Review
Although Eternal Ring isn't the second coming of role-playing games, it captures the essence of King's Field and builds upon its foundation; which means those turned off by From Software's previous first-person RPGs will find little excitement here.
Those familiar with the King's Field series will notice striking similarities to Eternal Ring, including the controls, real-time battles, and storyline developments -- searching out a ring, you must save the kingdom from ominous evils. Players are thrown into a massive world filled with lavish forests, sprawling dungeons, winding valleys and towns filled with patrons, weapon shops and doctors. Unlike the PlayStation tirade, this 128-bit enhancement of sorts features voice acting and runs at a smooth 60 frames per second.
While Eternal Ring doesn't harness breathtaking visuals, the Island of No Return features realistic textures and locations; thanks in part to the slick first-person viewpoint, it feels like you've been condemned in the troubled world. Because of the PlayStation 2's video limitations, textures often repeat and make dungeon navigation somewhat confusing at times. This should not pose a problem, however, as each location has different themes and resemble actual environments.
Torches illuminate dark hallways, waterfalls splash, and particles trickle into streams below and daylight slowly fades into night -- amidst the monotonous textures, the world feels alive. While character models and monsters are simple, they're more than adequate; monsters include spotted basilisks, enormous golems, dim-witted orcs, lizards, and so forth.
Combat resembles King's Field in that you approach enemies, swing your weapon, strafe and repeat until the critters are dead. Simple, eh? A little too simplistic for hardcore role-playing fanatics. Of course, there are all kinds of swords, axes and pieces of armor to equip, each better than the previous item. Breaking up the monotony, Eternal Ring will have you creating magical spells and attributes using rings. Along the way, you'll encounter various gems of different elements and basic rings; gems have specific levels. When you collect enough gems and a ring, you can forge a ring in shrines located near save spots.
Creating rings are based on gem levels -- for example, if you desire a level two attack ring, you must place the corresponding elemental gems on the left side of the alter with differing gems on the right side; the right side of the alter regulates attack or attribute rings. While the manual states this process is imprecise and luck plays a vital part in ring creation, the basic idea is that Fire, Wind and Light gems are used for attack magic while Water, Earth and Darkness gems are used for assist magic.
Assist magic involves protective barriers, healing and curing spells, higher experience points for killing enemies, and so forth. Sound confusing? The process is somewhat simplistic yet entertaining and deep, although getting the desired ring will take some doing. Fortunately, you can equip five rings at a time.
Perhaps the worst aspect of Eternal Ring is the control. While the controls and button layouts are responsive and decent, From Software continues to ignore the analog sticks; because you're forced to use the digital pad and shoulder buttons for movement, strafing, and looking around, you'll have to stock up on soothing ointment for sore thumbs and fingers. Also, collision detection is somewhat annoying as projectiles and magical attacks go through seemingly solid walls.
Eternal Ring isn't for everyone -- those searching for a blinding adventure filled with corkscrews, tons of characters, and a revolutionary battle system should look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you crave exploration through a plodding gameplay universe and the ability to create an amazing amount of spells, you should give this launch title a trial run. All in all, From Software has created the game King's Field should have been.
Graphics 
Running at a constant 60 frames a second, Eternal Ring features extraordinary environments with monotonous textures. Time changes are a nice feature and monster designs are more than adequate.
Sound 
While the sound isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, the gothic tunes fit the adventure like a glove. Additionally, the sound effects aren't entirely original but sound as they should. While the actors aren't terribly gifted, the voice acting is decent.
Enjoyment
Eternal Ring is an entertaining title amidst the repetitive combat system and textures. Because the world is massive, there's a lot of exploration to be done. Additionally, the ring system is a nice touch -- it is both deep and rewarding.
Replay Value 
Because the adventure is of a proportional size, it'll keep you in front of the television for many hours. Also, there are tons of rings to create --- you may want to seek out gems, throw them on the creation altar, and see what comes out.
Documentation
While the ring creation explanation is a bit sketchy, the instruction manual does a good job in explaining gameplay elements, characters, the storyline and other things important to the adventure. Additionally, the in-game menu system is extremely easy to navigate.
