Eternights embraces camp and action with post-apocalypse dating
What would you do if, the day you were supposed to meet up with a hot date, you instead found yourself in an apocalypse with almost everyone you knew dead and gone? Would you:
A) Take on your new role as a futuristic warrior looking to dispel evil.
B) Kick major ass with a brand-new arm given to you by a character you can call Mommy.
C) Date all of the cuties anyway – post-apocalypse setting be damned!
D) Throw caution to the wind and do all 3.
If you chose D, then you’re in luck. Eternights from Studio Sai is exactly what you’re looking for.
Back when this action-dating RPG was first announced, we dared to ask the question: how far do these Persona comparisons go because, if that’s the case, does that mean there aren’t any same-sex options in Eternights at all? As it turns out, there is a same-sex relationship available to you in this game and so we had no choice but to dive right in.
And whew, what a game.
You start the game as your average joe, so you just know that everyone and their mother is going to be attracted to you for the rest of the game in a way that’s typical to a dating sim game. After naming the protagonist, you’re quickly introduced to the main problem: you and your friend Chani – an orange-haired fella who believes true happiness lies in boobs – are both single and looking to mingle. Unfortunately for both of you, neither of you have any dating skills whatsoever and are mostly relying on straight-up lies while using Eternight’s in-universe answer to Tinder.
Fast forward to the next day, and you’ve managed to grab a date with a mysterious girl you matched with the night before. Only tough luck, because everyone around the world has decided to go insane thanks to someone releasing some sort of spores that has turned everyone into dangerous monsters. You and Chani are forced into an underground bunker for your safety, but that quickly becomes compromised. Your escape has you both running into Yuna, a well-known celebrity who was also trapped in the bunker alongside you. Together, the three of you fight your way out.
During this introductory sequence, we’re quickly introduced to a few things: social stats and dialogue choices. What you say matters and will affect your relationship with other characters. For example, not being a total pervert will get you in Yuna’s good books, whereas joking around about porn with Chani will appeal more to him.
But it isn’t just dialogue that will improve your social stats. There was an instance in our preview of Eternights where we had to hide from a monster, and was given two options: hide with Yuna in one locker, or Chani in the other. Regardless of who you choose, you’ll grow closer to them through a unique scene and, as such, will further increase your social stats. These stats will allow you to take your relationship with your confidant to the next level, which will then further improve how they – and you – perform in combat. For example, Yuna has an ability which can restore health during battle. If you improve your relationship with her, Yuna’s stats and abilities also improve.
What is the morale of the story? Be nice to your confidants, or have a harder time during combat.
For the little time we had with Eternights, we only had a small taste of what combat has to offer. As we mentioned before, your weapon of choice in this action dating game is a futuristic arm that transforms into a sword – also a tentacle, but let’s not get into that right now – to fight against monsters. The more combos you do, the more you’re able to perform a special move that will take a hefty chunk off your enemy’s health. However, it isn’t all just about combos, but dodging and parrying too. Doing so at the right time, giving each slice and thrust of your sword arm a nice weight to it that feels especially satisfying when you pummel your foe into the ground or dodge a move to follow it right up with a special attack sequence. It’s not exactly the gritty combat of a Soulsborne game, far from it, actually, but you’ll still leave each fight feeling accomplished.
What adds to the combat, and what makes it especially appealing to me, is just how aesthetically pleasing Eternights art style is. From its plain, but revealing design for its characters to its clean, futuristic UI, it’s easy to see why this game is being compared to Persona, particularly when it comes to its visuals.
The majority of what we got to play was pretty dark (in both tone and lighting), but not to the point that the game feels unintelligible to explore, and certainly not enough that we weren’t able to appreciate the different enemies you come across. There are your average human foes, who attack with suitcases, umbrellas, even their hands, which do an excellent job at expressing the depravity that’s fallen onto humanity, and then there are your more… fantastical enemies. One enemy feels as though it was straight up taken from Atlus’ Catherine, with our protagonist getting up close and personal with a human torso stuck upon a bestial body. Considering the game doesn’t exactly shy away from sex or relationships, a part of us wonders whether these monsters are supposed to represent our hero’s journey in a very on-the-nose sort of way. Until we can play more, though, it’s pure speculation on our part.
And yet, what personally pulls us into an RPG is how it handles relationships that your character can form. As we mentioned previously, your relationships here can affect combat and your abilities, but what about the characters themselves? Bizarrely, the preview of Eternights doesn’t really allow you to focus on the dating side of things all that much, up until the last 5 minutes of the demo. Outside of making the choice to talk to our gal Yuna about certain events that happened, and her reacting positively to them, that’s… really it. Part of us feels this lack of dating elements so soon is because Studio Sai wants to introduce you to the world and premise, but it does leave those wondering more about how relationships work sitting in the dark.
For what it’s worth, what little we did see does look promising. Outside of your typical fan service — which has your character walking in on Yuna getting changed at one point — it’s clear to see there’s more to these characters than meets the eye. Yuna may be an idol and global sensation, but that comes with its own set of difficulties, some of which are now gone due to the whole apocalypse thing going on right now. It asks the question: can she find freedom in this new world, and what does that say about the previous life she lived?
There’s also Chani, your best friend. Unlike you, Chani isn’t blessed with the ability to turn his hand into a sword, which leads to a sense of jealousy from the get-go, even as he wrestles with his adoration for the protagonist. Could it become a bigger issue in the full game? Only time will tell.
Eternights is launching for PS5, PS4, and PC on September 21, 2023.
About The Author
