Sean Plays Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GameCube)

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Published on January 28, 2024 5:43:17 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR_B8x82Qhg

Game:

Eternal Darkness (2002)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 1:34:01

284 views

8

Does this sleeper GameCube hit still hold up over 20 years later for fans of Lovecraftian horror?

Eternal Darkness is an episodic action adventure game driven by a central story, as opposed to traditional horror like Resident Evil, and is heavily inspired by the stories of HP Lovecraft to attempt to portray beings beyond human comprehension and the existential horrors that ensue. In fact, it has more in common with survival games like The Last of Us, except with magic and spells instead of guns, knives, and bricks (although there are arrows) - with the important distinction that none of the many protagonists are expected to survive, calling into doubt the fate of the main character Alex. Think of it more like Lovecraft Country.

While there is the occasional jump scare that you might see in a horror film, handled cleverly by the player's control of the camera versus a director, the games biggest contribution to any genre comes in the form of "Sanity effects" as the player witnesses the horrors around them and test their mental fortitude. Not only do these affect the characters in the game, but many of the best effects are aimed at the player, with bugs crawling all over the screen, fake save file errors, or false endings claiming the rest of the game will pick up in (the sadly non-existent) Eternal Darkness 2. This "Sanity" system was re-used for Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, the GameCube port of the original Metal Gear Solid PlayStation classic.

Also for fans of actual multiple endings, each playthrough can be dominated by an archnemesis and minions that are stealthily selected at the beginning of the game, and only by playing through it three times for each of these choices will the final, real ending be revealed. The different emphasis for each choice also lends to a coloration (no pun intended) of the entire playthrough experience, and for me was intriguing enough to, of the course of a several years, return to this game with enthusiasm each time.

Now a classic in its own right, Sean returns to Eternal Darkness 22 years later to see if it still holds up in the world of HDTV.

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SeanOrange is a retro game fan from the US. Vinnk is a retro import fan who took things one step further and moved to Japan. Together they make Famicom Dojo: a web series dedicated exploring the Japanese history of video games and consoles from the other side of the Pacific.

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