odern anime culture is synonymous with several tropes that identify conventions and conduct that most fans come to expect from it. From the hormonally fueled propulsion nose bleeds at the sight of panties or cleavage to the violent response that follows, the Shōnen Hāremumono Anime is one of the more iconic genres to represent the media, and there are dozens of these productions that continue to this day. Being a fan myself, I’ve always enjoyed the occasional harem, considering the premise of characterization. However, I could never understand the decisions that most Japanese developers voluntarily restrict themselves with when adapting these genres for video games.
For every Persona 4 or Katawa Shoujo, some uninspired tripe pops up and simply panders character roles to the unwritten rules and clichés of the genre with insipid and predictable gameplay, and without breaking any new territory in the slightest.
Time & Eternity is a love letter to Shōnen Hāremumono under the guise of video game, one with unique mechanics constructed completely around the concept of emphasizing the qualities of a Saturday Morning Anime; this charm only lasts so long, however, when the game is still rough as shit.
The presentation is easily one of the better qualities of this latest RPG from Imagepooch, and yet, ends up being a confusing mix of achievements and missteps. Presentation is a huge component in making an anime a good one, totemic even. Traditionally, it emphasizes similar design rules for particular features in character composition before it allows for liberties to innovate this established aesthetic in order to innovate and distinguish it from its peers, so long as these creative touches don’t deviate too far from the features that help identify it as an Anime. With that being said—Time & Eternity nails the easiest part of the formula, and then takes comfort in in what aspires to do without going all the way, resulting with the process simply resting on its laurels.
The delivery and character model animation look as if they were lifted directly out of an early circa 2000 anime, with recycled motions, and all appropriately applied within reason and context to what’s congruent to the narrative or setting. From shoulder camera movement and dialogue scenes to backgrounds and panned shots that are fabricated with a palate of technical elements to supplement the character model animations, the graphics and aesthetics work to successfully convey the illusion that Time & Eternity plays out like a super interactive anime.
The effort stops there, though, as the plot and the physical character design simply indulge in all of the laziest trite that the anime stereotypes within the harem genre have to offer. Perversion from the one male hero who oogles and lusts over the two main female characters, whether it be panty shots or opportune glares at exposed cleavage, good harem animes know when to deploy these nuances for their audience and the rest beat it into hormonal display of tasteless theatrics. Keep in mind that some notable entries of Shōnen Hāremumono have been known to take these tropes too far, and just fall into the category of being self-aware of its absurdity and simply being tongue-in-cheek and perverted for just the sake of it—this isn’t completely true with T&E though, it’s just pandering with a paper-thin plot with cast mostly composed of straw men that simply fill a role to cater to trope with no other significant characteristic.
The dual personalities of Toki and Towa stand out as an exception, however, as they do possess a depth of personality that exists beyond a need to check off a box in a list of quirks necessary to fill the profile of her role to the cast. These traits and quirks are fleshed out through meaningful application through the use of light dating-sim mechanics. Throughout the game, you’ll trade-off between the lady personalities with every level you gain, giving you the opportunity to give gifts that will affect their physical attributes in battle as well as their love and sincerity towards the male hero you implicitly fill the role of. Depending on what gifts and choices you make, you’ll unlock optional field missions that exist specifically for either Toki or Towa, and from the choices you select, will determine where you stand in their eyes—it’s really cryptic almost to a shallow degree as you’re only able to monitor where you stand with a status bar that plays out like a tug-of-war between the two heroines but the narrative exposition that comes from this mechanic is rewarding regardless of the nonsensical plot and it’s superficial tropes.
While the visuals and presentation can be applauded for the achievements it manages in spite of the flawed delivery—the gameplay and combat do a great job to remain consistent in both remaining consistent with the theme of presenting the experience like it was an interactive Anime, and being pretty innovative to boot.
So the combat…I’m going to try to construct the most articulate analogy I can muster that would best describe it in a short summary; it’s an active-time battle system that’s reminiscent of Chrono Trigger, from the perspective very much like that of a traditional handheld Pokémon RPG, with attack and dodge dynamics that share a similar rhythmic flow with Punch-Out—did you get all that? Yeah? Good, because it’s much more engaging in practice than the analogy suggests.
As a battle plays out, you’re treated to a HUB that displays your health and special meter. You can either attack from a distance with a rifle or run up on the enemy and fight them in close quarters with active attacks that you mash, all the while exchanging your offense for with defense with either a quick side dodge or a guard to reduce damage. Distance between your enemy as well when to dodge versus when to guard will keep you on your toes as you launch blows and each type of enemy you encounter will display a pattern that you can dissect and build a rhythm for. It really plays out like Punch-Out as an RPG. The one flaw with the combat is your AI dragon partner that houses the Male hero persona; he just battles to his own accord with little rhyme or reason, and while he can heal you when you’re running low on health, he doesn’t always respond with the due diligence you would hope from him—he’s mostly forgettable in battle and that’s a real shame considering he could have added so much more to an already unique combat system. Meanwhile, the enjoyable fighting system staves off the other much less inspired elements of gameplay and their repetitive nature.
Toki and Towa do have different play styles, and because you’re required to play as both of them from each level attained, you’re forced out of your comfort zone during a few encounters and will find yourself in need of a change up to your equipment and abilities as you progress. The rest of it though falls on stale conventions. Random and frequent battle encounters? Check. Limited variation of field monsters that differ from lazy palate swaps of color? Check. Uninspired side-quests that demand more of an investment than what the reward actually gives? Super bold check. One of the more baffling decisions when it comes to combat involves how you retreat. You actively hold down and successfully do if you make it to the end of varied time counter without being attacked. And if you succeed at running away, it’s going to cost your in-game currency. This is pretty dumb considering random encounters occur often enough to be annoying.
Time & Eternity is filled with great intentions and manages to follow through with a lot of them when it comes to presentation and combat, it’s just a shame that everything else is executed so lazily in contrast that it hurts the experience as a whole. Like the previous work of the developer and publisher, this game does a great job of catering to the niche market and culture of the Anime dedicated, and stands above its peers with its innate charm of authentically recreating a Harem setting that’s fun to interact with, but you won’t find a whole lot of anything else and doesn’t do anything else to appeal to anyone outside of its intended demographic otherwise.
