Posted in Review, might start more discussion here

Post by **MSG Commander** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 4:28 am

Simple, yet Elegant

It took me awhile to get around to playing this game. At first I was turned off by the graphics, and reviews that said it was basically just an RPG Maker-type game. I will admit the graphics and the menus in the game are not much to look at - however, I found the game itself to be incredibly rewarding.

About the Game

Eve of the Genesis is really quite simple in all aspects - graphics, battle system, story, skill growth, dungeons, etc. There are no side quests, no difficult puzzles to solve, no shocking plot twists. It's a very linear game, and while some people may not like that, in this game I find that it actually works quite well.

In my opinion, the game works because everything is so simple and basic. It's easy to find your way around, to know where you're supposed to go next, and to follow the basic (but not entirely rewarding) plot.

If you were to compare the game to something like Alphadia Genesis, Revenant Saga, or Asdivine Hearts, you wouldn't even think it was released by the same company. However, taken at face value Eve of the Genesis is a fun and rewarding game - provided you don't expect much in the way of challenges or surprises.

Battle System

Most random encounters provide just a small bit of challenge. You can usually Auto very encounter, but in many locations you'll fare better if you use your skills and just the slightest bit of strategy. Random encounters are fairly easy, but some of the bosses are more difficult.

One thing to be aware of is if your party dies in battle, it's Game Over. There's no "try again" or restart from an earlier point in the dungeon - it's back to the Title, and Load from your last Save. If you're not used to saving the game regularly this can be frustrating, however the game will almost always prompt you to save before a Boss encounter anyway, so this shouldn't be a big problem.

The Story

2,000 years ago, the world was run by machines and humans were slaves. Humanity defeated the machines, but now they're starting to appear in various locations, and it's up to you to track them down and stop them from taking over the world.

The main characters are Harty, Effat, Clia and Viper. None of them are very compelling, but they each have a bit of their own personality. (But, in a short game like this, that's all you really need.)

As I said there are no big plot twists or surprises, but even so the story is enjoyable, and the game moves well from each location to the next.

Skills and Equipment

Skills are strengthened using Reinforcing Gems, which must be found in treasures or dropped by certain monsters. (You can buy Gems, but not until the end of the game.) There are more availabe skills than you will ever use in one play-through, and with no information it's easy to wind up with a bunch of skills you don't actually need.

Weapons and armor are available in towns or in treasures. Generally, each town that has an Equipment Shop has stronger gear than the town before. You don't have to upgrade in every town but you will want to at least check out what each town has to offer.

Side Quests

The only real "side quest" in the game is collecting ooparts - ancient relics that add nothing to the game, except that each one contains some sort of skill strengthening Gem. Some of them are hard to find, so trying to collect all 16 will add a bit of a challenge to the game.

Final Boss

While it's true for most of the game, the monsters are not a big challenge, the Final Boss is quite another story. Even at high levels there's a chance he'll kill one or more of your party members (save all your Elixirs for this battle, just in case!) You don't need to have a great strategy to beat the boss, but you will want to be prepared for a battle that could last up ten minutes or more.

After the Boss, there's another two hours or so worth of bonus content, which is fun but nothing really amazing. (Nothing like the bonus content in the Asdivine games, for example.)

Overall

Overall if you can accept that everything about the game is basic and simple, and go into it expecting a fun, casual experience, this game is very rewarding. (Unlike some games where it looks like there may be more to the story, but then the plot line falls flat, here you know there's nothing amazing about it, and the game never leads you in a direction where you're expecting more than what's actually delivered.)

I would say this game is about as basic as you can get, and still be enjoyable.

In full disclosure, I got this game when it was Amazon's Free App of the Day, but I would gladly pay for it. I may not pay the full price of $7.99 (given that other Kemco games are 2.99 to 3.99 on Google Play), but if the game is ever on sale, I highly recommend it. Even at $7.99 it may still be worth the price, if you know what you're getting into.

Nemomon · Post by **Nemomon** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 6:03 am

I did not played this game, though a couple of times I was thinking about it. Dunno why, but maybe I was kind of tired of Symphony games, and it looked like this game. But I just launched it, and I think I was thinking about another game. Once I will finish Alphadia, I might start playing this, because it doesn't look that bad either.

Post by **Azyleo** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:44 am

Its not bad at all. The simplistic plot, and the ganeplay really latched onto me. I had been playing so many convoluted RPGs before this, but this in all aspects is enjoyable. Only the battle pacing is a tad slow , otherwise if End of Aspiration was like this, it might have gotten a better review.

Post by **MSG Commander** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 12:10 pm

I agree on End of Aspiration.

At first glimpse, it looks like a follow-on to Eve of the Genesis. It has the same basic game mechanics, only they added the Guardian Beasts. But the story - plus the fact that the enemies are the "Mafia" - well, to put it mildly it's just too cheesy.

In my opinion, End of Aspiration could be worth playing once (if you've got nothing better to do), but Eve of the Genesis has excellent replay value.

sigfried · Post by **sigfried** » Wed May 02, 2018 12:13 am

eve of the genesis look like to be a sequel to links of heart. there are people of the moon and the way they came to earth is very similar to what happened in this game.

regarding end of aspiration, it's maybe another topic but i really liked it. it was smooth, short and fun to play and the psp version was inferior to the android one, even if it adds a poor area with some random chests in it. the psp version was harder though to complete and less fun to play.