration, especially initially. But once my brain got used to playing a Tactical RPG from 20+ years ago and stopped relying on all these QoL features, I was fine.
You play turn-based combats with random initiative. You control 2 squads consisting of 4 units each and fight several enemy squads per combat map. You can swap squads and/or exchange the units of your squads in-between every encounter. In that regard, Into the Evernight is already fairly unique. What also makes it unique is that there are no random encounters. None at all. Yet there is EXP. So if you avoid combat encounters on the maps, you may end up underleveled in the long run. But if you rush into fights trying to squeeze all the EXP you can out of each map, you may quickly end up losing units if not the entire game. I really like the added stakes this brings to each combat map.
Your units fall into 4 different classes: Soldier, Mage, Opportunist and Warden. These equate Warrior, Wizard, Rogue and Cleric from other games. They all their unique skill-trees. Pair that with different gear that brings different benefits as your units grow accustomed to it, and you suddenly have build-variety that encourages about 3-4 playthroughs with different viable strategies. From Perma-healing to Perma-CCing to Giga-Burst to DoT builds, this game has it all.
The combats are fairly difficult. While the enemy AI is very predictable, enemy squads usually either have higher numbers or higher stats than you, and you need to complete several fights in a row. Playing mindlessly can lose combats very quickly. Towards the endgame, when your builds are rounded out, the difficulty may decrease.
[h1] The Story. [/h1]
This is where Into the Evernight really shines. If you thought that the build variety encourages 3-4 different playthroughs, wait until you hear about the dozen story-paths that the game has in store for you. You make choices at every corner, and each of them has consequences and alters your playthrough, one by one. As a result, while many combat maps reappear regardless of your choices, the story surrounding those maps may be entirely different depending on what you chose.
I think it makes sense to compare the story-branching aspect of Into the Evernight to the game Detroit: Become Human, if that means anything to you.
The setting of the story is coherent, consistent, creative, and good. It is not unprecedented, but it is executed well, and I like how the game-world feels alive - or rather, dead and depressing - because of it.
The writing of Into the Evernight is very good. The characters are all well-written and they have a surprising amount of depth and development considering how many of them there are. The only exceptions to that are Commander Erin Taylor and Seargent Rion Senker, who act as player self-inserts in the sense that their personality and their dialogue is substantially influenced by the choices you, the player, have made. As such, it is very much possible to see these two characters develop into different directions on each playthrough, which is impressively thoughtful writing on the side of the developer.
Usually, I'm the first to tell developers to reduce their repulsively horrible attempts at story-writing and just focus on making a game that is fun to play. But this game just has a good setting, a good story, and good writing, and good gameplay on top. I'm genuinely impressed, I feel like Into the Evernight outshines a good many other Tactical RPGs in that regard, if not a great many RPGs in general.
[h1] Conclusion. [/h1]
Into the Evernight is an amazing game. If it looks like it fits your taste, then trust me, you will be pleasantly surprised.
The game may come free, but you have my word, it has the quality of a paid game.
