Eternal Poison

Eternal Poison
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Flight-Plan Artpresto Brain-Navi
Publisher(s)
Platforms	PlayStation 2
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Eternal Poison, released in Japan as Poison Pink (ポイズンピンク, Poizun Pinku), is a turn-based tactical role-playing game developed mainly by Flight-Plan, published and produced by Banpresto for the PlayStation 2. The game is a dark fantasy RPG where the player must catch and collect demons called Majin, these monsters can then be used as fellow party members or taken back to the base for other customizations.

Plot

Eternal Poison begins in the Kingdom of Valdia where the demonic realm of Besek has suddenly appeared. This realm is home to demons called the Majin who have captured Valdia's Princess. The King of Valdia then issues a decree for her rescue which brings upon numerous adventurers of dissimilar intentions, the story of game is told from multiple perspectives of five key parties as they journey their way through the realm of Besek to rescue the princess.

Characters

Thage's Tale:

• Thage (テージ, Teeji) Voiced by: Yumi Sudō (Japanese), Tara Platt (English): A mysterious girl with considerable powers. She has entered Besek in search of the Eternal Poison, for the reason of gaining the power to destroy the world. She is cruel and sadistic, only thinking of her own desires. She also has a large amount of wisdom in the dark arts. Strangely enough, according to Rondemion, a man who knew her in her past life, she was a compassionate queen. Although she is given the chance to meet with one of her daughters, Lenarshe, from her past life, she shows no affection or emotional change at all when they meet, though she acknowledges the girl as her daughter in her past life. However, she starts to feel some empathy toward Retica, who she finds intriguing due to his wish to avenge his mother. She feels no racism against his heretic status like many, and even tries to find a way to save him from his cursed blood. She is a possible candidate for the vessel of the goddess Izel due to her royal bloodline, though King Valdus considers her a "failure." In her past life, she was Queen Thage, the wife of King Valdus, and was murdered by him due to his wish to use her as a vessel for Izel. However, he failed in doing so, and tried later to use the reborn Thage (although he did not know she was his wife's reincarnation), Ashley, and her elder sister Lenarshe.
• Ranunculus (ラナンキュラス, Ranankyurasu) Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English): A wise Majin and Thage’s servant. Among Majin, he is known as Ranunculus the Silver Wolf. He is known as Raki to Thage and Retica. His main goal is to bring Thage to the depths of Besek to use her as a vessel of Izel, even through attempting to trick Thage to follow him.
• Retica (ルティカ, Rutika) Voiced by: Yumi Tōma (Japanese), Brianne Siddall (English): A young boy who enters Besek on a mission of revenge to avenge his mother's death at the hand of a Majin. He is forced to join Thage's group against his will. He is later revealed to be a "heretic," or a half-breed of human and Majin, marked by his silver hair and scarf. His father, a Majin, killed his human mother for reasons unknown. He is known as "Rutica" in the Japanese version.

Olifen's Tale:

• Olifen (オリフェン, Orifen) Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English): Olifen is the Commander of the Valdian Knights. He entered Besek in hopes of rescuing his betrothed, Princess Lenarshe. A very kind, gentle, and righteous man, although his engagement to Lenarshe was arranged, the two were deeply in love. Although he has the title of Commander, this title was merely handed down to him by his best friend Logue when he stepped down from the position. He is not recognized by the King. He is under a large amount of pressure of being Commander, and is unsure of what to do. Due to this, he often ignores his own men's status in order to complete his goals. Later, thanks due to Rondemion, the former Commander of the knights, he realizes that he must be true to himself and not try to be someone he is not, finally becoming a fine Commander to his men. Although in his story he succeeds in rescuing Lenarshe from her father, it is later revealed that Lenarshe had been dead since the very beginning of the journey into Besek, and he is devastated by the death of his true love. Ashley had heard about the Commander from her sister, and knew that she loved him because he was such a kind man.
• Logue (ローグ, Rōgu) Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English): A knight and Olifen's childhood friend.
• Levatte (リバト, Ribato) Voiced by: Saori Sugimoto (Japanese), Mona Marshall (English): A virtuous young priest. He is considered a likely candidate to become a Pope, one day, but his reason for coming to Besek might not be so noble.
• Marie (マリィ, Marii) Voiced by: Mariko Suzuki (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English): One of Olifen's comrades.

Ashley's Tale:

• Ashley (ハーシュ, Haashu) Voiced by: Mai Nakahara: A strong-willed Protector of the Faith from the Church of Valdia who is 17 years old. She has entered Besek in search of her mentor, Master Leto. She is afflicted by a curse which causes her to have an alternate persona that is the complete opposite to her. She fights to find the Eternal Poison and lift the curse completely. She is in fact the younger sister of Lenarshe, making her a candidate vessel for the goddess Izel. In the original Japanese version, she is known as Harshe.
• Glynne (グリン, Gurin) Voiced by: Daisuke Matsubara: Ashley's childhood friend and a fellow Protector of the Faith. He worked with Leto in keeping an eye on various sects of the church, including keeping eyes on the Pope. Although he accepted the assassination mission from the Pope, he only holds loyalty to Leto and Ashley. Glynne and Ashley share a close relationship, and they are the only ones who can understand each other completely. He appears to have romantic feelings for Ashley, and only cares about her well-being, though he is quite a worry-wart. At the end of the story, he asks Ashley if he can take on part of her pain.
• Reyna (レイナ, Reina) Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga: A Protector with an unknown past who was ordered to join Ashley's group. Although Reyna appears to be female, it is later revealed that Reyna is actually a male, and that Reyna is not his real name. He found the real Reyna by the side of the road dead, and she was carrying a letter from the Pope that ordered her to go to Ashley and Glynne and search for the Eternal Poison and kill Leto. After gaining Ashley's trust, he reveals himself as a very caring and kind individual, only caring about the party's welfare. However, he hates people hiding things. He is very good with a bow and arrow.

Rondemion's Tale:

• Rondemion (ロンデミオン, Rondemion) Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma: A wandering mercenary. He is known as the Hero of Legend, who is said to have died while slaying the Majin named Morpheus. However, this was a lie his former comrade Archmage Belfour (King Valdus). Valdus tried to kill Rondemion along with Morpheus in order to obtain the glory of slaying the Majin all for himself. After falling from a cliff, he was bedridden, and taken care of by villagers until he was able to stand. Once he learned about the lie that Valdus burned Rondemion's dead body along with Morpheus, Rondemion went into hiding. For the next 25 years, he tried to learn about the meaning of his life. Sometime during this, he encountered Eriel in a village being attacked by Majin, and rescued her. She became his traveling companion, and even after learning about her true identity, he was not surprised, and was not angry in the slightest. Although he had stated that his motive for going to Besek was to find Morpheus, he in fact was looking for Valdus to stop him, and hid his intentions in order to not rouse suspicion.

• Eriel (アリエル, Arieru) Voiced by: Moyu Arishima (Japanese), Cristina Vee (English) A non-playable member of Rondemion's party. A little girl with tan skin and bright red pigtails with red hibiscus ornaments attached. Eriel's true identity is a Majin spy of Morpheus in order to keep an eye on Rondemion. Although she told Rondemion that she wanted to gain the Eternal Poison in order to revive the people of her village who were killed in a Majin attack, she was the one who ordered the attack in the first place in order to be rescued by Rondemion and join his party. However, she truly comes to like Rondemion, and continues to follow him after her identity was uncovered. In the original Japanese version, her name is Ariel.

Ensemble:

• Valdus (バルド, Barudo)

Voiced by: Kōji Nakata: King of Valdia, true name Archmage Belfour. After the disappearance of his eldest daughter, he has secluded himself in the royal chambers. Although he orders the kingdom to search for her, he in fact planned to use his daughter as the vessel of Izel, in order to obtain the power to control the world. He had intended to use both the reincarnation of Thage and his younger daughter Ashley as the vessel in the past, but considers them both failures. In the past, he killed Queen Thage, the past life of the current Thage, in order to sacrifice her to become the vessel of Izel, although he did not succeed in reviving the goddess. Valdus- whose name was Archmage Belfour at the time- had also attempted to murder Rondemion along with Morpheus on their hunt together so he could claim the glory of killing the great Majin himself. After telling the people Rondemion and Morpheus were dead and being labeled as a hero, Belfour was accepted into the royal family due to his glory in war. In truth, he is a human with the blood of a Majin, as this is required to be part of the royal family. In order to block Thage and the other parties from their goal of obtaining the Eternal Poison, he transforms into a hideous Majin. He was in fact the one who summoned the realm of Besek to the world. In the Japanese version, he is known as Valdo.

• Lenarshe (ルナーシェ, Runaashe) Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Karen Strassman (English): The heir to the throne of Valdia, Shortly after engagement to Commander Olifen, she was kidnapped by Majin. She is the daughter of Queen Thage, the late queen and the past life of the current Thage, and the elder sister to Ashley. All three women are possible vessels for the Majin goddess Izel, but it is later revealed that since the very beginning of the entire journey, Lenarshe had already been dead, and used as a vessel for Izel. She later transforms into a hideous Majin, and is defeated by Thage and her party. Olifen is greatly hurt by her death, as the two were in fact very in love with each other before her passing.
• Duphaston (デュファストン, Dufasuton) Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Sam Riegel (English): A charming, young count. He offers his assistance to anyone who ventures into Besek, but he may have some motives of his own. In fact, his true identity is that of the Majin Morpheus.
• Leto (レト, Reto): A well-respected priest and Ashley's mentor. Leto and those loyal to him begun forming a new sect within the church of Valdia, seeking reforms. Recently, Leto has disappeared while investigating Besek.

Mercenaries:

• Irina (イリーナ, Iriina) Voiced by: Tomoka Endō: An honorable knight of Valdia. She has a strong sense of duty and justice, and she has come to Besek to offer her protection to any who seek her out.
• Ares (アレス, Aresu) Voiced by: Yayoi Kobayashi: A thrill-seeking mercenary, in search of danger and companions. Be warned though: Ares thirst for adventure makes it hard for her to in one place for too long...
• Stein (シュテイン, Shutein) Voiced by: Shūma Hiki: A dark priest. He is at times arrogant and cold-hearted, but he is very capable in the battlefield, provided one can tolerate him.
• Velnor (ヴィルグ, Birugu) Voiced by: Yayoi Kobayashi: A warrior from the Stag Domain, the natural enemy of Valdia. No one knows why he has come to Besek, but he is a trustworthy ally, nonetheless. In the Japanese version, he is known as Virg.
• Vivian (ヴィヴィアン, Bibian) Voiced by: Umeka Shōji: Velnor's older sister. She takes her training very seriously and has climbed the ranks very quickly to become a top-rank soldier of her homeland.

Release

The game was released 11 November 2008 in North America by Atlus as a two-disc set, which includes a soundtrack CD featuring selected tracks.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 71.15% Metacritic 65/100 Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com B- Destructoid 8/10 Famitsu 8/7/8/7 [30/40] GameZone 8.3/10 IGN 3.5/10 PSM 7/10

Eternal Poison has received very mixed reviews, with an overall score of 65 out of 100 on Metacritic and a score of 71.15 on GameRankings.

IGN gave it a 3.5 out of 10, criticizing its confusing menus, long loading times during battle animations, and its repetitive soundtrack, while Destructoid gave it 8 out of 10, praising the game looks, and the engaging story.

1UP.com gave it a score of B-, defining it "A darkly beautiful, but very flawed, gothic/noir strategy-RPG".

External links

• Official website
• Official website (Japanese)