E3 2016: Ever Oasis Announced for 3DS

The action-RPG game by GREZZO (makers of Majora’s Mask 3DS) will be released in 2017.

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During the Nintendo Treehouse’s live event this E3, we were met with a surprise announcement: Ever Oasis, a new 3DS action-RPG adventure, helmed by Koichi Ishii, founder of GREZZO and a man with hands in Final Fantasy I, II, III, XI Online, the Mana series, and responsible for the Chocobo and Moogle’s designs as well as the job system in the Final Fantasy series.

If that’s not a pedigree to pique your interest, then you’re not playing the right JRPGs.

Ever Oasis is a brand new IP that is set it a desert world in which you’re a Chosen Seedling capable of sprouting an entire Oasis.  This safe haven will act as your home base during your adventures, as you build it up with shops (called Bloom Booths) and allies.  You’ll spend time there investing in the Bloom Booths for larger returns- you won’t actually be purchasing equipment there yourself- visiting with the locals in search of side quests, and crafting new equipment for your party.

The rest of the game takes place in dungeons, where Chaos has been spreading, taking over the dessert and turning once harmless creatures into monsters.  Players will fight their way through dungeons and solve puzzles in order to progress, fighting tainted bosses at the end in order to bring peace back to the world.

The puzzles themselves are based around your party members’ abilities.  You can only bring three with you into a dungeon at a time, where you’ll run into obstacles you may not be able to pass yet, until you meet the right wanderer and gain the right ability.  The main character, for example, is able to blow wind that can uncover treasure beneath piles of sand.  A dragon lizard named Miura uses her spear to prop up heavy objects to create new paths, while another seedling named Roto can turn into a rolling pellet in order to sneak through small spaces.

These different characters are also unique in battle: each one has different weapons with varying strengths and weaknesses.  Miura’s spear, for example, deals more damages to enemies like the Spikydillo- an armadillo with spiky armor, as you might imagine.  Roto, meanwhile, uses a bola in combat, more effective against the shown dungeon’s final boss.  Their abilities come into play during battle as well.  The main character’s wind can blow away sand hiding enemy weak points, while doing consistent damage as it goes.  Players will be able to swap between their three party members on the fly, utilizing each of their strengths in combat and in puzzle-solving.  But if you run into an obstacle your party members aren’t prepared for, you’ll have to head back to the oasis, change out your team members, and trek out anew.  Discovering new wanderers to make your allies might mean heading back to old dungeons to find new paths and new treasures.

The game also features night and day mechanics- at night, shops close in the oasis and dungeons see different enemy types which generally make battles tougher.

Ever Oasis features a vibrant aesthetic that won’t be unfamiliar to players of Nintendo DS JRPGs, but the intriguing character designs and inspirations taken from Egyptian mythology combine to help it stand out.  GREZZO’s work on porting Majora’s Mask to the 3DS shows- the worlds are superbly modeled and full of details.

Ever Oasis will launch in 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS.  For more information, and to see the game in action, be sure to check out Nintendo’s Treehouse footage.