Devolverland Expo Reviews

This is less of a game and more of a very elaborate advertisement built into a game engine. This is what Devolver would like to be able to afford with their real world convention, except that would cost vast amounts of money. But with the magic of video games, anything is possible!

Though honestly this might actually have been even more expensive than an actual convention.

Still, this is a flashy little advertisement for their games. If you're interested in looking at some trailers via the medium of a virtual exhibition hall, this is a cute little thing. There's a marginal amount of very simplistic gameplay, the graphics are shockingly good considering what this is, and the whole thing is likely to take you about an hour to complete, or about as long as a standard stream would, except instead of the questionable hosts, it's got simplistic gameplay in between the trailers.

Definitely better than E3.

E3 2020 has been canceled for quite some time and every puzzle has scrambled to deal with the event closure in their own way. Yet the publisher that I always look forward to hearing from for the past 3 E3s has surprised me yet again. Devolver Digital has had a trilogy of press conferences that have been talked about not just for the games but the presentation and style. If you haven’t seen them, you definitely should fix that.

But this year, we get something different. Rather than just another amazing press conference, Devolver Digital took the experience to the next level. Not only do they have a normal press conference, but they have released Devolverland Expo, a playable experience that tries to simulate going to a convention.

Though instead of long lines, desperation, and people trying to get your attention, Devolver Digital presents players with a chance to break into the Los Angeles Convention Center, fight security bots, and check out new games.

Once again Devolver Digital has thought outside the box and found a new and interesting way to get players to check out their trailers, and it’s worked. I probably wouldn’t have looked closely at all the trailers presented here, and in hindsight, I will admit I probably wouldn’t be picking up any of these games, but walking through a dead convention center for an hour or so, and experiencing the Devolverland Expo was rather entertaining.

And then there’s the actual gameplay of Devolverland Expo, rather than just a way to see games, there’s a couple of puzzles, as well as a few challenges, and hidden collectibles. This is far more than just a generic walking simulator. There’s even a boss at the end of the game, that can be a little challenging.

Don’t get too excited. This isn’t the world’s best game or even a deep game. This is just a clever way for a publisher to show off trailers, with just enough gameplay to elevate this to something better than clicking videos on youtube.

For the price(free) it’s a must-play, just for the experience. It’ll take about an hour, and is very clever. However if I was to grade this experience, and I must, I’d probably give it a 7/10. There’s nothing wrong with Devolverland Expo, but it’s an interesting take on the E3 Experience.

I would have liked to see almost a demo of each game or letting players touch a few gadgets from each game. Fall Guys is the only game that was interesting beyond the booth design and even there, it still isn’t fully clear what the game is about.

If you enjoyed this review and want to see more from me, including more in-depth reviews of select games, check out my youtube channel at youtube.com/c/KinglinkReviews.

Interesting little game where Flying Wild Hog brought the E3 expo virtually, literally.

Devolverland Expo oddly enough has some good graphics, I didn't expect this at all for this game. I thought it was a quick 10 minute game where you just walk around and play small demos of the games... I was wrong. You can beat the game in about an hour (if you collect all the collectibles also) or about 40 minutes if you just avoid all the collectibles.

The game also features some collectibles in-game where if you collect them you can see the titles of the upcoming & unannounced games Devolver Digital is set to publish.

Note: The collectibles have an interaction 'Use' icon above the item so it's not hard to miss, you just have to look around.

One thing Flying Wild Hog could do is maybe make the trailers optional, only after you beat the game so people can maybe speedrun the game.