Where it Shines:
Free - 10/10
Retro Homage - 8/10
Gameplay - 7/10
The Good:
Eternal Senia is a really charming game. It does so many things well, and to top it off is free. It has a unique combat system which at first will seem a bit weird, but as you play it actual feels quite fun. There's plenty to upgrade and craft without being daunting, and the level designs are all very sensical. There is a nice story here too, with some great pixel art and decent music to top it off.
The Bad:
Take everything with a grain of salt here - it is a free game after all.
- translation to english is a bit rough
- a lot of the text doesn't fit in the text boxes, and sometimes character portraits just flat out overlap the text, when they should be the layer behind it. It can be annoying and unreadable
- The game could use some QOL stuff, for example, when crafting a new equipment, you require the equipment one tier below it plus some materials. However, if you are wearing that equipment that is one tier below, it won't show it as being craftable, so you have to unequip it.
- Some items just show a 0 increase to stats even though after equipping that is not the case.
- There are 3 endings, and I think this is one of those situations where one would have been better. They all feel weak and unsatisfying, where as if they focused on one of the three and put more detail into it, it probably would have been more satisfying overall.
Summary:
Though rough around the edges, Eternal Senia aims to be a reflection on sisterhood, and a throwback to games like Terranigma from the SNES era. It doesn't always succeed, and yet, I found myself excited to play this every night and beat it. For a free game, you can't really ask for much better of a product, and I do recommend giving this one a go.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
Free - 10/10
Retro Homage - 8/10
Gameplay - 7/10
The Good:
Eternal Senia is a really charming game. It does so many things well, and to top it off is free. It has a unique combat system which at first will seem a bit weird, but as you play it actual feels quite fun. There's plenty to upgrade and craft without being daunting, and the level designs are all very sensical. There is a nice story here too, with some great pixel art and decent music to top it off.
The Bad:
Take everything with a grain of salt here - it is a free game after all.
- translation to english is a bit rough
- a lot of the text doesn't fit in the text boxes, and sometimes character portraits just flat out overlap the text, when they should be the layer behind it. It can be annoying and unreadable
- The game could use some QOL stuff, for example, when crafting a new equipment, you require the equipment one tier below it plus some materials. However, if you are wearing that equipment that is one tier below, it won't show it as being craftable, so you have to unequip it.
- Some items just show a 0 increase to stats even though after equipping that is not the case.
- There are 3 endings, and I think this is one of those situations where one would have been better. They all feel weak and unsatisfying, where as if they focused on one of the three and put more detail into it, it probably would have been more satisfying overall.
Summary:
Though rough around the edges, Eternal Senia aims to be a reflection on sisterhood, and a throwback to games like Terranigma from the SNES era. It doesn't always succeed, and yet, I found myself excited to play this every night and beat it. For a free game, you can't really ask for much better of a product, and I do recommend giving this one a go.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite