A really solid half-action half-dating-sim game with a great sense of self-awareness.

There are a lot of tropes that it starts, but finishes just before it goes too far & it is fully aware that it's doing it every time. In my play through I got 1 'dating' splash screen which again wasn't pushing it too far.

I found the calendar system a bit unclear, as you seem to be able to do anything you like up until the last day, but sometimes it was too late & sets you back a couple days.

The combat isn't too difficult, but it relies heavily on the dodge mechanic of pressing it as the enemies light up. There two additional sets of attacks, one with your companions which can be selected in a dial menu & another which doesn't bring up a menu but does the action if you hold right bumper, I feel like those could have been more clear with a dial as well.

The save/respawn system is very generous & makes it so that it isn't punishing if you die or fail.

As you can imagine, there are several endings depending on who you chose & the choices you make, with a bonus scene at the end if you have a phone ready for a QR code.

It takes about 12 hours to playthrough & has a new game+ option, which would be fun to try out!

See that playtime? Yeah that was ONE DAY.

I bought this game on a complete whim after my friend and I came across some gameplay footage, and it looked, quite simply, so bad it's good.

The next morning, I loaded it up and started playing it, I then proceeded to continue to play it until I had finished it and was bawling crying.

The gameplay is simple yet effective, the combat system is extremely fun and the social aspects are woven in perfectly. While the game definitely left me wanting more after I had finished it, I know that if there were more, I'd just get bored. Though for the length of the game the gameplay works perfectly and is extremely engaging.

By far the star of the show is the character writing. These characters are written so well that the game really made me feel like actual friends with these guys within only 10 hours.

All in all, this game is essentially the definition of a hidden gem and I 100% recommend it. Made me cry tons.

Eternights is a fun little game. It takes a lot of ideas from Persona, but it certainly isn't a clone. I was really impressed by how ambitious it was for a small team, and I think they pulled it off.