Eternal Ring (Sony PlayStation 2, 2000)

Eternal Ring marks From Software's first attempt at the first-person action-RPG genre for the PlayStation 2. Like From's other titles, it's being published in the US by Agetec. The game's opening sequence begins with the main character - an adventurer named Cain Morgan - walking through a palace surrounded by water. He notices a glowing object on one of the pedestals and picks up a ring. A dragon immediately swoops down out of the sky, preparing to attack. Cain raises his arms high above his head to ward it off, and the ring blasts the dragon with tremendous force, destroying it utterly. Yes, you're going to want to get more of these rings.

The game itself begins with a narration introducing the character Cain and a background story using a series of pictures that are drawn in a style reminiscent of medieval art. After the narration, you see Cain on a sailboat heading toward an island. Cain and the boatman begin a brief conversation, which you expect to be voiced-over since the narration featured voice, but unfortunately they aren't. Instead you just see characters opening their mouths and moving their lips as the dialogue text scrolls on the bottom of the screen. Despite some lackluster sound effects and the absence of voice-overs, the game's soundtrack does manage to set the appropriate mood and atmosphere for the game.

Eternal Ring runs at a faster frame rate than From Software's previous first-person RPGs (King's Field, King's Field II, and Shadow Tower), which clocked in at 15 to 20 frames per second. In the beginning, your movement is relatively slow, but once you obtain a special object from the first boss, you're able to move faster, and the rate becomes satisfactory.

the environments, though not incredibly populated, are really well done. The waterfall inside the caverns and the transitions from daytime to sunset to nightfall really are very impressive looking. The biggest mistake in the game's graphics is the collision detection. When enemies throw projectiles like a stone or even magic spells, your instinct is to hide behind a wall or an object to avoid getting hit. Unfortunately, these projectiles or magic spells go through walls, so you still get hit by them. If you have played From Software's previous first-person RPGs, you'll have an idea as to how Eternal Ring plays - for the most part. The game uses a first-person perspective, and you, as Cain, use a variety of weapons and magic spells to defeat your foes, though more of the latter than the former since the only weapons in this game are swords and you will not come across a whole lot of them. Instead, the game focuses more on the usage of magical spells. While you had a gauge for both weapons and magic spells in King's Field, only magic spells are available in Eternal Ring. The gauge indicates the charge time to cast spells. Magic spells can be obtained by equipping up to ten rings. More than 120 different kinds of spells can be created by producing different combinations of the rings' elemental jewels. bottom line Avid fans of King's Field and Shadow Tower will likely love Eternal ring.

Eternal Ring begins with the main character Cain. He hops off a boat on an island shore and begins walking towards a cave entrance. A minor annoyance in the game was the inability to run. He can only walk and you only have the option of turning off the “walking bounce”. His pace is OK, but add paralysis and it becomes very very slow (although paralysis in other games simply stops you all together).
Eternal Ring is coded by the same people that did the Kings Field Series for the PS1, as such it may appear to be a sequel but it only shares some similarities. The graphics are way better (especially in the environments – sunsets) even though they could have spent a little more time on the character faces.
The game uses a first-person perspective, and you use a variety of weapons and magic spells to defeat the enemies. I prefer the ability to actually see my character (not just the weapon)hacking away but this perspective will do. However the lack of weapons forces you to use and learn magic (duh eternal ring – not sword). Each magic spell can be obtained by equipping rings. You can have up to ten rings – five attribute and five magic rings at one time. These are made by a unique process of combining elemental jewels (120 different kinds of spells). Attribute rings will not provide you with magic spell but instead may enhance your abilities, such as increasing your stats. The combinations for creating rings are part luck and part skill since the manual provides some advice on how to create certain rings.
RPG fans hesitant to go online, but drooling with anticipation for FF XII will find this game simple yet satisfying. However gamers that favor high tempo shooter/fighting games will be left with a dry taste in their mouth. Besides with the low cost of this title why not give it a whirl?

This game I purchased for a ridiculously low price, and I didn't expect much. I did however get a pretty good game. It is a challenging RPG adventure, with a unique perspective and is fought in real-time using weapons and spells. You can create your own magic rings which grant you magic powers of offense or defense or make attribute rings which enhance you character's attributes. The fun and challenging part is the fact that you are taught how to make the rings, but you can try different combinations to achieve different rings and there is an element of luck too. For example mixing the same ingredients in the same order will not always give the same ring. It is enjoyable and entertaining, especially for the price. It is different from many RPG's or adventure games and that is it's charm and appeal. It is an older PS2 game and therefore the graphics, while good are not the realistic kind some may expect(ie. FFXII). Do not let that deter you if you like this genre of games, it is enjoyable and fulfilling and I would easily recommend it to a friend.

I bought this game as a "spin-off" game from the King's Field series.

Same "First person slasher" game, but you play more of a mage than warrior.
Gameplay's faster, which is nice. And gets pretty fun. There were a few puzzles, and no map, so you need to use your memory. You get to Make rings! (Which is what you use to attack) There's dozens of formulas, and that's neat.
Story's alright.
Controls were mostly the same as kings field, but casting magic and slashing are reverted, which took some getting used to. And it always irritates me when you cannot customize your own control settings.
The graphics coulda been better, especially for a PS2 game. (though all kings fields lacked that quality)
The dubbing is HORRIBLE!
Game's length coulda been longer. Took two days of Hardcore gaming to beat it. Usually takes me 3.
How many stars would I give this game? Depends who you are:
If you're someone who plays Sports, or Guitar hero, then TWO stars. If you play Adventure/RPG games, THREE stars. If you wanted to play the Kings field games, 4 Stars. And as much as I don't wanna offend anyone, but I would never think this game deserves 5 stars.

While I admit this is a somewhat limited game, with repetitive combat. This was WONDERFUL to play with my 5 year old as his first introduction to RPG gaming. He loved making rings by mixing the colored stones. There are no bloody or gory scenes and once you have a few rings, you may never need to use the sword again. It took us about 3 months of playing a few hours a week to win the game. As with all RPG's remember to save often.