Maker - Overworks/Sega   Catalogue No. - HDR-0076

Type - RPG

Eternal Arcadia was quite slow to start of with I thought. After watching the beautiful real time intro I thought "Wow, this game's going to be great". So, I started to play. I wasn't too impressed with the first few hours of the game at all. It all seemed too slow with nothing of interest really. Then I went to Valuva. "Ahh" I though, "things are starting to pick up". Since then I played Eternal Arcadia every night until I completed it.  The characters in Eternal Arcadia are well presented, each with their own unique characteristics. You've got our hero Vyse who's cocky and wants to see the world but knows his rights from his wrongs. Then you've got Aika who is Vyse's partner. She loves to joke but comes across as a bit of an idiot at times thanks to her over imaginative mind (^0^). Finally we have Fina who's the timid but determent type. There are many other characters who'll join and leave your team throughout the game but I won't go in to detail at the moment.

Eternal Arcadia is well presented in the audio department but I hoped for a little more in the graphical department. Don't get me wrong here, the graphics in Eternal Arcadia can sometimes be beautiful and at other time just standard. I would have expected a little better from Sega's main Dreamcast RPG but it's still a good looking game. A special mention must go to the use of the Buru Buru pack (Rumble pack). It's the best use I've ever seen or should that be felt? One example is when our heroes are on a train. The sound of the train is perfectly synced with the rumble on the controller. Even just when wondering around an area the use of the rumble is well done. Starting of with a slight feeling as you hear a sound in the distance. Then as the sound grows so does the power of the rumble.

One thing I hate about starting a new RPG is getting in to the menu system. Thankfully Eternal Arcadia's is straight forward as are most of the controls used in the game.
If you only want one RPG for the Dreamcast then it's got to be Eternal Arcadia first with Grandia II next followed by Evolution 2.