Platformers that successfully combine an interesting plot and good puzzles usually do not take much time, but are remembered for a long time. They immediately come to mind Braid And Thomas Was Alone, yes and Limbo With Inside you can add here, even though the story in them is told without words. New Evan’s Remains does not reach the same heights as the games mentioned above, but is still worthy of attention – it is intriguing, and offers good riddles, and leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
Wait for me
A guy named Evan disappeared many years ago. Suddenly he sent a letter in which he said that he was on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean, and at the same time attached the coordinates and asked to send the girl Disis for him. Even Disis herself doesn’t know why he chose her. But she has no choice, so Disis puts a white hat on her head, takes the transmitter with her and goes to the island, where her partner helps her via radio communication.
Of course, it’s not possible to find Evan right away. Very soon the girl realizes that the island is not so uninhabited, makes new acquaintances and, with the help of other people, tries to trace the missing man. As a result, the story turns in a completely unexpected direction, although at some point you begin to think that you have guessed the main idea, and you simply wait for confirmation of your thoughts. It turns out that everything is more complex and interesting, so the plot here can only be praised. It won’t cause admiration, but I was very surprised by how exciting and original the story is here.
To reveal all the secrets of the island, including the mystery of Evan’s disappearance, you need to interact with the monoliths scattered on its territory. As soon as you solve a puzzle related to one of them, you learn part of a phrase written in the language of an ancient civilization. In an attempt to collect the message of his ancestors, Disis will perform three dozen tests, which become more and more difficult each time.
Puzzles in Evan’s Remains unusual. Each time https://wilberforceinstitute.uk/online-gambling-software-providers you see one or two small platforms with white symbols on the screen, and as soon as you step on them, the stone slabs (either just rectangular or curved in different places) switch – visible ones become invisible, and vice versa. And if you land on one of the stone platforms, then after the next jump it will disappear. As a result, you need to jump over a tall column, which is always located on the right side of the screen.
No fuss
There are no time limits, you don’t need to fight opponents, you can’t die, and if you get confused, you can jump onto a special green platform and restart the puzzle. When you get completely stuck, nothing prevents you from pressing pause and skipping the puzzle – in this case, the character is simply thrown over the column. It would be better if they gave hints here or, as in A Fold Apart, showed a walkthrough, but in any case, the riddles here are not so tricky and tedious that you would want to get rid of them. There are no clutter of platforms in the game and some of the episodes manage to be played on the contrary – think which platforms should be visible or hidden to achieve the goal, and build on that.
Even when other elements appear in addition to the platforms with white signs, they only slightly complicate the gameplay. There are objects from which the heroine bounces, and the height of the jump depends on the height from which she falls on them. There are platforms that change the location of other objects, and since the plates switch along with this, the order of actions begins to matter even more. At the same time, it cannot be said that all puzzles are elementary and can be solved on the first try.
At the same time, in Evan’s Remains you regularly notice a bias towards the visual novel – you spend much more time reading dialogues than puzzles. You go through four or five puzzles, after that you spend about 15 minutes watching characters negotiate, watching flashbacks, and only then returning to the monoliths. But the passage takes about two and a half hours, and there are no unnecessary or drawn-out episodes – all scenes are necessary to understand the story.
The impression remains positive because from a technical point of view the game is well made. The controls are as simple as possible (the heroine can only jump on the Spacebar) and convenient – the character does not slide on the surface after landing and does not levitate above the ground after jumping, as happens in unsuccessful platformers. The pixel art seems overly minimalist, but it looks cool – objects and characters on the coast are reflected in the ocean water, stones fall from moving plates and platforms, and the characters are animated well.
There is a translation into Russian (I had to switch to it manually in the settings). It’s a pity, there are a lot of typos – sometimes letters are missing, sometimes there are problems with punctuation. But the jokes make you smile, and at one point the characters discuss the translation of a message from an ancient language into Russian, whereas in the original, of course, we are talking about English.
Like a story-driven platformer with riddles Evan’s Remains good – the story is intriguing and surprising, the puzzles are original and not boring, and it’s hard to find fault with the visual style. If you want something calm, mysterious and unusual (and even with a cool ending), this game fits this description perfectly and will brighten up the evening. It won’t be included in the list of the best hits of the year, but you don’t regret the time spent after watching the credits one bit, especially since on Steam they ask for only 175 rubles.
Pros: exciting story with a great ending; nice visual style; original puzzles that don’t bore you with a clutter of platforms and switches; convenient control.