Review: Rise Eterna 2 (Nintendo Switch)
In my review of 2021’s Rise Eterna, I stated, “…the ending is very abrupt and unsatisfying. It felt tacked on, as if they were going to set up a sequel (which I’d like to see), then bailed.” Well, that sequel is now here with Rise Eterna 2, and it’s a solid improvement over the original.
This time around, our Fire Emblem-esque adventure focuses on an Athracian soldier named Jacht. His kingdom is on the verge of collapse, leaving Jacht angered and vengeful as he follows his commands without questioning either their means or ends. He’s paired off with a longtime friend, named Celia, and a mercenary group, all of whom are more aware that perhaps things aren’t quite right.
The moral ambiguity of Rise Eterna 2 carries over from the original, and it makes for a compelling narrative that will drive players quickly through the game’s 24 levels of turn-based, tactical combat. This is a fun, brisk adventure that will have Fire Emblem fans fondly recalling the days of yore. It’s worth noting, however, that Rise Eterna 2 is not simply a Fire Emblem clone.
Yes, the basic approach to turn-based combat is largely the same. You start with a top-down view of the battle grid, and then move all of your combatants. If you can reach an enemy, you can attack. If not, the enemy will then move their “pieces,” so you’ll need to plan your defense. I don’t like that you still cannot see the enemy’s range if you don’t have your cursor on top of an enemy unit; you just have to remember how far they can reach. But since their reach often extends beyond the screen, sometimes you can’t determine the range at all. This should have been fixed.
That oversight would be annoying in any tactical RPG, but it’s especially bothersome here where strategic placement of your party is so important. If allied units are standing next to each other, they can both attack on a single turn. Whereas it’s often OK to leave one of your units vulnerable to a single attack, getting double-teamed on multiple turns can result in defeat. Considering that, I think it would be fair for the developers to let us see when that’s a possibility.
Anyway, back to the variations on the Fire Emblem theme. There is no weapon triangle in Rise Eterna 2. Your weapons don’t degrade as they’re used. You also don’t level up in the standard way. Instead of buying better weapons or enhancing the ones you have, you equip them (and yourself) with gems you acquire through battle. These can add bonuses such as an increase to your critical chances, a health-point buff, or improved defense. Some will buff one aspect of your stats while debuffing another. They can be easily swapped between characters, and you’ll get better gems as you progress. It’s an easy system to utilize and it allows you to mix and match without penalty throughout the game.
Each character also receives skill points that can be assigned to a limited skill tree. The available skills are predetermined, but they have paths to reach different abilities. This requires some thinking, as you may end up having to redeem a skill you don’t necessarily want in order to get one you do. Again, easy to use, but this system requires consideration as you can’t reverse your decisions.
Even the health items and buffs require some work. The battle grids have resources scattered about, and you’ll need to move next to them in order to acquire them to craft various potions and enhancements. Some are quite a ways off the beaten path, so you’ll have to pull a character away from the action to get them.
Also, many of the levels have traps. These are undetectable until you trip them, unless you’re using your dog, Armond. This good boy (girl?) will automatically set off traps while avoiding them, clearing the route for your soldiers. Armond can’t equip gems or carry items, however, so you don’t want to leave him stranded too far from the protection of his team.
Speaking of carrying items, it’s also annoying that you still can’t see the characters’ inventories without selecting them for movement and clicking the items option. If I can reach a chest, I shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to see which characters have a key and whether they have the inventory space to retain whatever is in the chest. Like the enemy range display, this was a problem oversight in the first game, and it should’ve been resolved here.
Visually, Rise Eterna 2 continues to straddle the line between the GBA and DS Fire Emblem games. The character artwork looks great, the battle maps look good, and the battle animations look OK—it’s like the game is paying homage to three decades worth of the games that inspired it. I like that, but I don’t understand why the central characters get detailed portraits while the goons are left heavily pixelated. It makes the game look unfinished.
The music, however, does not. Although it does get repetitive, the sweeping and majestic score adds the right amount of eight to the proceedings without crushing them. I’m increasingly alone in this belief, but I always prefer symphonic scores over the rock-infused music of, say, Xenoblade Chronicles in my JRPGs.
With only 24 levels, Rise Eterna 2 is a quick play. There’s no fluff between combat to drag things down, which is good. It’s also still too easy, which is not so good. But it’s enjoyable throughout. It tells a good story and fills it with interesting characters who develop nicely both strategically and narratively. Tactical combat fans will get their money’s worth at the asking price of $19.99. At press time, it’s on sale for $6.79, making it an absolute steal. If you’re tired of waiting for Nintendo to add Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance to Nintendo Classics, Rise Eterna 2 will hold you over.
