This review will be split into two sections: What the game actually is, and how the game makes me feel. I picked this up for the first time in my adulthood when tinkering around with dreamcast titles, hearing that this was one of the few (and first) RPGs released on the system. I don't have any nostalgia for this game. I didn't play this as a kid. I'm just some guy. Frankly put, this game is "nothing extraordinary", a rather goofy romp with some painful design decisions that would work pretty well as a starting RPG for kids. Yet for something I would call "nothing extraordinary", it certainly has a fierce grip on my adventure-loving heart.

PART 1: HOW IT WORKS, HOW IT PLAYS

Evolution is a game about a spiky-haired spelunking anime child and a mysterious mute magical girl + Other Tropes running around spooky ruins to pay off some debt to Society (The institute is quite literally called SOCIETY, as in "Archeological Society", but that would be too many letters for the signboard I suppose). On your journey to escape debt slavery, you will be appraising treasure for quick cash, modifying your mechanical murder devices, dodging traps and wondering why the town textures are all painted in that specific shade of puke green.

The battle system is pretty fun: In battles, you'll be allotted a 3x3 space to fight some mutant rats on their 4x4 spaces ala Radiant Historia style. The front row will let you take your turns faster and deal greater damage while taking the nastiest hits, while the back row is the opposite.

Every character has their own unique skills that can be gained through spending points. These skills are pretty creative-- The butler, Gre Nade (get it? get it? do you ge--), has special dishes he can whip up during combat to right-out poison enemies, as well as manners-based commands that effect the main character, Mag, specifically (reviving him, speeding him up, abuse turn order). You can acquire these skills outside of combat, but it's a better idea to try them out mid-battle as they'll be free of cost the first time you activate them.

3 of our 5 party members can use additional skills with the help of their SUPER AWESOME MECHA CYFRAMES. These cyframes are quite a lot of fun to mess with, as you can equip all sorts of elemental and buffing/debuffing effects to them. Each cyframe user has a different AOE as well (Pepper attacking in rows, Chain in columns and Mag throwing enemies every which way). The one difficult thing is that it's hard to figure out where to get these darn equipables, as I actually have no idea where any of them came from. They drop in dungeons. So I suppose you'll just have to pray they come your way.

The normal enemies you find in the ruins aren't difficult once you figure out how to deal with them. The real difficulty will come from supply management/your running out of TP when adventuring too long, and those excruciating bosses. Those awful, no-good, thumbtack-in-the-slipper bosses. Evolution ends each ruin with a boss, and they are often lengthy, arduous wars of attrition that aren't unlike 20 minute long screensavers of Pain before a victory screen. They deal tons of damage, take very little themselves, and overall feel very different compared to the rest of the otherwise breezy ride.

Oh yes, and then there's the final boss (handsome, regal, putrid Prince Eugene). When digging around for any and all tidbits about this title, I found many comments stating that as wee tots players were unable to finish the game because of a... certain story decision. Mild spoilers. The game rips away your main healer, just in time for the final boss. Yes, there are other ways to heal up your party and yes, it's perfectly doable. The fact of the matter is that Evolution already has some unenjoyable boss design and it's final boss takes the cake in terms of unpleasantness. Expect to die often, or at least spend more time than you'd like trying not to.

The character models of the game are just a total delight. Chunky as they are, they're bursting with expressiveness, not to mention that the designs overall are full of personality. Yes, he's a little spiky haired anime child, and yes, his goofy XD face makes my heart sing! Every party member also has their own unique walk cycle. Gre Nade's might make you laugh out loud. Animation is done with great care.

Unfortunately, the environments leave a lot to be desired. Everything is coated in a particular shade of ugh that greatly contrasts the colorfulness of our motley crew. Some areas look spread thin, creating an odd atmosphere of emptiness. The ruin designs themselves are nothing impressive. Repetitive lego block labyrinths as far as the eye can see.

The music is nice but because the ruins became so repetitive, I ended up muting the game during these brain-dead segments and blasting hyper pop Miku remixes until my roomates crawled out to inquire about the last time I've gone outside. The town theme, on the other hand, is plucky and simple and embodies the spirit of the game quite well.

As a little note, the translation is a bit odd. Nothing indecipherable but some things are worded awkwardly and misspellings are scattered throughout.

There's no intricate plot, no complicated characters, just enough of a game to be a "pretty nice game" if you had a spare 30 or so hours and a hankering for something sweet.

PART 2: I LOVE THIS GAME.

Evolution has no intricate plot (It's all just vague adventuring until the cute girl gets kidnapped) . Its characters are all ones we've seen before-- The snotty rival, the mysterious girl, the shonen hero who wants to make a name for himself-- and yet I have such a deep affection for them, such a warm place in my heart for these blocky embodiments of joy I dare say I place them alongside Neir and Final Fantasy 9 one of my favorite casts in gaming.

I've been referring to Mag as the "spiky haired adventurous anime child", in which he most certainly is, but through exploration we begin to see that he's got a so much more going on beneath the surface. Like most shounen protagonists, his father (an esteemed adventurer, of course) has disappeared, leaving behind a mysterious mute girl and a huge debt. And this disappearance is felt. Mag glances wistfully at his dad's old writing desk, commenting that "It was always messy when he was around. But now it's clean, since nobody uses it." He secretly adores the bear he received from him for his birthday, he says he'd nag his father to take him on his adventures when sorting through his maps, he laughs off an old memory of getting ice cream ("I got one scoop, he got two") when passing through town. Even the bench outside tells us something-- "I can't wait to have a barbecue with Dad, Mom, Linear, Gre....Everyone." Mag has something to say about everything, and it's there that you find how much love this game was made with.

Random facts about Mag, learned purely from flavor text:

• He hasn't grown taller since the age of ten. This doesn't bother him, even if height is a concern of a certain somebody else.
• Mag hates green peppers (a common consensus amongst many anime youth). There is a specific barrel in the yard he would spit green peppers out into.
• The kid only has five sets of clothing, all copies of the same outfit. When you pay off the debt, he buys five more.
• Mag has a lot to say about chairs. He hates overly comfy seating arrangements, praising hard-backed chairs instead. Despite this, he claims that he wants a giant, comfy bed because he keeps falling out of his current one.
• Mag likes milk. Yup, that's it.

The rest of the crew have the same attention to detail: Gre Nade, the eternally-devoted butler, who works for free out of the ever expanding love in his heart whilst also hinting at a military past; Chain Gun, the spoiled tomboy rival who nearly broke her cyframe trying to fry potatoes and regularly runs her servants ragged in the absence of her parents; Pepper Box, the rowdy lady of adventure who carefully balances her drunken escapades with her womanly charms; Linear Cannon, who, despite speaking basically never, has stolen my heart with her gentle attention to plants (the vases of Mag's mansion are empty because Linear hates seeing dead flowers). I know more about a single character from this children's budget dreamcast game than I do entire casts of Final Fantasy. And all of this, because somebody cared that much about what they were making.

The excellent characterization extends to the NPCs as well. They'e considerably more blocky than our main cast, but each animated in their own special way that is bound to make you grin a little. Nina at Society sticks out, her fiddling with those massive polygonal braids of hers.

(As a fun aside: when visiting shops Mag will tell Linear he's busy, and so you'll see Linear nod and bounce off to play with the owner's daughter or inspect various goods, it's such a charming little detail that really enforces Mag and Linear's closeness.)

The story, of course, is simple. You run through ruins in any order you like, trying to pay off your debt, and then the big bad anime man decides to be naughty-- It's as basic as it gets, but I'd argue it does it's job as Mag is truly doing his best and the said Big Bad really is so entertainingly goofy/awful that you'll love seeing him galavant about before kicking his ass (actually you will HATE the act of kicking his ass as his boss is about as fun as swallowing a concrete block sideways, but like, he's got a punchable face). It gives me a similar feeling to Laputa: Castle in the Sky. And it does a good job of making me love it.

Another-nother little note: Your different party members will bring up their own unique thoughts as you explore the town with them. Everytime you pay off some of your debt, Gre begins sobbing about what a gentleman you've become. It's precious. Simply hilariously adorable.

PART 3: ENDING NOTES

I am fully aware that I can't just recommend a 30-hour game on flavor text alone. It has a fun battle system with stressful bosses, well-designed characters with samey environments, and a lovable crew with what most would call a lack-luster story. The reality is that Evolution: The World of Sacred Device is a "pretty alright" game that might make for a good palette cleanser after something more soul-consuming. But I also can see why there is a micro-sized fanbase, why it's so fondly remembered by those who had it in their childhoods, and why even in it's day it had it's own slew of fanartists and cosplayers. Sting has produced so many interesting products of passion and this is clearly one of them. Evolution is a precious work of love and I'm happy I got to experience it.

As an extra fun little thing, I've left some website links here. You can see the concept art, staff notes, and even pick up some old-fashioned desktop trinkets! I've got a Linear desktop clock myself :)

- Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device og dreacast site

- Evolution: Far Off Promise og dreamcast site

- Evolution Worlds gamecube site