When it comes to Action-JRPGs, I am very peculiar about what I really like. Tight combat, gorgeous visuals, and an engaging story top my list of what I tend to look at. Tales of Arise, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Scarlet Nexus, and Crisis Core are some of my favorites that tell stories I get hooked on with engaging action-oriented combat in a beautiful world.
What I didn't expect was to play a game that not only has all of this, but layers it with a dating simulator. Sounds weird right? An Action-JRPG where you roam around, fight monsters, level up, gain new skills, all while figuring out your dating life, seems like a weird combination. But, if the preview for Eternights taught me anything, it's that this pairing can not only work, but has the potential to be a new favorite of mine.
Eternights, developed by Studio Sai, has a really interesting premise that I got invested in quite easily. It starts off with your main character getting put on a dating site by your best friend. The next day, as you go to your date, an apocalyptic event occurs and puts you in a shelter in the subway, while everyone else outside turns into infected monsters. But, after the shelter is compromised, you find yourself running around with your best friend and a popular singer where, in the end, you awaken your powers and learn you must travel to retrieve "The Stone" and save the world.
Flashy Slashy Fighting
This is where the action really begins. In the demo, I was running around the subway and a demolished city, fighting my way through enemies in real-time, flashy combat. You have one attack move, but you can time dodges to slow down time and perform attacks and, when you attack enough, perform an ultimate elemental attack or a deathblow. The combat is really, really flashy, making each attack feel epic, while also making you want to keep the combat going.
As you fight, you will gather materials to upgrade your skills, which can be used to gain new attacks. You will also be traveling with companions that have their own set of skills that you can activate at a moments notice. In the demo, my companion was Yuna, who was able to create a spot to heal me as long as I stood in it. Other companions will have other skills, so branching out your playstyle will be much easier, but let's talk about the companions real quick.
To Date or Not to Date
The second biggest component of the game, hell maybe even the biggest, is the dating simulator that's here. Throughout the game, you will meet new companions, some of whom you can grow closer to and romance. As you grow closer, you will be able to have special moments with them, as well as unlock new skills they can use in battle!
This is all encompassed by a couple Persona-esque systems. You will have limited time each day to do things, so you will have to choose if you decide to go on a date, flirt, go dungeon-crawling, or scavenge for materials. There is also a social system that will see certain characteristics, like Courage or Confidence, that will go up by talking to others and selecting specific options.
There are also gorgeously-animated 2D cutscenes that can change depending on who you date, giving a more immersive experience on who you choose to date. There wasn't much of this shown off in the preview/demo, but it's a really cool concept I can't wait to see explained further.
Overall, the combination of the gorgeous visuals, bright combat, enticing story, and interesting dating elements really make this game stand out on its own. I was actually sad that the demo ended as I was not only engrossed in the story and wanted to know more about Yuna. I loved the combat, which was really awesome to watch and experience, while also admiring the surrounding areas. This is easily one of my favorite demos I have played so far that makes me excited for the release, but it definitely helps that it also runs really well on the Steam Deck.
Eternights Demo - Steam Deck Performance
Starting up the demo, the game was starting to seem like it wouldn't run well as the main menu drained way too much, but this quickly changed as soon as I got into the game. I did have to change the resolution to 1280x800, which it does support, and that was it. Without any caps, 95% of the demo could run at 60 FPS, which is awesome, but I did prefer setting the refresh rate/framerate to 50.
This kept the game feeling smooth and stable, apart from 2-3 spots that really hit performance hard. I am not sure exactly what made these spots so much more demanding, but I don't believe they will continue to stay that way.
This kept battery drain at around 13W - 15W, which is pretty nice for a game like this, and a nice native resolution to keep things looking sharp. I am elated by the performance though and feel it really bodes well for the full-game, as demos notoriously have worse performance than the final product.
After playing, I can easily recommend others take the time to play this demo. If you are at all a fan of real-time combat in JRPGs, engaging apocalyptic stories, dating simulators, or want to try a mix of all of it, this is the demo for you!
You can download the Eternights demo on Steam right now and pre-order the game for its upcoming release on September 21st.
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I'll have to give it a reinstall and see if it'll work for me. First attempt kept crashing at the fight tutorial and nothing I did with forcing proton versions and changing settings seemed to help unfortunately.