Aeterno Blade II: Director’s Rewind

By Juan M Carrillo

Aeterno Blade sure lives up to its own description as a “Hardcore action-puzzle game.” Delivering a fast-moving hack and slash game the reminds me of the original trilogy of Devil May Cry. Its use of side scroller and third person camera angles deliver unique perspective in combat and traversing the map. Honestly, it still surprises me that I let games like this pass me by as I been spoiled by many more popular franchises. The game is developed and published by Corecell Technology and the games have been released on multiple platforms since its development its unique combat system, art style and creative puzzle solving makes it stand out from many of the other games in the similar market.

Visually the game is stylized using cel-shading a technic in many popular games such as legend of Zelda that became popular in the era of the early 2000’s. Which is fitting since the charming art reminds me of the playstation 2 and is a bit nostalgic. It is simple yet character design also reminds me of those games like FF X. And it is not overly done like many of the hyperplastic games of modern times. Making the anime style like characters stand out a bit more yet blending with the world around them. Being simplistic is not necessary a bad thing as far as this game is concern. Though I do have to say some of the materials take it a bit much with the specular map making a few things shinier than others.

One of the worst things this game has going for it is the voice acting however, there is no nice way to put it is just awful. I tend to ignore it but as the story progress it gets bad and its plain obvious that it takes away from the characters and make them hard to take seriously or enjoy their character developments. It also should be noted that some of the dialogue is plain out of place, for example in once scene where the castle is under attack. the characters describe their back story of their relationship and the place where they are going and some brief history. Besides the lack of emotion in a scene where tensions should be high, I do not think that is a conversation that two individuals would be having. The two know who each other are why are they are on the way to save the castle? To me it really bothers me, and I think it was placed there on purpose to give the player some indication on who they are. Which is a shame since the game is fun and the voice acting is not the greatest, but it just falls flat because the character designs are cool.

On the other hand, however its unique blend of puzzle solving and hacking and slashing being fun some of the mechanics are questionable. For example, the counter systems seem unnecessary but it is done in a way so the player can think of a strategic way to win and defeat the enemies. But the coolest part is the core feature of the game and is time manipulation. That is just a cool future in general, almost like Dante’s doubleganger and quicksilver abilities but unique enough to make it its own. Though some of the fights make it irritable since you have to think of a way to win and the dodging in side-scroller mode is frustrating and the recovering time after you get hit takes too long. However, it does not make it the game unplayable you just got to have good reflexes and good timing.

Overall Aeterno Blade II: Directors Rewind is an ok game, its blend of story, art style and combat system are different and familiar at the same time making an utterly unique playing experience. Overall, I think the game is one of those games that hardcore fantasy story players would enjoy and should play. With some questionable combat mechanics and bad voice acting however it puts me in a very particular spot since I do enjoy the game, but I can also see myself getting frustrated and cringe as the game progresses. This one is up to you as the player and gamer to decide if this game is worth a play through.

Aeterno Blade II: Director’s Rewind: 6/10 Rating.

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