Eternal Sword M Review

Great Graphics, Senseless Story

Eternal Sword M, NeoCraft’s new RPG, is ambitious to say the least. The story begins with an apocalyptic flashback, where the citizens of an unnamed realm fall victim to fiery attacks from the sky. The details of the war are vague, and no reason is ever given for the conflict. To prevent the apocalypse, you’re sent back to train for a week before taking on the False God with your team (the first of many bosses). Your goal is to complete quests in order to unlock your own forgotten memories (and remember why it is you even came back to the past in the first place).

This can be hard, because the game’s story seeks to add a little bit of everything to the mix. The narrative is confusing to piece together, and the title gives little warning as to what the game is actually about. What’s more, all of the quests, tasks, and characters look and play like they’ve been created as separate mini games. They don’t mesh well, making for a game that feels rather contrived.

Limited Character Design

The character design in Eternal Sword M is questionable. Some, such as goblins and familiars, look stumpy when compared to the long-legged heroes (who look like they came waltzing straight out of an anime). Neither of these points is inherently bad, but the difference in character design is glaring. It’s as if World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy decided to make a guest appearance in each other’s universes. Given that NeoCraft is part of Blizzard’s company branch in China, this is partly true. For a company that helped create League of Legends, it’s surprising to see so many design and dialogue hiccups.

Not only that, but Eternal Sword M’s customization is lacking at best. I could see no visible changes in my character’s costumes after I upgraded my gear, and it took me out of the game’s spell. The loading time is just as disenchanting.

Eternal Sword M Lags Eternally

Eternal Sword M not only takes up a healthy chunk of real estate on your device’s memory, it lags and lags. I had to wait for what seemed like ages for the game to reload. I even tried playing on my tablet in an effort to speed up the process. Once again, I had to try my cell phone, and when the game restarted, I had somehow fast-forwarded to another, more advanced chapter.

To its credit, Eternal Sword M isn’t a game that will threaten you with in-app purchases to keep the game going. In fact, it’s almost too easy to rack up coins to buy gear and upgrade your skills.

Here’s the thing, what really made me put the game down wasn’t the design or dialogue. What broke my confidence in the game was its ridiculous level ups, paired with its many technical difficulties. It didn’t matter what level I was on, it didn’t matter if the game lagged mid-fight, it didn’t even matter if my armor and weapons weren’t upgraded—the outcome was always the same. I won. And kept winning. Constantly winning got boring very quickly.

Technical Difficulties of Eternal Sword M

I even attempted an experiment and stopped playing mid-fight. Only then did I realize that the game fights for you. It completely took the fun out of it. I did receive a message from the game stating that my account was having technical difficulties. They gave me two hundred jewels as an apology, but that did little to improve the mechanics of the game.

I wasn’t too keen on how the Eternal Sword M admins integrated chats on screen. The chat window is in the lower center of the screen, partially blocking your view. The way the game announced other members’ achievements at random, even during a fight, was also very was distracting. Overall, the game’s crowded and colorful design only managed to successfully raise my blood pressure.

While the story wouldn’t have been such an issue if I could’ve had some decent fights, the technical difficulties made the game virtually unplayable. Even so, I did enjoy meeting the game’s version of Da Vinci, a hot red-head who looks way cooler than the actual medieval genius.

Too Much, Too Soon

Eternal Sword M is an RPG that tries to do too much and fails. The game has everything from chunky goblins to angelic heroes, and yet it still lacks imagination. The RPG uses time travel and vague wars to try to develop an already bleak backstory. The fights are nonexistent, and quite frankly, I was glad to remove it from my phone.