“Oh if only that actually felt like it meant something.” A phrase I found myself uttering one too many times in such a short and all-too-introductory taster to Studio Sai’s “uncommon blend” of hack-and-slash combat with the kind of interpersonal relationship-building that makes a series like Persona any one’s immediate go-to comparison. Even if, in Eternights' case here, that latter component is fed through more silly and comedic (or at least what the game would want to be seen as “comedic”) lens. A lens wherein you, the main and unnamed protagonist, along with your best friend are so seemingly desperate for a relationship – any relationship – that resorting to a dating app or two serves as the cue to unleash another brand of supernatural fantasy.
The world, shortly thereafter, descending into near-apocalyptic circumstances; humans are turning into far more vicious, monstrous forms and despite it acting as a sort of “unconnected” detail taking place in the background, the game clearly wanting you to know that the titular anti-ageing drug of Eternights may have something to do with things. Cue some unclear, unforeseen conflict between god-like beings, because there’s that as well. One of whom aids you in granting you a newfound power to fight back upon losing your arm in an early encounter. It isn’t past the hour mark and already the game throws so much without digging deeply into any of it. To recap: a desolate, empty world with few survivors; god-like beings of whom may or may not be sharing your own intentions, a cast of characters to cooperate and survive amongst amid hack-and-slash combat. And of course, let’s not forget the prospect of potentially hooking up with one of your future party members – a tale of finding love, and as the studio’s MO reads, “the relationships you can forge inside slightly peculiar worlds.”
Unfortunate then that the game seldom seems interested in settling on a story beat or opportune moment of reflection, before we’re quickly whisked away to the next pivotal event. As if the game itself is so deficient on attention – choosing instead to hurry along on the premise at the heart of the game. Which admittedly, on paper, sounds right up my alley. A game whose large-scale, grand-stakes backdrop isn’t in fact the focus. Rather it’s the more personal tales of, as Eternights would have you believe, finding love amid the chaos. An admirable pitch, not least from a single-developer studio as this whose early sampling already seems to lean towards Studio Sai willingly wanting to tackle a fair few areas. A shame then that even from this introductory trawl through Etermights, the developer hasn’t found a firm grasp on any of them. And while that’s not to say that what’s offered is any way bad, it’s just that the execution seems too simplistic and amateurish.
Yes, one’s man uninspired simplicity is another man’s lavish minimalism. But it’s hard to come away from the bare-bones environment design and barer-still user interfaces populating Eternights and draw some conclusion that what’s offered is somehow a deliberate, aesthetic choice. Doubly so for the quality of animations, both during cutscenes and in spots of dialogue – whereupon the character’s profile pops up at the bottom with accompanying text box. There’s something weirdly off with the quality here and had this briefest of time been met with other areas more competently executed, perhaps the odd character profiles might not have seemed all that worthy of bringing up.
This leads us to the combat – the hack-and-slash styled encounters that can be easily recognized and identified by their conveniently-sized arenas after a few right-turns and sprints down accompanying orders. Here, Eternights would again want you to believe that the aim here is to be methodical with your abilities. Outside of dodging at the last second to slow down time and dish out a few more strikes a la Bayonetta, those abilities being the offensive and elemental strikes alike that you can manifest through your arm. Abilities that prove to be mandatory when you come across certain enemy types whose health bar is protected – invulnerable to all but a specific type of attack that works on a charge. Three fully-charged strikes later and that enemy is just as susceptible to regular attacks as all the others are.
And it may be that this spin on simply dishing out attacks one after another will get deeper nuance later on. That the elemental class of attack becomes more critical, that enemy attack patterns grow more complex, that your party’s associated skills (acquired after growing enough of a bond with them during the course of the story) you have to juggle will be the deciding factor. But so far at least, Eternights' spin of sorts just seems like a means to prolong combat rather than make it any more interesting than its base template provides. A feeling that also comes to define the “dungeons” one is presumably going to be crawling their way through. Dungeons that (again, so far at least) aren’t all that special or remarkable in design. Gameplay segments broken up by corridors and one too many ninety-degree turns. The very first dungeon of sorts, set inside an underground metro. An environment whose biggest problems isn’t its chosen aesthetic per se, but the fact the insistent color palette and level of lighting makes it simply awkward to navigate or even find one’s bearings over.
You can’t fault the choice of tone and how Studio Sai is intending to go about offering their own take on such, when set against the looming, apocalyptic backdrop. An odd, comical juxtapose of supernatural horror and the anxiety of the unknown, blended with characters still finding time to crack a crude joke or two can work. And if that were simply the only focus, perhaps Eternight can still salvage itself. Alas, with as much a focus on combat and the prospect of getting to know an ensemble cast, the fear – even from such a small introduction as this – is that Studio Sai is not only taking on too much, but that what it’s taking on, just isn’t delivered in as exciting a fashion as you might expect. Be it the scarce, simple and tepid delivery – aided in no way with its rather flat and uninspired UI – it would be great if Eternights could pull through and provide me some reason to care for its world and its characters alike. Instead, “press R2 to hold hands” remains the one and only prominent detail to latch onto. And not through a lack of trying.
