I recently had the opportunity to preview My Time at Evershine, the hotly anticipated sequel to My Time at Sandrock and My Time at Portia - and boy, does it look massive. I went into this preview expecting a vibrant follow-up to the sim series' first two games, one with all of the cozy Stardew Valley-esque features found in both Portia and Sandrock. I was surprised, however, to learn that a few big changes set Evershine apart.
My Time at Evershine doesn't see you take a rundown farm or workshop over like the other two entries did. This time around, you actually play as the governor of a brand-new settlement on the fringes of the Free Cities. This means that you're in charge of pretty much everything, from recruiting all kinds of folks to your up-and-coming town to taking care of its infrastructure from the ground up.
A whole new world
When I ask the developers about this integration of city-builder mechanics, vice president Aaron Deng assures me that the "core game loop" fans know and love is still there - it just comes with a twist, an added layer of depth. In Deng's own words, "The whole town is your workshop" this time around. I also made sure to enquire about customization and what this means for those of us who love decorating things from the top down.
Much to my delight, the entire settlement in Evershine is completely customizable to suit your tastes. The layout, exteriors, interiors, and even its inhabitants are determined by you, but that doesn't mean that you'll have to do all of the dirty work yourself. Running a town is no easy feat, but you can thankfully employ residents to help with constructing new projects.
They'll help you do everything from building homes to defending your settlement against enemies, although you'll have to ensure that they're comfortable enough to be efficient at their work. Its city-builder vibes partly remind me of Manor Lords - with a far cozier setting and more RPG sim-adjacent features, of course.
Never a dull moment
You can also expand your settlement by "taming" bordering territories for resources. This will unlock new resources and NPCs - and if you're worried that the sheer size will leave your town feeling dead, fret not. While My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock can feel a bit lonely at times, devs are working hard to ensure that Evershine doesn't. According to Pathea, there are 8-10 romanceable characters and 20-30 "unique" characters outside of these "core" NPCs.
There are also "randomized" NPCs to "make up the rest" - something that I'm admittedly a bit concerned about. It's not that I don't want my game to feel more alive, but more so that I don't think that having randomized NPCs is the way to go about it. I'm content with the number of unique characters, though, and am hopeful the randomized ones don't take away from any immersion with their… randomness.
While I'm not thrilled to have these strangers in my town, I'm excited to bond with the new romanceable characters that Evershine has to offer. As revealed by Pathea, romance comes earlier than it did in Portia and Sandrock, featuring a bit more depth as well to allow for "meaningful relationships." Above anything else, however, I'm most looking forward to the follower system. That's right - full-blown, JRPG-style followers.
The developer explains that players will be able to form a party with up to three other characters. You can choose who to bring along, meaning you can have a full party made up of a healer-type member, a more tanky adventurer, or someone who specializes in dealing damage. Or, if you'd prefer, you can party up with three friends instead.
Invite a friend or two or three
Multiplayer in Evershine is a huge step up from Sandrock's online co-op, and I already feel confident that Pathea will deliver this time around. It's no secret that My Time at Sandrock didn't follow through with the devs' promise of multiplayer, or at least not in the fleshed-out way that fans were expecting it to. In Evershine, players can actually experience the entirety of the main game's story together from start to finish.
While only the host player can progress through all of the main quests, everyone takes part in completing objectives, and money is shared Stardew Valley-style. It sounds like it's the sort of multiplayer experience I expect out of both sim games and RPGs - the kind that I wanted out of Sandrock but didn't quite get. As the devs shared with me, even Evershine's map was designed to properly support multiplayer.
Pathea also put a lot of thought into mod support this time around, in both single-player and multiplayer modes. I've not dabbled in modding with the devs' previous two titles myself, but I'd love to see what more creative fans come up with come Evershine's release. This rings especially true for me with multiplayer - yes, I'm that one annoying friend in Baldur's Gate 3 with a hundred mods you need to match.
All in all, I'm thoroughly impressed with My Time at Evershine so far. My only concern is that with its addition of city-builder mechanics and the more "realistic" approach to visuals I was shown, Evershine will lose some of the My Time series' identity. With its integration of long-requested features, though, it's safe to say that the third game will stand apart from its predecessors in a positive way as well and hopefully set a solid foundation for Pathea's future titles.
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