Eternal Filena
Mulan meets GladiatorGenre: rpg - japanese
Publisher: Tokuma Shoten
Year: 1995
System: SFC
Gameplay Score: 3
Gameplay Notes:
ATB in combat. Everything else about the combat is basic. You fight by selecting one of three equipped weapons, so there's a bit of a "what's this guy's weakness" to contend with, with there's no way to fiure this out except through trial and error. There's no Fire Emblem paper-rock-scissors hints to assist you. Lame.
Level Design Score: 1
Level Design Notes:
Oh boy. I'm certain that at some point this game gets going, but I'm two hours in an still working through a seemingly never ending tutorial that is teaching me absolutely nothing. Sorry, I'm not sticking around to see where this train is headed.
Theme Score: 3
Theme Notes:
Assuming that the translation is faithful to the game's original script, this is a messed up premise for a mid-90's SNES title. It begins with a deposed princess being raised as a warrior in a society whose caste system regards the lowest caste as subhuman slaves. The princess poses as a man and is subjected to torturous training as she prepares to fight and die as a gladiator once she comes of age. That's terrible, of course, but it gets worse. The night before her first fight, she and the other four gladiators are each given a prostitute slave to take to bed. No, really. Princess Maximus has no interest but the slave insists they go to bed, which they do. At this point slave girl freaks out (this is clearly not just the translation) and a long conversation ensues. At the end of it all, slave girl agrees to act as if she is now the wife of Princess warrior girl. Did I mention that princess is 16? I think I forgot that. Oh and those other gladiators are married and have kids. You can even speak to their wives and children after that prostitute night and both before and after you kill them in the gladiator fights that are this game's tutorial. What. The. Heck? Clearly, this was made for a mature audience and it's no wonder that it never came to the West. Having said all that, yes it's messed up, but it's unlike anything else I've seen in this generation, so I'll give it props for trying something new.
Art Style Score: 2
Art Style Notes:
Terrible overhead graphics. It looks like Final Fantasy Mystic Quest on a bad day. I swear, the sprites are about 8 pixels tall and thus have almost no features. They're barely more than a head. The battle graphics are quite a bit better, but only the enemy sprites. Your characters are still these tiny, squat sprites. Again, the comparison to Mystic Quest is apt. The only saving grace about the overhead views are the background and foreground artwork. It's not exceptional but gets the job done.
Audio Score: 1
Audio Notes:
Such basic music. I liked the song in the intro but then the main theme that played throughout the tutorial drove me absolutely nuts. I eventually muted it and didn't feel bad at all. It's so darn repetitive. I suspect that there is some better sound in other areas, but what I heard is a colossal letdown when compared to other JRPGs.
Overall Score: 44
Review ID: 1623
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