History YMMV / EVOSearchForEden

* EvilIsSexy: Lucifer definitely fits the bill. When the player first encounters her, she presents herself as a [[AngelicBeauty radiant six-winged angel]] bearing more than a passing resemblance to Creator/MarilynMonroe in an attempt to turn them to her side. Even after being rejected and revealing [[OmnicidalManiac her true nature]], she keeps the look up, only ever dropping it in favor of her true form [[spoiler: during her boss fights.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: On the flipside, [[DesignatedHero there's the player character]]. He eats everyone he encounters, Mercilessly cheats while getting off scot-free while every other cheater is slaughtered, fat-shames Debustega by laughing at him before killing him, slaughters an entire family of amphibians, does the same later with the Yetis (Which at first was justified since the alpha Yeti was a Grade-A {{Jerkass}}, but even he has a JerkassRealization upon death while we eat his wife and descendant without remorse), [[DirtyCoward flees through a time-trans while the dinosaurs' world ends,]] destroyed at least one nonhuman civilization, causing its survivors to devolve into a WoobieSpecies, and finally proceeds to kill [[spoiler:Bolbox]], who got to Eden first and saved various species from extinction. Despite all of this, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality all these actions are played heroically.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: On the flipside, [[DesignatedHero there's the player character]]. He eats everyone he encounters, Mercilessly cheats while getting off scot-free while every other cheater is slaughtered, fat-shames Debustega by laughing at him before killing him, slaughters an entire family of amphibians, does the same later with the Yetis (Which at first was justified since the alpha Yeti was a {{Jerkass}} but he has a JerkassRealization upon death while we eat his wife and descendant), [[DirtyCoward flees through a time-trans while the dinosaurs' world ends,]] destroyed at least one nonhuman civilization, causing its survivors to devolve into a WoobieSpecies, and finally proceeds to kill [[spoiler:Bolbox]], who got to Eden first and saved various species from extinction. Despite all of this, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality all these actions are played heroically.]]

* MisaimedFandom: Some players think that the best ending is the one where the player chooses Endurance after evolving into a human, which leads to [[spoiler:the human race enduring and overcoming every struggle and existential crisis thrown their way, through sheer determination, grit, and ingenuity, eventually managing to solve even the problem of global warming, and securing their future, before eventually developing space travel and starting to colonise space and spreading across universe]], and consider this superior to the canonical good end from choosing Wisdom, which they denigrate as choosing mystical mumbo-jumbo over actual science. They forget that the Endurance ending has the player wonder [[LivingIsMoreThanSurviving whether they made the right decision]], and regret that it's too late to change course, having repeated the same mistakes as the Lunarians. It's implied that [[spoiler:Lucifer is coming back to destroy the Earth in revenge, and then kill all the offworld colonies as well]], which you can't stop because you don't have enough Wisdom.

* BreatherBoss: King Bee is considered MUCH easier than the previous two bosses and the following boss. He will probably be the only boss in the game where you don't need to use the evolution cheat.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: On the flipside, [[DesignatedHero there's the player character]]. He eats everyone he encounters, Mercilessly cheats while getting off scot-free while every other cheater is slaughtered, fat-shames Debustega by laughing at him before killing him, slaughters an entire family of amphibians, does the same later with the Yetis (Which at first was justified since the alpha Yeti was a {{Jerkass}} but he has a JerkassRealization upon death while we eat his wife and descendant), [[DirtyCoward flees through a time-trans while the dinosaurs' world ends,]] destroyed at least one nonhuman civilization, causing its survivors to evolve into a WoobieSpecies, and finally proceeds to kill [[spoiler:Bolbox]], who got to Eden first and saved various species from extinction. Despite all of this, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality all these actions are played heroically.]]

* EsotericHappyEnding: Inverted with one of the NonStandardGameovers. You evolve into a wise powerful dragon, Gaia for some reason isn't happy with the evolution path you take, but she gives you an orb and you drive out Lucifer and all her forces, get worshipped as a god and join up with 3 other wise, benevolent creatures to become the 4 guardians. Somehow this is a game over, despite everything being great.

* ScrappyMechanic: Due to the slippery movement of ''46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinkaron'', if your character has a high movement speed one will find some areas tricky to leave due to thin exits that are in the hard to reach centre.

* BrokenRecord: As a general rule, any music in the SNES game that is a remix from the UsefulNotes/PC98 original soundtrack will be good or awesome, but most new songs created for the SNES game will be this. Worst of all is the "Dinosaur's Land" theme, a TEN-SECOND riff that is repeated over...and over...and over. And has FOUR different variations. And tends to show up in the most [[LevelGrinding grind-heavy]] sections of the game. You will want to mute the game and put on a different soundtrack for these parts if you value your sanity.
** The few examples of SNES original music that avert this is the fittingly laidback [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TskNPZobUaM Amphibian land theme]], the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L1KGwyv6CU foreboding Insect Territories theme]], and the beautiful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsXB4D1PDn0 Asteroid Belt theme]].

* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler: Bolbox]], potentially, depending on your opinion on whether [[spoiler: [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he was a single cell or an animal before his mutations.]]]] If you think he is the latter, [[spoiler: then his mutation into the giant amoeba we love to hate must have been [[BodyHorror very horrific]].]]
** Also, Cro-Maine. After he tells you his story (namely, how he was bullied by the Monkey-Humans), he suddenly changes from a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7461.png calm demeanor]] to being [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6054.png extremely pissed off]]. [[http://www.talking-time.net/showthread.php?t=10511&page=10 This forum]] even mentions that he has emotional issues. If so... just ''how'' severely the Monkey-Humans abused him if he is so violent and moody?

* ItWasHisSled: The FinalBoss is [[spoiler: a monstrous cell with an awesome battle theme. Thanks to ''I Wanna Be The Guy'', this song is the first thing related to the game some newer players learn.]]

* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler: Bolbox]] can be this sometimes. The level with the cockroaches borders on it as well. As for the Queen Bee's face... ouch.

* RonTheDeathEater: See UnintentionallyUnsympathetic below.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: [[spoiler:Bolbox]]. From what we're told, him getting into Eden would be a disaster, and him being the FinalBoss who has previous villains working for him would seem to support this. The problem is that what we do know about [[spoiler:Bolbox]] otherwise is rather positive; he protected at least one species in danger of going extinct with no apparent cost other than serving him, which they're happy to do, and the way he recruited his [[TheDragon Dragon]] is a pretty clear PetTheDog moment. Combined with his surprisingly calm pre-battle monologue, and there's really nothing villainous about [[spoiler:Bolbox]] beyond using the same evolution methods as most of the previous villains, which outright puts him on the same level as [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic you]].
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: On the flipside, [[DesignatedHero there's the protagonist]]. He eats everyone he encounters, Mercilessly cheats while getting off scot-free while every other cheater is slaughtered, fat-shames Debustega by laughing at him before killing him, slaughters an entire family of amphibians, does the same later with the Yetis (Which at first was justified since the alpha Yeti was a {{Jerkass}} but he has a JerkassRealization upon death while we eat his wife and descendant), [[DirtyCoward flees through a time-trans while the dinosaurs' world ends,]] destroyed at least one nonhuman civilization, causing its survivors to evolve into a WoobieSpecies, and finally proceeds to kill [[spoiler: Bolbox]], who got to Eden first and saved various species from extinction. Despite all of this, [[MoralMyopia all of his actions]] [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality are played 100% heroically.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: On the flipside, [[DesignatedHero there's the protagonist]]. He eats everyone he encounters, Mercilessly cheats while getting off scot-free while every other cheater is slaughtered, fat-shames Debustega by laughing at him before killing him, slaughters an entire family of amphibians, does the same later with the Yetis (Which at first was justified since the alpha Yeti was a {{Jerkass}} but he has a JerkassRealization upon death while we eat his wife and descendant), [[DirtyCoward flees through a time-trans while the dinosaurs' world ends,]] destroys Fort-Bird Man, leaving it's survivors wingless and turned into a WoobieSpecies, and finally proceeds to kill [[spoiler: Bolbox]], who got to Eden first and saved various species from extinction. Despite all of this, [[MoralMyopia all of his actions]] [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality are played 100% heroically.]]

** Surprisingly when compared to all the other bosses, the Tyrannosaurus are the easiest boss in the game, especially by the time you rematch them as a mammal. They have only one, very telegraphed biting attack and a jumping attack that can easily be dodged [[DegradedBoss and the only time the boss theme plays for them is during your first fight with them, every other encounter instead plays the Dinosaur grinding theme.]]

* MemeticMutation: [[BlindIdiotTranslation "Mysterious Time Stream evolves you."]]

** Boss fights become much easier once the player discovers that undergoing an evolutionary change also has the beneficial side-effect of also healing all your health. Just stock up on EVO points prior to the battle, and when you're getting your ass kicked, just go to your evolution menu and make one small change (like adding a horn), and you'll be back in business.

* BreatherBoss: King Bee is considered MUCH easier than the previous two bosses and the following boss.

** Despite her BossArenaRecovery, Mother of Prime Frog is easily the hardest boss in the game besides [[spoiler: Bolbox]], especially when you're going for a no-evolution-during-boss-fights run. If this were just her, the fight would be a more watered down version of Debustega, but her ability to endlessly give birth to new young makes the fight [[HopelessBossFight outright impossible to beat]] if you don't have either the best armor/attack in the Dinosaur evolution, have loads of at least 1,500 evo points stored up, or even both. You also need foolproof strategy too because if you focus on trying to kill the babies, you'll be left wide open for their mother to slam into you and kill you quickly. Conversely, if you focus on trying to the maximum possible damage to Mom Frog, [[DeathByAThousandCuts you'll quickly get overwhelmed and killed by the babies as they softlock you into an unending loop of them hoping over you.]] You quickly learn why she claims "Even Reptiles are scared of us".

* ThatOneBoss: Fucking yeti.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Inverted with several of the "bad" endings, which are only bad because the game goes out of its way to inform you that they are; this is most obvious with the Endurance / space-age civilization ending. Others involve DiabolusExMachina where you found an apparently good outcome only for it to fail because you diverged from the "perfect flow of evolution."

* EsotericHappyEnding: Inverted with several of the "bad" endings, which are only bad because the game goes out of its way to inform you that they are. Others involve DiabolusExMachina where you found an apparently good outcome only for it to fail because you diverged from the "perfect flow of evolution."

* CompleteMonster: [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], the BigBad of the UsefulNotes/PC98 game, is far more evil than the villains of the UsefulNotes/{{SNES}} successor. Having [[OmnicidalManiac tricked numerous civilizations in the solar system into destroying themselves]], most recently on the moon, Lucifer now intends to do the same on Earth. She starts at the beginning of life by [[HatePlague driving numerous fish insane and destroying the peaceful nature of a small fish village]]. Later, her attempts to KillEmAll become more direct, culminating in singlehandedly causing the extinction of the dinosaurs before [[EvilGloating gloating]] to [[BigGood Gaia]], the embodiment of the Earth, that she killed everyone. In the last main chapter, after learning that there's still life around, she provokes a war between two colonies of Lunarian survivors by making one of them, Atlantis, obsessed with destroying everything, starting with the rival colony of Mu. This results in the destruction of both colonies. After her defeat and the establishment of human civilization, she gathers power for one last attempt to kill everyone in modern times, resulting in the destruction of the Moon and, consequently, the death of Gaia's sister, before Lucifer is finally killed for good.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: [[spoiler:Bolbox]]. From what we're told, him getting into Eden would be a disaster, and him being the FinalBoss who has previous villains working for him would seem to support this. The problem is that what we do know about [[spoiler:Bolbox]] otherwise is rather positive; he protected at least one species in danger of going extinct with no apparent cost other than serving him, which they're happy to do, and the way he recruited his [[TheDragon Dragon]] is a pretty clear PetTheDog moment. Combined with his surprisingly calm pre-battle monologue, and there's really nothing villainous about [[spoiler:Bolbox]] beyond using the same evolution methods as most of the previous villains.

** Mt. Brave is partly this trope and BrutalBonusLevel (it's optional). The ''Pteranodons'' living there pick you up and then throw you down to the ground, forcing you to start over. And the reward you get... is becoming a new class of evolutions, forcing you to start over. [[spoiler: Unless you figure out how the Cloud Maze and River of Asteroids work, which give you the REAL reward: The Dragon and Gargoyle forms, along with a ton of Evo Points.]]

* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: The gameplay was basic even at the time of release in 1990, being a turn-based RPG of one-on-one battles with LevelGrinding frequently a necessity for progression. However, the story is more interesting than its successor ''E.V.O.: Search for Eden'', being about a unique blend of evolutionary science and spirituality along with the heavier focus on interplanetary civilizations.

* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: The gameplay was basic even at the time of release in 1990, being a turn-based RPG of one-on-one battles with LevelGrinding frequently a necessity for progression. However, the story is more interesting than its successor ''E.V.O.: Search for Eden'', being about a unique blend of evolutionary science and spirituality along with the increased focus on interplanetary civilizations.

* AntiClimaxBoss: The final battle against Lucifer in the [=PC98=] isn't exactly a brainbuster. The only difficulty is [[GuideDangIt guessing what each of your]] [[EleventhHourSuperpower new attacks]] do, but once that's done, you'll have no trouble stunlocking her into oblivion. [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne Lucifer, she is not]].

* CompleteMonster: [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], the BigBad of the UsefulNotes/PC98 game, is far more evil than the villains of the UsefulNotes/{{SNES}} successor. Having [[OmnicidalManiac tricked numerous civilizations in the solar system into destroying themselves]], most recently on the moon, Lucifer now intends to do the same on Earth. She starts at the beginning of life by [[HatePlague driving numerous fish insane and destroying the peaceful nature of a small fish village]]. Later, her attempts to KillEmAll become more direct, culminating in singlehandedly causing the extinction of the dinosaurs before [[EvilGloating gloating]] to [[BigGood Gaia]], the embodiment of the Earth, that she killed everyone. In the last main chapter, after learning that there's still life around, she provokes a war between two colonies of Lunarian survivors by making one of them, Atlantis, obsessed with destroying everything, starting with the rival colony of Mu. This results in the destruction of both colonies. After her defeat and the establishment of human civilization, she gathers power for one last attempt to kill everyone in modern times, resulting in the destruction of the Moon and, consequently, the death of Gaia's sister, before Lucifer is finally killed for good.

* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: The gameplay of ''46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinkaron'' was basic even at the time of release in 1990, being a turn-based RPG of one-on-one battles with LevelGrinding frequently a necessity for progression. However, the story is more interesting than its successor ''E.V.O.: Search for Eden'', being about a unique blend of evolutionary science and spirituality along with the increased focus on interplanetary civilizations.
* EvilIsSexy: Lucifer definitely fits the bill. When the player first encounters her, she presents herself as a [[AngelicBeauty radiant six-winged angel]] bearing more than a passing resemblance to Creator/MarilynMonroe in an attempt to turn them to her side. Even after being rejected and revealing [[OmnicidalManiac her true nature]], she keeps the look up, only ever dropping it in favor of her true form [[spoiler: during her boss fights.]]

* MisaimedFandom: Some players of the PC-98 version think that the best ending is the one where the player chooses Endurance after evolving into a human, which leads to [[spoiler:the human race enduring and overcoming every struggle and existential crisis thrown their way, through sheer determination, grit, and ingenuity, eventually managing to solve even the problem of global warming, and securing their future, before eventually developing space travel and starting to colonise space and spreading across universe]], and consider this superior to the canonical good end from choosing Wisdom, which they denigrate as choosing mystical mumbo-jumbo over actual science. They forget that the Endurance ending has the player wonder [[LivingIsMoreThanSurviving whether they made the right decision]], and regret that it's too late to change course, having repeated the same mistakes as the Lunarians. It's implied that [[spoiler:Lucifer is coming back to destroy the Earth in revenge, and then kill all the offworld colonies as well]], which you can't stop because you don't have enough Wisdom.
* MoralEventHorizon: In the original, [[spoiler:Lucifer]] firmly crosses it when [[spoiler:she has the Great King of Terror wipe out the dinosaurs and proceeds to gloat how she killed everyone]].

* ScrappyMechanic: Due to the slippery movement of ''46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinkaron'', if your character has a high movement speed one will find some areas tricky to leave due to thin exits that are in the hard to reach centre.

* TheWoobie: Yeti Avenger and Cro-Maine. The former one is the descendant of the Yetis you killed (humiliating the Yeti race in the process), while the latter one was a victim of abuse and bullying by his own kinsmen, the Monkey-Humans, because he had less hair and was smarter than the rest.