Everafter Falls (Nintendo Switch) – The test

Halfway between the imaginary and the real, there is a land where life is good. The inhabitants are friendly, the setting flourishing, and there is no shortage of work (you have to fill your plate). Froma kickstarter campaign, We were eager to discover Everafter Falls. Now that we have done so, we are giving you all our impressions of this title.

Developed by SquareHusky and published by Akupara Games, the beginnings are classic but always enjoyable. The player can indeed customize his character and choose the size of his future farm. Finally, let's point out that it is possible to play two people on the title. Everafter Falls opens with a car accident. It is therefore not about taking over your grandfather's abandoned farm, or joining your uncle who needs a helping hand… but rather an atypical awakening in a small house that is still quite empty but nevertheless warm by the sweet presence of two friends; Dogue (a dog) and Fynn (a frog). With astonishment, you then discover that everything you know so far (with cute references to Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley or even Harvest Moon which becomes Harvest Moule!) is just a decoy. All these life simulations do not really exist, and real life begins now.

Animal Croquing

In broad outline, Everafter Falls is indeed similar to the famous titles. However, you will have to do more on your own in order to understand all the game mechanics. A small pet is there to lend you a hand: essential to start with for the crops, it is he who supports you upon your arrival in order to prepare the land, plow, water… You just have to give him the instructions, or rather, simply press the Y button and everything is automatic. A virgin soil will become a land suitable for planting, the plants will be watered, etc. On the other hand, this companion can only receive one order at a time, with a limited number of action boxes. However, his skills are likely to be improved according to the player's priorities. Quickly, he will have many other activities than crops… which can be helped thanks to drones.

These improvements are nonetheless atypical since they are based on cards, with a detailed description of their characteristics. We quickly acquired our first card (rainy weather at least every 6 days, yes we can be a bit lazy about harvests at NT!). Except that once we had the card in our pocket, we didn't really know what to do… the title suggested we eat it… fairly circumspect about this strange proposition, we chose to make this card our snack, hoping not to lose its benefit. Quite the opposite: you really have to eat the cards to obtain their powers. Surprising, but why not! Many cards are to be discovered within the title: targeted at the animal but also at the player. A printing press is available in a corner of the village: you already understand the whole point.

The printing shop is far from the only shop available. A visit to the city is one of your first activities.

A quick tour of the place

The city has many homes and shops: the printing house, but also the pet shop, the boutique, the seed shop, the forge… regulars will quickly find their bearings. On the other side of the city, a vast museum sits near a pretty fountain. This museum works as usual: all new entities are welcome (and quickly visible in the inventory by a small annotation), whether they are animal, floral or even mineral. When a category is completed, a reward is offered.

The player begins his adventure in a fairly basic house, but we can only imagine its potential. Decorations and fittings are to come… not to mention expansions. Animals are also part of the game, and different buildings for them are available.

After having toured the inhabited areas, the player is free to go to more remote areas. The beach is perfect for collecting a good number of shells, to catch a few fish. The fishing mini-game is also quite unusual since it involves stopping two spinners at the right time so that the hook catches the fish. Not easy… but once again, improvements are available (the trick is to understand how to activate them…): the spinning can thus be slowed down.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the mini-games weren't limited to fishing (which isn't all that fun though…). For example, after completing a quest, we actually put ourselves in the shoes of a waitress, able to serve the few customers of a pretty cafeteria. A little lost at first (uh, how do you make these recipes?), we quickly got the hang of it and quickly served the few dishes requested. Everafter Falls thus has many surprises in order to keep players interested.

Some areas are not accessible at the start of the game: blocked by a large stone or simply by a tree stump that is too hard to be broken with a simple axe, you will have to work to clear these passages…

Work and help your neighbor

Everafters Falls of course offers many quests: directly from the villagers, notice boards… the general menu offers a lot of information that we strongly advise you to consult regularly. It is notably written there when a villager requires your services: hop so go visit him!

A map is available and allows you to “easily” find the inhabitants. The player will nevertheless not fail to spend long minutes on this map in order to scroll through all the inhabitants and find the right one… indeed, the ergonomics of the general menu is hardly ideal and we would have appreciated more simplicity at this level. The map is thus surrounded on its left by all the villagers, and on its right by the different shops.

The general menu allows you to access current quests, character equipment and some statistics… but also the precious inventory. Its accessibility is nevertheless quite annoying since it is necessary to slide your cursor to the bottom of the screen to reach it. All the while knowing that the menu opens on the map and the selection of the villager… not very practical all that.

The menu is also the source of some constructions: don't hesitate to carefully dissect all the first ones available. A little too impatient, we hardly paid attention to the fact that we had to build a machine for making ropes and so we wandered from shop to shop in vain…! The constructions require a few resources, more and more precious. The simplest are, as always, wood and stones, which you will quickly find by knocking down a few trees with your axe, or a few rocks with your pickaxe. The others will require more time, with many quests and surprises unlocking over the days and seasons of the title.

From season to season

Cultures, but also festivals and other festivities are inherent to the seasons. Time passes on the title, with of course an alternation of the cycle of day and night. Nevertheless, we were VERY satisfied not to be subjected to an energy bar that empties in a few blows of the pickaxe. Everafter Falls leaves this aspect aside and the player is free to carry out all the tasks of his choice during the allotted time of the day. Ahhh how nice! Once the time to rest has arrived, it is possible to put a few logs in the fireplace in order to have a particularly cozy atmosphere in the house and thus sleep a restful sleep. Waking up will be all the more comfortable…

Each day that passes highlights some new tasks with event triggers but also constructions that little by little become achievable.

Life on Everafter Falls is not just about frolicking on your crops, catching butterflies, having a little chat and fishing when the weather permits. Indeed, from the very first moments on the game, the player notices the presence of a sword in his gear: there is no doubt that it is not here simply to cut the grass that is too high! After a short walk, the dungeons become accessible. Do not be fooled by the very cute side of the title, the enemies can be tougher than expected! We also lost our lives there… to find it, it is necessary to spend precious hard-earned coins. But life goes on…

The little beasts

Animals are a big part of Everafter Falls. From the very beginning, the pet is put forward. Quickly, the pet shop presents its entire menagerie… and the villagers themselves are nothing more than a developed bestiary!

The museum allows you to have a quick overview of the species available before even coming across them… aquarium and terrarium complete the package.

Other tiny creatures, much more unexpected, complete the surrounding fauna. Quite mystical, the pixies (doesn't that remind you of a song…?!) are tiny entities, of various colors, capable of helping you in various ways. The green pixies, to start, will harvest wood for you. The blue pixies will be just as capable but with more mineral resources. This is a charming discovery which, without revolutionizing the genre, brings a certain wind of novelty.

Target

Everafter Falls is not for all players. Its cute but above all very calm universe could seduce all lovers of relaxing adventures, while others will find the progression rather slow and boring.

There are a few minor bugs to note, with a few lines of code that persist. A quick update could smooth this out. On the other hand, we had to restart the game several times after leaving it on standby. Fortunately, saving every night allows you to recover your progress without too much loss.

Loading times are uneven. Some slowdowns persist, but it is above all the arrival on the title that surprises by its slowness… to fear that the game will never launch!

As stated many times in this review, Everafter Falls regularly lacks guidelines, advice, and explanations in order to fully understand what is expected by the player. A certain annoyance is therefore to be expected, or rather, self-control is necessary in order to take this aspect lightly. We admit to having complained more than once: but why doesn't it work? But what does he want in the end? The player is therefore invited to rummage through the title in its entirety. We cannot blame it for its content, which despite a very smooth appearance in many areas, remains very consistent, especially at this price. Everafter Falls is indeed available on the eShop Nintendo Switch for less than 17 euros.

Did you know ?
If you like the Everafter Falls soundtrack, you should know that we owe it to Tim Carlos, whose official page is just HERE.