I played through this one last year and although the translation isn’t totally finished, you are still able to play through the game without having to use a walkthrough for help.

Eien no Fileno is essentially, like many others, a Final Fantasy 4 or 5 like game. The graphics are very similar, if not exactly the same at times. The way the battles look are more Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (don’t worry, this game is a thousand times better) where you see your characters sprites at the bottom of the screen and the enemies above you. The graphics aren’t that great for a mid years Super Famicon title, but the in battle artwork is fairly detailed and doesn’t make for a boring experience.

What makes the game interesting (and probably why the game never made it to the states) is the games storyline. The games main character is a young woman who is forced to pretend to be a man in order to survive in a world where the women are treated as slaves and the men as gladiator type warriors. As the story unfolds, Filena (protagonist) becomes a winning gladiator and her reward is the company of another woman. Throughout the game the two of them form a very “close” relationship and by the end it’s fairly obvious the two have fallen in love. At the time, I am sure Nintendo of America would have had a field day trying to edit this one.

As for the translation, it would appear to be pretty much finished, other than some untranslated NPC. For instance, in regular towns, field, and dungeons it would appear that it is all translated but in camp sites that are set up by gypsies (you will find these through the overworld) no one speaks properly and they all say the same thing. That was the only thing I noticed that wasn’t finished. Other than that, playing through the game wasn’t a problem.

Last note, the game is relatively short. For seasoned players, this will take just a couple or so days to beat. It’s also fairly easy. The only battle I really had a problem with was the final one and that wasn’t even all that difficult. Still, certainly worth a look. It’s not a classic or anything but I thought the story was interesting enough to carry the game.