As part of working on this blog, I've resolved to not read any comments, reviews, forum posts, articles, or anything else relating to this game. I'm going into it blind, in other words, and this blog will be based off a blind playthrough of the game. However, when I preordered Eternal Poison, I ended up learning a little bit about it via EBGames' promotional info and the art book that came with the pre-order. Let's take a look at the former.
Laden with Gothic themes, this mysterious strategy RPG for PS2 is full of interesting characters, daunting locations, and a fantastic quest spanning 5 long episodes. With tremendous production values, allowing for cinema-quality CG cutscenes and extensive voice work, and a tried-and-true strategy RPG mechanic with the added novelty of demon-collection, Eternal Poison blends tradition with innovation to provide gamers a surprisingly familiar yet equally new experience.
This is the gaming version of PR bullshit and tells us nearly nothing of consequence. The only really interesting point here is the demon collection bit. Let's take a look at the bullets under "Expanded Information" on EBGames.
Five stories in one—Walk the winding paths of five different characters, each in search of the legendary Eternal Poison. Select a hero to begin the first tale, and chart each course carefully, as your actions will be the difference between joyous triumph and bitter failure.
First off, this sort of intertwining-story mechanic can be either a blessing or a curse, and in the case of a strategy-RPG I get the feeling that it'll mean five times the level grinding. We're already off to a great start. We also discover that the titular poison is some sort of legendary treasure or such. We'll assume for the time being that it's actual poison, because that leads to the interesting question of why exactly it's legendary and why people are looking for it:
Villager A: You hear about that Eternal Poison? Word on the street is that it'll fucking kill you.
Villager B: Poison does tend to do that, what's the big deal?
Villager A: This shit'll REALLY kill you.
Villager B: Guess we'd better tell the rest of the villagers then! Alert the local adventurers, there's asbestos somewhere in that terrible monster-filled dungeon and they need to find it post haste!
Villager A: Should we post a request on the tavern message board in the hopes that someone will eventually take care of it for us?
Villager B: God yes!
More likely it's a gem or magic sword or something, but let me keep my dreams. I particularly like the "bitter failure" bit; it's like it's comparing the trip back to the load screen with watching your trench buddies get cut down by Viet Cong bullets, and that takes guts. You had to carry your pals' rotting corpses back to base for a proper burial amidst a searing hail of gunfire? Pussy. I had to reload from the start of episode two.
Capture and collect demons—All demons can be exploited, and so every battle offers the intriguing choice of bind or kill. Bound demons can be summoned to fight alongside you or add skills to weapons, as well as create items or being turned into money.
This is pretty insensitive to demons, if you ask me. Millions of demons are exploited every day. Some are even turned into money. It's not really a laughing matter.
Gorgeous dark fantasy world—Step into a twisted fairy tale world of black magic, white magic, and a search for the ultimate treasure. The kidnapping of a princess draws heroes together with unexpected villains and over 100 monsters in a world as rich in beauty as it is corruption.
It's probably a good thing that there's over 100 monsters seeing as they can apparently be turned into money and I'm sure that's quite the racket. The rest of it's mostly fluff like kidnapped princesses, twisted fairy tales, and ultimate treasures, though I like the game's adherence to the 1966 Magic Diversity Act.
To summarize:
*It's a strategy-RPG.
*There's five different characters, and I'd almost guaruntee they don't share levels, so you'll have to level all of them up seperately. It's five times the game!
*You can exploit demons, then turn them into money. Feel free to throw in some prostitution jokes here.
*The world is as rich in beauty as it is in corruption. Add another prostitution joke.
Tune in next time when we look at that art book that I'll hopefully have scanned by then or that we'll imagine I've scanned even though I haven't.
