''Ever Oasis'' is an

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

Grezzo is a Japanese video game developer. It was founded in December 2006. Koichi Ishii, known for his work on the ''Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyon ...

and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the cons ...

. Revealed at

E3 2016 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 (E3 2016) was the 22nd E3, during which several hardware manufacturers and software developers and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily re ...

, the game was released in North America, Europe, and Australia in June 2017 and in Japan the following month. It was directed and produced by

Koichi Ishii , sometimes credited as Kouichi Ishii, is a video game designer perhaps best known for creating the ''Mana (series), Mana'' series (known as ''Seiken Densetsu'' in Japan). He joined Square (video game company), Square (now Square Enix) in 1987, wh ...

, the creator of the

Chocobo The is a fictional species created for the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise by Square Enix (originally Square). A galliform bird commonly having yellow feathers, they were first introduced in ''Final Fantasy II'' (1988), and have since featured in ...

and

Moogle are a fictional species of diminutive, sentient creatures and a recurring element of the ''Final Fantasy'' video game franchise, starting with their initial appearance in ''Final Fantasy III''. They also appear in the ''Mana'' and ''Kingdom He ...

as well as the ''

Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

'' series at

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

. The story sees the player character, a young Seedling born from the Great Tree, working together with a water spirit to build the last oasis in a vast desert and helping out new residents along the way. The gameplay blends

action role-playing An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

elements with town management and dungeon crawling. Upon release, critical reception was generally positive, with points of praise going to the presentation and feedback loop of town building and management.

Plot

''Ever Oasis'' tells the story of Tethu/Tethi, a young Seedling, who with the help of a Water Spirit named Esna creates an oasis after Tethu/Tethi's brother, Nour, gets kidnapped and the Oasis falls to Chaos. As the player journeys to find more residents, they fight the creatures that have been taken over by Chaos. On the adventure, the player discover several villages belonging to other races, such as the Drauk, the Serkah and the Lagora. Together with new allies, the player must work together with them to create the perfect Oasis as Tethu/Tethi continues to uncover the mystery of what happened to his/her brother.

Gameplay

In the game, players try to build a prosperous oasis by completing missions in dungeons and caves in the desert. Players can form a party of up to three characters and battle enemies that are possessed by Chaos in real-time combat with the ability to switch between three party members. Players can forage for materials in caves and puzzle-filled dungeons that can be used to restock Bloom Booths. The Bloom Booths can produce Dewadems, which are a form of currency. Other Seedlings can join the player's oasis and can create their own unique Bloom Booth, ''which'' can be ranked up through restocking and completing quests. There are some Seedlings, however, that cannot create Bloom Booths. Members of other tribes who the players meet in their journey can help by joining on missions and exploring for materials. These materials can also be used to synthesize equipment and items at the player's treehouse. The game is influenced by ancient Egyptian aesthetics. It is considered a spiritual successor to the ''Mana'' series.

Development

''Ever Oasis'' was announced at

. An announcement trailer was shown and a demo with mission gameplay was played on stream, although the game was not playable for the public at the event. A free demo was made available to the public at

E3 2017 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 (E3 2017) was the 23rd E3, during which hardware manufacturers and software developers and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

. The demo was also released on the

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

Reception

''Ever Oasis'' received mainly positive reviews from critics, based on 52 reviews on Metacritic. It also received 8.9 out of 10 from IGN. Brendan Graeber of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

called the gameplay "fun instead of tedious". The game received a 5.5 out of 10 from

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

with writer Allegra Frank citing low difficulty and shallow gameplay as issues with the game.

References

External links

* {{Mana series 2017 video games Action role-playing video games Fantasy video games Nintendo 3DS games Nintendo 3DS-only games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo games Role-playing video games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in the Middle East Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender