At some point in the distant past, laws were written which govern our lives in ways we never notice. Rules etched into the cosmos that dictate how we interact with the world around us, such as how parents will always enter the room at the most questionable part of any anime, even after you’ve moved out, and when all but one of the characters are unlocked, the final one must, however improbably, be a cat girl. However, the most important of these eldritch decrees is that all young men in a visual novel must be dense beyond all rational thought.
Seinarukana – The Spirit of Eternity Sword 2 from Xuse and published by our friends at JAST USA plays this trope out with the best of them. I reviewed the previous entry in this series a few weeks back so I was eager to get stuck into the sequel. And stuck in I did, since each playthrough requires between 30-50 hours, depending on how quick you power through them. It is still a visual novel, but with some tactical battles sprinkled in and with some focus on skill-building as you upgrade your units.
Your units are almost exclusively cute anime girls, in case you were wondering.
Nozomu, our clueless anime protagonist this time around, has, and I quote, “always had that dream of slaughter” ever since he was a kid. Perfectly normal. Perfectly healthy. When he’s not fighting off the urge to destroy everything around him, he goes to a normal Japanese high school where he spends a lot of time wondering why his childhood friend, Nozomi, is upset with him for paying any attention to any other female character. Which is understandable because this is a visual novel and literally every female character has a crush on Nozomu, a fact that is completely lost on him due to… honestly, the fact that he doesn’t notice that the two girls fighting over who gets to hold his hand as they walk home both like him is the most unrealistic part of a game involving multiple worlds, cat girls, and a dash of time travel.
Much like the previous game, there is a power lurking within our protagonist. A power that haunts his dreams and gives him terrible debilitating headaches, awakening only when he’s forced to protect Nozomi from a demonic dog. Plus side, though, it comes with an adorable, invisible fairy sidekick, so it’s not all bad, right?
Pretty soon, Nozomu, Nozomi, and their school are hurtling through time and space and they must try to find their way home with the help of an expanding cast of, mostly female, characters. The plot hits a lot of the usual notes, with branching storylines depending on who you choose to romance and how you respond to certain questions. Ultimately, there is a lot of replayability here, especially as you can skip large parts of the dialogue to speed things up on future playthroughs.
The gameplay in Seinarukana – The Spirit of Eternity Sword 2 remains simple but fun, with some improvements to the enemy AI increasing the difficulty without making it seem unfair. The bulk of your time will be spent divvying out and upgrading skills between battles. While there isn’t a huge variety of combat on display here, it spices things up just enough to keep you from losing interest as you get to know the various characters and allies you meet along the way.
If you were a fan of the first game in the Eternal Sword series, then you’ll find more of what you love in Seinarukana – The Spirit of Eternity Sword 2. The music is simple without being overly repetitive and the Japanese voice acting is solid. The characters are honestly endearing, even if Nozomu’s obliviousness baffles all logic and sense. Even the most clichéd moments are handled well enough that I couldn’t help but smile, so it’s worth a punt if you’re in the market for a game to dump a couple of dozen hours into. With six different endings and a wide selection of waifus to choose from, there is plenty to keep the completionists out there coming back for more.
Seinarukana – The Spirit of Eternity Sword 2 is available on Steam if you’d like a digital copy, or get a physical copy loaded with extras from the JAST USA website.
