Eternights Preview
Do you know what dating sims need more of? High-octane action, it turns out. Eternights is an apocalyptic dating sim coming to PC and PS5 this Fall. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I loaded up the demo. But you know what? Consider me pleasantly surprised. After spending a few hours with the game’s opening section, I’m looking forward to the full release.
You play an extremely average dude having no luck on the usual dating sites. Then, as soon as you get a single hit, the world ends. The demo doesn’t quite get to explain why or how this happens. Something about a formula for eternal life going terribly wrong. All the hints and clues I’ve seen suggest some truly wild plot twists are incoming. Which is great! Nothing like a little mystery to keep you invested. Although I suspect that most players will already be hooked, thanks to the strong romance elements. Like the story, you only get a sample of this system. But it was more than enough to impress me.
Love Can Blossom Anywhere, It Turns Out
Since you’re so busy fighting for your life, there’s no time for dates and whatnot. At least not so far. Instead, the conversations you have while running in terror and murdering monsters are the key. Anytime you’re given a choice in how to respond, your decision affects one of your social stats. Things like confidence, expression, and acceptance can all improve. I’m assuming that different romantic partners respond to different stats. Presumably you’ll learn all this during your playthrough.
The demo introduces you to Yuna, a pop star. You get several chances to get on her good side, which I somehow managed. Your connections with other characters improve their usefulness in battle. It’s not as cool as actually controlling said characters, but it’ll do. It remains to be seen how many you can command in battle at once. Are we talking about a harem situation here, or do you have to pick and choose? Either one is fine, honestly. I’m just curious, you know?
Keeps You On Your Toes
Combat is fast, frantic, and tough. Your success or failure hinges on perfect dodges, which I’m apparently not great at. It gets pretty frustrating, but also satisfying? Nailing that perfect dodge throws you into slow motion, giving you a few seconds to really wallop whoever you’re currently fighting. I found it quite difficult to fight and dodge at the same time. You best bet isn’t to fight at all. Instead, you hang out and wait for your opponent to attack you. Then, you hit that dodge and retaliate in a flurry of blows. It makes for a very weird battle rhythm.
Eternights takes place in a near-future world suffused with synthwave colors, slick technology, and fascinating designs. The scenes at night are especially captivating. The monster designs are alright, but nothing to write home about. At least during the demo, you’re fighting off mutated human beings. I guess the experiment that ends the world has some gruesome side effects. Meanwhile, the more monstrous enemies look much cooler. Maybe they also started out as humans, but they sure don’t look that way. If I’ve got to be trudging around a blasted hellscape fighting legions of the damned, it should at least look cool. And it absolutely does!
I was in and out of the demo in just a couple of hours. So my impressions so far are pretty fleeting. But what I’ve seen so far looked very promising. The romance and bonding system is integrated nicely into the rest of the game. The combat itself is also great, albeit potentially frustrating. Thankfully there’s a variety of difficulty settings in case things get too hairy. I still have a lot of questions, of course. How many romance partners will there be? How far can you go with any given character? What on earth is happening, story-wise? Hopefully I’ll get some answers when Eternights releases this Fall.
***A Steam key was provided by the publisher***
