Game: Rise Eterna
Genre: Adventure, Strategy, Role-Playing
System: Nintendo Switch
Developers | Publishers: Makee Games | Forever Entertainment
Age Rating: US Teen | EU 12+
Price: US $19.99 | UK £17.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: May 13th, 2021
Review code used, with many thanks to Forever Entertainment
Rise Eterna released by Forever Entertainment is a tactical RPG, reminiscence of the 16-bit era Japanese strategy games.
Kingdom of Ars Rare
Thirty-five years ago, the kingdom of Ars Rare was invaded by the Athracian Empire. Since then, the country has been controlled by invaders and bandits. You take on the role of the former elite soldier Natheal, who has turned his back on his nation and is wandering through the country as a bandit. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with raids on villages and cities, he gets to know an orphan Lua in the midst of the ruins of the village of Volentem. Natheal and Lua set off to make their way to the capital Gaiacus.
On the way, they meet and get to know other characters who join the cause and integrate into the story. Either the characters from the past know each other or have information that drives the action in the right place. While the story is fine it’s nothing out of the ordinary and outstanding highlights are rare.
Join the Ranks
Rise Eterna’s gameplay has the player take part in battles, loot chests and collect all sorts of resources. The group consists of a maximum of six characters on the battlefield and the battle system is grid-based. Though up to 14 characters can be recruited to join the ranks and support the cause.
Only one character can move at any time, and if the enemy is within attack range, usually the character can attack the enemy once per turn. Each character has a maximum range of movement and can perform different actions. Natheal deals close combat blows, as does Lua or attack from afar with other characters such as archer Solthy and spear fighter Sarajed.
Each character can carry healing items to use in battle. If need be they can exchange healing items with other characters during battle. It is also possible to change the positions of two figures on the battlefield that stand next to each other. The battles normally last until all the enemies are killed or the condition of the mission is met. One wrong move can lead to a quick and untimely demise for the player’s team.
Skill Points
The party doesn’t level up, instead, after each battle has ended, the team receives skill points with which special abilities can unlock such as a second attack. Increased stats for counterattacks or a simple increase in health are also possible. Gems crafted from loot are used to augment the skills further.
Resources can be collected on the battlefield and crafted to produce new items in an easy-to-understand crafting system. The player can’t equip new weapons on the characters, instead, they get weapons that can only be used once, they either damage the enemy or debuff them with a status attack.
Visuals and More
Rise Eterna has roughly 10 to 12 hours of story, spread over 25 chapters. Of course, the game will be longer if you want to level up all 14 characters.
The 2D sprites used for the characters and the pixel art is lovely. However, I was a little disappointed that the isn’t any character animations during the conversations. But the storyboard works fine for re-telling the story to the player. For those that are interested in a physical edition of Rise Eterna, you are in luck as Forever Entertainment has announced that they are taking pre-orders for the release of two physical editions, one of which is a beautifully boxed edition of the game in their shop Forever Limited.
Conclusion
Rise Eterna certainly does not reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately, this applies to the story as well as the overall gameplay, which uses genre standards rather than breaking new ground.
However, if you have a hankering for an old school classic tactical RPG, then Rise Eterna could just be the game for you.
Final Verdict: I Like It 