Yes, Pokémon GO is great, but it’s probably not enough to satisfy fans who want a genuine Pokémon experience. Now, Evertale is here to fulfill that role, at least until Nintendo finally decides to make a proper Pokémon for mobile devices. We never know, it could actually happen!
For now, we have Evertale to content ourselves with. Fortunately, it does a good job of bringing a Pokémon-like experience to mobile. Moreover, it also adds several new ideas to the established formula to make its own mark.
In Evertale, you will be a Crestbearer, which is practically the equivalent of a Pokémon trainer. The world of Erden is inflicted by a mysterious curse known as Pandemonium, and so it is up to the Crestbearers to save it.
Yes, it’s pretty cliché when summed up like that, but the story is actually pretty well-written and is rich enough to keep you interested throughout your adventure across Erden.
When it comes to the gameplay, the best way to describe it is that it’s a hybrid between Pokémon and Final Fantasy. In the beginning you’ll only have one party member, but will soon meet others and catch more monsters as you progress.
The gameplay is a hybrid between Pokémon and Final Fantasy
Catching monsters in Evertale is almost identical to how you do it in Pokémon. You walk around thick grass, and random encounters will pop up at some point. The screen then moves on to a turn-based battle, and then you try to wear down the monster enough so that you can capture it.
If you successfully catch a monster, it will immediately be added to your party. Then, you can take it into other battles with you to level it up. Of course, in true Pokémon fashion, when monsters reach a certain power level they will evolve into another form.
The combat system as a whole is pretty strategic as well. Each character, be they monster or human, has a couple of skills at their disposal, and they can be combined to be more effective. For example, the first monster we get has a skill that poison enemies and another that deal increased damage to enemies that are poisoned.
Another important thing is deciding when to use what abilities, as each one requires a certain amount of time to cast. All actions from both you and your enemies will be put in a queue, which you can easily keep track of to see what’s going to happen next or how long it’ll take for someone to attack.
Exploration is fun
The controls of Evertale are very straightforward too. Unlike many mobile games that use virtual joysticks, you simply have to tap on the screen to move your character around.
The game offers you plenty of reasons to explore. You might run into unique monsters, discover treasure chests, or encounter an NPC that could give you a quest or maybe challenge you to a battle. Again, it’s very similar to Pokémon.
The new thing about Evertale is that you’ll also have tons of weapons, accessories, and other equipment to equip to your party members and monsters. This brings us to a very important topic: the IAPs.
Yes, the game does allow you to spend real money to buy stuff and progress faster. You can even opt to pay to instantly get new monsters. That said, it’s not too bad here. We never felt like we HAD to pay to progress. You can get basically anything for free, but naturally, it will require more time.
Paying might play a more important role in PvP (we haven’t spent too much time in this mode yet), but it shouldn’t cost you a penny to complete the single-player campaign.
The conclusion
All in all, Evertale is a very enjoyable experience. Fans of Pokémon or just of JRPG in general should really check it out. The lovely art style, rich story, and compelling combat will make you want to come back for more.