Neon Genesis Evangelions (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン2, "Shin Seiki Evangelion 2"?) is a Japanese video game for the PlayStation 2 which was developed by Alfa System and published by Bandai. It has RPG and world-controlling elements, and allows the player to follow a number of characters (such as Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu, Pen², etc.) through multiple versions of the main plot of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. The PlayStation Portable port was released 2006-04-27 as Neon Genesis Evangelions -another cases-.
The 24 topics were named in total "Classified Information" (Kimitsu Jouhou). The topics considerably expand upon the back-story: Adam and Lilith are settlers sent to Earth in what would become Earth's moon by a "First Ancestral Race", with "Seeds" and Spears of Longinus. The various Angels seek out the Black Moon of Lilith because they are seeking Lilith, or Adam; and so on. While the information seems to have been based on extensive interviews with Hideaki Anno, creator of the franchise, the involvement of the original Gainax staff was limited to the Classified Information material, whereas the scenarios contained within the game are "established for the game"[1] according to the developers. Gainax continuously states that all necessary information has been provided in the series and film.[2][3]
Besides the additional information, Evangelions also introduced a number of additions like F-type Equipment and the final products of the Jet Alone project (as in some storylines, the A HUMAN WORK episode does not end in the cancellation of the Jet Alone project), and includes several "Scenarios", including of comedic value, that disregard canon. Only Scenario 01, one of Shinji's scenarios, follows the series' own storyline relatively closely.
Gameplay
The player controls the Eva walking around a large map, until they run into an enemy. The player is then given a list of action commands which they can choose to attack the enemy. Once one of the action commands is chosen, a sequence will be shown, created by CGI depicting the attack. This was one of the most praised elements of the game. The game also has story arcs in which the player has a list of playable characters to choose from, to play as in the story mode. For example, the 3 main characters Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, and Asuka Langley Soryu, are available from the start. More are unlocked as various game events are triggered.
Reception
The game sold 27,583 copies the week of its release.[4]
References
- ↑ Alpha Systems (the developers of the game) claim the information in the Classified Information files is reliable, while Gainax themselves states all the information fans need to know is already available in the show and films: "Enough information has been provided in the TV series and film. These are just the settings established for the game". So while the CI themselves might be considered reliable, the many alternative scenarios should probably be disconsidered much like the many alternative scenarios present in other licenced video games and visual novels. - http://forum.evageeks.org/post/368618/Reconsidering-the-NGE2-PS2-P-Games-Canonicity/#368618
- ↑ http://www.cjas.org/~echen/articles/spring97/05_03b.html
- ↑ To solve the mysteries you must understand the world of Eva itself The Eva 2 game draws you into the world of Eva once again. During production, the developers did their best to understand everything about Eva, and tried to incorporate what they learned into the game. Without their efforts, it would've been impossible to re-create the world of Eva. Hiroshi Shibamura of Alfa System prepared a thick questionnaire and conducted an interview with Hideaki Anno, the director of both the TV series and the films, that lasted more than ten hours. The interview included questions such as, "What do you think about each of the Gundam series?" (to help program the "Anno AI" in the game) and "What was the first Angel?" (to further understand the story behind Eva). Director Anno and his staff answered the questions frankly, and the game reflects that.However, it won't be easy to find answers. The quickest way to gather clues is to play the game repeatedly in as many different roles as possible. There are some deceptive characters, such as Gendou (you can never tell whether he's telling the truth). And after all of the hard work, much of the information obtained may turn out to be contradictory or just plain false. That is because a correct answer from the standpoint of one particular character isn't necessarily correct from the standpoint of another. On the other hand, mystery-solving is only a part of it. Instead of trying so hard to find the right answers, just keep playing around in the puzzling world of Eva to discover clues about the "Official Answer," which GAINAX is said to have presented in the game. - Newtype USA, Jan 2004
- ↑ http://www.famitsu.com/game/rank/top30/2003/12/10/120,1071046099,19049,0,0.html
External links
- Official PS2 Site
- Official PSP Site
- IGN: PS2 PSP
- Classified Information translation + Japanese source text
- Short description of game
- Entry at Gamefaqs.com