Playing E.V.O: The 4.6 Billion Year Journey
Today we're playing E.V.O. a cult classic 90s RPG that takes you on a fantastical journey through evolution! It's jank, it's japanese and it's full of cool ideas, but is the execution (or sense) there?
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E.V.O: Theory of Evolution Translation Page:
https://46okumen.com/projects/e-v-o-t...
Index
E.V.O: The Search for Eden
1. Introduction 00:00
Introduction to E.V.O. How I came across the game and a basic rundown
2. The Setup 02:06
The premise of this absurd reality and the battle for Evolution!
3. The Origin of Life and Gameplay 03:19
Life and Gameplay both start under the sea, combat and levelling mechanics!
4. Boss Fights and Gaia’s forgiveness 07:34
The difficulty spike in boss fights and how the game handles death.
5. Gameplay evolves on Land 10:23
The gameplay shifts as we go from underwater to land, introduction of jumping
6. Music and the Age of Dinoboreus 15:25
The games mixed bag of a soundtrack is discussed in the dullest chapter
7. The Ice Age is Pretty Cool 20:19
Some positive notes in a chapter which gives us options to advance
8. Fort Birdman and Adaptation 23:00
One of the games most defined stages raises a thought, the one time the game made me feel like evolving in a sensible way.
9. Early Man? 28:01
As evolution stands still, the lead up to a finale goes bonkers
10. The End? 33:04
And we win evolution! I think…
E.V.O: The Theory of Evolution
1. The Theory of Evolution 37:27
Introduction to the game that Search for Eden was built from
2. Story Introduction 38:51
An introduction to this more grounded narrative
3. Turn Based Battling and the EVO Chart 40:25
Combat and levelling explained!
4. Vertical Evolution and Travel Pains on Land 45:44
Further notes on the vertical evolution system, difficulty scaling, and how the game challenges the player outside of battle (badly)
5. Grinding Again 49:53
Thoughts on the necessity and annoyance of grinding in this title
6. Getting Lost in the Desertification 52:19
A maze, questions about where to go and what’s going on?
7. Story Reintroduction 55:05
Our role in this story becomes clear. An evaluation of the competing premises of both games, and nevermind that whole “more grounded” thing!
8. A Chapter of Lies and a European Stopoff 57:43
The story takes a backseat as the world becomes sort of recognisable!
9. The Maze of Life 59:58
As we make it to the age of Dinosaurs, the worst aspect of the game hits its peak! Its maze like nature and unintuitive navigation!
10. Going off the Charts 01:06:24
Chapter 5 gets weird, again.
11. The Search for Wisdom 01:09:40
The thematic and mechanical effects of getting wise
12. It’s Time to Talk about Spirit Science 01:11:59
We all knew it was coming to this.
13. Duel with the Devil 01:14:30
A bossfight!
14. Tripping on the Ascent to Man 01:17:48
A very interesting set of endings
15. Evolution’s Final Chapter 01:20:18
The climax at the end of a 4.6 (9.2) billion year journey
16. Conclusion 01:24:48
9.2 Billion Years worth of evolution made a streaming noise as it mysteriously flowed into us