dwarf Posted July 16, 2012 Posted July 16, 2012 There exists no thread dedicated to the general discussion of the game, and I didn't want to bump anyway, hence this. I'm borrowing it from a friend having recently hauled my GC from the loft. I've played for little under an hour, stopping shortly after the first Roman's (?) romp - collecting cubes, killing hordes of zombies and such. I was initially impressed by the seemingly accomplished writing in the game before considering the possibility that it was just eccentric verbiage garnished with cliche. One of the examinable items featured the description 'eclectic junk' (or something to that effect), a remark that could've been targeted at the script and its inspiration. These are early impressions though, so I ask you guys: is the story exciting? Also, the combat and movement is some of the clunkiest I've seen, and I'm not convinced I can put up with it. Is there any real depth to it? There are controls relating to reloading and spell casting but I haven't taken possession of any guns or wands or anything of that nature yet, so currently I've been getting by with the most ridiculous tactic, which goes something like this: run away from zombies to gain distance, turn around, remove head of nearest zombie, run away again and repeat until room is full with invalid zombies. I want to be impressed, I do. I like the environments, the atmosphere, and the attention to detail, but I'm not sold by the gameplay. If the combat and puzzles improve, hoorah!
Tales Posted July 16, 2012 Posted July 16, 2012 It's been a long time since I played it but I know I played through it three times so it must have been pretty good! Hopefully others can tell you more.
pratty Posted July 17, 2012 Posted July 17, 2012 I don't remember having many problems with the combat. I thought it was pretty cool that you could target specific limbs rather than hacking randomly. That said, it's probably fair to say the combat isn't a highlight of the game, but I don't think it's really meant to be. It's not a lot different to the old Resident Evil games, which also involved backing up and turning round to face the enimies from a safer distance. As you allude to, the main elements of the game are the atmosphere and story, rather than the combat. Off memory, the combat doesn't get much deeper, though you do use a variety of slightly different weapons from level to level. The magic does get quite deep though as you create and combine more powerful spells as the game progresses. The story is good, but I wouldn't say it was "exciting" in the sense that I don't remember there being any dramatic twists or anything like that.
Murr Posted July 17, 2012 Posted July 17, 2012 Eternal Darkness was one of my favourite Gamecube games. Agreed the combat wasn't a highlight, it was the sanity effects that kept me hooked. I loved when I'd press start to save my game, a message would come up saying 'Deleting Game', I'd love that the volume turned itself down, then I'd question as to whether i've sat or my cat had sat on the tv remote. Also had one of my most memorable scenes in gaming -
Hero-of-Time Posted July 17, 2012 Posted July 17, 2012 I loved how this game messed with your head. I will always remember the part when... the screen went black as if my cable had come out of the TV. I went and had a look at the back and all the connections were fine. I was puzzled until the game came back on and I just smiled and carried on playing. Genius.
EEVILMURRAY Posted July 17, 2012 Posted July 17, 2012 The bit that really got me... They said it was the end of the game and the story continued in the sequel. I was fuming. Really is a great game. Making yourself invisible and hacking off undead heads was very satisfying.
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 6, 2012 Posted August 6, 2012 Can't believe I've only just seen this thread right now. This is one of my favourite all-time games, so much so that I played it through about 5 times. Loved it. Yes, the combat isn't as "smooth" as the likes of Resident Evil 4, but the emphasis isn't really on that. In fact, it's not very combat heavy at all. The storyline/script-writing is the highlight of the game for me, as well as the psychological horror aspect. If you stick with it, you should find it really rewarding, but I can see how you might have missed the boat with this one. It really was incredible when released.
Dog-amoto Posted August 6, 2012 Posted August 6, 2012 Sanity effects ruined by This...can't...be...happening! Every fucking time
jayseven Posted August 6, 2012 Posted August 6, 2012 Deep, into the darkness peering. Long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting... May the rats eat yer eyes!!" Man. I remember the original trailer, with the flies and the skull. Loved this game. Played it like 7 times, and the last few I was so badass I didn't care to ever reduce teh insanity meter! @dwarf gourami still playing it? Controls may be clunky but you ought to develop strategems to deal with that. It's kinda like picking up metal gear solid after playing FPS for ages, the controls are all wonky!
dwarf Posted August 6, 2012 Author Posted August 6, 2012 I confess I've played little more since making the thread. Got to some candle-lighting section with doors that lower slightly but not fully, couldn't find a quick solution and turned off the Cube. I'll give it another go, just for you Jay.
EEVILMURRAY Posted August 7, 2012 Posted August 7, 2012 Did/does anyone else turn themselves invisible with the Mantarok Rune?
Ville Posted August 7, 2012 Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) This game was so good on all levels. Original plot and concept, a lot of variety in locations and weapons, spot-on on graphical presentation, fun gameplay, flexible magic system, creepy atmosphere, 3 different routes and so on. Played through it on all difficulties, got all the runes etc. Sure, the 100% completion prize could've been a bit better, but still, overall very good. We need more games like this : ( Edited August 7, 2012 by Ville
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 7, 2012 Posted August 7, 2012 Did/does anyone else turn themselves invisible with the Mantarok Rune? Yup. Quite a nice little hidden extra, because I don't believe I found the run until my third playthrough, I think. This game was so good on all levels. Original plot and concept, a lot of variety in locations and weapons, spot-on on graphical presentation, fun gameplay, flexible magic system, creepy atmosphere, 3 different routes and so on. Played through it on all difficulties, got all the runes etc. Sure, the 100% completion prize could've been a bit better, but still, overall very good. We need more games like this : ( When you say completion, do you mean: The Cut-scene at the end about Mantarok "waiting"? If so, I quite enjoyed it. I miss games like this, where you'll play them multiple times just because the game offers something different each time. Not like today, with the whole "Do this for this achievement."
Ville Posted August 7, 2012 Posted August 7, 2012 Yep. It's nice that there was a prize in the first place, not a guarantee in today's games, but I just felt they could've added a little extra something there, like a new boss fight etc. Also, if we're nitpicking, the 3 different difficulty levels could've been even more different from each other than they were. However, it worked surprisingly well as it is, basically the same level structure etc but just littered with different enemies and evil entity...
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 7, 2012 Posted August 7, 2012 Yep. It's nice that there was a prize in the first place, not a guarantee in today's games, but I just felt they could've added a little extra something there, like a new boss fight etc. Also, if we're nitpicking, the 3 different difficulty levels could've been even more different from each other than they were. However, it worked surprisingly well as it is, basically the same level structure etc but just littered with different enemies and evil entity... Hmm, a new boss fight would have been great, but it probably would feel "tacked-on." The game seemed very complete as it was. You don't really have to go through it three times, the "prize" is just there for those who do manage to do it. Also, it's worth playing it through 3 times anyway to see the different Ancients. It has a wow factor to it, particularly in the cut-scenes, especially those very late on in the game.
Fused King Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) So I just finished this and what an awesome experience it has been! Really awesome idea of spanning a story over multiple millenia with a handful of interesting characters who get sucked into something they didn't anticipate. It's fun to play a game like this from back in the day and seeing how they tried to convey emotion and the like with limited technology. Zooming in on the face, but not much is really going on there with the polygons Still got the general idea though. The voice acting was pretty good as well and I liked the main character Alexander Roivas I got stuck on a few occasions, even having to go as far as to look it up on the internet Really goes to show how quick I gave up at times, because the answer would've just taken a little bit more paying attention Took me a few minutes to adjust to a fixed camera, and that combined with the combat sometimes made for some awkward and needlessly difficult sections. Narrow hallways in which you couldn't really use your weapon correctly to slay some monsters because you kept hitting the wall... I really, REALLY hope NINTENDO has taken note of the spiritual successor and has somehow ended up reeling these guys back in in order to work on a true sequel, because this franchise has HUUUUGEEE potential. And I have to say, that insanity effect is crazy awesome. Even halfway into the game I still was fooled by it at times. Walking into a different room and suddenly seeing lots of ammo, I though I had triggered something so I picked it all up, only to be thrown back into the room before it with a screaming Alex Roivas: 'This ISN'T REALLY HAPPENING!!' Really creepy, and the variety of the insanity was incredible as well. The first time it happened I truly thought my GameCube had crashed I also liked the fact that when your sanity meter was low they actually used crying and screaming babies and people to make you feel uncomfortable. That's the most literal way of using sound to make you feel uneasy and scared, because I once heard that sound in horror movies (or sound to built tension) sometimes tries to mimic a babies cry which is supposed to trigger uneasiness of some sort. Overall I must say that this has been an interesting journey through time and it's definitely worth playing for the story alone, because the gameplay isn't really anything to write home about yet still satisfying in its own right. Edited January 3, 2014 by Fused King
EEVILMURRAY Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 I've been inspired to remix the colour scheme to Super Dungeon Explore with Eteernal Darkness summoning colours, as the original colours were getting a lil boring. Doing the red wasn't as good looking: Gave this bad boy the Horror summoning runes on it. The next Rex will have the Ulyaoth blue on it.
Sméagol Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 This is off-topic, and I don´t know how far you will go for customisation (I don´t know where tohsoe figures are from by the way), but it would probably look nicer if you replace those "crystals" with pieces of coloured transparent plastic of some sorts.
EEVILMURRAY Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 I get what you're saying, but the plastic that these models are made of is so soft it would be a ballache to manipulate. Plus I dunno where to get such Crystals from :P
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