Title: Evan’s Remains
Developer: Matías Schmied
Publisher: Whitethorn Digital
Website: Evan’s Remains
Genre: Puzzle, Platformer, Story
Available On: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam
Release Date: June 11, 2020
Version Tested: Switch
After receiving a strange letter from a missing boy, a young girl must journey to a deserted island full of strange monoliths. As she uncovers what is going on, there is more than meets the eye.
Evan’s Remains is a puzzle platformer with an emphasis on the story. The game is done in a 2D style, with visual novel-style conversations to break up the gameplay.
First announced as a Kickstarter back in 2019, the game raised over $12,000 from 873 backers.
Evan’s Remains Combines Puzzle Platforming with Visual Novel Storytelling
You play as Dysis, a young girl who must find a missing boy named Evan. After being missing for years, he has sent a letter stating that he is on a deserted island and asked for Dysis to find him.
Arriving on the island, you find a series of strange monoliths that rise out of the ground. These serve as the main gameplay of Evan’s Remains, where you must solve each monolith to progress.
The monoliths have a series of platforms on them that you can jump on, but after jumping the platforms will disappear. From there you must determine how best to jump between each of the platforms to make it to the other side.
Early puzzles involve disappearing platforms, but later monoliths have other variations on the same style. For example, some monoliths will have platforms that launch you into the air depending on how high you fall on them from, while others will teleport you to another platform.
Easy to Understand Yet Challenging Puzzles in Evan’s Remains
As Evan’s Remains progresses the puzzles grow in complexity, but it is never the case where you blankly stare at the screen not knowing what to do. The simplicity of the puzzle gameplay allows for a lot of experimentation to determine solutions without feeling frustrating.
In terms of platforming, there is not much difficulty. Some of the puzzles do require you to make precise moves, but outside of that, the gameplay is solving each of the puzzles.
The other major factor of the game is the story, which follows Dysis as she tries to find Evan and understand why they are on this island. Even though the island is supposed to be deserted, you soon meet other people on the island to guide you through your journey.
There will not be any spoilers in this review, but I will say that the game’s story was a lot better than I was expecting. Each of the characters is written extremely well, and the conclusion was satisfying for the themes the game was conveying.
Engaging Characters and Story
One aspect of the story that worked well was the hints at the broader world. The characters could go into every detail of the world, but the small hints make the world feel a lot larger in scope. There is also a dichotomy between the lush island and the technology adorning it that works well in contrast.
What helps that is the game’s art style, which is in the classic pixel art style. While this kind of pixel art has been done before, what is quite surprising is the movement of the art. The ocean breeze shifts the trees, and later on, the art does extremely well at working with depth.
Outside of the art during gameplay, in conversations, the character’s headshots are in the more visual novel style. It would have been nice to have some sort of text recap during the dialogue scenes, as sometimes coming back to the scenes after a break it can be tough to get back into what the characters are talking about.
The only issue on the technical side is there is some slowdown when a lot of effects are on screen. This can affect the platforming, but overall it is not a major inconvenience.
A Short Yet Impactful Experience in Evan’s Remains
The game lasts between 3-5 hours, depending on how long it takes you to complete each of the puzzles. After you complete the story, there is not much to go back to, but the game’s price helps with that.
At just $7, this is quite the bargain given how much the game has going on. While the game’s brevity could be an issue in a $20-30 title, Evan’s Remains is easy to recommend to try for that price.
However, if you are someone that is looking for a more open-world action experience, Evan’s Remains might not be for you. But if you are looking for something different from the usual mainstream games, this one is worth checking out.
Given that the game is also made by a solo developer, it is surprising how well it all comes together. Every facet of the game works towards making a memorable story I won’t be forgetting for a while.
Verdict: Evan’s Remains is a compelling puzzle platformer with a strong story and characters. The puzzle design is simple to understand yet still a challenge to master, and its low price point makes it an easy recommendation.
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