Evie
- February 15, 2018
- chill_my_art
Get on Steam"Evie" is a single-player Horror Simulation game with a wonderful story and good graphics, creating a dense atmosphere. Players discover the haunting tale of Evie, a girl who stumbles upon an abandoned house in a dark forest and uncovers the tragic events of Evie's life through her diaries. This chilling game is a 3-month project by indie developer Yasuka Taira and HS student Kensuke Hayashi.
PC
Windows
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a decent story that is engaging and has a surprising ending.
- Visually appealing with good graphics and atmospheric sound design, creating an eerie environment.
- It's a short experience that can be enjoyable for those looking for a quick narrative-driven game.
- The game is very short, often completed in under an hour, which makes it hard to justify the price.
- Performance issues such as long loading times, crashes, and bugs significantly detract from the experience.
- The storytelling is primarily through scattered notes, which can lead to a disjointed narrative and confusion.
- story65 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's story is primarily conveyed through scattered notes, leading to a disjointed narrative that some players found intriguing while others deemed it confusing and lacking emotional depth. Although there are notable plot twists and a dark, compelling premise, many reviewers felt the execution was hampered by performance issues and a lack of clarity, particularly regarding character motivations and backstory. Overall, while the story has potential and can be engaging, it suffers from pacing and presentation flaws that detract from the overall experience.
“The story itself hits on some great ideas and has some great expression to it, but its presentation is lackluster.”
“Through reading the notes, you piece together a girl's tragic story.”
“The story is fascinating and the atmosphere is spine-chilling; the game was fairly short but very sweet.”
“The gameplay is short and finding the story pages out of sequence means it jumps about and doesn't make sense.”
“There is a story and an ending to the story, but it lacks any emotion for the characters involved.”
“Absolute waste of time like anything Chilla's Arts makes, you start in a forest, make your way to a house, then after a lengthy loading screen you enter the house, the rest of the 'gameplay' involves you looking around the same 3-4 boring rooms reading notes of a very boring story, you then enter a code you got from those notes into a generic lock, and a really lame 'plot twist' terminates the game... all of this in a span of about 15 minutes.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful environments and atmospheric effects, particularly in outdoor settings. However, performance issues, such as crashes and bugs, detract from the experience, and some players find the visuals underwhelming compared to AAA titles. While the graphics are generally considered good for an indie project, compatibility problems on certain hardware can significantly impact gameplay.
“The graphics are awesome, the story is fun, no jump scares but there is that eerie atmosphere.”
“Gorgeous graphics.”
“The atmosphere is fantastic, especially if you like rain, and the graphics look like something from an AAA game.”
“Graphics are alright but there's so little to view it's hard to pay the price even on sale.”
“Graphics are bad, bugs all through the game (getting stuck, walking through doors, opening cabinets through walls, etc.).”
“Almost literally unplayable, it kept freezing at load screens even though my computer can handle resource-intensive graphics.”
- atmosphere16 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is frequently described as eerie and creepy, with impressive graphics and a captivating story that enhances the overall experience. While some players appreciate the spine-chilling ambiance, others feel it lacks depth or engagement, with a few noting the absence of traditional horror elements like jump scares. Overall, the atmosphere is a highlight for many, contributing to a dark and immersive setting, though opinions on its effectiveness vary.
“The graphics are awesome, the story is fun, no jump scares but there is that eerie atmosphere.”
“The story is fascinating and the atmosphere is spine-chilling; the game was fairly short but very sweet.”
“The atmosphere is fantastic, especially if you like rain, and the graphics look like something from a AAA game.”
“There are no scares, and no atmosphere at all.”
“But at no point did I feel drawn in by that sense of atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere is... well...”
- gameplay12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for being short, glitchy, and lacking depth, primarily revolving around exploring a limited environment and reading notes, which leads to a disjointed narrative experience. Many reviewers found the level design and user interface to be poor, resulting in a frustrating experience that feels more like an unfinished project than a polished game. Overall, the gameplay is described as boring and generic, with little to engage players beyond a brief exploration of a few rooms.
“The main gameplay of Evie is simply exploring an apartment and reading notes.”
“As someone who hasn't played any games like this (I've watched people play them), it really helped me understand the mechanics.”
“Simply exploring the very small world was fun and pretty much all the gameplay.”
“The gameplay is short and finding the story pages out of sequence means it jumps about and doesn't make sense.”
“Terrible level design, awful UI and UX, glitchiest gameplay and mechanics a game can ever have; it's a notes reading simulator... it looks like an unfinished project of some curious high school student.”
“Absolute waste of time like anything Chilla's Arts makes; you start in a forest, make your way to a house, then after a lengthy loading screen you enter the house. The rest of the 'gameplay' involves you looking around the same 3-4 boring rooms reading notes of a very boring story, you then enter a code you got from those notes into a generic lock (hint: look for red numbers), and a really lame 'plot twist' terminates the game... all of this in a span of about 15 minutes.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including lag and crashes, which detract from its otherwise impressive visuals and environmental effects. While some players have found improvements with better hardware, the overall performance remains a major concern, reflecting the limitations of a small development team.
“The developers could revisit the game, expand by using the other rooms, fix performance, and improve the flow of the story, but that would take time away from their new games, which are much improved.”
“I understand it comes from a small team with limited resources, but the final product is mediocre at best, mainly due to the performance issues.”
“There are some optimization issues.”
“It has performance issues, with some serious lag and crashes.”
“I do understand it comes from a small team with limited resources, but the final product is mediocre at best, mainly due to the performance issues.”
“The devs could revisit it, expand by using the other rooms, fix performance, fix the flow of the story... but that would take time away from their new games, which are much improved.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for its significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, slow performance, and clunky movements, leading to a generally frustrating experience. Many users feel that the game's quality does not justify its price, describing it as a rough and unpolished product.
“It was way too buggy, very slow and clunky movements, bland environments, but the story was okay with a shocking ending I wasn't expecting.”
“4/10 rough and buggy and not worth the price, sadly.”
“I let the quality of the title screen and screenshots lead me to believe this would be more than the buggy learning project it turned out to be.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is described as having a touching yet dark story, but it is undermined by a lack of depth and engagement, with gameplay that feels repetitive and unfulfilling. Players express disappointment over the brevity and execution of the narrative, which diminishes its potential impact.
“The story is touching but also dark.”
“Absolute waste of time like anything Chilla's Arts makes. You start in a forest, make your way to a house, then after a lengthy loading screen, you enter the house. The rest of the gameplay involves you looking around the same 3-4 boring rooms, reading notes of a very boring story. You then enter a code you got from those notes into a generic lock (hint: look for red numbers), and a really lame plot twist terminates the game... all of this in a span of about 15 minutes.”
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The music in the game is minimal but effectively enhances the overall atmosphere, contributing to the enticing story and visually appealing graphics, despite the short playtime of around 30 minutes.
“It's going to be short (around 30 minutes), but the graphics are very pretty, the background music and atmosphere are nice, and the story is very enticing.”
“The music is minimal and lacks variety, making it feel repetitive.”
“I found the soundtrack to be quite sparse, which detracted from the overall experience.”
“The minimalistic approach to the music left me wanting more depth and engagement.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users indicate that "Evie" lacks replayability due to its static code, which does not change between playthroughs, resulting in a predictable experience.
“Evie is not replayable at all because the code stays the same.”
“Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to play through it again.”
“The lack of varied outcomes makes replaying the game feel tedious and uninteresting.”
