Toronto Thumbs

REVIEW
Eternal Poison

The kid behind the counter stared at me for a solid minute after I asked. He likely hoped I was joking, but when I didn’t crack a smile he set about finding me a copy of the game that hadn’t been opened and covered in pricing stickers. And it was a relief since I was already being knocked over by parents struggling to remember titles and gazing at box covers in utter confusion. It was also late and I didn’t have the will to start arguing about why an opened game isn’t new anymore. But is there any other media product where that’s even a debate? Okay, I promised I wouldn’t go there today, but you already know where I was! Anyway, during the ten minutes it took him to dig past releases on that mystical shelf behind the counter, I began to feel that despite my initial excitement, my quest for the Eternal Poison was going to prove difficult.

Starting the game seemed to prove my suspicion, though at first the CG sequence I was treated to looked promising. Not ground-breaking, but certainly in line with the semblance of production values. The game’s central character, Thage, was enticing in her Gothic lace and sharp green eyes. Her companion/servant was a magical creature known as a Majin, the race of creatures encountered in the game. He looked as if he’d just emerged from a Studio Ghibli production, which is a good source to borrow inspiration from.

The initial tutorial session didn’t dash my hopes either. Eternal Poison offers depth, and in starting a new game the player is offered three different parties thus three different perspectives toward experiencing the overall story with the added allure of two additional parties to unlock. It’s a promising enough premise, even if it does seem a gimmick to increase the size of the game. I started with Thage’s quest, quickly setting off to Besek, a demon realm that has suddenly appeared which is populated by various Majin that are short on conversation but eager to attack. Adding to the drama, the resident princess of the area where Besek has materialized found her way to becoming trapped in Besek, and thereby provided reasons for the other quest perspectives available. After an initial battle in Besek my party was taken to the town of Isapolis by the aristocrat Duphaston. The town thereafter serves as a means to resupply inventory and upgrade character elements in between encounters. It’s also where I began to feel frustrated while the characters within my party talked with the town’s inhabitants and amongst themselves. Eternal Poison proposes the deep enthralling story SRPGs are normally built upon, and yet every sequence of dialogue that begins to explore that promise is absolutely painful to experience.

Each exchange is an exercise in the type of writing that might make for a suspenseful series on Fox, but within this game works to keep me from the story rather than draw me in. And where it might be the intention to build mystery and suspense, the result is utterly dry and bland chatter that does nothing beyond stealing the time it takes me to read through it. I can immediately produce an example:

Character A - “I’m looking for the Eternal Poison.”
Character B – “The Eternal Poison? So she’s looking for the Eternal Poison.”

Thage is the kind of girl who listens to your argument, as you question her motives and character, and then replies with all the depth and emotion of “Indeed.” And where I might have thought she presented the image of a hard shelled female character who would be drawn towards over time, I instead started wondering why I should even care to make the effort. I’m certainly not short of game releases exploding with characters that are clamoring for a chance to talk to yours truly after all.

Certainly I’ve played plenty of games that feature poor translations, or offer walls of text that offer little to the overall story. But it’s been awhile since I’ve encountered a game that seemingly uses dialogue as an obstacle, actively working to keep the player from delving deeper into the plot. Still I pressed forward into the next battle, a grand ballroom where several Majin were waiting for me to attack. And I emphasis the word WAITING, because they didn’t seem eager to move until one of my party members was near enough that there wasn’t a great deal of effort required to strike at them. And then just as I had cleared the room of Majin the screen decided to go blank. Now this could be a fluke, since it has only happened once so far, but reflecting on it now, it’s amazing how long I waited in that situation. I truly did not want to replay that battle, and I was convinced that if I just gave the game more time it would start to work again. These things involve several stages of acceptance and after the one where I wanted to throw the disc across the room, I grudgingly conceded to pressing the reset button.

Eternal Poison spent time on the shelf after that incident. Other games were stacked on top of it, and every time I reviewed a title afterward I caught glimpses of it underneath the pile, mocking me. For the first time since returning to work I really didn’t feel up to the challenge, but knew that I was ultimately going to make another attempt.

So let’s again start by stating that Eternal Poison is a Strategy RPG from Japanese developer Flight-Plan, a company fortunate enough to get the nod from Atlus that has sent Eternal Poison to the West. Obviously this isn’t the only means of travel, but an Atlus logo guarantees credibility in certain circles and the allure of catching the attention of gamers recently seduced by all things with Shin Megami in their title.

My frustration with the game was exasperated by the fact that I had only days before addressed a well meaning letter to Atlus, detailing my intention to cover more of their titles with the depth I felt they deserved. Just because a Persona 2 reprint can sell out within an hour doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t have to dig deep on Google to find thorough reviews of other Atlus titles.

Of course there’s an easy opportunity for “an out” in all of this. I could simply write that Eternal Poison is another one of “those games” that require the player to invest a certain measure of time into before discovering a rewarding experience. It’s certainly valid that the game offers unique elements with its divergent party paths and varied cast of characters. In addition to the Gothic fairytale motif, there’s an excellent soundtrack packaged with the game – I recommend tracks 19, 20, and 21 in particular, there’s an electronic vibe there that warrants listening.

Players are offered interesting options via capturing enemies as well. Majin that have been “overkilled” can be captured, which occurs when the player delivers an attack causing more damage to the creature than it had in remaining health by an equation based on the creature in question. These Majin can be summoned in later battles or sold. They can also be thrown into a cauldron at Traviata House within Isapolis, where they are literally grinded in exchange for poison points or skills extracted from the process. Although this Gothic flavoring has received some attention, in reality the areas of battle are typical spaces merely draped with a degree of darkly inspired dressings. Players aren’t entering a rich Castlevania inspired world, but rather the same environments encountered in countless other titles – flat, sparse, and ultimately uninspired. Attack sequences have taken heat due to excessive load times as well. These can be disabled, but I tend to side with the idea that this ability concedes that there was a problem, and the scenes themselves simply don’t justify that lag.

It could be that I’m getting older, or that my tastes are changing, but it’s also possible that the increasingly solid titles released over the last few years, including those from Atlus, are causing me to expect more. I’ve become less inclined to recommend that anyone invest time in a game where they need to convince themselves through countless hours of playtime that there was some reward in the effort. I believe we’ve generally concluded that gaming can be deep and richly rewarding without feeling like hard labour. And I don’t deny that countless games have started off rough only to prove great experiences over time, but I simply can’t avoid concluding that Eternal Poison makes little effort to draw the player in, and in fact produces the opposite result. There is no hardcore cookie in convincing myself or anyone else that this game requires a certain appreciation.

Atlus has brought forth a game that seemingly fits their criteria. It offers unique features, merged with a style that separates itself from rivals and in addition provids a soundtrack to match other Atlus offerings this season. However the overall execution is rough and amateurish in comparison to what Atlus typical delivers. My disappointment stems from Atlus’ ability to bring valuable offerings from overseas that truly deserve attention in North America. Eternal Poison simply seems a setback to that effort, already lost beneath current offerings like Valkyria Chronicles and the release of Persona 4. It raises questions regarding how Atlus selects titles for publication, having long demonstrated adept skill at carefully selecting titles compared to other companies. My initial impressions prior to release expected a degree of depth from the attractive image Eternal Poison presented, but it ultimately appeals only to those gamers who have truly exhausted every other offering of late, and those few collectors that may find more appreciation in the packaging rather than the product.

Posted in PlayStation 2, Reviews |