EvilQuest (2012)

EvilQuest is a fun, simple little game that offers a few hours of distraction and fun. It is a very basic RPG with levelling and improving stats while finding better gear and collecting gold.

EvilQuest has a traditional story of a villain that wants to conquer the world and swears revenge after being defeated on the battlefield. The only difference with the other cliché stories, is that you play as said villain this time. You fight your way through different landscapes, temples and caves, defeat bosses and eventually battle God himself. After beating him, you destroy Earth and the entire Universe. Wow..

In terms of graphics, this game is nothing special. It got some traditional NES style indie visuals with all the flashing screens and colorful environments.

The music is alright and kind of reminds me of the King’s Bounty series. The only small annoyance is that the tracks are 4 seconds long and loop endlessly.

Control wise, EvilQuest is very easy. It is just up, down, left, right, attack, magic, and use item, nothing more. The combat is a little clunky sometimes, but it is playable. The inventory system is simple and accessible and does not need to be fancy.

The bosses are original and offer a challenge in true NES style. I also liked the challenge that you can only save the game in special C marks on the ground when entering a dungeon. When you are in the open field, on your way to the next dungeon, you can save freely. There are instances where you need to destroy two bosses right after each other, while not being able to save, adding to the challenge.

The towns and NPCs are forgettable but that’s not an issue with a game like this.

The only kind of weird part is that you find your traitorous arch nemesis Tarkan, who left you for dead at the beginning of the game, you kick his ass, and he flees with a promise that he will be back. At the end of the game tough, this Tarkan dude is nowhere to be found and is never seen again.

There are some annoying sound bugs, like when you cast a spell and open your inventory afterwards. The game still plays te sound of the spell that you were casting, and the screen keeps flickering. The only way to stop this, is to re-select the spell again.

Overall, I really liked the simplicity of EvilQuest. It is just casual fun for a bit, and for its very low price, I would surely recommend it.

EvilQuest lets you step into the iron boots of a malicious knight, who has grown beyond humane morals and set out to raid villages and destroy kingdoms. After a betrayal from a close general of yours, you break from prison with a quest to recover a legendary, demonic axe to destroy your enemies and the world.

Being the first game release of the devs, it has some strong enough points to barely get me going to the end although it's plenty rough around the edges. I find the story intrigue lacking and that's a pity, considering the villain protagonist premise that Evilquest rides on. Had the writing of characters been taken beyond its shallowness, it would have been more memorable, not to mention sating my curiosity of the motives behind my sinister character.

The gameplay is a mixed bag; mainly because battling with enemies can get clunky at times and doesn't feel as much satisfying killing them. If you can get past the beginning part of the game, there are spells that make enemy killing go on a more smooth sailing. The boss battles are well-varied and challenging enough to feel the payoff, despite moments of frustrations I've had due to occassional, unfair enemy techniques.

The interface is average, though it serves well enough for the stats, equipment and journal parts. It's only strange that I am allowed to quick-switch spells but not recovery items, in case I would get poisoned and have to switch from HP potions and back.

The soundtrack sounds like there were stock tunes picked in and sounds like what you would hear in a cheap RPGMaker product. Funny enough, because the game is actually cheap and a first release from the devs, once again. So expect to hear some upbeat tunes but mostly immemorable ones.

The sound effects are more varied and barely keeps the game interest afloat. One downside is that I had to turn the volume down to not blow my ears off with the exaggerated outburst from spell effects near the end of the game.

If you've ever felt like playing an action-RPG game as a bad guy, this game is fine enough for its €2 value. Just don't expect a deep, memorable story beyond its villainy premises or look forward to find battles you'd come back to. I'm more glad that I got this for half its price. Hopefully, there are loads of improvements to be made on the sequel, should it eventually be released but I have yet to be more convinced next time.