Sword of Etheria

Andrew communicates with Etheria, the crazy fool...

What do you get when you cross an anime character that lives in a world weirder than you knew existed... and the circus? The answer is The Sword of Etheria. Unfortunately there aren't any elephants balancing on their hind legs or white tiger's taking chunks out of magician, Derek Horn. Shame.

The story behind The Sword of Etheria is as quirky and fantastical as you might expect from a game that boasts so many Japanese influences. Feel is just an ordinary boy until he realises, well, he might not be. He has the ability to communicate with Etheria which means he could be a Katena, a superhuman. The two characters who end up joining you on your quest go by the names of Armilla and Leon. These two are OZs, the head honcho type of Katenas, individuals who can transform into more powerful, armoured versions of themselves when necessary. Armilla, curious of Feel decides to see if he is in fact a Katena. In true anime tradition, she decides upon a battle to the death, which Feel fights and wins. Serves her right. Surely Paper, Rock, Scissors, superhuman-style would have sufficed?

The selling point in The Sword of Etheria will probably be focused on the ability to 'control' four characters at once, but in fact it is probably the game's most disappointing inclusion. Like so many other Hack 'n' Slash-cum-RPG games your task is to battle through wave after wave of enemies, gaining experience, growing stronger and watching all your hard work pay off as you destroy some sorry soul with one devastating move. Your two comrades work mostly independently from Feel. If it weren't for the fact that you have to use their abilities to defeat certain enemies, then they might have just stayed at home. This works by Feel 'passing' an enemy over to them in order for them to soften them up. Then, they fling them back over to you to finish off. The longer you manage to successfully combine your skills with those of Leon and Armilla, the more damage is done.

Juggling enemies in a cycle of pain leads to Feel's special bar gauge increasing. Reaching the first level means Feel can unleash his special move, while reaching the second enables you, Armilla or Leon to use either of theirs. As you become practiced in toying with the enemy in this way, great satisfaction can be achieved, much that includes giggling and involuntary shouts of 'Wheeeee' as a foe is thrown around helplessly. Mind you, however much fun this is, it would have been nice to switch completely between the trio of Katena, and that's what's a bit of a shame, really.

Besides combat and leveling up that affords you the opportunity to mix and match different attacking combinations, the chance to explore is limited. This boils down to a level structure that, despite its visual twists and turns is as linear as a Roman road. Whether you see this as keeping the player acutely concentrated on the task in hand throughout or a lack of imagination replaced by invisible walls, is ultimately subjective. As too is the curious 'Game Over' scenario. The only way you're ever going to see that screen is if all three of your team dies. If Feel falls in battle then some of his life can be recouped by battering the pad's buttons as if your (or Feel's) life depended on it. The same principle applies with Leon and Amira, but even if it might give you repetitive strain injury it does at least keep the pace of the game constant, which is a nice, original touch.

Visually The Sword of Etheria doesn't disappoint. Anime definitely has the scope for some fantastic effects and Konami certainly haven't shied away from showing off their knowledge of the PS2 hardware. The quality and variety of scenery and animation in the game's 20 levels is lovely and the bosses especially are impressive to behold, both in detail and grandeur. However, more gleaming in exquisiteness than all is the detailed Japanese artwork that crops up throughout your play, definitely worth musing over. The game's soundtrack, emotive and dramatic fits perfectly too. What does let the aural side down, on the other hand, is some truly awful American voice acting, cringe worthy stuff and in some ways unnecessary. Even English subtitles with the original Japanese voices would have been better.

The Sword of Etheria's appeal really boils down to a gamer's interest in anime and its nuances, because otherwise there's nothing here that really stands out. Though the fighting technique is quirky to begin with, it soon drags when you realise that it doesn't ever really vary throughout, it just gets harder to pull off. In all, The Sword of Etheria is a game that delights in some areas, but lacks in others. And if gameplay matters to you, which really it should, then you might be best off elsewhere.

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By Andrew Macarthy