Name: Eternal Poison
Developer(s): Flight-Plan
Publisher(s): Banpresto (JP), Atlus (AN)
Console(s): Playstation 2
Genre: Strategy RPG, Single Player
I bought this game a little while ago and finally started it. At the start of the game, you'll play through a Prologue of sorts that acts as a basic tutorial. The main character for the Prologue is Thage. She's the blonde girl standing in the center of the cover dressed in black with ribbons in her hair. You'll go through a ridiculously easy battle and then see Besek's gates rise up from the ground. Besek is where Majin (the monsters in this game) are from.
Afterwards, you'll be asked to select a path. There are three to choose from. I don't know if there are more you can unlock after you complete the current paths but anyways, I chose Thage's path. So far, her goal has been unclear. She travels through Besek in search of the Eternal Poison which is rumored to possess great powers. In her hands, she carries a thick book called a librum. The librum she carries is a legendary one called the Vespera. She can use it to capture Majin. She also practices the forbidden magic of Zalis. Her lone companion is a Wolf Majin named Ranunculus or Raki for short. ...And then she enslaves some poor kid she comes across in Besek. That was so unexpected, I couldn't help but stare at the screen in dumbfounded surprise.
After the first real battle, you'll be escorted to a town inside Besek. Surprisingly, this town is safe from Majin. You'll be able to recruit members for your party here, stock up on equipment and items, play a game or two, rest and save at the Inn, as well as sell off any Majin you've captured.
The battles are fun! And a lot more complicated than most games. You'll see that Majin are not only strong and weak against certain elements (that's normal), but against certain type of physical attacks too! There are three types of physical attacks: strike, slash, and piercing. There are weapons that correspond with each one.
Piercing: bows and rapiers
Slash: Broadswords, Claws
Strike: Staves, Tomes, Maces
Oh, you'll also do considerably more damage if you attack Majin from the side or back.
After every battle, you'll end up back in town. So take the chance to stock up on supplies. You'll also need to get new equipment since characters level up pretty quickly. Yeah, equipment have level requirements.
Extras:
Voice Acting! This game has surprisingly good voice actors. I was pleasantly surprised. Most RPGs have really crappy ones so I wasn't exactly expecting much. But I was blown away by how well done it was.
Music! This game has...very unique music. Fits right into the whole gothic medieval theme. In fact, I love it! If anyone's familiar with Shadow Hearts, it's quite similar in style.
Cutscenes! The cinema scenes take some getting used to. The style is rather different. But overall, they're done pretty well.
Battle Animation! This doesn't really count as an extra, but this part is one of the most annoying parts of the game! There's a long pause of a few seconds after you select your attack command. Basically, you'll see a white screen. And THEN the battle animation starts up with some rather creepy music. The music's the only good part. The battle animation has been crappily done. Every time Ranunculus attacks, it looks ridiculous! No one (animal or human) would attack like that! So just turn battle animation off. Unless you happen to actually like it...
Notes/Tips:
1. Remember to equip any items you get at the Inn! Believe it or not, you'll need to equip items in order to have them available to you during battle. It's really annoying when you're bleeding all over the place only to realize you forgot to bring bandages with you.
2. It's more useful to capture majin than to kill them. You can get skills and PP from them. You'll also get more money by selling them than killing them.
3. If you like pretty pictures, play the games at the bar. =) You'll unlock them in the Extras on the Title Screen.
