Published when Nintendo Switch was already on sale, it served for the Japanese studio to experiment with a work that took a bit of everything.
Grezzo works on a “medieval” and “elegant” video game. That is what we have known a few days ago through a job offer. The authors of the Ocarina of Time remakes, Majora’s Mask and Link’s Awakening are also creators of Ever Oasis, a video game that went unnoticed on Nintendo 3DS; one of those overshadowed by Nintendo Switch having been published after the launch of the hybrid.
After the premiere of Link’s Awakening, what will you be working on? The first thing to say is that it cannot be taken for granted that they are making a video game by or for Nintendo; They are not first party, but what is usually called second party, but what is usually called second party. They can operate for third parties, such as Game Freak or HAL Laboratory, even though they have a close relationship with the great N.
Ever Oasis, a refined combination of concepts
Grezzo is a small company, but it is not tiny. Time passes quickly, they are no longer rookies. On its website, the studio founded by Koichi Ishii in 2006 now has, after more than three decades, 68 employees. Their status as an independent studio and the bulk of their staff allows them to work for different studios, carry out commissions, such as the recent The Alliance Alive for FurYu and Arc of Alchemist for Compile Heart.
Ever Oasis, the main title here, is an RPG of adventure, action, management and with social simulation components. A kind of meeting between The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Street Pass, Fantasy Life and other titles like that. The work gives off an effort to tell a good story and, even deep, it did not get off the ground on that slope, with the absence of unexpected turns and the feeling of not having taken advantage of the opportunity to further exploit its amazing world.
Because if Ever Oasis stood out for something, it is because of the construction of its universe, of the care given to the care of the oasis; very personal and idiosyncratic. But why did the Nintendo 3DS community like it? Because it works. It works because what we do for the world has a direct impact on other citizens; because his story, even simple, is effective; because combat, adapted to the commands of a portable console, was concerned with being colorful and fun. He got it. In addition, its dungeons followed the classic scheme of the Zelda and Final Fantasy of the nineties, with a search for keys to open doors, chests, bosses … Also its combat system, similar to Ocarina and Majora (with camera fixation included).
What’s behind Grezzo and who are its main figures
Ever Oasis’ reminiscences of other old-school RPGs in terms of dungeon design and progress are relevant. It is a video game that did not have to prove anything to anyone and has become one of those forgotten, highly recommended works of the Nintendo 3DS exclusive library. It is true that not all these ideas work in the same way, there are problems of rhythm, monotony and the player needs to do his part in the first hours, until he takes off; but the role of Koichi Ishii, its director, shows.
He was one of the lead designers on the Secret of Mana series (Seiken Densetsu) and joined Square in 1987 to actively participate in creative decisions regarding the design of the SaGA and Final Fantasy series; where the creation of the Chocobo stands out. That stage ended in 2006, shortly before he entered Grezzo a year later. Following Line Attack Heroes for Wii, where he served as Senior Producer, Ishii became lead producer on both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, the celebrated remakes of The Legend of Zelda series for Nintendo 3DS released in 2011 and 2015, respectively. .
Grezzo gained prestige and reputation since then. They also did the anniversary edition of Four Swords for 3DS and Street Pass’s Flower Town; only something was missing. It was necessary to stop being pigeonholed in the figure of remakes or accessory products of applications already created. 2015 came, when after recovering Majora’s Mask they began to work in Ever Oasis. This time the role of Koichi would be superlative: not only was he going to be a producer, but the artistic direction and general direction would fall on him. His game, in other words, and hence the amalgamation of genres, elements from previous projects, ideas and concepts congenial to each other.
The future of Grezzo is unknown, beyond what we have commented, and that opens the doors to two possibilities: encompass a new remake or overturn with the creation of a new video game. If we are facing the latter, we insist that it does not have to be a title for Nintendo or for Nintendo Switch. The Alliance Alive stands out for its plot and a combat system with few fringes. There is talent in those offices.
In the absence of knowing what Koichi Ishii’s studio is up to, where except for surprise it continues to play a prominent role, let us recommend you take a look at Ever Oasis. It’s not the best Nintendo 3DS game; We would not dare to put it on the list of the ten best exclusive titles on the console, but its uniqueness, confidence in its proposal and duration (it can be extended over thirty hours) make us foresee it as one of those that, with the passing Over the years, it will be constantly remembered among fans. As happened to others like Ghost Trick: Ghost Detective and Solatorobo: Red the Hunter on Nintendo DS, when its successor began to be the protagonist.
