Hands-on with Eternal Anima: A Classic JRPG for the Modern Era
Translate
Have you ever felt yourself longing for a classic 90s JRPG made with modern day technology? If so,
Eternal Anima is that game—and it has the pedigree to back it up. Directed by Katsuhisa Higuchi (who worked as a programmer on the early Final Fantasy games as well as Chrono Trigger) with a story written by Kazushige Nojima (scenario writer on Final Fantasy 7, 8, 10, 13, and the Kingdom Hearts series), this time travel adventure looks to mix nostalgia with a fantastic twist on the classic turn-based battle system. At Marvelous' Pre-Tokyo Game Show 2026 event, I was able to spend an hour playing Eternal Anima and was left impressed by the experience.When it comes to the story, Eternal Anime is a game that feels like an homage to games like Chrono Trigger and Radiant Historia. The story follows Wade, a man who can see into the near future with clairvoyance and into the past by touching an object and seeing its history. He and his party travel into the past to stop the continents of his world from sinking into the ocean and, as they gather companions and alter the timeline, they are forced to deal with the consequences of their actions—both foreseen and not.What stands out most about Eternal Anima is how Wade's powers effect not only the story but the gameplay as well. Out of battle, Wade can touch weapons and we see short stories about the long-dead heroes who wielded them. Doing so allows him to use such weapons (i.e., unlock a new job class) or learn a special attack for that weapon. But it's in battle where Wade's powers completely alter how classic turn-based combat plays out.
At the start of each turn, you are able to see not only the order of attacks for friends and foes alike but also who among your companions will be attacked each turn. You are also able to see each enemy's weaknesses—which is vital in altering the timeline and winning the battle.
Basically, each time you hit an enemy's weakness, you stun them—delaying their action on the turn's timeline. If you do this multiple times during a single turn, you can knock them off the timeline completely and cause them to lose their entire turn. However, exploiting a weakness gives that enemy an immunity to that weakness for the following turn. Thus, the strategy for battle is focused around when to exploit an enemy's weakness, when to defend, and when to trade damage.
This is no more clearly displayed than in boss battles. Dealing far more damage than normal enemies and having a greater range of attacks, each becomes a kind of puzzle to be solved—requiring you to understand both your characters' skills and the boss' attack pattern to achieve victory.
All in all, Eternal Anima has the nostalgic feel of the JRPGs I played back on the SNES but with the graphics and voice acting I had always wished for. And on top of all this is a fantastic battle system that ties directly into the plot, further blurring the line between the game system and its fictional world. Simply put, I haven't been this excited for a throwback JRPG since Fantasian—and that's the greatest compliment I can possibly give this game.
Eternal Anima is scheduled to be released on March 4, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Windows.
