When Marvelous Entertainment showed off role-playing game Eternal Anima during a Nintendo Direct showcase in September, it had the familiar hallmarks of a retro JRPG. There was its handsome, mysterious (and, of course, amnesiac) hero Wade, a cast of colorful, magic-wielding supporting characters, and a world on the brink of ruin. There was also a massive, steampunky ship, upon which Eternal Anima’s group of freedom fighters sail across vast oceans.
The most unique component of Eternal Anima is its time-traveling mechanic, which sends Wade into the past to seek the powers of ancient heroes, allowing him to change the future. The most intriguing aspect of Eternal Anima’s time-manipulation theme, however, comes in the game’s turn-based battles, which offer a compelling new perspective on classic RPG gameplay. After spending an hour with Eternal Anima and coming to grips with how unique the time-based battles are, I found it has quickly become my most anticipated RPG of 2027.
Eternal Anima is set in a fantasy world named Urvis Ael, officially described as “a false paradise where hoping for a better future is a capital offense.” Protagonist Wade serves as a soldier in Urvis Ael, but he wields a powerful ability called Psychometry, which lets him read memories embedded into objects from the past and foresee events that will occur in the future. Branded as a heretic for his gifts, Wade throws himself in the sea in search of answers. He does so by journeying to past events across multiple continents, where he’ll alter the past to change the future.
The game’s Psychometry mechanic manifests in two ways: What makes Future Sight more interesting is that, based on players’ actions, they can push an enemy’s attack further forward on the timeline, disrupting the chain of events. This is called Knock Back. Should they concentrate an attack on a foe, they can push the enemy action so far forward that it kicks them off the timeline entirely — essentially eliminating their entire turn.
Future Sight forced me to rethink how I approached a turn-based battle in an RPG. I actually found myself strategically guarding and using less powerful abilities that took less time — and thus occurred earlier on the timeline — so that another character could step in later on the timeline with a more powerful ability. It also made it much easier to predict calamities in battle.
I could opt to buff or preemptively heal a character to keep them healthy and in the fight. Speaking of characters, the supporting cast is an eclectic mix. During my hands-on time with the game, I met and fought alongside characters like the unwavering freedom-seeking warrior Neria; the sentient automaton Magick-Operated Sentinel (MOS), who gives big Alan Tudyk vibes; and the rebellious and idealistic magic-user Martin.
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