Eternal Return

Game overview

Eternal Return is a free to play multiplayer MOBA and battle royale hybrid game that's on the Steam platform. With its huge character roster of 59 unique personalities, players select which anime hero they'll use in matches that pits hem against 17 other players in solo, or can opt to team up to be the last ones standing in visually pleasing maps. The gameplay will feel familiar and fun due to popular mechanics, and earning currency to unlock more anime characters will ensure that you always have goals to grind towards. Matchmaking queues are long can somewhat unbalanced in competitive modes, but that doesn't detract away from the fun moments in game, even if you're playing against AI bots.

➔ Main points:

• A rare MOBA and battle royale combination that works
• Free to play with play to earn progression
• Huge roster of characters to unlock
• Seasonal events and battle passes available

Full review

What Is Eternal Return?

If you fancy anime art style games with PvP, you'll want to check out Eternal Return. Eternal Return is a free to play game published by Kakao Games on Steam, and at its release the game was being praised for its unique blend of MOBA and Battle Royale mechanics. Players can select a character from a huge roster of 59 playable heroes, and they are all individually crafted to suit certain play styles. Characters have different weapons, loadouts, outfits, personalities, customizable skins, voice-lines and more, making them the star of the show. Matches combine both battle royale map drops and loot finding with MOBA style battles in the backdrop of South Korea's suburbs, making this a pretty memorable game.

How The Game Plays

Once you've gotten the tutorials out of the way, you're free to jump into several game modes. Practice modes lets you test characters against AI bots, while normal mode takes you to the standard PvP mode. Ranked is for more competitive players, as matchmaking puts you in games where players are similar level in skill.

Eternal Return is all about characters and the early game, like most battle royale titles. After selecting a character and loadout, players select which part of the map they'll spawn into. This is important as different areas contain unique crafting materials that you'll need to upgrade your gear as the match progresses. Once in-game, the MOBA/Battle Royale hybrid truly shines. You'll wander around the map looting items, upgrading them, and killing wild animals for XP, which is required to level up your character's skills. If you bump into other players early, it's a risk to engage them but can be rewarding as you'll get to loot their stuff. As the match progresses, the map gets smaller with some areas becoming restricted. Anyone caught within the restricted boundaries will be immediately eliminated from the match. It's also important to keep an eye on the notifications that pop up as Eternal Return has unique map events that spawn. Rare meteor crystals could drop in certain zones, while coveted resources or rare animals with epic loot can spawn as well, so exploration can be worth the time. The best moments are of course, if you've made it to the final few players. Battle become very MOBA-like as you riff skills from your hot-bar, and will need to balance Spell Points (Mana) during long fights or use the various regeneration potions you've crafted along the way. It's all very fun and the ease at which players can simply jump into matches is a huge plus.

The downsides are minimal, but can be a major deal-breaker for more competitive players. The matchmaking system for instance doesn't appear to utilize proper MMR, which means games in duo or squad modes can be very unevenly ranked, where you could be getting farmed by better players, or you'll be doing the farming. Solo queue doesn't appear to have this problem, but queue times for all modes are unfortunately high during off peak hours.

Is The Grind Worth It?

As we've already established, players will feel the grind pinch very soon after the first few games. XP and ACoins are granted after every match, but your performance dictates how much you earn. Ultimately, it could take you a very long time to level up your profile and unlock all the characters. But is that grind worth it? Looking at some of the new characters that cost 1000 ACoins or more, they are very powerful and can offer huge advantages in the early game. Therefore it's definitely worth sticking to the grind if you'd rather stay within the free to play criteria without spending money. Additionally, there are daily missions like killing wild animals or playing a few games to earn battle pass XP and coins too, so progression doesn't feel monotonous.

What's In The Cash Shop?

Eternal Return's main attraction are the characters or heroes you play as, and the huge roster will take time to unlock. New players will get a basic selection on top of whatever the free character of the week is that rotates, but the bulk of the other cast of characters must be unlocked from the Cash Shop. The good news is, players can spend their hard earned ACoin currency to unlock them, but can bypass the grind entirely by purchasing premium currency. The store also offers premium battle pass access that consist of mostly cosmetic rewards, and skins can be bought individually for each character as well. Safe to say, Eternal Return is very much a skin-heavy type of game without much pay to win to worry about.

Should You Play Eternal Return?

Anime style multiplayer games are the trend these days, and since its 2020 launch, Eternal Return has been one of the top MOBA/Battle Royale hybrids on Steam. For players of both genres, the game is incredibly easy to jump into and enjoy, requiring little or no experience in order to start having close games or to just to muck around with friends. The entire package isn't too shabby either. The game's visuals, character art, soundtrack and map design are all pleasing, and if that won't win you over, its huge cast of likeable characters with unique voice-lines will. The gameplay is probably the selling point, as simplicity is the name of the game and the huge character roster means the replay factor is high. For a free to play title, Eternal Return will offer hours of free fun.

Ready to enter the world of Eternal Return? Click here to play now!

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Review summary

1. What Is Eternal Return?
2. How The Game Plays
3. Is The Grind Worth It?
4. What's In The Cash Shop?
5. Should You Play Eternal Return?