A new video game (as Forrest Gump famously once said) is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. Now this is even more true when the game in question is an unknown indie, but there’s nothing more thrilling than when you bite into a small title and it’s bloody brilliant. These discoveries are one of the biggest reasons I love jumping into the unknown of these titles, and recommending them to all who will listen. Today I’m shouting from the rooftops about Everhood 2, an RPG rhythm game hybrid with the trippiest narrative you ever did see.
The story of Everhood 2 is intriguing, baffling, and incredibly spoilerable, so if everything here sounds a bit vague you know why. It’s got serious Undertale vibes though, which I’m sure will excite many. After answering a whole bunch of questions a suitably lo-fi coloured avatar becomes available that is used to explore a whole load of dimensions.
At the start of the adventure you’ll meet a mysterious Raven, who serves as your guide across the various worlds of Everhood 2. You’re given an initial goal of slaying the Mind Dragon, which is essentially a ridiculously powerful boss you can attempt at any time but who will likely wreck you. This all sounds a bit over the top and mysterious, but alongside this there’s a whole lot of silliness spread across the worlds of this outlandish game.
For example, one of the first worlds explored is a place where fruits and vegetables battle for supremacy, and because of this the floor is littered with colourful juicy puddles of slain healthy snacks. Another world is a neon cityscape full of shady characters, where you’ll have to trade various currencies to earn enough money to enter a secret club. I even met a love obsessed Homunculus that wanted to have my babies, although admittedly I just repeatedly beat it up to avoid its advances.
The most thrilling aspect of Everhood 2 for me though wasn’t the story or the worlds you explore, it was the combat. Instead of just choosing commands to use in battle, Everhood 2 involves absorbing enemy attacks that take the form of rhythm game notes, and using them to power up attacks you can send back their way. Your little character can move and jump across the musical battlefield to gather this power, but there’s a careful balance to strike between absorbing more for more powerful counterattacks and avoiding damage.
There are three attack types you can unleash on the oddball enemies of Everhood 2. For a weaker attack you’ll only have to absorb a few notes, a mid tier attack will take around eight, and for maximum power attacks it’s thirteen. If you’re anything like me you’ll always aim for the most powerful option, but if you take a single hit or absorb a different colour of note you’ll reset your meter to zero. It’s a seriously clever system that leads to some intense musical scraps.
Because combat in Everhood 2 is music based, that means every single foe has its own battle theme. This is as cool as it sounds, especially because of how well the songs always suit the enemy. The bouncy music of a jumping Jack-in-the-box is entirely different to the intense music of a sinister piranha, but regardless of the tune in the background of a fight it’s always a banger.
This is doubly true for the boss fights, which are some of the best boss fights I’ve ever had the pleasure of dying to. With over the top screen effects, even better music than usual and a hell of a lot of challenge, I couldn’t get enough of these ridiculously over the top encounters. Consistent fighting is a familiar theme, but their are plenty of difficulty options to choose from.
Everhood 2 wouldn’t be an RPG without some self improvement options, which there are plenty of. Experience will lead to you leveling up which increases your stats, but there’s also gear to equip too in the form of weapons and accessories. Whether you want to deal more damage or resurrect once upon death, there are options to choose between to suit your play style.
I enjoyed my time with Everhood 2 so much, and would honestly struggle to come up with many complaints about it. Although fighting the same enemies doesn’t happen that often, when the repeats happen it’s admittedly a little dull to fight a foe for the fourth time since battles take a while.
Equally it’s disappointing when a battle ends too quickly and you don’t hear the full song in the background, because the tracks are so good. Despite this, Everhood 2 is one of the most pleasantly surprising games I’ve ever reviewed. With sensational combat, bizarre vibes and banging tunes, you’d be a fool to skip past this out of this world RPG.
