Eon Altar Episode 2 Review – Round 2! Fright Night in the Fortress

Eon Altar Episode 2 Review

Eon Altar Episode 2 continues with the turn-based RPG that was so effective from the previous installment. This time around, the story twists and turns bringing in some more fantasy tropes to add to the mix. Ghosts, zombies, and other creatures frequent the fortress during your adventure through Episode 2. With one more installment to come, Episode 2 of Eon Altar shows signs of becoming the “forgotten middle child”. Caution, some spoilers ahead.

The core mechanics from Episode 1 return without much change. There isn’t a whole lot to diversify Episode 1 from Episode 2 aside from the continuation of the story. The turn-based battle system returns with a few additions. New enemies frequent each area you uncover and they come bearing intriguing new mechanics. My favorite enemy of Episode 2 hands down was Allevia, who summons wisps. That may not sound too out of the ordinary but the wisps changed abilities each turn. Occasionally they wouldn’t do damage but would zap your energy. Sounds harmless, but during this phase, the wisps are immune to damage. These new A.I. features add a breath of fresh air to what could be a stagnating battle system.

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“On more than one occasion, our team battled a boss or a horde only to stumble upon the NPC that gave the quest minutes later.”

As I said earlier, Episode 2 dials the fantasy up which is a good thing and a bad thing. At times the story can get quite convoluted. My team and I were especially lost during the segments where the ghosts didn’t know they were ghosts.

The way the maps in this area were set up made it quite easy to complete a questline before even receiving it. On more than one occasion, our team battled a boss or a horde only to stumble upon the NPC that gave the quest minutes later. Despite this, Episode 2 ups the player interaction. If you have a group of friends who can get into their characters, you’re going to have fun.

When returning to the overall controls of Eon Altar I was once again left wanting more variety. The smartphone-based control system worked fine but once again proved less than ideal outside of combat. Forcing players to share a camera makes moving around with the smartphone very unappealing. Our team stumbled upon a few camera bugs that either wouldn’t allow us to explore a room, a direction, or loot a chest. Honestly, this was only so noticeable because Episode 1 was essentially bug-free. By the end of our playthrough, we unanimously agreed that Eon Altar would benefit from an online mode where each player would have their own screen.

The story in this episode feels like a lot of setup. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of action, intrigue, and fantastical battles but by the end of it all, I didn’t feel like anything was resolved. I know that there is more to come but at least at the end of Episode 1 I felt part of a story had ended. By no means am I saying the story here was bad. I enjoyed interacting with the ghosts, chasing down cultists, uncovering the secrets of the fortress, and battling the rich array of bosses. However, I feel that at this point in the game I’m craving answers for a mystery that’s been a long time coming.

Eon Altar Episode 2 sets the stage for the grand finale yet to come. With a high-energy group of friends, this episode should prove to be a fun, strategic, and engaging experience. If you’re a solo player who enjoyed Episode 1 then you’re in for a treat as well. Don’t let a couple of bugs stop you as you make your way deeper into the ghostly depths of Eon Altar’s fortress.

***A PC code was provided by the publisher***