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Time and Eternity
Time and Eternity is like stepping
into the world of clichéd Anime with lots of fan service, however this
experience is fully interactive as you explore the colourful and
wondrous world of Kamza. Unfortunately this idyllic world is about to be
shattered as the beautiful princess Toki and her fiancé are about to be
married but something will shatter their happiness.
Before
the ceremony can conclude, her fiancé Zack is attacked by assassins and
is left mortally wounded. As Zack dies in the arms of his soul mate,
Toki vows revenge on those responsible for taking the love of her life
and it is here where the gamer discovers that the Princess actually has
another soul living inside her. Together, they have the power to change
time as the gamer embarks on a classic Japanese RPG filled with
adventure, lost romance and epic battles in this beautifully designed
title.
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What I
loved about the story was Toki and her almost split personality inspired
character, thanks to the other soul that resides in her body, that of
Towa. Best of all, both Toki and Towa are two totally opposite
characters (including looks), one being the thinker and the other the
action taker. But in order to prevent the assassination of Zack, both
souls decide to travel back in time, 6 months before the incident that
changed the life of Toki.
Unfortunately travelling back in time has created this strange time
anomaly where the soul of Zack has been imbedded into the pet dragon of
Toki and that both our heroines have no memory of what has occurred in
the future. Add in the traditional clichéd assemble of Anime characters
and the journey of Toki and friends is indeed an unusual one which for
me actually worked quite well. The biggest drawback of Time and Eternity
is that the gameplay which is unfortunately a little dated and seems
more of a game from 5 years ago, even longer than a game released in
2013.
As you
explore the world Time and Eternity, you will meet a variety of
colourful characters and challenging bosses as you go on traditional
quests and everything else you would expect to see in a Japanese RPG
title. Quests are also a tad un-inspirational and tedious. Even though
the exploration aspect has been done to death, I did enjoy the combat
which gave players a variety of weapons (guns and swords) and spells
available to them. It's great that you can swap between Toki and Towa as
each have their own pros and cons. Another unique element to the combat
is that battles are 1 against 1 and as you progress, your spells become
quite powerful which forces you to limit the use of your weapons.
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For
newcomers to the Japanese RPG genre, Time and Eternity is on the easy
side opposed to something like Final Fantasy which is considerably more
hardcore as the combat runs at a slower pace. The controls are well
mapped on the DualShock controller and the game does its best to teach
you how to both navigate the environment and successfully win battles.
Nonetheless Time and Eternity is a fun experience as you explore this
interesting world to get your Japanese RPG fix.
Video & Audio
Graphically, the game looks like something out of anime and animation
works hand in the hand with the gameplay. Speaking of "hands", the art
in this game is actually hand drawn for certain elements of the title
and looks gorgeous. However at times, the game does look a little flat
due to the 2D sprites and flat characters but it does give a uniqueness
to the title. I was a huge fan of the cutscenes however. The sound
department worked well and there's plenty of stereotypical Anime noises
plus a fun musical score to keep the player engaged with the characters.
Final Thoughts?
Time and Eternity may not be as polished as other Japanese RPG titles
but it does give the player a standard experience that for the majority
of the time, I enjoyed. It definitely could have been better as it stays
in the safe zone, rather than try to challenge the current genre. With
that said, I really enjoyed the two main protagonists and the
interesting time-travelling story that made me become glued to my PS3
from start to finish with only a few frustrations such as the slow paced
and repetitive battles. Needless to say, I would still recommend it to
those lovers of Japanese RPG who need something to play until the next
big blockbuster!
AND ONE FOR FAN ANIME FAN SERVICE
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