AeternoBlade II (English) · Test

Playing with time

Special Note: I haven’t played the first AeternoBlade which is why there are no comparisons between both games and this review is solely focused on AeternoBlade II

Special Note 2: This lengthy in-depth Review is dedicated to the developers of AeternoBlade II (Corecell Technology Co.) and their drive of doing something special. I've put in the extra work by giving extra impressions of various parts of the game with a focus on combat.

In the prior review, we took on Dusk Diver a game from Taiwan. This time we’re staying in Asia and are heading south to Thailand! AeternoBlade II is the name of the game and as you can see it’s the second game of the AeternoBlade series. The first game was released first on 3DS and expanded unto more platforms. Believe it or not, this sequel was actually on a razor’s edge between making it or not according to their Making Of (I recommend you to take a look at it).

So what’s AeternoBlade II about? It’s a Metroidvania with a penchant for combat and puzzles that utilize the unique time powers. It does sound quite ambitious, doesn’t it?

So how’s the execution of their ideas? We’ll be taking a deep dive into the game in this review and going through it step-by-step with a little bit more focus on the combat side since that’s one of my fortes.

Chronosia in Danger

Freyja the protagonist of the first game is being sent into the tumultuous past where Chronosia is in huge danger. The Dark Abyss is approaching and it kind of signals the end of the world. This time around she’s not alone but also not necessarily together. Two new characters and residents of Chronosia are on the scene: Felix and Bernard. Both of them are half-blood descendants of one of the three Norn Goddesses: Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld aka Past, Present, and Future. It’s no surprise that each of the AeternoBlades represents one of their traits.

To prevent the incoming disaster it is up to these three to utilize the AeternoBlades and prevent absolute destruction.

This is pretty much the gist of it. There’s obviously a little bit more nuanced than what’s presented here with some talk about Love and Freyja’s past sins from the first game but it’s nothing deep or complicated. Let me warn you though. Yes, there are three characters this time around but make no mistake Freyja still is the main character. Also keep in mind that the story is more a means to an end because the focus lies in the gameplay more than anything else.

Gameplay & Controls

AeternoBlade II is a different take on Metroidvania with a focus on combat and puzzles. It also makes use of 2D and 3D in terms of visuals and gameplay. Most of the time the 3D part is used solely for combat though there are a few cases of puzzles and platforming. There are a lot of Savepoints scattered throughout the game with multiple uses and especially oftentimes optional puzzle dungeons.

So what’s so special about this mix?

You do move in 2D most of the time but the game will lead you to twist and turns resulting in a 3D map. Twist and turns you might and not even plot related you ask? The road isn’t just simple back and forth, you will be moving in 3D space with a change in camera angles to accommodate the change in moving direction. Still not sure?

No problem! Here’s a picture of the map

As you can see, it looks quite elaborate and this is also where one of the negatives come into play. The map isn’t detailed enough. You only see rough outlines and destinations, but it completely lacks any directions on what is connected to where. This was the biggest reasons why I abandoned a side mission. I was just lost on how to get where I need to be.

The three playable characters

With newcomers Felix who uses a Swordwhip/Whipsword and Bernard who’s equipped with a Halberd for some heavy-duty attacks in the mix you do get some variety. Both of them also have a specific skill that helps them get to places that nobody else can. Felix can use his Whip to pull himself up from specific marks and pull stone cubes, while Bernard smashes gates with a red hue marking.

Unfortunately, you can’t count on keeping them. In the beginning, all the characters have their own AeternoBlades. During your adventure, all AeternoBlades will converge with Freyja and then it’s lights out for the other two. This also the case traversal skills, so you don’t need to fear locations becoming inaccessible.

If Felix were to represent range, Bernard power then Freyja is most likely speed with fast-hitting attacks. At the end of the day, you’ll have to make do with the latter for the majority of the game.

Normal Attacks (Normal und crouching)

This is kind of an odd one because AeternoBlade II splits attacks between standing and crouching per button. Each attack has its own attack sequence by inputting them as a combo and to be frank there isn’t that much to talk about. You can switch over to the other button any time and it continues at the same attack number it left off but you won’t find that much use for the crouching attacks. The latter is useful to attack and duck under a turrets at the same time, and attack enemies in a knockdown state.

When it comes to utility and damage there’s a certain lack of difference between them and are mostly damage fillers resulting in just mashing to fight.

Make no mistake, the enemies won’t just be standing there and take damage which is why it’s important for you to know that you can cancel your attacks at any time with Jump or Time Blink!

You read about the knockdown state earlier and this is where the Special Attacks come in.

Special Attacks

These are not categorized within the game and are more of my own designation to make things simpler to understand. What makes them special then? These have the special attribute to manipulate your enemies and add some additional movement options to your character. This is one of the points that makes it different from other more simpler Metroidvanias and slightly more in line with character action games such as DMC, Ninja Gaiden, etc. but nowhere near close to the polish of these well-known franchises.
The most common is the Launcher and it even got its own button! By tapping on it you launch the enemy into the air and by holding it you automatically make it an attack that launches both of you up. This is how you can change the situation of the fight from the ground to the relative safety of the air.

Similarly, you can use the Launcher in the air to knock down the enemy. This is especially useful when there are pitfalls or spikes on the ground as there is “friendly fire” and instantly kills them.

Later on, you can unlock combo enders that are stronger than your average attack but can only be activated by going through the full string of your normal attacks. Most of them blow the enemy away and knock them down.

The other set is Special Attacks that move your character in a certain way like moving you forward, slam down from the air or a diagonal downward attack that offers some additional angles and positioning possibilities, in theory.

There are also some character-specific ones like Felix being able to pull the enemy or Bernard having super armor to power through attacks but in the grand scheme of things they are very negligible because these characters only have limited availability.

Ultimate Attack

A fullscreen attack that can fill up to three stocks. It fills really slowly with attacks and each stock increases the damage you’re dishing out. It’s not particularly strong in terms of damage value. Once you get relics that amplify the recovery of the ultimate gauge, it becomes an interesting option due to the increased access.

Summary on Attacks:

There is some good amount of options available but lacks polish. In my playthrough experience, I’ve mainly used the launcher attacks into the air for higher damage combos and the combo enders. The other one was the air launcher to slam enemies down into map hazards, though due to the drop down attack being assigned as holding the launcher button there were times I dropped myself involuntarily into certain death.

The others were there but I’ve never seen a reason to use them as they mostly lacked utility. Ergo, mashing was a big part of the fighting process with some slight optimizations with the launcher and deciding to use a crouch attack for turrets or downed enemies.

There is an issue with the launcher attacks though. Most enemies seem to have a super armor duration, which means they just tough out the attack and ignore it. The thing is, it is hard to find the time when you can launch them. Resulting in forfeiting the launcher for certain enemies that show this kind of resistance due to the uncertainty.

To break things up, you also have to keep an eye on the enemies’ attacks with some defensive options.

Parry

The Parry should be a hybrid between offense and defense as it’s an attack that interrupts the enemies' attack and leaves them stunned for some free attacks. Again, this sounds good in theory but the Parry does not happen on button press instead you have to anticipate the timing and HIT them at the right time. In the heat of a battle against many this is complete folly and frankly speaking I have never used this mechanic at all.

At best this is used for 1 on 1 fights and even then the risk is far too high considering you have a better option at hand which is the…

Time Blink

An invincible multipurpose dash that you can use on the ground or in the air at about ANY time. You have an initial stack of 3 that can be upgraded to up to 6. Each stack has a fixed recovery time that you can improve by increasing stats or using relics. With Parry out of the game for the defense, this leaves us with Time Blink as the strongest defensive option while jumping is the next best thing when you’re on the ground.

Why is it the best option? Because it has the least amount of risk and extremely high utility due to the ability to interrupt all your attacks and getting you to safety. Be it on the ground OR in the air. It has multiple attributes that make it so good: Invincibility and quick movement for dodging. Not to forget, you can use it for platforming.

Perfect Dodge

The more advanced version is the perfect dodge. It automatically recovers your used stack, stops time for a very short amount of time and offers one or two invincible attacks afterward. There’s another important thing about the perfect dodge. You can send back projectiles with the follow-up attack. This is especially important against Turrets because the further you go the stronger versions with higher defense you will meet and the return ignores that particularity.

Since we’ve finally covered the elementary offensive and defensive options it’s time to take a look at the Unique Selling Point of the game.

Time Magic

All Time Magic requires MP, which refills slowly by itself or can be recovered by Potions, Orbs, and Savepoints. Most of them have more than one utility. You can use them in fights and are most of the time paramount to solve puzzles. The trade-off is obviously the rarity of the resource since it recovers slowly without any external items. There are relics that can affect the MP usage or recovery in one way or another.

They are very strong but not without limits. For one, they burn away your MP fast in comparison to the slow recovery. Then there is the limited cancel windows just like the launcher, making it into an unwieldy ability in fights. These type of cancel restrictions will make these abilities feel sluggish.

Drawback: Time Immunity

Another one is immunity when it comes to combat, as some are immune while others gain immunity after being affected by the Magic for a certain period. A green hue is signaling an immunity.

Objects can also have immunity that is often a sign of a Puzzle that requires the use of magic. From what I recall, the green hue markings can be inconsistent when it comes to objects since not everything that is immune has the green hue. It might just be nitpicking but it would be great to be able to see it at first glance.

When you’re fighting, make sure to keep the time required for the immunity to kick in in mind. Because you can cancel the Time Magic and reset the timer.

Without further ado, we’re going ahead and take a look at every single one.

Time Paradox

One of the most unique mechanics I have seen in recent times. You create an alternative future at the moment of activation. Once you end the magic you return to the time of activation with a recorded alternative you doing its thing. Use it for remotely activating switches, to scout ahead safely or deal more damage in a short amount of time.

Certainly, my favorite Time Magic because of the novelty it presents. It's also the most damaging Time Magic in your repertoire but also requires some finesse to create the perfect sequence, especially when you try to start the effects.

Time Reverse

Turn the clock for everything except you back. Enemies, platforms, stone cubes, you name it as long as they are not resistant against Time Magic. You’ll probably use it very rarely when it comes to combat. Most of the time it’s about puzzle and platforming to move them to your wishes. Moving platforms that only go one way can move backward thanks to Time Reverse.

Time Travel

Reverse Time including yourself. This is practically a time rewind comparable to Prince of Persia or rewind functions in other games. You’ll mostly use it for fatal occurrences like falling into pits, spikes or fatal blows and it even offers a special extended time frame for its use as long as you have enough MP.

Time Warp

Create a teleportation point and teleport back to it instantly at any time. Just like Time Reverse, there isn’t that much use for it in fights as this thing requires a good amount of MP to create a single point. The act of teleportation doesn’t cost anything. It’s another puzzle and platforming heavy magic.

Time Stop

You put the environment into a full Time Stop. Attack enemies, hit them with the launcher to send them up in the air, step on them while they are in the air, repel projectiles with the launcher, and make fast-moving platforms accessible. It does have more uses than one would think but overall it’s pretty straightforward.

In combat, it guarantees some free hits which are very useful against pesky but low HP enemies that go down after a single combo. Otherwise it’s smarter to use Time Paradox for best bang for buck.

For a little bit more advanced usage, you can use it for a short time to neutralize the inertia from your Special Attack blows to keep the enemy close and in the air for some defenseless smackdown.

The flow works like this: Beat up until combo ender -> stop time ->hit again to stop the inertia -> cancel time stop while attacking -> repeat for efficient MP usage. It’s useful for very rare cases because it still takes a lot of MP and is mostly useful for one-on-one against human-sized enemies that are not bosses, which is close to never the case.

Savepoints

Incredible multipurpose tool. They recover your HP and MP, are teleportation points to other Savepoints, lets you upgrade your stats and moves, enter the Eternal Room where you can buy items and interact with other characters. This is also the only location where you can set your quick slots for consumables and relics.

Each one comes with an Enigmata. An Enigmata is a special room that you can open with a corresponding Time Magic. These rooms are most of the time special Puzzle and Challenge rooms that contain Relics or Relic Power-Ups. FYI, there are A LOT of Savepoints relatively speaking.

Relics

Comparable to accessories in RPGs but with two sets that you can switch on the fly. These are scattered all over the world. A lot of them are also hidden within the savepoint Enigmata Puzzles. At first, you can only equip a single relic per set. Up to three slots are ultimately available per set later in the story. Many of them also come with upgradeability though you have to use Relic Upgrades to level them up. Don’t worry about losing Relic Upgrades, you keep all of them and you can re-apply them at any time.

At first, you’ll have to make do with simple stat increasing Relics. Once you collect more and more late in the game, new build possibilities open up. Some can reduce your MP usage for a specific Time Magic, others apply extra effects such as recovering HP at a Perfect Dodge, etc.

Just as an example, this is how I made my two sets late in the game. First, a high damage, HP, invincibility on receiving damage, health drain set. The second one was focused on Time Paradox by draining MP, recover HP and Ultimate when Time Paradox is in use. With set 1, I could hit hard and recover HP at the same time while securing myself with invincibility on hit. Set 2, on the other hand, increases my survivability and access to the ultimate by recovering both HP and Ultimate, while my attacks recover an additional sliver of MP. Since Savepoints recover MP, you can completely fill up your ultimate gauge using Set 2.

This is just one example, there are supposedly over 100 relics available and you can find a build that suits you the most.

EXP und RPG Elements

This isn’t like the typical RPG system that automatically levels you up. Instead, you earn EXP as Gold Orbs and you can spend them on everything imaginable.

Consumables and Shop

To make your life easier, you can have up to three items ready for use as long as you set them up at Savepoints. The consumables cover things like HP, MP, ultimate recovery, buffs, etc. It’s safe to assume that most people will just stick to HP recovery potions because they are the easiest to use and HP is a very rare resource.

The Shop will unlock at a later point in the story. In there you can purchase consumables and relics with your EXP.

Fun fact: I’m an extreme penny pincher when it comes to consumables which is why I used them very seldom and preferred a retry from the Game Over screen overusing them.

Status und Move Upgrades

Your stats are split into different categories and you have to upgrade them one by one. Just like the Relic Slots, unlocking further upgrades requires you to continue the story.

Move Upgrades, on the other hand, are always available with a maximum upgrade up to level 4. I haven’t seen anything special when it comes to Move Upgrades, so I assume that each upgrade is just a simple damage buff.

What’s more interesting are the additional attacks you can get and most of them are what I’ve categorized as Special Attacks.

The Combat

Unlike your typical Metroidvanias, AeternoBlade II decides to forfeit the old formula of untouchable enemies and goes for an action game type approach. Many times you’ll be locked into fighting arenas where you have to fend for yourself until you’re the last (wo)man standing. There is a wide variety of monsters and different kinds of terrains to keep things fresh across your playthrough.

Nothing is impossible, even if you only have low HP. Putting the experience you gained by fighting against various monsters will help you find fitting strategies to overcome them. A mix of attacking, Time Blinking and smart utilization of Time Magic is going to make you come out on top of every challenge. It’s just a matter of time and refinement.

But not all is well when it comes to fighting this diverse amount of monsters.

There are a few reasons why things can turn repetitive or even frustrating. In a way, it’s a mix between your own character and the attributes of the enemies you’re facing not jiving well enough.

First, let’s look at the character. You can walk, Time Blink, jump and some unwieldy special attacks. Your only option to approach airborne enemies is solely jumping. Yes, your Time Magic is strong but it shouldn’t act as a crutch, especially when MP is a very limited resource in combat. Ergo, your base character at times doesn’t feel well enough equipped to face some of the challenges.

The gameplan is always to get close and keep attacking while keeping an eye on incoming attacks. My issue is that launchers do not cancel your attacks like Time Blink does. It requires your attack animation to finish before it comes out. Another issue is the fact that you don’t really know when they are launched by your attack. Which leads us to talk about the enemy attributes.

There’s excessive use of Hyper Armor (withstanding attacks without flinching) when you fight anything above small sized enemies. As might guess, it also negates the lifting effect of your launcher, which is one of the slower attacks in your arsenal and puts them in a flinching state.

Then there are some instances of super-strong defense when it comes to monsters with unbreakable (big ones are breakable) shields, I couldn’t find any reliable solution except surviving long enough to grind them down.

Airborne monsters are nothing short of frequent as well. Some of them also come with prior mentioned attributes. When you consider that your only way to attack them jumping or Ultimate Attack you can already guess the frustration that results in this kind of restrictive situation.

There’s one monster in particular that managed to really grind my gears. It’s a flying eyeball with wings and burning aura and you can’t touch it or attack it without getting hit. Nothing else except Time Stop seems to work and ever after that you most likely still get damage afterwards. When it manages to corner you, pray to god that you have enough HP because it drains incredibly fast due your lack of invincibility on hit. There was once a case where I lost nearly 50% HP!

The use of immunity if far too much in use. This has already been an issue with the color-coded enemies in DmC and there’s a kind of the same case in here, which requires you to use Time Magic.

There are also a few enemies that like to vanish or dig underground, forcing you to wait for their attack and imagine facing them in a mix with other enemies that are hot on your tails.

To be fair, there is a failsafe when it comes to Invincibility attributes. While you don’t damage them, they will spit out magic orbs instead. This helps you gathering enough MP to break their shields or even KO them due to their low HP.

Many of the battles are very challenging. The fact that each new screen you enter acts as a checkpoint reduces a lot of the frustration when you hit a Game Over because you can immediately get back into it again.

Don’t let negatives paint too much of a bad picture. I still feel it being at least a notch above your usual simplistic Metroidvania combat where every enemy is like an untouchable poison that damages you in touch. Unless you’re fighting that flaming eyeball…

Platforming and Puzzles

When it comes to platforming, they are more part of puzzles than actively challenging like a Jump’n Runs. They can ignite your synapses forcing you to find a solution. Within the story you’ll find nothing too hard except a single instance that requires the use of the advanced version of Time Paradox. The optional ones in the Enigmata are some really heavy-duty puzzles where you can expect to spend some time solving them.

If there’s one problem to mention, it’d be the reliance on Time Magic. Kind of sounds contradictory but let me explain. There are times where you run out of MP and are nowhere close to a Savepoint and the only thing left to do is… wait for your MP to slowly fill up.

A word of advice when you meet rare instances like this. Exit and re-enter when you're fully charged. This simple trick will save your MP at the Zone Checkpoint for restarts.

Technical Issues (Nintendo Switch)

Unfortunately, I’ve met a few issues in my playthrough on the current 1.0.2 Version. There were times where the battle arena walls didn’t vanish after defeating everybody, leaving me no other choice than to restart the zone and redo the battle. There’s a single instance that consistently didn’t vanish unless you come back at another time. I have no idea what it was but wasn’t anything game-breaking either.

Another issue involves the Time Paradox of not canceling out on death, resulting in a wait until the MP runs out. Not even the Start/+ Button worked, so no manual restart! It doesn’t occur that often and more often than not it happened in the Enigmata puzzles rather than the main story.

It’s not a big thing but still slightly annoying.

The last issue I’ve met was the game crashing. It appeared in the cinematic of entering alternative Chronosia and the crashing also ended after leaving it. Just like the other issues, this is just a slight annoyance since you’ll be close to back there were you left off due to the generous Zone checkpoint system.

Graphics & Sound

Considering that this game was made by a 5 to 6 person team, you’ll have to temper your expectations when it comes to graphics. The 2.5D feature works really well with some nice looking angles. There are also quite a few different enemy designs including alternative Versions. Though obviously not as many as a Castlevania that boasts a long history.

What doesn’t look that good are the characters themselves. Close up shots in cinematics reveal PS2/PS3 like graphics.

When it comes to cinematics, they tend to be more on the action side with a few unnecessary QTEs. The action parts look cheesy and lack the impact when the characters are fighting. Sometimes it also gives off a lack of continuity, like being able to fly which obviously isn’t part of their move set.

Overall, tt’s kind of endearing and somehow reminds me of the old Japanese indie-cult-movie Versus and still not as polished but you can feel the fervor.

The music is pretty good and at no point in the lengthy playtime, I started to find it annoying due to the good pacing. Every area has its own theme and while most of them aren’t memorable they do a decent job in instilling the mood into you. Admittedly, there are some good tracks and my personal favorite is one of the boss themes.

And now about the elephant in the room… the voice over. You can definitely hear the budget from it and at best it can be considered serviceable. At worst, probably kind of goofy in the realm of so bad it’s good.

Verdict

Aeterno Blade II is an admirable try to a different take on the Metroidvania genre by increasing battle capabilities and utilizing its unique Time Mechanic for Platforming and Puzzles.

The story is just a means to an end to make you go through the gameplay where you spend most of your time. The action, while still in need of a little bit more polish, should offer an engaging experience for most but falls flat for those who expect more freedom and style. It’s no 2D DMC but that doesn’t mean it’s easy! Au contraire, you will see the Game Over screen a lot and at some point, you might even see an option to reduce the challenge.

There are a lot of Puzzles and quite a few are very imaginative when it comes to using the Time Mechanicss, proving to be another one of the highlights of the game and maybe even the strongest point depending on what you expect.

No matter how many times you fail, it only presents a small setback due to the very generous checkpoints.

Ultimately, the decision on the rating of AeternoBlade II was a difficult one. It has something special but the execution of combat and the technical issues weigh heavy on its shoulders. The latter being responsible for a deduction of 5 points.

At a digital budget pricing of £24.99 (29,99€), you get a lengthy playtime of over 20 hours. If there are any plans on improving the game with patches I’d be all ears.

I recommend AeternoBlade II for people who are looking for a different kind of Metroidvania that focuses on combat and puzzles, in case you're tired of the classic mix of one-hit-at-a-time and exploration.

Wertung

6.5Zufriedenstellend

Kaufempfehlung

60% Kaufempfehlung

60%Angebot abwarten