Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum Disorder

My Playtime: 21:12:31 (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~19 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.
Intro
Evoland 2 is a game of many genres and visuals. Its core gameplay is similar to Zelda games with various visuals ranging from 2D to 3D. The game is mostly focused on time travel, with some areas offering different genres to play.
Pros:
- 3 difficulties
- A lot of collectibles to spend time with
- The use of different genre in some areas help to break the repetitiveness
Cons:
- Unable to replay some areas
- It can be hard to understand how to execute some moves in a certain genre
Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
Should you buy this game?
Yes.
If you like the visuals and don't mind the genres that are offered in the game, buy this game.
Note that the game has the same price with Evoland Legendary Edition (my review), which wraps both Evoland (my review) and Evoland 2 in a single package. There are no graphic options and an online connection is needed to unlock all achievements in that game though.
In-Depth Review
Visuals
The game uses different visuals based on the time you are in. You'll have 16-bit sprites for the past, 32-bit sprites for the present, cute-ish 3D models for the future, and Gameboy-like sprites for a certain era. Almost all areas in the first three timelines will be recreated in a different style, albeit with minor tweaks to note on what is happening in the future. I found it to be a clever way to show the different timelines, especially for games that mostly use 2D, pixelated sprites - you'll be able to notice which timeline you are in right away.
Story
The story is unpredictable. More and more mysteries will keep on popping out one after another to keep you engaged. Some questions will also be answered by then, giving some ideas on what's happening. However, you need to piece the lore by yourself - subtle clues will be left in some places to help you construct that theory. Those who are not interested in doing it won't have to worry though since the main story can be enjoyed just fine without it, provided that you don't mind having some questions about it.
You don't need to play the first game to enjoy the story. This game starts in a different universe than the first game, with brand-new characters and story.
The Game
Gameplay
As I said before, the game consists of many genres, including but not limited to: action-adventure, turn-based RPG, turn-based strategy, bullet hell, rhythm, platformer, puzzle, stealth, beat'em up, fighting, runner, match three, and arcade. The first one will be the default with the most boss fights, with others being able to be played in certain areas. Most areas can still be explorable after you finished it, although some genres won't be replayable by then.
Unlike Evoland (my review), your character shares a single pool of HP and EXP between genres. You don't have to worry about starting from scratch in new areas because of this, although some exception still exists. Genres that are not affected by levels such as fighting and rhythm will have the same difficulty no matter how high your level is, although you can change the difficulty to compensate for it. Still, it's easy to level up and you won't even need to grind as long as you kill most enemies that are in sight and pick up their EXP drops.
You will be able to explore any area in any order that you want at some point. It can be tricky to figure out how to progress sometimes, especially since you need to do fetch quests for some people. The game doesn't track your quest list, and it can be hard to remember if you don't play the game in one go. Still, it was fun clearing these optional tasks and finding the hidden secrets.
Length and Difficulty
The in-game clock says that I finished the game at 21:12:31. Note that this is my third playthrough of this game, so my playtime might be faster since I still remembered how to get some secrets. There are a lot of secrets that you need to find to get 100%, and although it can be tricky to find them, there is an item that can help you detect these later on.
The game has 3 difficulty settings that can be changed at any time. I played in "Good Old Arcade", which I assumed to be the normal difficulty. I found the difficulty to be alright. It can be challenging in some areas, especially in the platformer sections since the enemies hit hard, but you won't have to worry about getting hit as long as you are careful. Moreover, checkpoints are abundant and you can always lower the difficulty if you have trouble with anything.
It can be hard to finish some genres due to the controls though. I had difficulties in executing some moves in the beat'em up and fighting sections at first. I ended up having to rely on one skill and spam them over and over, sometimes relying on luck so the enemy won't counter my action too much. Sadly, there is no way to skip these sections if you are having trouble with it.
Problems
The game had an FPS drop when I was playing the bullet-hell section. I also had to turn the graphics to low since the 3D effects are slowing down the game.
Conclusion
Despite playing it several times already, Evoland 2 never gets old to me. It's always interesting to learn more about the time-traveling lore, play the different genres, and travel to different timelines just to see the visuals. The visual change between different timelines really gets me, and it's easy to recognize which timeline you are in because of that. The game might have a lot of genres at its disposal, but most of them never overstay their welcome. I could recommend it to anyone who likes the visuals, especially those that like time travel stories and don't mind trying out various genres.

tl;dr
Refinement over the original game in almost every way Evoland 2 continues the evolving RPG legacy. While its story may be on a somewhat trite side with a mute amnesiac protagonist it draws from all the best Chrono Trigger bits in structure and narrative more than gameplay itself. What starts out as Legend of Zelda homage rapidly evolves into everything from strategy and turn-based RPG, side-scrolling platformer and even a beat 'em brawler in one instance. Plenty of stuff between those as well as our protagonist is joined by trusty companions on a mission to defy time itself and figure out why they were thrown back 50 years into the past. Provided that Evoland 3 ever happens and continues down this path we may be looking at a serious genre contender.
Full Review
You like Chrono Trigger? Because Evoland 2 may just be the closest thing to it and not really in combat terms you may think given that tends to be a major component of JRPGs. In fact, I wouldn't even classify Evoland 2 as purely JRPG because varying what it is happens to be one of its chief design pillars. Let's dig in.
I have certain difficulties trying to talk about or around Evoland 2's story precisely because it's so textbook. It's where all the charm comes from mind you, but also translates into a generic tale. Amnesiac protagonist wakes in a peaceful village cared for by a girl who totally doesn't develop the hots for him or anything. It's not long before the mysterious prologue catches up to our boy, default name Kuro, and staying true to game's subtitle some space time shenanigans ensue propelling our duo 50 years into the past where war with Demons still rages on. From that point it's a long and winding road of jumping between time periods and seeing how the world changes while you tackle the looming problem of mysterious bad guys chasing after equally enigmatic Magiliths from the Age of Magi. Along the way Kuro finds friends and perhaps may even uncover his own mysterious past. DUN DUN DUUUUUUN.
Or will he? I ask this because characters don't really go past their one-note personalities so interactions get somewhat basic. For god's sake, Kuro doesn't even have one being a mute protagonist so his companion Fina compensates with BOMBASTIC EXCLAMATIONS to get the point across. To be honest I expected a more fleshed out roster with eventual party of four, but as I fond out Evoland 2 is more geared toward events over characters... which makes a degree of sense after you finish the game and realize how the entire affair is packaged. It wasn't entirely to my satisfaction with plenty of threads left dangling and, without going into spoilers, not resulting in the cheeriest of endings.
Keeping the manner in which game treats key character this has more in common with JRPG approaches of yore where it was less about individual character drama/personality quirks driving the plot forward. Events involve time travel meaning you should expect “do X in past so Y changes in the present” situations reserved for important story beats. I was pleasantly surprised the way game made use of jumping to 3D for a trippy effect in one particular area.
That's already too much regarding the story considering I can't discuss time travel plot points. Let's get to the REAL meat and potatoes of Evoland 2 – game evolution.
In case you never played the original game it was more of a prototype existing to present a gimmick Shiro Games came up with. Not to say the first Evoland wasn't a GAME, but it was also securely in the ballpark of couple of hours given its breakneck pacing where the main draw was to see how technology in these games changed. What does that mean? Well, in the opening game was presented in GameBoy fashion with green monochrome, eventually screen scrolling was introduced, opening chests would add new features like sound, different visual art styles, combat would change to turn-based and action, etc. It was just a really intriguing experiment and almost a presentation on RPG history with callbacks aplenty.
Fast forwarding to a sequel quickly makes something plain as day and that's how Evoland 2 is a far better realized video game in true meaning of the word. All those familiar mechanics and core gimmick are still present as the foundation stone, but greatly expanded upon by given context so they have more room to breathe without simply being a novelty to gawk at anymore.
Not to say all of these gameplay styles and variants were created equal, though.
Baseline Evoland 2 starts with is quite clearly Zelda inspired and functions akin to a default mode it sticks to even as you jump through game's three ages. A good call on developer's end because it remains accessible throughout and I never really had any problems beyond some questionable positional use of companion skills, built up to three levels when you press and hold the attack button. There were some situations, mainly smashing mushrooms, that failed in clearly telegraphing where to use aforementioned skills. Seeing as this is the game's exploration mode as well you'll get to trek the locales, talk to characters and even solve handful of puzzles. Brain teasers generally air on the simple side involving hitting a switch or two, but then you get to Genova library and game turns into an outright puzzle title. That's where I lost about an hour of my life at + change towards the end of the game with reality warping clones. Puzzles of this type are so jarring they clash to such a degree I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just leave them out.
So I brought up how there's a lot of gameplay variety, but never got around to it. Might as well do it now. There's a ton of it and I couldn't shake mild amusement that a game styled so heavily after Chrono Trigger with “multiple objectives scattered across time you can pursue in your own order” structure and visual takes barely represents it gameplay-wise. ATB combat is in the game and happens to be one of the duller types relegated to a depressing single segment. I went in expecting Evoland 2 to be MORE of a JRPG than its predecessor only to be hit by an onslaught of variety. From SRPG bit where you recruit your army of mooks, brief shmup stages that let you test your TOTALLY SAFE AND RELIABLE FLYING DEVICE™, side scrolling platformer and even some out there ideas like Match-3 and beat 'em up. Game consistently introduced new approaches until the very end and never failed to surprise me. Even more impressive is knowing you have the support of your companions in all of these and their special skills still apply. Makes looking for Maana so you can upgrade them worthwhile. I just wish the game knew when to end some of these because they can drag on. Not helped by relying on players liking all this variety. Not really into card mini-games? Well... you're in luck because said card game is optional after getting introduced.
This is also an instance where I get to talk about the audio-visual part of the game as more than just an afterthought considering so much effort was clearly put here. Re-creating almost all of game's areas in three distinct art styles, accommodating original layouts for that and music tracks to cover all of that stuff is truly monumental. Even more so because the game has an overworld which have sadly fallen out fashion with JRPGs. In fact, it has THREE (3) just to rub it in. If there is a flaw to be mentioned here it would be writing given it maybe hits the references juice a tiny bit too hard. Even beyond that, it goes for including certain well known characters as cameos.

I don't know if time travel exists, but my game time says otherwise.
Thank you for making such a great game, I can't get out of it.

I love the Concept of this game, the way it plays through different RPG styles 2D like Pokemon and 3D like Animal Crossing and even side scroll Fighting.
The Story in this is amusing and well written!

Anyone reading this: Buy this one, ignore Legendary Edition, ignore the first Evoland, this one is worth playing. Top notch.
This game is above and beyond better than the original Evoland. Evoland 2 is a fantastic mix of game genres, fun references, and a ton of game play variety scenery and styles to keep you interested, entertained and have a good time. There's something for almost everyone in this game.
It's my second favourite game I have played. An amazing concept that I'm so relieved got refined and envisioned into this, after the facepalm-desk of the previous with how the late game seemed set up.

Finished the game in ~16h and it was quiet a ride.
It's a really enjoyable game with many easter eggs and innuendos/references to other games. Some hidden, some not so hidden.
Evoland II has not much to do with the first Evoland, so if you havent played that its totally fine.
It's got a great story with pleasant pace and fun to use and satisfying mechanics. The learning curve is good and the game can be a bit challenging from time to time. (played it on the lowest difficulty)
The controls are intuitive and the character is easy to handle.
The characters are well written and are true to their role but you dont get to know them very well either. Sometimes they felt a bit shallow.
The music was very fitting to the ambient and fitted overall to the theme of the game.
Every style of graphic was beautiful, especially the present graphic.
I encountered one bug that was softlocking me in the demonia campaign.
If I had to rate this game on a scale from 1-10 I'd give it a 9/10.

Funny I played this right after Space Rangers... This is mostly an action-RPG (2D Zelda style). But liking this game depends a lot on your ability in many other genres, because there is a bit of almost every genre under the sun (Turn-Based Strategy, Shmup's, Side Scrollers, Fighting Game, Puzzles, a Runner section, a Collectible Card Game, Match-3... there is a short section where you play Pong!). I thought all the genres were well thought out, and they were fairly integrated with the main story.
And the story is quite good! It deals with time travel in interesting ways (though it does not spell out everything, a little piecing-together is required). Moreover, each time period you visit comes with a different graphic style, so you get from green screens a la Game Boy, up to 3D environments (well, from the 2000s, nothing too fancy).
The game is also full of references to other games and some TV series (including a famous recent one). Spotting the Easter Eggs was kind of fun!
Anyway, I enjoyed this so much I ended up 100% it. Maybe I would enjoy it more if I did not suck so much at some of the presented genres (I suck at fighting games), but I still give this...
Score: 86/100.