
partner, but Ever Oasis is generous with fast travel, making it easy to swap out for a different partner without a lot of backtracking or loading. This has the potential to be frustrating, making a long trip only to learn you needed a different A.I. Puzzle solving in the assorted caves and dungeons of Ever Oasis mostly involves making sure you have the right partners with you. This is not a mindless action/RPG, and I enjoyed carefully identifying attack and dodge windows.

I died often early on in my playthrough, and it made me appreciate the calculated combat. Merely pressing the attack button repeatedly leads to an early death using your few combos well is important, and roll-dodging is crucial. In town, I mostly check in on stores and residents to see what is needed, but beyond the oasis is a fun action game with periodic puzzle solving. I liked seeing my oasis and individual stores grow and change as I built up a small army of powerful residents to take with me into the wild.

Everything grows in Ever Oasis at a steady pace, and the rewards for hitting each level are worthwhile. You grow stronger and become a better fighter, the individual residents level up, the shops level up, and even the oasis itself levels up. Many aspects of your character and town can be expanded and leveled up. partners to find inventory for the shops, fight the monsters, and track down those without a home. To make your town grow and keep your residents happy, you venture out with two A.I. You lend assistance where it is needed, help the stores stay in business, and collect a small tax for your hard work.

In some ways, you are the hands-on king of your oasis. The game finds a smart balance of simulation and action RPG mechanics, but struggles somewhat in its attempts to craft a believable world that feels alive. You do this by alternating between growing and managing your oasis and the people who live in it, and venturing outside to combat the creatures infected by chaos. Your job is to create a sanctuary that the scared people of the world can call home. The world surrounding your oasis home is under attack by an ambiguous evil called chaos that infects the nearby land and the creatures that inhabit it. Not quite human, not quite animal, but capable of establishing and growing an oasis in the middle of a desert.
