The title, the character, and the art of Ever Forward didn’t make me feel like I was playing a for a puzzle game. It showed me the art of putting together a beautiful narrative, stunning art design, and intricate puzzles. Allow me to take you through the review of the game that has left me thinking- how did the developers of this game make it so aesthetically pleasing and yet so bold.
Story & Narrative
The story is set around a girl named Maya, who sets out for a journey to overcome the fears in her mind. Her mind is stuck between real life and the imaginary world. You start on a beautiful island which is Maya’s imaginary world itself. Her world is corrupted by the roots of the tree symbolizing her fears. You travel through Maya’s mind and visit these corrupted places to solve its puzzles and in return, uncover tidbits about her real life. As I reached the ending, I was literally blown away and when I started putting it all together, I realized that the game didn’t make me feel like I was playing methodological puzzle platformer. Ever Forward has one of the best stories across the titles released this year.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Ever Forward is a puzzle game at its core. There are limited objects to interact within the game but, the way all the levels have been designed to improve difficulty step by step and the freedom to attempt a puzzle in multiple ways, really proves that this game was made with love and care. In case you are not able to crack a particular puzzle, you can always go back to the island and find tree leaves which can be used as hints or explore the beautiful POIs to refresh your mind.
One of the best systems in this game that I feel should be in every puzzle game is the ability to create a checkpoint whenever you want. By holding down ‘R’ in PC, you can save your game at the location you are in, and in case you die, you will be respawned not at the start, but at the location you just saved. You alternatively have an option to hold ‘F’ to return to your checkpoint which saves a ton of time when you are experimenting with ways of solving a puzzle. The number of mechanics in this game is more than enough and works out in making players think logically before solving any given puzzle.
The Gameplay is flawless, the level design is breathtaking, the environment and the music are mesmerizing. In short, this game has no noticeable flaws in terms of gameplay and mechanics. The more you look at Ever Forward, the more you fall in love with it. Do note that if you are someone turned off by difficult puzzles, you’ll have a bad time with this game.
Visuals and Performance
Ever Forward features are very minimalist art design in conjunction with vibrant colors to represent the mood and feel of the level. Every time you complete a level, the corruption or fear gets purified- by far the most satisfying animation in the game. The colors, the low-poly textures, the level design, and many more visually appealing aspects of the game made me stop and take in the sheer beauty of the game before going for the next puzzle often. The neon-lit platforms are some of the best-designed assets in the game and its simplicity makes it ever the more alluring. Everything I’ve mentioned perfectly blends together to make Ever Forward hands down one of the most visually appealing games of 2020.
The performance of the game is very very smooth sailing. There is almost no loading time for this game, only a short glitch animation to travel between the island and the puzzle world. I got a constant 60 fps during my playtime and played on the highest settings.
Verdict
Ever Forward is one of the most visually appealing and the most well-designed game I’ve come across this year. The story perfectly blends in with the rest of the game and keeps you going forward, even when facing tough puzzles. I 100% recommend Ever Forward to all puzzle lovers out there or to people who just like to solve problems.
#UD OP
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