Once in a while, I come across a game that doesn't quite make any sort of sense, but in a strange way, it emulates other games that I've played before. With that sense of Deja Vu that I've found in so few games, Ephermeral Fantasia comes across as an interesting game but lacking in all of the main mechanics that a Role Playing Game should have! Taking control of a thief named Mouse, you pose as a bard of some kind who has taken a trip to an island King's wedding to steal treasures from both peasants and royalty alike. But, as it turns out, you step into a trap and the King waxes you for being a despicable fiend, and you're forced to go back in time and try not to make the same mistakes twice. While this may seem relatively new, it's been done in games such as Shadows of Destiny, Majora's Mask and Shenmue!
The game play is what will really throw you. In order to advance in the game, you have to meet up with certain characters at certain times and take on several different groups of people in order to power and level up! To be completely honest, I'm not really all that sure what the impact is of doing this is, but what I do know and can tell you is that if you're not careful, and you don't do what you're supposed to do, you'll keep getting killed by the King until you do get it right. In the midst of this, another objective comes into play, in which you have to save the people that you are trying to steal from, which doesn't really add much except a new level of confusion and grief when you don't get it right! Something of interest though, is the song mini game that allows you to have some semblance of Guitar Freaks, but without the wild controller and the fun on top of it. Just remember though, that you don't have a continue or life system, but more or less you just have to go through the same five days again and again until you meet the right people and do the right things! If you can stand it, and stand to roll through the same days over and over again, then you're a better man or woman than I.
The control is another problem, in which you have to produce combinations with button presses in order to level up or power up. If you're not familiar with the way that something like this works, it will take a while to understand and use effectively, and not only that, but you'll have to work against a curve of control teaching that is both confusing and utterly frustrating when you know that you've hit the right button or action but the timing is completely off! Most role playing gamers will find that this lack of control completely kills the game, and even though it does in most senses, when you do finally get the control down correctly, you'll find that it is simple enough to learn.
Visually speaking, this game does have some impressive eye candy, that doesn't quite make use of the Play Station 2 and its graphical abilities making it look more like it belongs on the Dreamcast than it does here! Detailed characters give way to uninspired backgrounds and several instances of stiff moving and silly characters. To top this all off, you'll find that the color is muted just enough to make you think that you're honestly watching or playing a strangely mutated cartoon. Add to this the fact that on-screen meters and otherwise some times clog your view and you're looking at a game that doesn't deliver the goods visually like a PS2 game should!
The audio track in the game is looped over and over again with your only solace being the occasional guitar-like interludes in which you must play a particular piece of music that is given to you. However this comes around a little too far in between the points in the game to really make much of an impact, and the down fall here is that in those instances, you'll need to listen to the game so you get the right tones down! The sound effects are also a bit out there in terms of generic sound effects that you'll find in just about any role playing game, save for the lack of explosions and gun fire that you might have come to enjoy in most games these days.
Ephemerial Fantasia is a strange game that is just bizarre in every sense of the word. With the story line that is actually something pretty neat, boxed in by muted visuals, monotous audio, extremely boring game play and a confusing control interface, you're looking at a below par game that doesn't hit the mark here. Technically speaking, the game takes from so many different role playing games that are already out there, that you don't see or do anything that you haven't done before. With the song playing, and the having to meet certain people at certain times that you've done in other games, you'll find that this is a poor compiling of those games into a confusing title that is almost unexplainable. If you're looking for a game that offers you several different aspects of role playing games like magic, weapons and items then you might as well look someplace else and save your money, the game with the weird name doesn't deliver the goods!
3/10
//KasketDarkfyre
