Over the years, some FromSoftware titles have slipped through the cracks, and the developer’s two PlayStation 2 RPGs are certainly key examples. Named Eternal Ring and Evergrace, these two games are far from being FromSoftware’s best offerings, but they do contain FromSoftware’s dark charm and some pretty interesting experimental gameplay.
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FromSoftware’s Eternal Ring
A launch title for the PlayStation 2, Eternal Ring released in 2000. Much like FromSoftware’s prior King’s Field series, Eternal Ring uses a first-person perspective and places a heavy emphasis on slow and methodical attacks. Unlike King’s Field, however, Eternal Ring puts an emphasis on magic powers.
Though melee weapons can be found in Eternal Ring, the game heavily encourages the use of magic, making it a vital part of the gameplay loop. Throughout Eternal Ring, players will collect a vast range of magical rings, each one imbued with one of the elements. Rings are split into a few distinct categories, including rings that cast spells, rings that raise attributes, and rings that can summon other powers.
It’s pretty interesting to look back on Eternal Ring today and compare it to FromSoftware’s subsequent titles. A lot of the groundwork for Dark Souls, and in turn the similarly named Elden Ring, can be seen here. For instance, one of Dark Souls’ main gameplay mechanics sees players equip a variety of rings, most of which raise the player’s attributes or grant them unique abilities such as increasing stamina recovery or briefly turning invisible while rolling.
Similarly, Eternal Ring’s combat also bears a striking resemblance to FromSoftware’s future titles, regardless of the change in perspective. A stamina and MP (magic) bar are present here, appearing in the top left corner of the screen and depleting with each hit or magic attack. Though no lock-on mechanic is present, players are encouraged to strafe around an opponent to beat them in combat. And in true FromSoftware fashion, the game can be brutally difficult at times.
FromSoftware’s notoriously challenging boss fights even make their way into Eternal Ring. Over the course of the game, players will encounter a variety of otherworldly monsters and dragons, most of which will pummel the average player a good handful of times before they even have time to react. Some boss fights in Eternal Ring are also a tad unbalanced, with a few dodging the player’s attack with god-like timing.
On the whole, Eternal Ring is a clear natural progression for FromSoftware, taking the primary elements of the King’s Field series and experimenting with more magic-focused gameplay. Unfortunately, though, Eternal Ring wasn’t really a hit with critics. The vast majority of reviewers condemned Eternal Ring’s dated graphics, out-of-place voice acting, and poor draw distance, along with its awkward combat pacing. That being said, most critics then agreed that Eternal Ring was at least a solid PS2 launch title and a fine RPG for those that needed one day one.
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FromSoftware’s Evergrace
One of Eternal Ring’s biggest complaints is that it felt quite rushed. This might have something to do with the fact that FromSoftware also released Evergrace in 2000, just a month later, and also as a launch title for the PlayStation 2. Interestingly, Evergrace doesn’t quite look like a typical FromSoftware title.
While the third-person camera perspective is much more in-line with FromSoft’s subsequent titles, Evergrace’s general gameplay, environmental design, and tone is much more akin to an N64-era Legend of Zelda game than Dark Souls or Elden Ring. In Evergrace, players can swap between two playable characters, Sharline and Darius. Though their stories differ, the gameplay is pretty identical between the two protagonists.
Rather than slow and methodical combat, Evergrace favours a more action-heavy, hack-and-slash approach, boiling most combat encounters down to just spamming the attack button until the enemy’s health bar drops to zero. Players won’t need to strafe or think about their next move, as they’ll probably succeed by just hacking away at their opponent.
This does change a little during the game’s boss fights, which do resemble FromSoftware’s other titles quite a bit. There’s even one boss that looks and acts very similarly to the Iron King from Dark Souls 2. In these fights, players will need to take their time, and learn their opponent’s attack timings to succeed.
One of the unique aspects of Evergrace, and by far the biggest point of praise from critics, is that the player’s equipped armor is actually shown on their character. This mechanic is often taken for granted now, but for a game releasing in 2000, this was quite innovative.
Much like Eternal Ring, though, Evergrace didn’t fare too well with critics. Again, the outdated graphics, poor draw distance, and unresponsive gameplay were all criticized by review outlets. The overarching theme of contemporary reviews seems to be that Evergrace was, like Eternal Ring, rushed.
This key point of widespread criticism is easily explainable when taking a look at Evergrace’s development. Originally, Evergrace was intended to be an original PlayStation title, and around half of the game had been completed before some members of the team expressed their interest to transition to Sony’s upcoming console. The entirety of the game’s assets, from character models to sound, had to be remade from the ground up.
While they may have only been met with middling reviews, FromSoftware’s PS2 RPGs were a solid starting point for the developer on new hardware. Though they haven’t aged too well, it’s clear to see that both Eternal Ring and Evergrace have influenced more recent FromSoftware games.
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