Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device

Written by Tom Clare in Dreamcast Game Reviews, Friday 27 June, 2008

Released: 2000
Developer: Sting
Publisher: Ubi-Soft
Genre: RPG
Platform: Dreamcast

Evolutionary Dead-End?

Though the Dreamcast wasn't blessed with the biggest catalogue of role-playing games, Ubi-Soft did at least bring a couple to the console; Grandia 2, sequel to the SEGA Saturn classic; and Evolution, a slightly lightweight, pint-sized imitation.

I use the term 'lightweight' as though it inherits a fair few of the Grandia series strong gameplay mechanics, it also throws in an equal measure of baffling flaws and needless faults that prevent it fulfilling its potential.

The story of Evolution sees you controlling teenaged adventurer Mag Launcher, who in a refreshing twist from the norm, actually bounty hunts in order to pay back some rather alarming debt racked up by his family's somewhat fruitless adventuring. He and his quiet 'girlfriend' Linear team up with the cutely-named Chain Gun (a rival bounty-hunter who has a soft spot for Mag) and Pepper Box (the token blonde bombshell). Whilst Mag is a likable, opinionated hero, the story unfortunately doesn't play a particularly significant part in the game, progressing only sporadically as elements of exploration and fighting are pushed to the fore.

Indeed, it rather feels like all of Evolution's eggs have been thrown into the battle basket. Disappointingly, the dungeons Mag and company must explore are not the finely-crafted, detailed locales of his home town, but randomly generated floors filled with monsters, endless corridors and trap-laden rooms. The two sides of the game are at real odds with each other, and the longer treks through dungeons are a trying experience due to the lack of a design plan - how quickly you progress through floors quite often depends on luck and perhaps because of this, it's difficult to appreciate the 'progression' you do make.

Thus it's battle-heavy, though there are certainly many worse systems it could have mimicked than Grandia 2's. Enemies are present in the field of play and contact with them triggers a turn-based fight, though gaining 'initiative' status by sneaking up behind foes is harder than it needs to be and this setup feels rather awkwardly implemented. Still, the battles themselves are quite enjoyable even if some of the enemy attack animations could have done with speeding up a little, but thanks to the easy-to-navigate menus RPG fans will master the command lines in no time. There's also a helpful gauge present that reveals the order in which both players and monsters will get their turn, allowing for the occasional moment of planning ahead to gain or retain the upper hand, retaining an element of tactical interest in the tougher fights.

It has to be said though; a lot of Evolution's wounds are self-inflicted. In a novel twist, the player is not rewarded with money for defeating foes, instead having to sell treasures and items found within the dungeons; the trouble is, your inventory space is ridiculously limited, meaning frequent visits to town are required to sell off excess goods - and upon returning to a dungeon you are promptly demoted two or three floors as a penalty for having left. This means retreading old ground for no good reason and also creates a staccato feel that it would have been better off without.

Another more major problem is the games lack of lifespan. Remarkably, I reached the final boss in just 13 hours; most console RPG's offer at least three times that kind of duration. Almost as if the developers suddenly realised this shortcoming right at the end, they crank up the difficulty of the final battle to an almost biblical degree, requiring you set aside almost this much time again simply so as to level-up your characters enough to have a fighting chance; it's perfectly possible to reach the last boss with characters around the Level 40 mark, but to beat him you're probably going to need to pass 70 - it just isn't worth the hassle. There is only a single town and a small handful of dungeons to tackle which quickly become samey regardless of whether the setting is an icy cavern, a volcano or a forest. Towards the end you get to explore a ship, hinting at the quality the game may have offered had it not simply been content to throw self-designing landscapes at the player.

Graphically, Evolution is pretty decent. The cartoon-like designs may not be quite as sharp as Grandia 2's though the characters are large, the town is chocked full of equipment and scenery to examine and the dungeons offer high quality textures and design patterns. The cut-scenes are charming enough and the dialogue often raises a smile, though there is very little in the way of animation - a theme that continues into the battles, which are attractive in the main but rely too much on recycled animations for the various magic attacks and monster designs. One of the better technical points is the fully-rotatable camera, assigned to the L and R triggers, which allow the player unrestricted viewing around Mag, though in truth it is a feature than isn't required a great deal and neither is the 'jump' ability, which feels tacked on as an afterthought, used only briefly in one of the dungeons.

Musically the quality is varied. There are some atmospheric background themes thrumming around in some of the dungeons and the battle theme is rousing enough even if it won't have you humming along to the degree of a Final Fantasy anthem, though for every good tune there's a repetitive one that will really grate on you, and that combined with the basic sound effects, will have many reaching for the mute button.

Evolution is a soundly crafted RPG that is let down by its lack of content, some poor programming choices and frustrating lack of ambition. There's plenty to be positive about as it shows glimpses of real character and impressive environment design, but by taking short-cuts with the random-generating dungeons and the fact you'll breeze through the majority of the game in just a few days, it's hard to recommend except to those who really love their level-grinding.

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