Eternal Ring

"Another good RPG for the PS2"

First Person Role Playing games are my weakness. Despite stories that are lacking and muddy graphics I really do enjoy them for their more open nature and higher difficulty. Is Eternal Ring a must play for fans or is it a bland entry into the genre? Read on!

Cain has been sent this island to find something or other. He is sent from the village on the island to open the water gate. Upon returning the town is on fire, everyone is dead and a winged demon angel thing flies off. He now sets off to solve this mystery he was sent to solve. The interesting thing here is that the story itself is rather odd but in a good way. I was very intrigued by it all and it kept me playing. The ending was really odd but again, in a good way.

Graphic wise I must say I am impressed. This was a launch game on the PS2 and 7 years later, it still looks good. Yeah, it isn't perfect but the character models are top notch and while the textures are limited everything looks good. As long as the game isn't using fog but it doesn't do that often. The game even seems to change from night to day. I did find some areas to be too dark and it had me turning the brightness up on my TV.

Sound wise I am also impressed. This game has some of the best music I have heard in a game in a while. Excellent soundtrack. Voice acting is also pretty solid. Sound effects are typical but get the job done.

Control in the game seems a bit off. My first time playing it I could swear I could use the face buttons to attacks, use magic and all of that. When I turned it back on later in the day only the right stick could attack (but pulling it down) but the face buttons worked for everything else (as well as the right analog stick). Other wise I enjoyed the set up the game starts you off on but there are a few other settings.

For anyone who has played one of these games before you know what to expect. The main idea is to wander around areas and getting to the next. You might run into a random guy to talk to but it doesn't happen too often. You'll run into plenty of enemies and while they aren't the smartest, they sure pack a punch.

Actually, the focus of the game is to wander and fight enemies until you can attack the next area. The dungeons are mazes and some are rather complex. I swear the first dungeon alone took me hours since I couldn't figure out I was missing a plate on a wall.

This game does have an interesting idea and that is to create magic rings by using different gems and stuff that you find in the game. This opens up a lot of possibilities and the fact that you can have 5 or so spells equipped and once and can cycle on the fly really keeps things moving.

No armor in this game but it does have a number of weapons. They are as unique or interesting as they are in most of these games but they get the job done. It's obvious that they wanted to really focus on the ring abilities.

The game is of decent length and a little more open than most with the ability to go to different places in different orders but it doesn't matter I guess. Once you beat the game that's the end so that is a downside.

Eternal Ring is an RPG of decent length but if you're not a fan of the genre then look elsewhere. Fans will eat this title up and the fact that I am playing it so much later after its release and it still holding up with the sound and graphics is just surprising. The graphics won't blow you away by any means but knowing they are 7 years old could shock someone. Either way the game play is solid as is the production values.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 9/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 3/10

Final Score - 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/01/07