Eternal Paradise

I'm just going to come out and say immediately that I have beaten this game four times, which I think gives me at least a decent perspective on the subject. So with that out of the way, I will now get on with the review.

-STORY- The story of Eternal Paradise involves four people who have traveled to Venaitura. They have all come here due to personal tragedies in their lives, all of which are apparently tied to the same being. There are some twists and turns along the way, but I'm going to say that this is probably the weakest part of the game. I didn't really feel much for the characters, and some of the dialogue got a bit out of hand. You couple that with insanely long scenes with white text against a black background, and it gets to be a bit much. Unfortunately, this really holds the game back quite a bit.

-GRAPHICS/MAPPING- The mapping isn't anything spectacular, but it gets the job done for this type of game. Expect a lot of mazes, although it does open up in one area. There are some issues with things that seem out of place(the cactus), but otherwise it gets the job done just fine. They're pretty minor nitpicks really.

On the other end of the graphics, we have Star Ocean character sets, which generally match fairly well with their backgrounds. There are some conflicting monsters though, but this is mainly due to them being from different games. While it can be noticeable, it will not hinder your experience.

-SOUND/MUSIC- I don't have much to say about the sound, since it is really handled perfectly. Nothing really bothered me, and it all seemed to fit just fine. Musical choices range from Final Fantasy, Lost Odyssey, Chrono Cross, Symphony of the Night, and so on. While I don't agree with some of the choices, most of the music managed to get the job done.

-GAMEPLAY- Okay, so this is really where the game comes together. The game would be nothing without a great system going for it, and Ephiam delivers. Getting through this game your first time will require careful balancing of weapons, and armor, because they all have positive, and negative effects on your characters. Anyone who has played Boss Project IV(Which was born from this game) should know what to expect.

Also, expect some great enemy design regarding abilities, and some great boss fights. They can be pretty elaborate down the line, but it's nice to see someone making boss fights that are actually challenging. When you're not killing those bosses though, you'll be out in the dungeons killing monsters, and thankfully there are no random encounters. You will see the monsters on the field, and if you want to fight them you can.

In addition, just when you think you're done, it turns out there's a New Game+. In this mode you get to carry over everything you had, but now you'll find new chests littered around, including seven that contain very powerful weapons. Along the way you will encounter some new optional bosses, one of which will probably send you home crying. It's also pretty fun just to go back, and beat the crap out of monsters that might have given you trouble beforehand.

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Overall, I really enjoyed this game, but there were some major issues with the story, and some pretty standard mapping, but the gameplay made up for most of it. The adventure isn't super long, but the game encourages at least one repeat visit when you're done.