Heroic-high-fantasy meets Pokemon in a eastern style MMORPG? Eternal Magic fits those bills and more, as developer Douyi and publisher 101X have created, if nothing else, something unique.
Put bluntly, never have I felt like so much and so little were happening simultaneously during an RPG. For a free-to-play entry, Eternal Magic has a wide array of content, but its incessant progression systems mixed with pay-to-win mechanics that plague many free games hold back what could be a decent game.
Positives
MMORPGs can support a wide pool of playstyles–exploration, competition, cosmetics, etc.–and Eternal Magic does offer something for everyone. The pool of content branches between questing, group dungeoning, crafting, pet upgrading, character customization, and more, which is to be expected from paid titles, but comes as an unexpected surprise for a free-to-play title.
Best of its core experiences certainly is its combat. The global cooldown timer is short, ability bars are simple yet meaningfully modulated, and classes feel distinct. Spellblades, the class I played mostly as, unleashed the fury of flames alongside flourishing sword blows. Punchy, fair, and well-tuned are all encapsulating of Eternal Magic’s combat system.
Another key factor in determining the enjoyability of MMORPGs is their active player base. Eternal Magic has an active and dedicated community. I was able to find instance groups whenever I wanted, there were a variety of guilds to join, and people populating all the quest areas and the main city.
Negatives
At the core of Eternal Magic’s issues lies a lack of magic itself. There is no sense of wonder to be had–mystery and lore substitute for AI-generated-tier fantasy writing; fantastical lands to be explored turned into short railroads for the players to ride along and be showered with gold in. Seriously, the amount of handholding, repeated content, and lack of anything original made Eternal Magic a bizarre experience.
I hope to never see the follow mechanic Eternal Magic uses in any other RPG system. In any quest, the player can click on the point of interest (person, place, item) and the game will auto-path you directly to that spot. Most of the time that spot would literally be 10 paces down a singular pathway, but the experience I was left with was that of a railroad passenger watching the cart go down the tracks.
And that is the other core issue with Eternal Magic: its begging desire to be liked, to be picked up and be played again. There is nothing hard about Eternal Magic–levels pass by like lightning striking, loot is showered upon you like a torrential downpour has met an angry rich sea god, and mistakes are rarely punished. I never felt like I earned anything and had a full loot chest to show for it.
Apart from its gameplay shortcomings, the graphical and sound quality also drag. Honestly, the game looks and feels like a current mobile game, or an MMORPG that was released a while ago.
Also, the element of pets so near and dear to the game’s core was a little off for me. A lot of the pets seemed to cater to a loli-type audience and I’ve read around that they were off putting for more players than just myself.
Conclusion
Eternal Magic has a punchy combat system and shallow but fun gameplay cycle with lots of character customization options in the late game, but it also suffers from lack of originality, visual appeal, and sense of achievement. In a genre with many choices to choose from, Eternal Magic does not top the list.
Score: 6/10
Check Out the Eternal Magic Steam Trailer:
Eternal Magic is available for PC via Steam.
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Steam Review
Recent Michigan State University grad and current Game Studies researcher who plays fantasy RPG's to escape, Smash to compete, and Stardew to chill. Also have a +1 to rage/toxicity resistance due to the many hours sunk into WoW, R6, and LoL.
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