▷Ever Forward's review. A dream puzzle game 🥇

Ever Forward review

A dystopian world, a twisted reality, a lonely child. Three keywords to introduce you to puzzle game which sees the return of the team Pathea Games, already known to lovers of the independent sector for the sandbox adventure My Name is Portia. Now he leads us by the hand, and gently, along the path of a little girl, Maawya. We are talking about Ever Forward, the new indie arrived on August 13 on Steam and which incorporates part of what has already been presented in Ever Forward Prologue. It is a free and previewed demo version, which allowed players to tackle eight puzzles, with the transferable saves in this final version. So what awaits those who had already tried the previous version and who is completely fasting this adventure? Let's discover lights and shadows together.

Ever Forward Review - What's left of the world

We anticipated it: we are in a decidedly twisted reality. The planet we are about to explore has fallen victim to an external and unknown threat. This has led to the destruction of homes and our surroundings of the known world. We discover all this thanks to a series of numerous and frequent ones flashback, which show us the protagonist Maya and her mother, Ann, who seems to have much more information about it.

From what we learn in the short clips of the past, represented as in a dream with the two characters made of Job, we are given some small clues. From these, we understand briefly that the woman works for a company rather involved in the problems generated by the state of calamity that we are experiencing.

Download QR-Code Ever Forward Developer: Pathea Games Price: 14,99 €

As sometimes happens in real life, unfortunately, the mother is so much involved by the situation that is induced a neglect Maya many, too many times. This will cause sadness and a feeling of abandonment in this new, disturbing nightmare reality. Don't worry though, the atmosphere is always rendered in an almost ethereal and dreamlike way, both to represent places and houses destroyed by this unknown phenomenon, both to give us glimpses with a fantasy and literally dream flavor.

Between dream and reality

So what do we live in this experience? The setting of the game shows us two different realities, but somehow complementary and intertwined. On the one hand, a beach near a hill that overlooks the sea and looks like the home of some destroyed houses and corrupted elements. On the other hand, the latter turn out to be a gateway to the parallel dimension. It is precisely the alternate space where we are asked to solve the puzzles.

Ever Forward's review. A dream puzzle game After this unknown catastrophe has struck, time and space are two variables that are almost entirely malleable and at the most of their relativity. So let's explore two different places, but very similar to each other for this emptiness that connotes them; an experience corroborated by one simple soundtrack, like the rest of the game, but still functional and consistent with the atmosphere in which we find ourselves.

What remains of the narrative, as we will see rather sparse, focuses on Maya and Ann, but leaving us a bitter aftertaste, dictated by the incompleteness that characterizes this story. Furthermore, the feeling is that of living precisely one parallel and transversal reality, almost as if it were the child's fantasy, looking for consolation in a world that sees her worried and alone, but not entirely.

No die

In the story, Maya is in fact helped by a flying cube, QPC, which allows her to unlock several steps and help her solve the various puzzles, not too enigmatic. moreover, the cube responds to her little girl's call whenever she needs it, so that she can lift her off the ground and allow her to soar with an incredibly sober lightness and ease.

Ever Forward's review. A dream puzzle game The dream atmosphere is further accentuated by the made clean and without excessive frills gameplay and scenario design, puzzle elements and Maya herself. From white shirt that moves delicately following the light strokes and leaps of the little one, every single detail, never excessive, manages to indicate our path and the barriers that prevent us from falling from the platforms we are on.

This does not mean that in Ever Forward there is no game over, on the contrary: our protagonist will be a victim of sensors and other obstacles who try to prevent her from seeking the truth, but without excessive pathos in pointing out the failure.

Download QR-Code Ever Forward Developer: Pathea Games Price: 14,99 €

As a further demonstration, we have a constant possibility to save the game simply by pressing and holding the appropriate key, create our checkpoint (also graphically marked on the ground), as well as being able to return to the save point at any time. It is therefore evident that the focus of the game is in fact the narration and experience created by Pathea Games, to follow the numerous cutscenes unlocked upon completion of each puzzle.

The world is a puzzle

We therefore devote our attention to the latter, the real heart of the gameplay of the game under consideration. The puzzles seemed to us well built and made, without particular difficulty in solving, noting a growing gradually and adequately calibrated. This increase is dictated by the inclusion of new elements and mechanics as we proceed, creating only some problems in certain points, but without going crazy.

Ever Forward's review. A dream puzzle game Those who had tried Ever Forward's prologue demo will remain displaced from this new definitive realization of the gameplay. The puzzles shown long ago were in fact much easier than the puzzles shown in the final version. If in the latter we notice a gradual and constant increase in difficulty, the same cannot be said of the static with which we approached the game in the demo phase.

In our opinion, this experience was more enjoyable, avoiding boredom and lack of stimuli. But be careful: if there is no lack of boredom, the game is not even free from some bugs. Sometimes a hindrance, but it is still a limited phenomenon. The real "hole" that doesn't really get filled is in the storytelling: almost none of our questions were answered. The various cutscenes mentioned above show gods simple clips in the long run repetitive, but without ever giving a real unequivocal answer to understand what happened.

Download QR-Code Ever Forward Developer: Pathea Games Price: 14,99 €

As we have said, the phenomenon that causes everything remains rather enigmatic and cryptic. The situation in the "real world" does not unfold and we do not know what its origin is and that of the corruption of the places that lead us elsewhere. The puzzle remains unsolved, perhaps to leave the player free to interpret, but with an ineffective result. Too much freedom, however, did not lead to true satisfaction and actual enjoyment of meaning. Dommage.

In conclusion

Ever Forward is definitely a 'experience without too many pretensions, but which allows us to play for a few hours without any trouble or tension. Yes, because the longevity of this title is decidedly reduced, and we are aware of it also due to the percentage of progress indicated in the chosen save slot.

In any case, it is a work that brings to mind other niche titles and more. Maya remembers her very much in her appearance protagonist of Beyond Eyes, the indie title released a few years ago, also represented wearing just a simple white shirt. Furthermore the broken world in which we find ourselves is placed at the crossroads between the fantastic one of Rime and the dystopian one of Control, combining some original elements in the representation of the settings.

Finally, the game can be enjoyed both with a mouse and via a controller, alongside a dubbing available only in Japanese and English. However, we can easily understand the requests to be carried out and commands to be given thanks to menus and subtitles in Italian. So, in about three or four hours you will have completed this short but intense experience, so short it seems like a dream.