My summer replay of Elden Ring triggered memories of an obscure PlayStation 2 game from 2000 called Evergrace. When I went online to see if anyone else had made the connection between Elden Ring and Evergrace, I was surprised to find that I seem to be one of the few people who remember this game. I did some deep digging and ended up writing an essay for Sidequest about why Evergrace is a forgotten FromSoft classic worthy of critical attention. Here’s an except:
Even in this brief description of the setting of Evergrace, FromSoft fans will notice various seeds of worldbuilding that have since sprouted into more developed forms in later titles, from the Darksign marking the Chosen Undead player-character in Dark Souls to the queen imprisoned in the towering Erdtree in Elden Ring. As I read about Evergrace, I was fascinated by the earlier forms of signature FromSoft leitmotifs that appear in the game, just as I was intrigued by its challenging elements of gameplay that would later evolve into the characteristic trademark of the Soulslike genre of video games.
You can read the full essay on Sidequest here:
https://sidequest.zone/2023/09/25/evergrace-a-forgotten-fromsoft-classic/
I’d love to write a substantial academic article about Evergrace, but I’m hindered by the fact that I can’t actually play the game without investing in a desktop computer that can run a PlayStation 2 emulator. Hopefully this essay presents a strong argument for textual documentation of classic titles, as well as freely accessible video game archives.
Digital Fantasy Diary 