Rise Eterna is a classic-style strategy RPG coming to Steam and Nintendo Switch. It's the kind of game that knows its audience, and will probably do well by playing to exactly what that audience wants. That wasn't meant in a cynical way, mind you. The official website for Rise Eterna calls it "nostalgia on steroids" and fully admits that it caters to lovers of games like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. If you loved those games, and are somehow already tired of Wargroove and Octopath Traveler, then this one's for you.
The game's story seems like pretty standard fare for this type of game. It centers around Lua and Natheal, who are "two lost souls" who discover their purpose on their adventure. Along the way they can recruit up to 14 heroes with unique abilities.
In this way it sounds like the Fire Emblem approach, where you can shape your army by how you choose to recruit and customize your allies. Rise Eterna's website even makes mention of hidden characters, implying your army can change from one play through to the next.
Gameplay-wise, the trailer gives us a glimpse at large maps with an overhead tactical layout. When combat happens, we appear to zoom in on the units taking part. Their sprites exchange animated attacks against various backgrounds. One exciting thing is that multiple characters can be seen during certain battles. Based on that, there may be an extra complexity to combat in Rise Eterna that sets it apart from the games it mimics.
Rise Eterna is listed as coming out in the second quarter of 2019, according to its Steam page. That should be very soon, considering we're well in the second quarter of 2019. The trailer also shows off its Switch box art. It'll definitely be of interest to fans of '90s tactical RPGs, and might even offer some surprising modern twists. We'll try to check in once it's released, assuming all the summer sales don't get to our wallets first.