Press R2 to hold hands. Eternights is an excellent initial launch title by Studio Sai. It is an ARPG with dating sim elements that released in 2023 with positive to average review scores. There are a lot of great ideas in the game that unfortunately do not always stick the landing. Below, I detail my (spoiler-free!) experience going for Eternights’ trophies.
Table of Contents
Why Eternights?
“Eternights is a dating action game, blending a love story with adrenaline-driven combat as you make the most out of life during the apocalypse. Scavenge for supplies, explore dungeons… and go on dates!
Save the world, and find love along the way.”
— PlayStation Store
I’m the type of person that always appreciates a good romance. When I first saw this game’s trailer during a showcase event, I knew I had to play it. It seemed like it would be a lot like the Persona games that I love, including an impactful story intermingled with social elements on a calendar-based system. Unlike Persona 4 and 5, you could actually date one of the male leads, too! I really liked that aspect from Persona 3 Portable and sorely missed it ever since.
Outside of comparisons to the Persona series, Eternights is a very ambitious title from an indie studio. It goes far above and beyond in what it seeks out to do; relationship building, combat, exploration, and even some mini games make an appearance. I also didn’t realize at the start that there would be some genuinely spooky moments and difficult dungeons in my future.
The Trophy Hunt
The trophy hunting experience for Eternights is nothing too crazy. There are quite a few story-related trophies that you can unlock simply by beating the game. There are also trophies related to each of the 4 different romanceable character routes. You also need to max out your social stats to get the trophy “Flawless.” Lastly, you need to scavenge the city at nighttime at least 10 times to get the trophy “Expert Scavenger.”
Although it is possible to get all of the trophies in one playthrough utilizing some smart save states during Act 4, I personally opted to get the platinum in two distinct runs. The reason being that there were two trophies at odds with one another: “Romantic” and “True Player.” As the names imply, “Romantic” entails dating only one character throughout the entire game, while “True Player” requires dating everyone at once. I chose to play without any guides for my first playthrough and focused entirely on succeeding in my romance of choice, which happened to be with Yuna, the pop star.
The second playthrough was much easier with the first one under my belt. My stats and unlocked skill trees carried over, meaning combat was easier from the start and I had a leg up toward maxing everything else out. Since I had a significant advantage, I opted for dialogue choices that I preferred rather than what was considered the best choice for stats or relationships. That said, I liked this guide the best for its brevity and organized formatting. This walkthrough outlines exactly which dialogue options are the “best” for a more optimal trophy hunt.
The hack-and-slash combat sections of the game were quite challenging for me despite selecting normal difficulty. The timing for dodge-rolling is pretty strict at this level and the game is adamant about you getting it down-pat. You even have to do it frequently outside of battles to open doors inside dungeons.
By my second playthrough, I had enough skills unlocked and decent enough muscle memory to get through most encounters unscathed, thankfully. I do think that the combat in the game could have been improved a bit, as it wasn’t very enjoyable for me—especially in my first run. That said, I’ve never been much of a Souls-like player personally, so it is also possible it didn’t necessarily come naturally to me. Trophy hunters that focus on those games might have a completely different experience with Eternights’ combat system.
Mini Games and Side Activities
One of the additional gameplay loops that made it into the game is scavenging for items that the other party members request. When you agree to find an item on their behalf, whether it’s feminine hygiene products or headphones, you will need to decide where to search: the warehouse, convenience store, or library. These locations have a guaranteed pool of items that do not get randomized or shuffled at all.
The trophies related to this activity are very easy. Once you know the layout of the different locations you can explore, you can simply beeline straight over to your objective. The timer is quite generous if you decide to search without a guide, too. I really liked the maps that were created here, although I didn’t need them much while trophy hunting myself. I had enough spare time in my second playthrough that I had nearly retrieved every item requested from the other characters, although this level of completion is not necessary for any trophies.
Each of the romanceable characters also comes with their own unique mini game that you can participate in. These can be a nice way to get some relationship points along with white essence, which let you increase your friends’ abilities. However, they’re not needed for any trophies, so scavenging or spending time with Chani to boost your social stats should definitely be your first priority.
I personally enjoyed the Yuna breathing exercises the most, as I liked the simple arithmetic involved. I tolerated Min’s and Yohan’s mini games. Sadly, I ended up despising Sia’s, which involved sorting red and blue cells. It seemed that no matter how well I performed, it wasn’t enough to get a decent score. They’re worth at least giving each a shot to see how you like them.
One other extra activity that Eternights has is a short dancing rhythm game that is required to progress in the story. It happens fairly early on in Act 1, and again later in the story. For whatever reason, I found this mini game to be confusing and superficially difficult. The tutorial here wasn’t the best, as it demonstrates with images rather than text. Although this was an annoyance, it’s overall a small gripe.
Reflection
I ended up really enjoying my time collecting trophies in Eternights, despite a few problems with the combat and mini games. The story and characters were great, and I really enjoyed the humor. Although my first playthrough I stuck with Yuna the entire time, after experiencing all the various routes, I think my favorite ended up being Sia. She ended up surprising me, as I didn’t expect her character to have as much depth as it did. Her exclamations about “Science!” were endearing and fun. Sadly, Yohan gets added to the team very late into the game and suffers a lack of character development as a result.
I especially liked the addition of the post-game clips you can look up on your phone that serve as something of an epilogue once you beat the story. They were cute and a unique way to close out an otherwise abrupt ending. Speaking of which, I wish there was a bit more variety in the endings, as regardless of which character you romance, the ending is unfortunately pretty much the same.
I also wanted to point out how much I enjoyed the music track, “Goodbye,” which played during a pivotal moment in the story. It earned a place on my personal playlist; I just wish that it was longer!
I ended up clocking in about 20 hours over the course of my two playthroughs with the game. If you go with the single playthrough approach instead, you’ll probably spend about 15 hours trophy hunting for the platinum.
That pretty much wraps up my thoughts on Eternights! Which character did you romance in this universe? Consider checking out our list of 10 of the best platinum trophy icons if you’d like to see more unique games worth hunting for!
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