For my game club this month, I picked this one. I have no history with it but its premise—you are a creature with magical evolving powers, who can take on different forms over the course of history—intrigued me, and seemed like it would make for good comparative discussion.
The SNES game is a follow-up to a PC-98 RPG, but with more of an action focus. There are still RPG elements as you accrue Evo points and use them to improve and change your creature, but the core is sidescrolling combat and light platforming. The main problem is the combat is shallow and repetitive. And despite the game spanning much of the course of biological history (starting as a fish, with subsequent chapters based on amphibian life, dinosaurs, mammals, and early humans) the playstyle and controls never change much.
I was also overly optimistic about comparing experiences with other players, as despite there being various options, the most expensive one is usually the best and there aren’t significant branching evolution paths. The exception is the dinosaur chapter, with a choice between biped, quadruped, and the secret bird form; and the eventual option to become humanoid.
Having said that, there are things to love. Seeing your creature change and improve is satisfying in a way, and there are some fun secrets to discover such as the aliens who have been manipulating the natural course of evolution. The game personalises and explores broad biological trends in a fun way, such as sea life being resentful of land life. The fantastical elements were nice too, with giant insects, yetis, humanoid bird and dinosaur people, etc. I was also pleased with a short interlude where you can become a dolphin or mermaid to save the whales from the oppression of evolved intelligent fish. At the same time you could probably learn a little something about real-world evolution, if you can look past the constant truncation of organism names, which I suppose was a technical limitation.
In terms of aeshetic factors, I liked the combination of semi-realistic environment and creature designs with cartoony elements like the eyes. The music is up and down, some of the composition is decent (although created by a renowned bigot) but many of the loops are super short, which makes grinding sessions extra tedious.
In the end I was satisfied with my choice, despite the very shaky combat and necessity of grinding trying their best to tamp down enjoyment. I feel if Enix could have had a third shot at this concept it could have really worked, but EVO is still a little bit special in itself.
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