Everhood (Nintendo Switch) Review

BIZARRE, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, AND DELIGHTFUL

One look at Everhood from Foreign Gnomes and Surefire Games will likely draw comparisons to the indie bombshell Undertale. Clearly, Everhood took inspiration from Undertale but Everhood stands out on its own as a wildly entertaining, thoughtful, unconventional RPG that is definitely worth playing. 

Fair warning, much like with our review of Sky Racket, Everhood features a visual style that could be harmful to people with photosensitivity. This game features bizarre visual patterns and filters that can be really intense. I found myself taking breaks when playing Everhood, more so than I have with most games. The visuals were especially intense when playing at night via handheld mode on the Switch and I really struggled with the racing mini-game. 

Warnings aside, let’s dive into why Everhood is special. 

Everhood puts players in the role of Red, a puppet that has lost an arm to a squirrely Blue Thief. Chasing down this thief reveals one of the lords over this strange world, Gold Pig, who fits into the mizerly beast trope found in stories like “Dune” and is visually comparable to Ganon of The Legend of Zelda. Seeing an enemy in the Gold Pig and wanting to gain the arm back, Red sets off on an adventure through a bizarre world where a cast of zany characters live their weird lives. 

Walking around the game’s world is pretty similar to Undertale in the sense that, for the most part, the player is exploring small environments, talking with various characters, and engaging in battles. Outside of that, there is a driving mini-game that is similar to classic arcade racing games like OutRun and a few battles that take place in a top-down perspective. This is all standard fare for a game like this but where Everhood stands out is the unique approach to RPG battles. 

For most of the game, Red is armless and must instead focus on surviving waves of attacks and wait for enemies to tire. Five lanes appear with various music notes flying towards the player. Dodging and jumping around feels snappy and getting through a sticky situation feels amazing. It is a little weird to react to the notes and rhythms, rather than trying to hit them on the beat. My years of playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero betrayed me here in Everhood. Thankfully there are various difficulty modes to explore with a few additional secret fights that provide a satisfying challenge. 

Taking part in musical battles would be a paltry experience if missing the most crucial component, music. Everhood absolutely succeeds in this regard. The soundtrack is full of just amazing songs, covering a few genres, but mostly fitting into a trippy rock opera. It was always exciting to get to the next battle because I was eager to hear the next song. Thankfully, the developers uploaded the game’s soundtrack as a purchasable extra and on streaming services, namely Spotify. 

There is a really fun section where Red plays a tabletop RPG, complete with hilarious jokes about the impromptu nature of being a dungeon master. This arc introduces the player to the ability to fight back, catching two notes of the same color and reflecting that energy back at the enemy. Getting this skill feels empowering! Throughout the whole game up to this point, Red was forced to avoid notes but now he can strategically snag colors to deal damage. This is but a taste of that power though; outside of Red’s tabletop game, he still lacks his arm.

This is where, mechanically, the game really started to click for me. 

Mastering this combat system feels awesome and there were some battles that had me repeatedly facing what seemed like an insurmountable wall. Overcoming those extra battles were moments of triumph. I’m sure there is a fight or two I haven’t seen yet, which means one day I’ll return to Everhood. 

Once Red reaches Gold Pig, after a somber walk through a vast desert, the game’s objective changes to be more philosophical, steadily revealing that there is more to this game than a strange fantasy. I have some theories that I won’t disclose here because the experience is full of really amazing moments, so please if the game sounds interesting already go download it as soon as you can. The whole game can be completed in under ten hours easily, although there is one crazy moment that can add to that time. Let’s just say that it is worth knowing what’s at the end of the hallway. 

Unfortunately, Everhood is not a masterpiece that will rival the most decorated games in the indie space. There are a few notable flaws holding it back.

For starters, the game expects the player to care deeply for the cast but there is just not enough build-up for that to be earned. I would have loved to have more social interactions and for the cast to be more fleshed out. Some of them are standouts but it still feels shallow compared to other titles. I was also not a fan of the racing mini-game; it really hurt my eyes to look at it and I think this has to do more with the high speed and weird perspective because I don’t have this issue with similar racing titles. I also would’ve loved for the overworld movement to be smoother, with a dedicated run button for easy access. There’s also a trap section in a lab that makes the overworld controls feel like a huge hindrance; that level does not compliment the movement design at all. 

Should the development team further explore this idea in a sequel or expanded version of the game, we could have another indie titan. As it stands, Everhood is still a must-play for most players. It is a super unique audio-visual experience that can only be accomplished in games. The exploratory writing goes into some thought-provoking areas that are worth delving deeper into. I really enjoyed playing sections of Everhood alongside Joe (who reviewed the game on Marooners’ Rock) and trying various things to see what secrets we could uncover. There are a lot of clever moments to be found. 

All in all, Everhood is a weird game worth experiencing. 

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 8/10

VISUALS - 7/10

SOUND - 10/10

CONTROLS - 6/10

REPLAY VALUE - 9/10

OVERALL - 8/10

Learn more about Everhood on the official website. A digital Switch copy was provided for the purpose of review. Screenshots were captured through native Switch features.

For more strange gaming, read our review of No More Heroes or No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle on Switch. For another RPG with a unique battle system, check out our review of One Step from Eden on Steam.