EVERING Review

Thousands of years ago, it was thought that time was linear. Chronologists now know that time is actually cyclical and that when the world ends, it begins again in a never-ending loop. Through reincarnation, life will return, taking on new forms. Hundreds of years ago, an Evil Fiend attacked the world with his goons, but before he could finish what he started, he was stabbed in the heart by a mysterious hero. Before dying, the fiend cast a spell that would bring him back to life 300 years later to continue his reign of terror.

After this introduction, we are introduced to Eldar, who is the main character that you will play as in EVERING. This legend that his grandfather is telling him isn’t making him want to go to bed. He has so many questions: who is the mysterious hero, and when will the villain return?? Finding the answers to these questions will be the focus (obsession) of Eldar’s life, as he has made it his goal to learn as much as he can about this legend.

Time Skip: 20 Years Later

We find Master Eldar on a train with Lue; he is confused as to why they are travelling this way. Lue informs him that moving by train is way faster, and it allows them to travel unnoticed. Their mission is to reach Vellantar and get back home as soon as they can. Suddenly, an announcement comes over the intercom informing them that, due to an obstacle on the tracks, they are forced to stop at the village of Riropo. The conductor urges people to stay in their seats. Lue is worried that they may have been discovered and states that they must leave and travel the rest of the way on foot. Lue joins your team, well Eldar’s, and you set off towards Vellantar.

One of the people you meet outside the train warns you that if you are walking, the path to Vellantar is full of monsters, so be prepared. You then see a book on a pedestal; this is an Adventure Journal where you can save your progress, so make sure you take advantage of this whenever you see one to make sure you don't lose any progress should you happen to perish. There is no auto-save in EVERING, so make sure you save your game often.

When you encounter the first enemy, Lue jumps into action and takes down the foe. Eldar is annoyed; he wants to learn to fight and protect himself, but she says that she is there to protect him and give up her life to keep him safe. Besides, the enemies seem weak, so Eldar wouldn't gain much combat experience anyway. There are no random battles here; you only fight the enemies you want by walking into them to start the fight.

After fighting a few baddies — well after Lue battles them — you encounter a group of bandits led by Akal. They send Diyo monsters to attack you. Once again, Lue takes them out, but the bandits have a plan B ready. Since they can't kidnap you, they attack. Lue protects you and pushes Eldar out of the way, and you see a flash of red and then a black screen.

We go back in time to see the events that led to this dangerous journey. Eldar is in a house full of bookcases, and Lue walks in the door with a letter for you. You get your letter-opening sword since you don't use it for anything else anyway. We see that Eldar is a prince, and the person who penned the note has information on that mysterious hero in the legend; he claims that there is an old man in Vellantar who has a different version of this story, so it may be worth checking out. It's Eldar's life goal to discover who this hero was, and this whole journey revolves around that. What happens when the Evil Fiend returns, and the hero isn't there to save them once again?

Eldar has to go and find out all he can about this mysterious hero, but Lue tells him that the Majesties will never allow him to leave as they don't approve of the research he has been conducting. So Eldar declares that Lue will accompany him to Vellantar, she has been given the task of protecting the young prince. She may be older, but she has the ability to use powerful magic attacks against enemies that they encounter. She can also learn new magic spells by activating Mentor Crystals located around the world. Hunting down these crystals will become an important part of your adventure.

Control-wise, EVERING controls like other turn-based RPGs you have played. Explore by walking around, talking to people you have encountered, and eventually fighting enemies that get in your way. You won’t have to worry about your character walking around very slowly like in other RPGs. EVERING gives you the option to turn on an always-run option, so Eldan and your team members won't be dragging their butts.

We are taken back to the current time and see Lue in a bed on the train. She has been injured and needs time to recover. During this time, you explore the train and talk to the other passengers. Here, you learn that staying at inns lets you rest to recover stats like HP (vitality), MP (magic power), and TP (tactical power). If you can't find an inn, options can also replenish them.

To recover, Lue will need a Grace Seed; these are used on fighters who have fallen in battle. The problem is, you don't have any money. So in exchange, you make a deal with Neul, a delivery boy who is swamped with errands. He will help you get the seed by paying you to do some of these errands for him. Sure, you can earn money by killing creatures, but helping Neul will get you the money you need faster.

To figure out what jobs need to be done, there is an Errand Board that lists tasks to complete; every town that you visit has its own. Go talk to the person who posted the job and do what they ask. The jobs can be simple, like delivering a message or retrieving something, or more difficult, like taking out monsters. You will write all these tasks down in your handy Errands Notebook to keep track of them.

Since some of these tasks involve confronting monsters, you will finally get to fight, even though you don't have any actual experience. At first, you will be fighting weaker creatures to gain experience and increase your strength. Neul doesn’t let you go out without a decent weapon; he gives you an Errand Boy's Sword to use in fights, which is a lot more useful than the Ceremonial Sword you currently carry around!

The creatures that you fight are weak to certain elements or attacks and are resistant to others; some to physical attacks and others to certain types of spells. Lue has a fire and lightning spell she learns early on; as you use each one, they will earn one XP, get to 20, and it will level up, becoming stronger. To reach the second level, it takes 40, the third 60, and so on. The same is true for spells like Sana that recover HP. I especially love that when a spell levels up, it costs the same amount of MP to use, so if it was six before, it is still six now. It is worth your time to grind not only to level up the characters themselves but also their spells before you encounter stronger enemies on your travels!

Like in other RPGs, when your character is poisoned, your health will slowly deplete until you use an antidote to recover. There are other effects in EVERING that you don't see as often, like blindness caused by an enemy throwing sand at you. To cure this, you will need to use a lamp. A new one that enemies can cause is bleeding, which will slowly deplete your health and defences at the same time. Like in real life, a bandage can fix any problem that involves blood! I have to say that EVERING has the most bizarre status effect I have ever seen in a game; monsters can impregnate you with oil, making you flammable and weak to fire attacks. There is nothing you can do besides wait, but seriously, this one is messed up!

If your character drinks alcohol after that bizarre oil status effect, no wonder he needs a drink. Besides recovering some of your health and magic points, you will suffer from drunkenness, causing you to lose coordination and possibly making you fall to an enemy in battle. So be sure to drink responsibly!

Some creatures you encounter have received a blessing called the Seal of the Keeper. This gives them immortality, so it doesn’t matter what attacks you do or how many times you kill them; they will come back to life over and over again. If you encounter one, you are better off running away before taking damage, or if you stand there and do not attack and just use the defend move, they will eventually get bored and leave on their own.

In unexplored places, you may discover a Breach. This is a mysterious cave that is there one day and gone the next. These protect Maestros and Mentor Crystals, which give their wisdom to anyone who touches them. Spells that used to take decades to learn will now only take seconds. If you find one, activate it by touching it, so Lue can learn a new spell. Speak with a Maestro and learn a new attack like Double Slash.

There are banks around the world that you can deposit money — lenis — into. When your savings account reaches a certain amount, you will get a valuable prize or an exclusive item. You are also able to withdraw your money at any time if you need to. You get a Savings Book to keep track of how much you have in your account. When you deposit at least 500 lenis, you get an All-Potion L that will replenish a large amount of HP for all the members of your team. Deposit 1000 to receive an Explixir, which gives the user one level.

The look of EVERING brings back the feeling of playing turn-based RPGs on the Super Nintendo. The pixel graphics are crisp, vibrant, and full of detail. The accompanying soundtrack is very good and fits this adventure very well. The music that plays when you fight a boss enemy is great; I just wish the music that plays when you battle weaker foes was a bit more upbeat and not so chill-sounding. There's a huge variety of enemies and areas to explore, each with its own unique look, and you are able to enter almost any house you find. They even have bathrooms; you can’t use them, but it's neat to see!

I am having a great time playing EVERING; the story is compelling, making me want to learn everything about these characters and their motivations. The dynamic between Prince Eldar and Lue, who is sworn to protect him, is interesting and challenging at the same time, just like in real life when you are dealing with an authority figure. This is a game that I enjoy grinding in. I love being able to see my character grow from every battle I win. If you enjoy turn-based role-playing games, you need to play this game!