![]() He also happens to have a talking lute named Pattimo, which basically provides us with a voice for the main character, as Mouse is as mute as Crono. The few glimmers of light that you'll find scattered around the title don't make up for its core flaws, which is a shame, because you can definitely catch a glimpse of just what EP could have been.ĮP casts you in the role of Mouse, a world-renowned musician who also happens to be a master thief. ![]() That doesn't keep Ephemeral Fantasia from being an almost universally unenjoyable game. I can even appreciate it the concept of melding a free-roaming world with traditional RPG elements is intriguing, and should definitely be explored more in the future. I can see where Konami was going with Ephemeral Fantasia. I'd comment on the voice acting, but there isn't any considering the translation, though, that may be a good thing. The sound effects are strictly standard RPG fare, with clangs and booms and swirly-whirls that will do absolutely nothing for you. Of course, the audio quality depends quite a bit on your skill as a lutist, so be forewarned. A notable exception to the mediocre music is the guitar solos that you get to play yourself, which range from good to fantastic. The pumped-up battle theme is nice enough, but it doesn't have quite the same amount of pull as many other themes from the genre. The tunes you'll hear while you wander around are passable, but they're not particularly memorable. Add to all of this a bad case of both jaggies and polygonal seams and you've got a game that, while you can see the potential, never really gets off the ground in the visuals department. And even Mouse and crew look a little strange, as their facial textures never seem to be quite right. The character models fare slightly better, but the enemies are oftentimes cartoonish in their simplicity. The world is blocky and nondescript, with muddy textures and a camera that takes way too long to pan around the screen. I'm not entirely sure just where Ephemeral Fantasia's graphical design got started, but it's fairly evident that it wasn't on the PS2.
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