Eternal Step (PC) Review

Eternal Step comes off very unappetising in terms of presentation. Starting with the title screen, the art direction looks almost as if it were made completely with a default paint program of any operating system. The interface uses text that would be found in Microsoft Office, and in addition to that, there is no consistency found anywhere when it comes to font. The character's stats are in a different font, and the same goes for the options and settings, programming control input, and many other cases. Very little art direction was involved, or to say the least, was handled amateurishly; it is no wonder the hero covers his eyes with his hair.

The animation, however, manages to look decent, since the hero has some impressive movements, such as his run cycle, potion drinking, and combat options. All of the environments are unexciting and add no original concepts to a familiar setting. In some instances, Eternal Step's environments will destroy logic, such as having a buried grave on a floor that is not the first floor. It leaves a lot to be desired visually. However, the soundtrack is simply incredible. Every music track manages to fit the mood of a hero ascending an endless tower, with a ray of hope.

Nothing makes climbing an endless tower more dangerous than fighting demonic creatures. Combat against the many evils of Eternal Step is pure weapon-swinging action against multiple foes, and the mechanics are impressively enjoyable. Despite the unexciting visual of combat, the hero brings excitement to the battlefield with very reliable shield blocking, dodge rolling, several weapon techniques and tons of different weapons to use. Two particular moves that are fun to pull off are the Charge and Flurry skills. Skills will have different functions depending on the type of weapon currently equipped, giving a depth of variety for players to explore. At times, hit detection seems unreliable, but luckily, this seems to only apply to some of the larger opponents, such as the bosses.

Although the art of combat seems decent, boss battles are completely unfair and will completely destroy an unprepared player. The first boss, for instance, will perform incredibly fast attacks that can only be avoided with pixel perfect timing through use of the dodge roll; failing to do so will result in half (or even more) health being taken off if still within the level 15-20 bracket. Luckily, Eternal Step includes checkpoints before boss battles; however, not having the proper equipment will guarantee defeat, since the previous attempt discards all the impressive gear saved up - an incredibly frustrating plight.

Loot is earned through killing creatures and opening chests, but Eternal Step uses a unique feature that forces the hero to choose what to keep after each floor. If a new piece of equipment is chosen, the old one is lost, but if deciding not to replace the current one, it will get sent to the main screen inventory storage. This feature is both strategical, and frustrating, since it's desirable to always pick the best possible loot, but if defeat is inevitable, picking the best loot is sometimes better to send to storage.