Product ReviewsEternal Poison (Sony PlayStation 2, 2008)

Atlus delivers another unique game

From the publisher of the Disgaea series comes another unique, quirky tactics game for the PlayStation 2 console. Atlus has a tendency to pick up titles that other publishers may overlook to be produced in the U.S., and their decision to port over Eternal Poison is not a poor choice.

Turn-based strategy and Gothic character designs. What more is there to grab one's attention?

Players can choose to go through different characters in an effort to get a fuller grasp of the game's complex, albeit a bit cliched, plot. A princess is kidnapped and carried off by demons. One group, led by the princess' fiancee, seeks to enter the enemy territory to rescue the damsel. Another group, led by a young Cleric, also sets out to save the princess. The group that is most interesting is the one led by a young magic user, the heroine displayed in the game's prologue and cover art. She sets out to find an item called the Eternal Poison, an artifact that grants the wielder much power.

The music score is beautiful and rich, eerily haunting at times, but the voice dubbing falls short of anything spectacular. Fortunately, there is an option to turn on or off voice overs,

As for the actual game play, it is like any other turn-based tactics game employing a variety of strategies (e.g. exploit your enemy's weakness; terrain advantage) with characters who are more adept at fighting, healing, magic use, or long-range shooting.
When engaging in actual combat, the game follows a Fire Emblem approach: the camera goes off from the map and there is a scene of one party initiating the attack to the opposing party. Some of them can become rather redundant, so the player can skip the scenes with a press of button. A few special moves are worth watching, but generic clashes become tiring very quickly.
At times, the controls for modifying the view of the map to get a better idea of what is going on can get frustrating because the player is limited in terms of controlling the camera. The turning is awkward, and the zooming is even more ridiculous since one cannot zoom out completely for a full view.

The graphics are rich and lush with colors and beautifully rendered characters. I must say that the artwork is truly unique, and various hands at work make even some of the boss-type characters a work to behold.

Overall, it is a fair game to play if one is looking for something different but does not wish to stray too far from the classic strategy-tactics game.Read full review...

nastalgic

it is an old school grid take turns tactical game for the most part and somewhat of a story-line as well but you are going to want t6o turn off animations for battle mode it takes to long to go through a battle with it onRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: johno11832010

A rare Jewel indeed

I love the PS2 I'm a PS2 Die Hard fan and I've been trying to get my hands on this game for a very long time brings back good memories

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: retrodreamland

A good game tha is underrated

What i like about this game is the fact that it has three stories. It plays similarly to that of a fire emblem game and allows you to capture demons, unfortunately the ability to level up in this game is very limited and unfortunate. That seems to be the major drawback at the moment.Read full review...

Great game !

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: mgaming1988

a great game

its a solid game with good story format its atlus classic a must have in any rpg collection if your looking for a sol;id tatical rpg this is the one for you and if you dare to accept a challange that would change your mind in any negetive way the do so and youll see how right my opinion isRead full review...