| Evergrace We're still waiting for a brilliant RPG to magically rise from the ocean for PS2. Is the wait finally over? Enter the best PS2 monster slayer yet which although not excellent, is certainly a step in the right direction, from Software's action RPG Evergrace. Evergrace follows the story of two characters, Darius and sharlene who both end up in another world not knowing how they came to be there. Both these characters are playable from the start or if you are to become stuck, from a save point where you can set out with the other character to prevent boredom from setting in, which is a really cool idea. The graphics are fine apart from maybe looking a little too PS1 in some parts but thankfully there's a good reason for that as Evergrace was originally going to be a PS1 release, but there is still plenty of graphical goodness to drool over and to display the awesome power of your PS2. Falling leaves, moving hair, clothes and beautiful magical effects are all very PS2, but water lacks the wetness you expect from PS2 (take a look at the MGS2 demo to see how it should have been done) and also some of your surroundings are rather dull and featureless for such a mighty machine. Overall the graphics are a mixed bag and could do with improvement. Equipping characters with different armour actually alters their appearance sometimes even changing their hairstyle or covering their faces completely. All armour can have a change of colour or even an upgrade to be able to resist more attacks, very unique. All weapons and armour can be broken so you must keep a close eye on their damage which is displayed on the screen, you can repair them at the shop but if they are to be completely broken you are looking at quite an expensive price to restore them to their original usefulness. Luckily most locations have save points around to allow you to easily get to the shop when needed. Combat is simplistic and takes place in real time allowing you to dodge monsters attacks instead of standing there waiting for the enemy to hit you. This is a refreshing change for me after playing so many RPGS that have turn-based battles. It feels much more free to be able to run around and attack without bringing a menu up but overall I enjoy turn based slightly better. Sure, magic looks beautiful when you unleash it but sadly occasional slow down prevents it from being even more spectacular, the framerate slows down for about two seconds when you hurl magical attacks at your enemies which just isn't good enough. The story of Evergrace is kind of mediocre, both Darius and Sharlene have their own separate plots to play through and all the story scenes are accompied by voice acting which is pretty wooden but not too bad and in these parts you get a better look at the impressive character models. A decent challenge but just too short, Evergrace is a good fun action RPG. But we're still waiting, where the hell is a Final Fantasy game when you need it?Simon Wigham 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Other Opinions |
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