Author Topic: I think Eternal Darkness sucks (Read 26548 times)

Ian Sane · « **Reply #25 on:** December 08, 2003, 06:37:46 AM »

I find ED to be a very artsy game so I can see why not everyone would like it. The appeal of it was the background design, the insanity effects, and the story. In terms of raw gameplay was pretty much a standard hack 'n' slash. However for those that really see gaming as an art form it was a game that really made you say "WOW" a couple of times. The atmosphere and the immersion is what made it great. It's not something everyone will like but is something everyone should try.

I imagine that in the future, games like ED will be more common and ED for the Gamecube will be one of those games everyone missed the first time around that is sought after by hardcore gamers. It will be like how RPGs for the SNES suddenly became a big deal after FFVII because everyone now liked RPGs and wanted to play some of the great ones they missed.

jaz013 · « **Reply #26 on:** December 08, 2003, 07:41:01 AM »

I just found the game totally inmensive. I think the gameplay it's ok, after all, is a Survival Horror game. The insanity effects where a really good idea, it's a shame nobody else tried. The game can be expanded further, if you know or look for some information about some of the events the game mentions, like Carlomagne or the Battle of the Some. Then the game becomes even more creepy!!!

Ps. If you look for "Cathedar Oublier" in google , you can visit the place where the fight vs. the guardian was held, I mean, the real Cathedral.

ThePerm · « **Reply #27 on:** December 08, 2003, 08:17:04 AM »

eternal darkness was indeed dark and moody, but i never allowed it to be so dark that i couldnt walk around....someone has a bad tv....

The Omen · « **Reply #28 on:** December 08, 2003, 10:55:41 AM »

The brightness settings in both MP and ED do the trick. I can't imagine your TVs being that friggin dark. I was playing MP last night and had to turn the brightness up, and it worked like a charm.

the_zombie_luke · « **Reply #29 on:** December 08, 2003, 11:11:32 AM »

I just have about two minor issues with ED, and it isn't a problem, but I wanted outdoor levels. They would have looked excellent. The other is the fire effect didn't look very good. I'm talking about when you light up a zombie or burn the rug in Anthony's level.

BlackGriffen · « **Reply #30 on:** December 08, 2003, 12:33:54 PM »

I really like ED, myself. I thought that there were only two flaws:
One - there was insufficient variation between the story lines. Enemies that were more unique at every level and possible giving each line a level all its own would have helped this a lot.

Two - The difficulty was way too low. The two biggest culprits in this are the replenish as you walk magick meter and the trappers. Essentially, if you have the ability to walk around a bit and completely recover after every room, the difficulty should reflect that, or you should not have that ability. Another possibility is that sanity should have been more difficult to recover. My first choice was the blue path, and I actually had a decent challenge on my hands until I learned that a green recover spell heals sanity easily.

Runner up Flaw - the game was too subtle, cerebral, and slow for a lot of gamers. This, I think, has a lot to do with the financial success, and less to do with the quality of ED as a game.

I actually bought two discounted copies of the game (admittedly, it was because I scratched the first disk trying to clean it).

I very much hope to see a sequel to ED, perhaps on the N5. What I would hope would be added to the sequel:
1 - expand the magick system. The magick system in ED was a simple noun-verb (verb and direct object, subject was always "I") matching system with a single adverb (pargon/power). Given this linguistic basis, there are virtually limitless possibilities for expansion. The addition of 1-shot runes would be nice. An interesting, if difficult to implement, possibility would be to make casting disks that have more ways to arrange the runes than just in a circle.

2 - Keep it deep. It's important to grab new gamers, but it won't be ED without the history and depth.

That's all I've got right now.

BG

S-U-P-E-R · « **Reply #31 on:** December 08, 2003, 02:17:59 PM »

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Two - The difficulty was way too low. The two biggest culprits in this are the replenish as you walk magick meter and the trappers. Essentially, if you have the ability to walk around a bit and completely recover after every room, the difficulty should reflect that, or you should not have that ability. Another possibility is that sanity should have been more difficult to recover. My first choice was the blue path, and I actually had a decent challenge on my hands until I learned that a green recover spell heals sanity easily.

Yeah, seriously, by having like, shield, recover health, recover sanity, enchant item and damage field on quick spell, the player instantly becomes an undefeatable terror and the game a trifling bug to be crushed beneath their feet. What we needed, seriously, was a super hard difficulty, or no regain-sanity spells or getting rid of magic that recovers at light speed or something like that. Plus, having a challenging game makes it MUCH more scarier.

It would be cool if there was a version with an expert quest (like Zelda) released as a bonus disc, maybe when Too Human comes out in 2009.

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #32 on:** December 08, 2003, 02:25:04 PM »

Or you could just NOT USE THE HEALING SPELL! SHOCK!

S-U-P-E-R · « **Reply #33 on:** December 08, 2003, 02:39:27 PM »

I am a firm believer in that deliberately limiting yourself in a game is wholly retarded; it doesn't really make you better than using everything you CAN to improve your gameplay techniques.

Seriously though, there's a problem when I cruise through the game all three routes without dying on my first attempt.

Luciferschild · « **Reply #34 on:** December 08, 2003, 02:46:30 PM »

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I can't see why everyone thinks this game is so good. I tried playing it but all it did was give me a headache, i didn't find it fun at all. It was slow, uninteresting and unexciting. I tried sticking with it for a bit but i just got annoyed. Could someone please tell me what makes this game so good and whether or not it gets better. This is the first game i've heard good things about then not liked myself. Please tell me what you think and don't be afraid to criticise

I pretty much felt the same thing you did. I found this game to be terrible to point of being annoying. I thought RE was a lot better than this game and I don't care much for RE. In conclusion, NO not everyone thinks this game is good.

S-U-P-E-R · « **Reply #35 on:** December 08, 2003, 02:55:38 PM »

Did you finish it?

Er anyway, I'm hoping that everybody in this thread can accept that ED has both really fun featurs and legitimate problems both. :S

GaimeGuy · « **Reply #36 on:** December 08, 2003, 03:07:19 PM »

Yay intelligent discussion!

mouse_clicker · « **Reply #37 on:** December 08, 2003, 03:15:21 PM »

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Eternal Darkness is a very intellectual game

I thought it was the easiest game ever and nothing near that pretentious. I tore through all three paths in a weekend (also it was just a loaner at the time) - I thought it was okay, but the lack of difficulty really really hurt it.

I'm surprised no one has pointed this out yet, but Eternal Darkness's level of difficulty has nothing do with it's intellectuality. The only reason it was easy was because you could shield yourself from any harm, and refill health and sanity when necessary- without those two spells, I think you would all be playing a very different fiddle. In any case, I think Ninja was referring more to the story and puzzles when he called it intellectual, in which case it is easily the most intellectual game I've ever played, or ever will play.

S-U-P-E-R · « **Reply #38 on:** December 08, 2003, 03:32:55 PM »

I can see where you're coming from, but I still beg to differ. Puzzles like this have been in every game ever made, many times, and you can just get the story from a Lovecraft book. I think a real intellectual game like, you know, a game where you employ strategy and tactics of sorts.

mouse_clicker · « **Reply #39 on:** December 08, 2003, 03:37:21 PM »

Strategy is just one form of intellectuality- there are many others. And while Eternal Darkness's storyline had a very Lovecraftian feel to it, any Lovecraft fan could tell you Silicon Knights definitely took the story in a very different direction. It was not "ripped" out of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, as so many have implied, but rather took creative inspiration from it. Eternal Darkness is an homage to the late H. P. Lovecraft's work, not a blatant copying thereof.

Grey Ninja · « **Reply #40 on:** December 08, 2003, 04:53:59 PM »

mouse_clicker has it right. I was referring to the rather deep literary references and epic backgrounds that joe-blow-works-at-gas-station would not normally understand. I didn't bother fighting with you SUPER, because frankly, I think you are one of the people I was referring to.

the_zombie_luke · « **Reply #41 on:** December 08, 2003, 05:45:20 PM »

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Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R
I can see where you're coming from, but I still beg to differ. Puzzles like this have been in every game ever made, many times, and you can just get the story from a Lovecraft book. I think a real intellectual game like, you know, a game where you employ strategy and tactics of sorts.

What are you talking about? There are many ways you can play ED. Sometimes I like to send zombies to fight, set up a damage field, send a horror, use a trapper, enchant guns, and cut off zombies' arms so they can't hurt me. You can use strategy in ED, or just use normal weapons.

savanna03 · « **Reply #42 on:** December 08, 2003, 06:22:21 PM »

ETERNAL DARKNESS didn't suck but it wasn't BRILLIANT that everyone claims... i hated the fact that there were too many characters and none of them i really care about other than KARIM. (imagine if they made a game based on KARIM, it would really make the dude from PRINCE OF PERSIA cry... KARIM was a badass.)

also, i didn't like the fact the levels were reused and it wasn't inspiring... they made the sword base weapon too powerful compared to the guns... i swear, the guns where useless in that game, i didn't actually used the guns other than killing those stupid trappers... ahhhh but the plot was just unbelievable though, that the strength of the game... i dont know about the sanity's effect, but it feels it was just a gimmick... (i have interesting ideas for the sanity's effect but who cares, developers doesn't listen to fans about game ideas anyways.)

but i still think SILICON KNIGHT are talented bunch... us CANADIANS got to stick together u know... and DENIS DYACK, ur still my favourite and i cant wait for METAL GEAR SOLID.

yellowfellow · « **Reply #43 on:** December 08, 2003, 06:29:33 PM »

funny, i heard so much about the sanity effects and the overall theme as so much more than a gimmick, however, when i played it i found the whispers and noise in the background (among other things) quite annoying... that is until i got a sweet 5.1 set-up... wow... real difference. its amazing how your perception changes when you understand the original intention of the creators. this doesn't add much to the conversation but alas... here it is.

Bloodworth · « **Reply #44 on:** December 08, 2003, 07:49:18 PM »

The strength of ED is certainly in the storyline. It's one of my favorites, but once you've gone through all three paths, there's not much reason to play it again unless you're showing it to a friend. Ty's complaints about the difficulty are because he's an uber-super-killer player, I take little heed of them because I did find it reasonably difficult. Anyhow, I'm going to edit the title of this thread to keep it on the intelligent debate that's surprisingly taken place.

S-U-P-E-R · « **Reply #45 on:** December 08, 2003, 08:12:58 PM »

Yeah, I really like this thread.

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What are you talking about? There are many ways you can play ED. Sometimes I like to send zombies to fight, set up a damage field, send a horror, use a trapper, enchant guns, and cut off zombies' arms so they can't hurt me. You can use strategy in ED, or just use normal weapons.

Yeah, that might be fun if the enemies put up any real fight. Every enemy can be killed at light speed with a sword at arm arm head or just head, depending on the critter. I mean, I dunno, the enemies just feel so absurdly weak in this game, you needn't employ anything further than a certain optimal pattern for destroying them as fast as possible.

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mouse_clicker has it right. I was referring to the rather deep literary references and epic backgrounds that joe-blow-works-at-gas-station would not normally understand. I didn't bother fighting with you SUPER, because frankly, I think you are one of the people I was referring to.

I'm hurt that you might accuse me of being uncultured. Our bizarre love-hate relationship continues

What I'm getting at is that it's not a good thing when the story of a game overshadows the gameplay itself.

the_zombie_luke · « **Reply #46 on:** December 08, 2003, 09:24:49 PM »

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Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R
Yeah, I really like this thread.

Yeah, that might be fun if the enemies put up any real fight. Every enemy can be killed at light speed with a sword at arm arm head or just head, depending on the critter. I mean, I dunno, the enemies just feel so absurdly weak in this game, you needn't employ anything further than a certain optimal pattern for destroying them as fast as possible.

While that's true for some of the enemies, you can't kill the guardians at light speed. I wasn't trying to imply that the enemies were tough, I was just saying you could choose how to kill them. I think the player being stronger and faster than the monsters makes for a fun experience. In Resident Evil, the player is weak and moves like a tank. That takes away from the game. Much of the horror in RE comes from the control issues, knowing that you cannot easily and naturally get away from enemies.

S-U-P-E-R · « **Reply #47 on:** December 08, 2003, 09:39:08 PM »

Yeah, but the Guardians can be beaten with an easy and 100% faultless pattern.
As for RE, well, sure the controls are a little unintuitive, but I don't think the difficulty comes from that. Honestly, it's not hard to 'master' the RE controls after an hour or two at most (and we've had like six RE games out). Even if it controlled exactly like ED, it'd still be pretty challenging. Monsters are tough, the player is weak, and items are scarce. That makes the game challenging to the point where you actually have to use your head, and I that's where I get my RDA of fun from a game.

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I think the player being stronger and faster than the monsters makes for a fun experience.

Okay, I can see where you're coming from, except from this statement. I think a game implies some sort of challenge and not just rolling over every critter like it was nothing. Unless we're talking about taking some sort of sadistic pleasure here, and I'm all for that.

the_zombie_luke · « **Reply #48 on:** December 08, 2003, 10:14:13 PM »

Okay, I didn't mean every monster. Just the lower zombies. I disagree about Resident Evil. The controls do become manageable, though even then they still make the game harder. RE doesn't require as much thinking as you seem to imply. You only have to decide when to run by zombies, and hope they don't catch you running by in the process.(The 180 spin they do is pretty awesome.

) Also, you have to admit, in RE having the defense items is easier than having to shake off bone thieves by yourself in ED. That is a challenge in ED, and if you fail, you're dead. Not even Tyrant in RE has an instant kill like the bone thieves. In the end though, RE is like a video game equivalent of Night of the Living Dead, and Eternal Darkness in some ways is like a few of HP LoveCraft's stories bound together, and I like both of them.

Glenn2K4 · « **Reply #49 on:** December 09, 2003, 02:01:48 AM »

great game

only flaw: the plot was too weird! i liked the historial accuracy thing but the enemies and bosses were just too weird for me....kinda tookaway from things/

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Author Topic: I think Eternal Darkness sucks (Read 26548 times)