Eternal Darkness Retrospective | An Extremely Comprehensive Critique and History

Fun little fact I noticed some 15 years after I first played it: Roivas is also Savior backwards.

Mantarock pulling an I'm taking you with me is hilarious. Mantarock may not survive because its starving to death but they did screw over every other cosmic being as well. Saved humanity entirely out of "You didn't win!" levels of spite.

I will always remember being one of those half-million to purchase Eternal Darkness. At summer camp I was the only one that was tall enough and looked old enough to pass for being 18, so I was tasked with being the point man of our operation to acquire this rated-M title lol

I just wanted to express my amazement that you've made and released 7 hours of high quality video essay review in a month and a half.

One thing I like about this game is the attention to detail. Like the mansion. Also, the Roman centurions don't just carry run of the mill spears anyone could just stick in a game, but pilum, javelins with thin, soft iron necks that would bend after use to prevent the enemy from using them. Also, the attention to detail with science and physics, such as gold not being a reactive substance to acid, and a two-handed sword being too unwieldy to use effectively in narrow corridors, as it can hit the walls as often as it hits the enemy, requiring a shorter weapon to attack effectively, such as a mace.

1:46:00 And that's how you do a Lovecraftian/eldritch horror story! Where no matter how triumphant it seems the human protagonist is, there are still forces beyond their comprehension achieving their own unknown goals.

To see the real ending, you have to put 'pargon' into a tower 36 times (6 places, twice in a playthrough, 3 playthroughs) in the cyclopian city. Yet I still had the desire to do so and felt it worthwhile.

Always makes me sad, when there's an absolutely brilliant game, that didn't get enough attention in it's day. Eternal Darkness is a hidden gem, that still stands out in many ways, even 20 years later, because there's nothing quite like it.I wouldn't call it a personal favourite, but it's still a game that has a very special place in my heart

Thank you for talking about this masterpiece. This game needs to be talked about a lot more.

The sanity effect is not a cherry on top. I'd say it's actually having a delcious cake over an already great cake. You get 2 cakes!!!

This game didn’t have as much of the “dude buy this game!” thing at the time. It was more like “I played this game and…you need to borrow it. Trust me!”. From my experience at the time, I think it clicked with people who were already passing around books and tapes, so one copy covered an entire friend group.

This is one of my favorite games of all time. It's a shame it never got the commercial success it deserved otherwise getting that sequel or remaster might not be such a difficult endeavor. Thanks for this video.

The bathtub jump scare takes on a completely different context when compared to other character insanity effects foreshadowing future events.

I remember buying the Gamecube in high school just for the REmake and finding this game somehow and being amazed. I wish it would get a sequel or reboot/remake in the future. Another top shelf vid.

This game is so memorable, even though it doesn't have the best core mechanics, there's something in Eternal Darkness that I have never felt in another game. I don't really play many games anymore but I would drop everything for a successor or even a remake. Also the voice acting by Maximillian in the enemies section of the Tome is incredible

I remember being completely blown away by the real ending to Eternal Darkness, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I’m probably rare in this opinion, but I really enjoyed the linearity of the game. Yes, the lack of meaningful changes to levels does get old, it wasn’t enough to drain my 14 year old enjoyment. I was just playing for love of the game, and was rewarded with the true ending. I imagined what Eternal Darkness 2 could be, and I’m still wondering 20 years later.

I've noticed that you have two types of videos, lengthy series retrospectives and lengthy single game retrospectives. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy both styles of videos you make. Your writing voice lends itself to both styles and I thoroughly enjoy each of them. I know I'll watch anything you make! You're doing wonderfully 💜

I was honestly completely shocked at what became of silicon knights. I had no idea that there was even an eternal darkness spiritual successor on kickstarter. I'm also surprised at how no other developer has tried implementing a similar sanity sort of mechanic into their game. Only one that comes to mind is Amnesia but that is more like, bugs covering the screen and that's about it. Great video!

I'm pretty sure I'll never forget my greatest sanity effect that hit me playing it when I was a kid. I rented a lot of games and didn't want to buy a bunch of memory cards so instead I bought a thick $40 boy with a ton of space. So when the game told me it was deleting all memory card data I literally jumped out of my bean bag chair and yelled NO!

Wow, a YouTube video game retrospective that actually expresses an opinion on the game in question and puts it in the context of other games and other forms of media rather than regurgitating the plot in minute detail for several hours? You've earned an instant subscribe from me.