Eternal Darkness: The Greatest Lovecraft Game Nobody* Played
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- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
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#EternalDarkness #EternalDarknessReview #SurvivalHorror #Lovecraftian
MONSTERS OF THE WEEK: ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY’S REQUIEM
Eternal Darkness is often named as one of the greatest survival horror games ever made. It was highly creative, technically impressive and a great example of both, great lovecraftian fiction in video games before it became ubiquitous in media, as well as how much a narrative-first approach in game design can benefit a good experience.
It’s an amazing game that sadly almost nobody at the time bought and played.
Chapters
00:00 Part I: And With Strange Aeons
06:44 Sponsor
08:14 Part II: Re-Animator
17:59 Part III: The Call of Xel’Lotath
25:46 Part IV: The Shadow over Silicon Knights
32:05 Indie-Showcase: Prodeus & Credits
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How to emulate Eternal Darkness with the Dolphin Emulator (Settings used for this video), plus some notes on legality of emulation and video game preservation:
docs.google.com/document/d/1G...
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Get PRODEUS DRM-free on GOG!
af.gog.com/game/prodeus?as=16...
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Credits
Original Script & Eternal Darkness Footage: @MichaelSaba
/ michaelsaba
Copy Editing & Captions (English): Matt Cox
/ pop_primer
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Sources/Gameplay Credits
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmicism
Roger Ebert declaring Video Games Can Never Be Art
www.rogerebert.com/roger-eber...
www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/...
The complete Lovecraft works free for ebooks
arkhamarchivist.com/free-comp...
Violence in Video Games 1983 Senate Hearing
• Violence In Video Game...
Denis Dyack Interview with The Escapist
www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/t...
Video Game Patent: Sanity System
patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Ported to Switch | NintendoLife
www.nintendolife.com/news/202...
World of Longplays:
PlayStation 4 Longplay [024] Beyond Two Souls | Played by: Spazbo4
• PS4 Longplay [024] Bey...
PC Longplay [567] Outlast | Played by: Spazbo4
• PC Longplay [567] Outl...
PSX Longplay [004] Resident Evil | Played by: Spazbo4
• PSX Longplay [004] Res...
BIG BAD WOLF | Case Animatronics | JackSepticEye
• BIG BAD WOLF | Case An...
Quake - End_ Shub-Niggurath's Pit | LightningBoltForever
• Quake - (End) Shub-Nig...
Resident Evil (Gamecube) Full Playthrough as Jill | TheInnocentSinful
• Resident Evil (Gamecub...
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Video Games shown in this video (in order of first appearance)
Until Dawn (2015), Beyond: Two Souls (2013), Outlast (2013), F.E.A.R. (2005), C.A.S.E. Animatronics (2016), Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 (2015), Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014), Silent Hills (Teaser, 2014), The Sinking City (2019), Baldur’s Gate III (2020), Bloodborne (2015), Quake (1996), Alone in the Dark (1992), Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet (1993), Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002), Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen (1996), Resident Evil 4 (2005), Metal Gear Solid (1998), Resident Evil (1996), Silent Hill (1999), Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004), Resident Evil (2002), Prodeus (2021)
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Movies shown in this video (in order of appearance)
Lovecraft Country (2020), Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood (2012), Spongebob Squarepants (1999-)
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Music Credits
Contains samples from
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem OST
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen OST
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 OST
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth OST
Metal Gear Solid OST
Prodeus OST by Andrew Hulshult
Spongebob Squarepants Theme Song by Derek Drymon, Mark Harrison, Stephen Hillenburg, Blaise Smith
lucafrancini - We Are Ready for the Glory
Cecil Opia - Shame, Stains
www.cecilopia.com | / cecilopia - Ігри
What I love about Eternal darkness is that even if you come across a glitch you’ll never truly know if it’s a glitch or not, the game has gaslighted you that much.
Gaslighting
Girlbossing
Gatekeeping
@@zildjian2381
astroturfing
catfishing
moonlighting
Gaskeep
GirlLight
Gateboss
(These are not Dark Souls spoilers)
I am still unironically pissed about the lack of a sequel. The Sanity/Madness Mechanic was something that could have been expanded upon and refined in subsequent games, especially with the progressively better graphical capabilities of subsequent console generations. Eternal Darkness could have been a franchise IP to rival Silent Hill, Outlast or even Resident Evil. Instead it's another infinitely-promising baby that was strangled in the crib.
I never played the original but watching this makes me hunger for a remaster! A sequel would be great too.
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z Sanity Meters aren't all it takes to make a good Lovecraftian game though
the sequel was about to make until one of the employees made a child pornography and got arrested
so no eternal darkness 2
@@joshuagraham2843 WTF uhhh that's uncomfortable and I had no idea. Holy shit.
@@joshuagraham2843
Source?
There was also a special ending if you beat the game 4 times getting a different special rune the first three runs to be able to unlock the ultimate rune. THAT ending was true Lovecraft horror and was a blast to obtain when I was younger.
Are you talking about the Mantorok Rune? that is hidden in game, the True ending is at the end of the 3rd play-through.
Another neat touch is that each Old One corresponds to a different stat, and each has their own variation on the enemies you encounter, so the gameplay of each playthrough is somewhat different.
Purple!
Mantarok!
I love how “Eternal Darkness” combines HP Lovecraft’ s and Edgar Allan Poe’s literature to create something truly unique!
And it's not the last game to do that either. There been a few indie titles to follow in that trend. "The Last Door" is another one to do that as well.
The sanity system was first filed in 2000, and the amount of time that a patent can last is 20 years, so the sanity system should be fair game for literally anyone right now in the current year of 2021
bloodborne borrowed the sanity from eternal darkness
@@joshuagraham2843 I am also left confused here as to how a sanity system could be trademarked like that because a LOT of what this game did right, Amnesia: The Dark Descent got acclaimed for. Including how the camera and controls act out on their own when you let your sanity deplete to certain levels. Is it just because of the specifics or is there something I'm missing here?
According to Google Patents, this patent is currently active but is set to expire on November 11th 2021. As a side note, it's kind of bizarre that the illustration in the application appears to show a depiction of Link in the Forest Temple of Ocarina of Time! Maybe they'd planned to implement something similar in Majora's Mask or a subsequent Zelda title?
@@joshuagraham2843 Are you talking about insight? That works very differently. You can lower your insight simply by buying things with it.
@@yetanotherbassdude Thank God
*The title (i.e. "...that nobody played") is of course a mild dramatic exaggeration pointing to the fact that it didn't sell enough to bring it its development costs, which made Nintendo cancel the sequel in development, but in case you actually _have_ played it, please don't hesitate to rush into the comment section and tell me how the title is wrong! (it boosts engagement)
Nah man its all good makes me feel speshul for playing it mwahahaha
The title is wroooooooong… Also great video!
Errrm, title wrong???
(this game looks sick, never knew much about it, thanks for making a vid on it)
More importantly Nintendo patented the sanity mechanic, ensuring that no future games could use it, improve it or build upon it. Also nobody played it because Nintendo isn't known for these types of games, the target audience was on the other consoles.
@@grandotaku2501 yeah he mentions the patent in the video
I use to watch my brother play this when we were kid's. It always scared the crap out me when I tried to play, so I would just watch him play it lol. Every now and then we talk about this game and how not many people knew about it.
Me too! I started watching my older brother playing that game and after some time I decided to play it on my own. These hallucination scenes really freaked me out and scared the sh!t out of me. I think I was 13 or 14, much too young for this mindf*ck game...
I remember my first exposure to this game was.... interesting, my older brother had recently purchased a GameCube and had rented a few games from Blockbuster like Spiderman and stuff. Well one early morning, before anyone was up, I snuck down, booted up the GCU, and was greeted by the, then terrifying, Eternal Darkness intro.....needless to say I didn't sneak down in the wee hours of the morning to play the GameCube anymore.
"May the rats eat your eyes!"
So many good memories of this game. The insanity effects were really well done really creeped me out the first time experienced them. Shame about the sequel not ever making the cut.
"An incredible game that, sadly, next-to-nobody actually played."
It's me. I'm Next-to-Nobody. This was my favorite GC game growing up and I've played through it at least a dozen times. I even did a report on it in middle school. Last summer I replayed it again for my husband, since he's a huge Lovecraft fan but not a console gamer.
Yeah that was kind of misleading as Eternal Darkness was legendary even when it was still new. For a lot of people it and RE4 were THE reason to buy a GC.
I'm also next-to-nobody, which can lead to more weird questions than it can ever lead to answers, such as "are you me or am I you?", if we're both next to nobody, should we be in the same room, and who is this "nobody", and is "nobody" even really there?"
It's one of the few games I still replay every now and then, even though I know the entire game by heart and it's mechanics and controls by muscle memory.
And how many games have such a wide variety of weapons? An elephant gun that knocks the player down when fired unprepared, dual flintlock pistols that take forever to reload but have one of the best reload animations I've ever seen, an OICW, all kinds of melee weapons, magic...
Given that it takes 3 playthroughs to actually complete the game, and that I completed it about four times I think, and did some extra playthroughs with the extra options after that, yup, well over a dozen playthroughs. A true masterpiece.
@@samuelc6246 It breaks my heart that I can never experience this wonderful game again.
@@cherrycordiaI you mean "never again for the first time", or actually never again?
They should really re-release it. Or do SOMETHING with the IP. Then again, I can hardly imagine a new game could fill Eternal Darkness' shoes.
@@samuelc6246 Never again for the first time, was what I meant. And it makes me so sad :( I feel like I've played every horror game that's come out since, and nothing has come close to touching Eternal Darkness.
I was a total Nintendo fangirl in the early 2000's, so I was actually kind of surprised to learn it was obscure years later, when cosplaying Alex Roivas got me back into wearing dark eyeshadow. I remember the memes around the time Too Human came out basically boiling down to "...and then you'll make ED 2?".
@@robertinogochev3682 well...that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand
I always hoped that Eternal darkness would get a reboot.
Christ, sorry for these people I guess
@長瀞さん yikes, people never change it seems. I thought this shit was antiquated 10 years ago
You should make some Spore let's plays
Eternal darkness is what got me into lovecraft! I honestly thought that E.D. was gonna be as huge as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Still waiting on the sequel...Patiently.
Me too 😊
Probably didn’t help that it only released on GameCube. I reckon an Xbox and PS2 release would’ve boosted its popularity.
Erectile dysfunctionm
check out Shadows of the Eternals on youtube. it was the canceled sequel. 😞
Controversial opinon here but I'd probably take a remake over a sequel.
I love these videos. I never played Eternal Darkness, since it didn’t appeal to me back in the day. What a waste. Hoping to get a glimpse of it through emulation soon.
Keep up these great videoessays.
Yeah if you get dolphin you can play It pretty easily. Definitely worth the time. Works really well.
Must play, I feel lucky I got a copy back when it was affordable, I'd like to play through it again.
Is emulation the only option? Or can I buy it on, like, steam?
Normally, I feel the phrases “lovecraftian” or “eldritch” are often overly applied to generic media that’s hardly lovecraft-esque in subject or tone, or just ripping off his source material in the surface level sense.
Eternal Darkness, however, is one of the few videogames that wholeheartedly, rightfully & lovingly earns those accolades while creating it’s own intelligently crafted universe & rules.
(Even with a bit of E.A. Poe & Legacy of Kain flavor on top of that)
@@laughingman9574 I'm still waiting / hoping for bloodborne to get a pc release so i can finally get to play it.
Speaking of lovecraft games, i have a soft spot for Dark Corners of the Earth.
it may be a little buggy and gets more combat-heavy after the middle chapters, but as a direct adaptation of Shadow over Insmouth, it really brought it to life.
@@puffythedestroyer8878 Same, still patiently waiting for a PC release, but I also found and purchased a cheap PS4 at a movie trading company, and played Bloodborne while I continue to hold my breath.
@@yoremothra9838 I recommend Evil Tonight and Lamentum, they're basically a sprite based Horror games.
Omg those moments when it tells me to plug in my controller and I freak like a madman trying to plug it back in yelling it is plugged in!!
"WHAT?! A GameCube can blue screen? No...nonononono this is bullshit! What the fu-oh...oh, fuck you, game."
Holy shit! There's a big ass spider crawling across the screen!
I liked the one where it convinces you that you're playing a demo or that the game is to be continued. That freaked me out until the character flashed back with, "this.. isn't happening!"
The wiping of the memory card made me feel like I could cry 🤣
One of my favorite games of all time. I've still got a copy back at my parents' home. Can confirm: it is a true masterpiece, and the fact that it has never really been emulated (spiritually) or given a sequel or a PC port or something is absolute tragedy. EVERYONE should play this game. Hell, *I* want to go back and play it again! The plot is just SO GOOD. Watching this made me miss it all over again and remember how fun it is. I seldom replay games, but this one is the kind that you return to with renewed love and notice even more amazing details over time.
This has to be remade. They just did it for System Shock, one of the best sci-fi horror stories, so who knows?
Chill it’s not that deep
Oh wow, I've been saying that Eternal Darkness is the Metal Gear Solid of horror games for years, given how story-centric and cinematic the game is, so hearing that tidbit about how so much of the MGS cast voiced characters in this is a real "whoa" moment.
Liked before watching simply because Eternal Darkness is underrated as hell. Praise Mantorok!
The corpse god is no more O)_(O
Me to.
...none can challenge the breadth and depth of lord Ulyaoth!
Pargon-pargon-pargon
That word... I don't think it means what you think it means 🤣
Praise Xel'lotath!
My cousin and I found this game in the bargain bin one summer when we were teens and we fell in love with it. We are getting matching tattoos when we’re together again and they’re from Eternal Darkness. Im so happy you covered this!!!
Enjoy that time with your cousin. My favorite cousin, one of my best friends in the world, died last year of brain cancer at 24. To say that id give anything to see him again doesnt begin to describe the feeling of loss, so cherish the time you get to spend together. Those times we think will happen for a lifetime are sometimes gone in an instant. Sorry to share something somber, but i felt that the message was worth sharing. Take care.
@@Honey_Daddy I am so sorry to hear that. I'm glad that you made good memories with him though.
"Eternal Darkness & Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the World" were some of the first things that got me into Lovecraft, and both are on my Favorite Games List
Randomness makes Life Spicey,
so here you have some Random Request of mine:
Can you consider using the reportbutton as it
was once intended to? To help?
I mean, Reality has the Policephonenumber and youtube has
its r-button. Both exist for a reason - duh?
Many like to only report a Racist (f at all) the literal Second they
themselves are under verbal Attack from 1... thats... not very strategic though?
Hope you consider.
People are prone to looking away; and 2020/2021 has only writtled down people's spirit further... I hope you acan bring yourself to report some people, so YT can be without random verbal attacks for someone's S-Colour... or even favorite Cartoon?!? Yes, this last thing literally happens, too...
@@loturzelrestaurant 🤔
@@loturzelrestaurant Are you having a stroke, mate?
@@laughingman9574 What a dumb question.
Your ok, man?
And i dont ask that in the same rude aka embarassing manner as your question was 'meant' to be read. Nah, I'm legit asking: What went wrong with your mommy raising you, that you have to ask if i have as Stroke. What.
@@loturzelrestaurant Can you elaborate on your non sequitur, then?
Oh, I remember being like 14 and playing with all my younger cousins and my little bro. We enjoyed so much this game, it was so much fun and real scares! Since it was on a gamecube we didn't even thought much about the M rating and still played. So many happy memories with it, so sad what happened with the studio and this masterpiece. I hope now they get the fame and money they deserve, and that this gets a remake. It would be incredible.
I give this video seven PARGON out of five.
The repeat "pargon pargon pargon" still haunts me to this day.
haha i delierately spaced out the Pargons so the 7 point spell did not end with 4 pargon in a row. Alignemet Rune, Pargon, first Rune, Pargon, Pargon, second rune and a pargon to finish. it does not sound as annoying if you do that
@@lordomacron3719 me too 😂👌🏻
PaRgOn PaRgOn PaRgOn
@@lordomacron3719 I've played probably hundreds of hours of Eternal Darkness. The order you build the spells does not change the order in which they're chanted. But I don't think there's ever actually a moment where pargon is repeated more than two or three times in a row. I'm pretty sure two is the max, but it's been a while.
@@zanth6577 i replayed it recenlty and yes the order you place the rune is the order they are cast i would not mess with the order if it did not make any difference
A lot of the madness mechanics sound like things that I probably would have taken for bugs/errors if they weren't pointed out. Definitely a good way to mess with a player's head.
When I played this many years ago I almost punched my little brother in the arm because the TV volume turned all the way down. Turns out my in-game sanity was so low, the game was messing with me in real life. This game is a master piece.
*Almost* punched him in the arm? Pff, you damn noob.
I once cracked my brother's skull with an ashtray because he went and messed with my Majora's Mask save file.
When he came back from the hospital, he beat the living fuck out of me so bad, I legit thought I was gonna die that day.
We are very good friends nowadays xD
Better yet, once you're out of sanity every time you take sanity damage it decreases your health. Stay lucid, investigators.
played this in 2002- got stuck. tried again years later- got stuck. finally beat it in 2018. thanks Super Best Friends RIP in peace shitlords.
i rent it in 2002, i didnt had other option but to finish it soon, lol.
Rest in peace in peace
It's beginning to rain again.
They were around more than you'd expect, but less than you'd hope
They promised nothing and delivered less.
Every video that discusses eternal darkness always has a sanity moment in it. And i fall for it everytime
Thank you for covering Eternal Darkness! Always shocked how little traction it got
Eternal Darkness is a game I can say truly traumatized me. I watched my older brothers play it as like a 7-9 year old and I was an easily scared kid. The whole game spooked me but I still kept watching but for some reason the part that just terrified me was Alexandra having a hallucination where she sees her own corpse in a bathtub, filled with blood and screams. I think it also made me scream. And after that I was TERRIFIED of bathrooms in games FOR YEARS. Even if the game wasn't a horror title, I was so scared to enter any bathroom in a game because of that one scene. Just the thought of having to explore a bathroom, even a public one with no bathtubs, made me breathe fast and my heart beat out of my chest. I couldn't even watch someone else do it.
Years passed and I got curious about the game in my teens. I'd been watching a lot of let's plays about horror games (because I was too scared to play myself) so I seeked out a series for Eternal Darkness. I told myself that I wasn't scared anymore, I was so sure of it. But when the bathroom scene came up, I involuntarily shut my eyes and covered my ears, terrified.
Even more years passed and I decided to actually play the game myself. Lucky enough, we still have the physical copy! I was doing fine until I had to go to the bathroom and just felt an incredible panic rising in me and I ended up throwing the controlled away while screaming "NO!". Never before or since has anything made me react like that.
The game has never left my brain and it's always intrigued me. I'm now compelled to give it another try. It's truly fascinating how strong of a grip one short scene has on my brain and heart.
I was at a friend's place when the bathroom scene came up. We were around 14 years old, he was playing and when the camera switched to the bathtub, we both screamed and he threw away the controller. Can't imagine how hard that must hit when you're only 9 or even younger...
While I'm not much of a fan of depictions of people ending their own lives, gosh-darn that jumpscare is legendary.
One of the best in horror games, honestly. I never forgot it either.
Ragnarox thumbnail of Sims for the GBA: a Satirical MASTERPIECE
EDIT: The edit at 25:44 is genius
Like *seriously*
@@RagnarRoxShow
Lol that got me the first time.
Yeah, got me good.
@@RagnarRoxShow It was perfectly placed but going back after the advert confused me because it had a subtitle XD
At least you waited a decent amount of time to let the advert come on, usually takes longer but that might just be my internet having to stop and think for a literal minute before going "Uhh.... Yeah OK Ad.".
Better than how ProJared did it, is all I'm saying XP
I feel that there's some missing context as to why the Shadow of the Eternals Kickstarter campaign failed. At the time, there were several news stories circulating about Silicon Knights and its senior staff abusing their employees. As a result, a lot of people who would've otherwise jumped at the opportunity to throw money at that project instead chose not to.
I never knew anything about them even doing a kickstarter
Were the allegations true?
@@vr5076 Yeah, unfortunately.
Wasn't that also around the time that the Kickstarter for "Mighty No. 9" was running too?
Um....I played this game so much on my roommate's GameCube in college that my Xbox and Morrowind got jealous. Also....I watch playthroughs and listen to the soundtrack every year around Halloween.
This game is amazing.
Thanks for shining a spotlight on this absolute masterpiece. In atmosphere, storyline, and voice acting, it is second to none. Its a shame that this entry just never caught on.
“But the Dagoth’s in the details “ amazing
I like „organic“ jumpscares.
Currently playing Prey and the game can build that paranoia so much.
Not the lovecraftian terror you speak of but also great.
Loved Prey. The old one was also decent, but the newest one is on another level.
I got jump scared by the teleporting "Quantum Rocks" in Outer Wilds, which did feel like an organic (and unintentional) jumpscare.
I liked prey a lot, but I played it right after playing alien isolation so i think that made the experience different than if I had went into it in a clearer mindset. I wish I could find a game that gave me an experience like isolation did honestly. Or being a kid & playing the older resi games. I miss that adrenaline rush. Lol.
There is one specific genuine jumpscare to this game that likely caught out most gamers the first time they played. The bath tub, is all you need to say.
@@pious83 I played through it and this must have been something I missed even though I thought I was very thourough.
After 20 years exploring and playing every ending: Roivas is the reverse word of Savior. Mindblow! It undermines the great attention to detail again. "I was once as naive as a child, but now my mind is sharp." :D
I played Eternal Darkness when it was released. I enjoyed it for its great story and ideas. But it had some important flaws I never see mentioned anywhere...
There were only four locations that you played in different periods of time and using different characters, but despite that it still made the game feel very repetitive.
The magic system near the end allowed you to “gather” infinite magic and health making you pretty much invincible, at the only expense of looking like a Christmas tree with a rune hovering over your character’s head and a beam of light spinning around them.
Finally, the sanity system was pretty limited. Once you had seen most of the effects they lacked surprise and became annoying. And also the game didn’t allow you to wonder for long if what happened was “real” or not; it almost immediately gave you a sound clue or the screen flashed. That said, the idea of the sanity effects was very good and it’s a shame it wasn’t expanded upon in other games...
My favorite memory playing ED was a time there was a REAL fly on the screen, I thought it was a sanity effect and then it came out of the TV! 😅 Props to the game for keeping me wondering!
I love the game, but I have to fully agree that as you get more spells the difficulty curve scales down so fast. By the end you’re a battle mage slashing your way through everything with ease.
It was also possible through experienced/good gameplay that your sanity level was never low enough to see the special effects, and the difficulty level varied drastically depending on which order you took in defeating the gods.
I agree with all of this, especially after having replayed this myself.
I like the idea of becoming overpowered by the end, for story reasons, and I thought the magic system was pretty cool, but I still agree with these comments here.
Time to get that last ending!
"Story in a game is like story in a porn movie. My opinion on both is pretty dumb and outdated." John Carmack
he wasn't wrong for the time, and he was talking about expectations and not how things *should* be.
@@ascendedchairmanofthelemur9711 Meh, he was trying to justify their "game first, story slapped on later" approach. Even before Doom there were games that would have been nothing without their story.
That's the problem with the specialist culture. Yes, Carmack is an amazing programer and maybe a good game designer focused on game mechanics and enemy placement, but it doesn't mean that he's always right or that he understands about game narrative wich is a complete different spectrum.
Also quoting is normaly kinda dumb cause it can shift some of the meaning behind those words if you remove the context. Carmack said that as a reason for why they gave up on developing a large lore for Doom, and since the game was thougth as a lighting paced action game, and that they didn't had much budget to begin with, chopping of a huge lore that would reduce the game pacing and increase the cost was a good choice in this case, thus the quote.
@@Thelder Plus, I think Carmack is one of those type of technically minded people who understand technology way more than human emotion. So it makes perfect sense he doesn't see much value in story where it's all about emotion.
Marcos Vinicius Guimarães Pereira
I think about a game like Mass Effect and just how painful it is to play through. The story is solid but the gameplay is lacklustre, and I can’t pull myself to go through the slog of that game again. It’s not a good game, and if they focused more on providing something enjoyable to play, I wouldn’t be mentioning it here. It’s why The Last of Us is such a terrible game. The controls are janky and the gameplay is unsatisfying. If you want a simulator, that’s your ticket, but it’s hardly a game. Fun, satisfying gameplay should always come before storytelling.
The most underrated game ever made, and my favorite to this day.
The game was never underrated, but it definitely was underappreciated. I guess nobody at the time knew how bad of a deal a GC exclusive was. I'm a huge survival horror fan and I bought the GC back in the solely for this and all the Resident Evils.
Me and my weird friends played the hell out of this as kids. I was the only one who's mom let us have M rated games. I still have this game in the original case. In a weird twist of fate I was reading Mountains of Madness like a year after I played this so I was able to recognize it as an homage to Lovecraft.
Maximillian Roivas' insane screed in his cell was my first experience of videogame voice acting that truly impressed me. Absolutely glorious.
May the Rats eat your Eyes! The Darkness Comes!
I remember how my friend had this game and gave it to me because she thought it was too scary. So I started to play and couldn’t let it go. I was searching for the title the other day and was not able to find and now your video 😍
this is basically a low key Forgotton Gems crossover episode hehe
You’ve finally given voice to why I love Eternal Darkness so much (and I didn’t even realize it until you said it), when I typically don’t venture into the horror movie and game genre. It’s the hopefulness that runs throughout the game, even though almost all the characters you play meet a very grizzly death, their efforts aren’t meaningless. Even to the point of defeating three of the four ancients, leaving only Mantorak (sp?) at the very end.
It’s crazy how good this game looks even 20 years later.
i have to thank random weekend blockbuster browsing for stumbling on eternal darkness. played it when i was around 15 yrs old and it felt like a grand horror adventure i had gone on.
I found it at blockbuster too! And then kept renting it to the point that I bought a copy at blockbuster the second one was for sale 😂 I still have it. I even tried getting my husband to play with me years ago :/
I played a demo at a Babbage's at the mall (before it became GameStop). Went right up to the counter and preordered it that day. STILL have it... alas I can't play it, as my Gamecube can't connect to my 4K TV. Did briefly look into getting an HDMI mod for it or one of the plug-and-play HDMI converters.
*reads title*
...b-but I played it! It was a long time ago but I did! I swear! All the different routes and all!
And honestly it's one of my favourite horror games I've ever played.
Welcome to the club, pal.
Hello fellow nobody. I’m in the same book
You got the ultimate ending? Play through three times, end result being all three of the big bads destroy each other leaving Mantorok supreme?
A spiritual successor to this is at the top of my “games I would make if I got to make games” list.
Eternal Darkness is actually one of the few Game Cube games I picked up. Game Cube being my last Nintendo console before mostly switching to PC. I didn't realize a copy was so rare. It was such a great game. Probably my favorite for the Cube.
Content warning: Game Design Patenting
Glad you're aware of what the true horrors of video games!
Video game patents are so weird. Its like namco patented playing mini games in a loading screen
There are a ton of patent trolls out there that made their money entirely through holding a patent idea and forcing others to pay them a fee to access it. Just look at George Selden, a man who, for years, successfully held the patent for the idea of the Automobile. Henry Ford managed to win his lawsuit against the man, making other automobile manufacturers able to make their products too. This so-called patent is not really defendable, and if a large enough company wanted to, they could challenge this and win. However, by doing so, they'd automatically destroy any similar patents they're holding onto purely for money, so they'd never do it. It's almost the mutually assured destruction defense of nuclear arms but with IP and data instead.
Loved eternal darkness. It's hard to find an original copy for gamecube or really expensive. Nintendo could release a remaster of it and then continue the franchise. That could be Nintendo's horror franchise like RE. I wish... Nintendo again sitting on an IP and doing nothing wth it.
People are usually quick to point out that I'm wrong about this, but wouldn't it be just really-really cheap to re-release something you already own, that's already made, assume it will at least make money through the power of nostalgia and maybe even do a sequel if it is popular enough? Worst case scenario, you lose a tiny bit of investment money, and the best is that you reinvigorate a franchise as well as make tons of money.
Game companies sitting on IPs with massive cult followings reminds me of aging bands who do concerts but refuse to play their classics and instead insist on their "new material" which almost nobody likes.
Maybe it's just me, but I miss early 2000s games, their writing, their amazing stylized graphics that burned into your brain forever...
Back then, at least six games a year blew my mind. Now, I feel lucky if there's one thing coming out in a year that even makes me tingle.
I'd be so happy if the industry was still creative enough to produce gems like this.
The best we can hope for is that they're gracious enough to "pretty up" the old games and see if this type of crazy insanity known only as "creativity and intelligent writing" would fly with the kids of today.
Strangely enough, Nintendo renewed their trademark in 2020 so they are at least determined to not loose their hold on it.
@@evanharrison4054 maybe cheaper, but you still have to put resources in and the outcome is questionable. The resources are better invested in Mario. Sad but mostly true
@@Henrik_Holst I saw that. I hope they do something with it.
@@evanharrison4054 It's not that cheap, especially if you "pretty if up" like you say. Oftentimes you have to spend quite a bit of time coding an engine that can bridge the gap between the original codec and modern systems, which rarely if ever like to play nice with one another.
I was attending university for comp sci when this came out, in the same Canadian city that Silicon Knights developed it in. I borrowed a friend's Gamecube to play, and was enthralled for hours. I think I missed an assignment, skipped class, even some sleep. It remains one of my favourite games to this day. You should really emulate it for yourself.
i've been going backwards through your catalog for a few months now, and have to say that this video is one of the best that you've done even to this day. outstanding showcase of an incredible moment in survival horror history!
The sanity effects in the this game were so believable at the time, the blue error screen and having my save data deleted genuinely got me.
When I first tapped into the Eternal Darkness, it really caught me off guard just how much overlap there was with The Consuming Shadow as far as casting and variable Ancient systems went. Hell, even assorted interface tomfoolery. Maybe some inspiration took root.
Being a GC exclusive doomed this game, if it had been released on PC or PS2 I'm sure it would have been succesful.
I saw someone retweeted this post and decided to watch it, great job dude you made me interested in an obscure lovecraftian game
I've already commented this on your previous video, but want to ask it again: have you played Folklore (Forgotten great PS3 exclusive)? Video about it would be awesome
Seconding that
I thought I had answered, but I must have forgotten to: Yes, I've played it and it's been on my radar for a video for quite a while. No immediate plans but would definitely love to cover it one day!
@@RagnarRoxShow Hell yeah! That would be really cool
I’ve played this game enough to make up for the people that missed it. What I really want is it on switch.
The screaming faces in the Tome's altar room give me chills every time. Such an effective tool
Fantastic retrospective, as always. Thanks for taking the time to put this together and highlight this criminally under appreciated gem of a horror experience. Also, I would LOVE to see you tackle a similar retrospective of Too Human.
Although I am curious about one thing you said near the beginning: was the GC really more powerful than the Xbox? While there were, undeniably, some truly gorgeous games on the ‘Cube, I have a hard time picturing it being able to run, say, Halo 2, Knights of the Old Republic, or Escape from Butcher Bay. And this is coming from someone who, until the 7th generation, exclusively bought Nintendo products.
I rented this game once, back when Blockbusters still existed.
Rent in peace...
I was 13 years old when I got a copy for my game cube. Introduced me to cosmic horror. Always loved it!
Fun fact. I've recently sent a physical piece of mail to Nintendo of America (NOA) with wishes for Eternal Darkness to come to Nintendo Switch. NOA did say they would sent the letter around to other departments at NOA, but as of now they said there hasn't been an announcement or a "hint of an announcement". So atleast I gave them some sign we all want a port or sequel.
I remember being 14 years old, getting this game on my birthday.
Dident fully grasp Lovecrafts work yet, I was mostly just a big fan of Survival Horror at that time. I just finished up RE Remake and RE Zero, so my parents got me this.
After playing it to completion, it filled me with massive curiosity for Lovecraft and the Occult.
I beat the game last year on Dolphin, it's really good
@youwillneverbewoman: Where can i find this dolphin?
@@macruz8503 Are you still seeking it? I can guide you, especially in the aftermath of setting it up, because I needed to do some research to find the best settings, because on my computer the "out of the box" settings weren't great, but I eventually figured it out.
Let me know, but if not, I wish you well!
It aint hard to deal with lovecraftian horror. Just keep writing "Pargon, Pargon, Pargon" and you'll be fine
If you say 'protect', 'self', learn one eldritch name and keep yelling 'power' over and over you'll be fine^^
@@IZINA1997 "Bankorok pargon Santak pargon pargon mantorok pargon." - words that will save you from anything.
I had never heard about this game. This presentation was extremely well done and very interesting.
I love how every channel that does a video on this game has something in the video itself that makes you check the video, like it stopped or something, or the volume went down on its own.
I have never experience something like eternal darkness' sanity system. Things I saw have stuck with me for years, and revisiting it I see new events all the time! It is incredible!
Ah, Eternal Darkness, Clocktower 3, and Rule of Rose. Game's I'll never get to play on the original hardware.
That intro just got yourself a new subscriber. 2 min 50 and im already in love with your style. Godspeed.
This is one of the few games I ever beat and LOVED how it messed with me. I remember that my young daughter would watch me play and I took a necklace in the game before it's time and the game hissed for me to put it back. My daughter was franticly telling me to "Put it back mom! Put it back!" To this day I still chuckle about it.
I've always wondered how it would have fared on PS2 given how that was the home of the survival horror golden age.
Plus PS2's install base was over 6x bigger than Gamecube's. It's like how RE4 was released first on Gamecube, but the PS2 version easily outsold it by a lot.
@@fattiger6957 Fun fact: the HD remaster of the "Resident Evil" remake sold more copies than the original 2002 release on Gamecube.
Alas, Nintendo partially made it, so they'd never allow it to be ported to Sony or Microsoft.
The title is a bit exaggerated, but nice video nonetheless.
The sanity system was ahead of it's time and they did a really good job at breaking the fourth wall through gameplay. Makes me wonder if that was partially the reason they were chosen to remake MGS1.
Ultimately, I feel the repetitiveness of the combat brought the game down a bit (though adding magic in a Survival Horror game's combat system was a fresh idea), plus the main protagonist was underdeveloped with so many other characters being in the spotlight pretty often.
Thankfully, the atmosphere was very strong (I recall the mansion's sound design being fantastic, with the whispers and all that) and methodically built, though the start of the video reminded me that this game also had a cool jumpscare (the infamous bathtub scene).
I played it! I loved it, easily one of my favorite GC games. I still own it and my GameCube. I did one playthrough for each of the ancients and several playthroughs after that for all the differences. I loved how this game messed with you when your sanity meter went low. The volume being turned down looked so real back then, you actually thought your TV was turning down and malfunctioning, only to realize that the game was messing with your head. They also made it look like an actual fly was on your screen. Unreal levels of genius in game design.
That was one of the good things about Lovecraft. He not only allowed others to use his work but he encouraged it to expand the mythos. Now we got so many copyright laws it's hard to come up with anything original.
Indeed. like WotC/Hasbro will sue you for writing or drawing anything too similar Illithids, which are very similar (well then how they look and what they do) to Cthulhu.
Yes I’m so glad you decided to review this game! Such a classic, and I can’t think of anybody better to talk about it than you.
You have no idea how long I've waited for this. Thank you.
I played this game with my sister. We got stuck on a boss, and even my older brother couldn't beat it, but we still loved finding all the sanity effects. I love this game even though I never finished it.
The opening to it when you are in the mansion is a really beautiful scene setting and the ominous bass fade
This has always been one off my favorite game of all time! Game cube was also my first own console.
Its so sad when a welll thought, good game is a comercial failure.
The Gamecube was a huge missed opportunity. The marketing was bad, particularly in Europe. Until the Wii, Nintendo had steadily been failing in terms of sales year after year. Part of why the wii sold so much was the marketing.
It's our fault. We've trained the videogame industry specifically, as well as the entertainment industry in general, that we'd rather spend out money the same old same old, safe and boring crap than to buy something risky and exciting. We'd get a lot more failures, for sure, but we'd have a lot more rare gems like this. If we'd quit buying annual releases of the same Madden game with a new coat of paint or yet another microtransaction laden generic war shooter, maybe they'd feel that taking a risk would bring them some cash.
It's especially maddening that the sequel kickstarters failed. It's one of two or three things I've pledged to and fuck if I can't remember the awful feeling as the deadline approached.
I usually prefer never ending games, but this is one of very few games I beat several times. It is still one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had.
Man I don't know how I got here or never seen you before but I'm thrilled. I got this game when I was very young and it terrified me but I loved it so glad to see you covering it
Did not even heard of this game before but it looks amazing. Thank you for the guide on how to actually play it!
My pleasure!
Noticeable improvements in production quality - looking great!
Yup
I never owned this game myself but my friends did and for a whole summer this is what we did. Years later and PARGON PARGON PARGON is still stuck in my brain
Played this when I was 13-14, still think about that first playthrough now at age 32, truly an amazing game
"WHERE IS THE ESSENCE OF MANTOROK? WHERE IS IT!!!!!"
I have been binge-watching your videos ever since I found the Rule of Rose video. I absolutely love your videos, since they give a brief summary and help understand why certain horror elements work and why others don't. It definitely helps someone like me, who's trying to write an effective horror game that doesn't feel every generic horror game!
You have inspired me to emulate it and finally play this game I've grown up hearing about forever.
Cosmic horror is so hard to pull off, and this game did it beautifully in an interactive medium. ...And without Lovecraft's specific brand of bullshit. (Racism.) It's such a shame that sequels were never made. If this series became a franchise, I feel like it really would have changed the face of horror gaming.
Watching the first part of this video I was expecting the UA-camr STRANGE ÆONS to start talking any second now as part of a collab, only to realize you were actually quoting Lovecraft.
Her doing an LP of Eternal Darkness would be legendary, to say the least.
@@RedSpade37 Would go hard.
One of my all time classics. Loved the sanity mechanic and the many different jumpscares and horror effects.
Especially how all the different characters and their stories got connected like when you fight the knight in the church during the war episode which you played many years ago when trying to warn the king at the time.
That Uzumaki bit when talking about terror is legit
I still have fear of insect crawling into my ear from reading that when I was ten
I still have a fear of insects crawling into my ear from that actually happening to me when I was five.
Aw yeah, I've been waiting for this one. I love this game.
Also, I'm glad you used the red panda footage. Lovecraftian terror pandas.
I played it, beat it and loved it. Eternal Darkness is my most favorite game of all time, since I love Lovecraftian horror, including all movies, books and games around the genre. I prayed for a sequel to Eternal Darkness, and sadly, we never received one. I was hoping that Mantarok became the new villain. There should be a remake and a sequel on the new Xbox Series X, the PS5 and Steam platforms. I am hoping for more Lovecraftian horror movies, books and games in the future. 🤞🏾
Mantarok, the Corpse God, is in direct opposition of the other three and gives you aid throughout the game. Its magic is also the strongest since its effective against all the others by being outside the rock/paper/scissors cycle that the others follow.
I recommend Evil Tonight and Lamentum, they're basically a sprite based Horror games.
I swear man, you are the best UA-cam video essay writer around. The 'fear is fleeting, but darkness is eternal' line gave me goosebumps! Great job as always!
I stumbled across this by way of algorithm, and it was absolutely fantastic. Eternal Darkness was my favorite experience on GameCube, and easily top 10 games of all time. You’re 100% right - there was nothing like this at the time, especially not on Nintendo. What a wonderful nostalgia trip this was, thank you for making this 😁
What a coincidence I was looking for a copy of this game YESTERDAY!
I heard about the sanity system a few years ago, and I am intrigued by it since.
It sucks to hear that Nintendo patented this system and haven't used it after this game.
That honestly annoys me a bit, because it's okay to protect your ideas. But if you do not do anything with it, it feels very counter-productive.
But perhaps we will see anything with this system in the future. All we can do is hope!
I'm looking for a good home for my mint copy, complete with literally everything except Manuel