Evolings Review

Evolings
Developer: Sørb
Publisher: Super Rare Originals, Gamersky Games
Website: https://superraregames.com/products/evolings
Genre(s): Action, Indie, RPG
Platform: PC (also available on Nintendo Switch)
Age Rating: PEGI 7
Release Date: 21/09/2023
Price: £7.49

A code was provided for review purposes

A Monster-Taming Rogue-like

Evolings is the most recent title coming from Sørb, a developer who is not necessarily a popular name in gaming but one who I thoroughly enjoy. In fact, I reviewed one of their previous titles, Super Cable Boy, a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. With my prior experience with the developer in mind, I went into Evolings expecting a good time. Did the game deliver? Find out in this Rapid Review.

As I first began the title, I noticed that there was nothing overly crazy lore-wise to rope me in. The premise was set loosely, and the game simply sent me on my adventure. Though the story was not necessarily charming, it did serve as the context for my endeavours. On the other hand, I was impressed with some of the cutscenes throughout my playthrough. Upon defeating bosses, a brief video sequence plays that recognizes the character on my team that landed the fatal blow. Again, in terms of lore, this is nothing special. However, these cutscenes certainly make the game engaging.

While there is not much storytelling in Evolings, the gameplay was more than sufficient to engage me. However, I did not always feel that way. The game does not have a very structured tutorial. I did not expect this to be an issue. However, it took me a few runs to figure out some things that should have been apparent immediately. For example, at the beginning of my playthrough, I did not know that I could see where the enemies would attack. This key feature is necessary to truly excel in Evolings, so it was disappointing that I was not continually reminded of it. The lack of a tutorial left me marginally disappointed.

The Meat and Bones

Though I felt confused initially, it did not take me long to begin to understand the core gameplay in Evolings. I quickly found a lot of fun with the title. It is very similar to Wildfrost, providing randomized items and cards for me to battle with throughout a rogue-like adventure. The game is fun, featuring easy-to-understand move sets, a detailed map of upcoming events, and some solid enemy designs for me to face off against. The game also balances itself nicely. As I progress through the game, enemies get stronger at a similar rate to me. I was constantly challenged and engaged. At the same time, each combat encounter felt a bit unique. There could be one enemy that has an inflated health pool and strong damage or eight enemies, each with smaller health and less damage output. This variety helped keep me locked in.

Additionally, my characters were fun to engage with. In fact, many of the characters I could collect were also the enemies I was pitted against. There was a decent variety of playable characters that had varying move sets and playstyles. More importantly, I found these characters interesting because they could fuse together. Combining three evolings from the same category forms a new evoling with increased potential. This was a cool mechanic, as the new fused upgrade depended on the evolings used in the fusion, not just their category. These combined characters were a lot of fun to mess around with.

Down on My Luck

While Evolings does have a little bit of strategy involved, I found that most of my playthroughs were fueled by luck. I was able to complete the game entirely after a mere eight runs, which was a bit disappointing. This was especially challenging because I did not even feel I had a core understanding of what made the game work. Simply, my build was dominant. However, as I did become more accustomed to the title, I still found that it was easy to clear the title when I got very powerful items at the beginning of the game. This did not take away much from the fun I had with Evolings, but I did want the game to be a bit more challenging, especially for a first playthrough.

Thankfully, the developer included a plethora of new ways to complete the game after completing it once. While I did not complete all of these, the added challenge from the first augment was nice. These varying components add a lot of value. Plus, implementing this extensive replay value is neat for such a cheap game. On the same note, the developer makes it easy to invest more time with the Evopedia. This is a list of all the characters you played. Completing this will take a while, which not only was something to do in the game, but I was consistently interested to see what sorts of fusions I could create.

The Big Picture

While the game was largely great, the game did not reward me much for defeating bosses. Though this is partially because it felt as though I did not understand the game enough to progress as quickly as I did, another part is that the bosses are sort of random. They do not have a major role in the storyline or plot, which makes the game a bit less personal and memorable. Still, these engagements were fun enough.

Additionally, to supplement the gameplay, Evolings features a solid soundtrack and visual style. Neither of these elements truly blew me away, but they were wholly sufficient for my playthrough. The evolings were cute, but sometimes it was very challenging to see where enemies would be attacking, as many lines would constantly intersect. Additionally, while the sprite work for the characters was very well done, the background and map seemed a bit underbaked. This was not a major issue, but it led to me not falling in love with the visuals.

Similarly, the music was sufficient. It set the pace for battle, featuring upbeat songs, but none of them stood out to me as stellar. The sound effects were similar, providing some gratification but not blowing me away.

Overall, despite some minor criticisms, I had a lot of fun with Evolings. The game features a lot of luck and does not require a complex understanding of the game mechanics, but that does not take away much from the title. The characters are neat, the premise is simple, and fusing different creatures to create new ones maintained my interest throughout my playthrough.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4 out of 5

4