If you remember experiencing hallucinations after playing Guitar Hero for too long, then indie RPG Everhood will bring back those memories with a jolt. Publisher Foreign Gnomes has announced the title’s release on PC and Nintendo Switch on March 4, which promises to deliver one trippy adventure.
Everhood’s wacky premise revolves around protagonist Red - an animated wooden doll who is rudely awakened to find their arm has been stolen by a conniving dwarf. So far, so bizarre. Unfazed by the limb theft, Red proceeds to undertake a mind-bending journey to retrieve the missing arm. You will meet a slew of dream-like characters throughout the game's fantasy kingdom environment, and some of the images featured in the trailer are quite nightmarish - be warned.
While Everhood’s narrative is a little mind-numbing to contemplate, it does borrow two specific styles from two very different games. Toby Fox’s Undertale is the first title that springs to mind, when the indie’s pixelated graphics are on show. Everhood’s roster full of odd characters - including a sentient ATM, a banjo-playing frog, and a “nearly-nude” knight - is reminiscent of Undertale’s peculiarity, but the real similarities lie in the soundtrack. Undertale’s music is iconic, and Everhood does a great job at repeating this feat in its own respective title. Its upbeat, catchy score also aids its peculiar combat mechanic, which reminds us of another game entirely.
Shown in its announcement trailer, the unconventional adventure has the exact same design in its combat phase as Guitar Hero. The protagonist can be seen jumping from side-to-side on a platform - similar to Guitar Hero’s fret - aiming to hit the colored bars that travel towards the screen. Hitting the colored lines impacts the boss situated at the back of the screen, and although it’s a crazy idea, it looks really intriguing.
Everhood is another title to feature a spider boss - a multi-eyed, grinning arachnid that looks like Pride out of Fullmetal Alchemist, and a giant nope. Another game to feature a spider worth avoiding is sci-fi platformer Lunark. This green and purple mutant has pus-filled sacks to blast and hand-like pincers to dodge, however, it is an effective boss battle to conclude the game’s demo.