E3: Eternal Blade impressions

[05.16.00] » U.S.-developed RPG inexplicably fails to suck.

   Mattel, surprisingly, is jumping into the RPG foray with its first title of the genre. Developed by Stormfront Studios, "Eternal Blade" (working title), the game seems to be a medieval, swords-and-sorcery adventure with a multi-character party structure. Currently only four months into production, the game already contains a rich, attractive graphics engine that enables impressive lighting effects and smooth motion.

   What makes this an especially noteworthy first step into the RPG arena for Mattel is the advances the game makes in the 3D environment paradigm. Instead of having random enemy encounters, the player can see enemies coming from some distance, as in Chrono Trigger. When the characters approach to within a certain distance, they automatically ready their weapons or spells for battle, and the game moves seamlessly into the combat screen. In addition, transitioning between areas is greatly eased by the extraordinary camera work. When the party moves from the outdoors into an enclosed space, for example, the camera (which is freely movable outdoors) follows the characters through the door and then becomes "trapped" inside the enclosure (and freely movable once again). These effects, combined with a streaming-style loading process, allow for a totally seamless environment that prevents the removal of a player from the game by loading screens.

   The outdoor environment, described as a "living world," features flowing water that rises and falls with the motions of the river or stream, birds with carefully modelled flocking AI, and realistic wind effects that makes flags flutter, plants wave and smoke waft in a certain direction. This attention to detail makes the outdoor environments both realistic and engrossing.

   The battle system also innovates. Two characters were present in the demo version of the game - a sword-wielding, knight-type character and a lizard-like, Rastafarian creature who could use magic with the aid of a glowing ball. The first character, when attacking, could employ a series of slashes and movements that were chosen independently by the player (it was mentioned that this character would have up to 50 or 60 of these moves in the actual game). The second could cast a spell on the enemy in traditional RPG style with attractive visual effects. Only one enemy was present in the demo - a large humanoid creature made out of rocks. As the enemy AI is still in development, this creature did not move or attack, but he still demonstrated a smoothly-animated battle stance and generally imposing presence.

   Character-building is not slighted - while the two characters in the demo each had clearly-established roles (of wise magician and slash-em-up infantryman), characters are not locked into certain types of development. Through a system of "skill points," a player can make each character develop whatever skills he thinks useful, enabling a very broad set of party possibilities.

   While the game's development is still in its infancy, the story is already complete and promises to be the title's focus. The development team is also proving to be very ambitious, having produced a completely playable and attractive game engine in a mere four months. This is definitely a title to watch.