Video není dostupné.
Omlouváme se.
Gamecube's Unique Horror Experience | Eternal Darkness
Vložit
- čas přidán 12. 08. 2024
- Eternal Darkness - Twenty years later, there's still nothing quite like it.
Released in 2002 on the Gamecube, there have been few titles that play like Eternal Darkness - both in the horror realm and games in general.
From its narrative structure, to combat, to its magic system, and of course, its patented sanity system, Eternal Darkness does things differently, yet comes together into a cohesive title.
• Support the channel on Patreon: / boulderpunch
• Or Become a CZcams Member: / @boulderpunch
Get access to videos early, receive a weekly update, and be featured in the credits.
Eternal Darkness was made out of a partnership with a rising western studio, Silicon Knights full of promise, under the guidance of some of Nintendo's most notable staff.
Which makes revisiting Eternal Darkness such a joy and also a bummer. There was so much more this series and studio had to offer. However, this was not to be as the studio had a downfall in which they shot themselves in the foot instead of external meddling, something that's oh so common in the industry.
Let's take a look at what made Eternal Darkness a one-of-a-kind horror experience.
00:00 - Prelude
01:11 - Availability of Eternal Darkness
01:46 - Making of Eternal Darkness
02:58 - Gameplay of Eternal Darkness
06:23 - The Sanity System
10:34 - Highlights of Eternal Darkness (Spoilers)
21:21 - The Tragedy of Silicon Knights
25:23 - Conclusion
Additional Footage::
• Amenisa: The Dark Descent - • Amnesia: The Dark Desc...
• Arx Fatalis
• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
• Eternal Darkness N64: • Eternal Darkness N64 B...
• Giant Bomb: • Video Thing: 2Human
• IGN Denis Dyack Interview: • Remembering Eternal Da...
• Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War
• Shadow of the Eternals: • Shadow of the Eternals...
Too Human:
• PS1 Footage: • Too Human PlayStation ...
• Release Footage: • Too Human - Xbox One X...
• X-Men: Destiny: • X-Men: Destiny - Wii G...
• A post-mortem of Silicon Knights www.neogaf.com/threads/a-post...
• Kotaku: What Went Wrong With Silicon Knights' X-Men: Destiny? kotaku.com/what-went-wrong-wi...
• Eternal Darkness Sanity Patent: patents.google.com/patent/US6...
#eternaldarkness #boulderpunch #survivalhorror
• Support the channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/boulderpunch
• Or Become a CZcams Member: czcams.com/channels/Ue2AK0iirPfXcDkYu5dWow.htmljoin
Get access to videos early, receive a weekly update, and be featured in the credits.
I remember playing this during a big thunderstorm, and then I got a sanity effect which fully simulated a system crash, reboot, going through the menus, only to discover your savegames are gone!!!! (*cue screaming*) And it totally got me. With the storm going on, I really thought I'd fried my save card.
Pwned!
That fake deleting saved data effect almost gave me a heart attack, good times
@@jimhuffman9434 you wouldn't get that experience on an emulator again sadly.
@@morkgin2459 True, but the "blue screen of death" would make more sense on a computer
@@jimhuffman9434 I'm talking about emulation but not PC. Because quickload it and you will understand it's the game's trick.
The only problem it really had was the requirement to complete 3 near identical play throughs in order to 100% the game
Actually not that identical, yes they followed the same path, but dialogues, cutscenes and even gameplay would change each playthrough because of the alignment choice, the game drastically changes with the alignment you choose, how is that (I mean perfect example of replay value and variety which most games lack even nowadays) again how is that a problem???
Eternal Darkness wasn't the first or last game that had to be played more than once for it's true ending. Getting the true ending is not required to enjoy the game.
@@carlospandette8001 little carly stfu it's a problem and all 3 playthroughs are the same, period point blank boykid. You're acting like the playthroughs are different cause there's a different cutscene here and there. There are hardly any actually. Definitely not drastically different. Now scram 😼y. The 3 playthroughs are the same, there's no debate on this one betaboy. Plus, you dont own the rights to the game, nor did you help develop it,. So why are you mad down there in your mothers basement?
My favorite sanity effect was the one where the game made it look like a cockroach was crawling around inside your TV. Which could happen with a CRT TV.
I am just playing this game and I saw rats but I am playing on SD. This game deserved to be played on original hardware. Hopefully Nintendo can do a sequel at least in the same format of story telling at least.
@@nayyarrashid4661 Nintendo has nothing to do with it. It was Silicon Knights, which went bust.
They tried to do a kickstarter for a sequel, but they didn't get enough
@@acrab6527 Nintendo owns the ip. That guy who got caught in the controversy not only ruined his career but also made sure Nintendo probably won't be doing anything with it in the near future.
@@nayyarrashid4661 I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
@@acrab6527Nintendo owns the ip 😂😂 and patented the sanity effects
This game was SO good. Each character had an individual story that led to the main goal.
Except for Anthony and Paul, who just kinda died for no reason.
Oooo, wasn't expecting you to cover this one! Aside from Silent Hill and Nocturne this is probably my personal favorite horror game.
Great video as always.
One of my coolest memories with this game was when one of the TV sanity effects happened. I know they're just random tricks, but I was playing it on a Sony Trinitron CRT, and I remember the TV actually turned off during the effect that turns the TV off. I heard the static sounds (You know, when CRTs get turned off), which actually gave me some chills wondering how the hell that happened. Power was on in my house, nothing went out, it was just the TV that turned off during the exact moment the sanity effect happened. Super strange.
The tale of Silicon Knights is truly a cautionary tale and a tragedy. They made two of my favorite games of all time, but it was their shifty practices and attitude that ended up crippling them in the end. A sequel to Eternal Darkness would have been great under the right circumstances, but I feel like the creators have tainted themselves in a toxic aura that makes it hard to trust them again.
Jesus loves you
Well said Juste.
I remember playing this and it was so ahead of it's time. It got me to think my system crashed and I restarted it. I do hope that devs do take advantage of that patent expiration.
I still have this game on the GC and my old GC still works. Such a great game, I still like to play it through now and again.
Yes, same here.
@@Den.Vos.Reynaerde,
The sad thing is that the Game Cube, that I bought used at the end of that hardware generation still works fine; But the XBox 360 that I bought new in 2004 I think, no longer reads any disks.
So I guess it's true when they say; They just don't make 'em like they used to.
@@buckrodgers1162 I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
@@buckrodgers1162
Yeah I guess every 360 is like that then. Not like it could be just your specific case
@@steelbear2063,
I never said it happened to every 360, just mine. So what does that have to do with anything? Because my 360 broke down in a weird way, while my older game cube still runs just fine; Somehow doesn't mean that 'they don't make 'em like they used to'?
This singularity of a game, no matter how many times people document its tragedy, I keep revisiting it. Thanks for punching this boulder 👍🏼
Speaking of good voice actors pious augusteus is voiced by Richard Doyle who voiced moebius in the legacy of kain games and big boss at the end of metal gear solid 4!
It should be illegal to patent gameplay innovations it basically stagnates innovation and alot of the time publishers just sit on the patent and do nothing with it.
Honestly cannot believe this channel doesn't have more subscribers it's such well made and deeply interested content that I now need to binge and will probably rewatch many more times!
I got this game when it came out and I got to say it's one of my favorite horror games.
You can't have a series with just one game...
@@wareforcoin5780 apparently there are lot more horror games out there.
It saddens me to know that video game creators can't make art like this anymore even though our systems are logarithmically more advanced than the Game Cube
Like the cute Ghost Stories dub once said " Originality is dead" or rather l would say, replaced by the desire of acquiring money and making products, not games.
That's true, unfortunately.
The indie devs have taken the art mantle. It is sad that you won't see triple A games this creative anymore.
The closest thing I can remember a dev doing something like this is Dokidoki literature club. Maybe undertale? It's rare, but it's not like games have all turned into cinematic showcases
@@Bradofosho
Artsy fartsy doesn't pay the bills
The voice acting for Alex Roivas is absolutely delightful
Jenifer Hale, who also played FemShep in the Mass Effect series. She has always been a great voice actor.
@@buckrodgers1162 she's seriously talented, wish i had the time to do a femshep playthrough because i know that people herald her performance
@@shredjward,
Yeah, when the games first came out I could only play FemShep. Mark 'Norman Neutral' Meer (voice of BroShep), I just couldn't stand because every line sounded exactly the same.
The voice acting for Eternal Darkness in general was ahead of its time.
Jennifer Hale. She also voices Xel'letoth which is doubly funny when you know that.
Having played all the way through Too Human, there was nothing in that game that had the kind of potential or ideas that was worth risking Silicon Knights over
They had been planning on making it since before Blood Omen was made. It was something they wanted to make for a long time, so they gambled everything on it.
So basically they risked their neck just to release the game they wanted
That's a nice way to go out
I got lucky and snagged a copy of this for $13 a week before GameStop stopped selling GameCube games. Top three for the system!
I am usually a wuss when it comes to horror, but in video games it tends to be enjoyable and digestible. Eternal Darkness came out when I was in high school and it was an absolute riot. I still have my copy, and even a gamecube, but it's such a pain to get it running on a modern setup and looking good. I'd give anything for a rerelease/remaster. The audio in this game in particular knew how to get under my skin, and the various scenarios and time periods they were able to get into were really cool. I'd love to see a proper follow at the very least.
I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
Eternal darkness was the second game I played on GameCube back in the day. I don't know who owns the IP but I will personally blow them to completion if they will let someone make a sequel and remaster.
I love, love, love this game. It's totally one of a kind. I actually worked with some old employees of SK, they have some great stories. 😁
Absolutely digging these retrospectives. Fantastic work. ❤️
A couple of years ago I got lucky and found a copy of Eternal Darkness for just $45 on Amazon. Case and disc looked great amd it even still had the manual! :D
Lucky bastard. I loaned the copy I bought back in June of ‘02 to a friend on long term loan a few years ago. When I finally got it back, it had disc rot from their careless handling practices. It’s a hefty price to pay for being charitable.
I always felt like Eternal Darkness is the Neverending Story if written by Lovecraft.
- Inquisitive young individual discovers mysterious book [X]
- Book chronicles attempts by other individuals to combat a looming, implacable cosmic evil [X]
- Individual realizes towards the end that they’ll have to play the decisive role in vanquishing this inimical force [X]
Yeah, checks out. Big fan of both titles, so I don’t know why I never made that connection myself.
This game was awesome. Definitely a gem of the gamecube.
This channel deserves many hundreds of thousands more subscribers. Hope the algorithm picks up your videos soon!
Really wish Silicon Knights stayed with Nintendo considering that partnership was the only time SK was not hellbent on destroying itself. Plus the Wii could not run Unreal 3 so the shitshow between them and Epic games could never happen.
One of my old favorites - I lost count of how many times I played Eternal Darkness. Back when I had a Gamecube...damn, I'm o.l.d.
If this was a GameCube launch game I have no doubt it would have approached close to a million units sold. The GameCube launch was lacking, this would have no doubt filled the adventure void. Rogue Leader, Monkey Ball and Luigi’s Mansion were all great but they were very short games.
Just had to say that you make real quality content sir..super interesting and well published..you can see the hard work you put into your videos..so yeah major credit to you..
Just finished Eternal Darkness recently for the first time and whilst I really enjoyed the game at the start, including the between chapter exploration, unlocking parts of the mansion as Alex, pretty soon boredom set in, due to repetitive enemies and locations. The same thing could be arguably said regarding early resi evil games, however I never did feel enemies overstayed their welcome and served more as garnishing on the interesting locales. The three (or so?) main areas explored in the chapters grew stale by the end and the sections relating to the 9 towers just didn't feel rewarding.
Some sanity effects still got me good, such as the fake controller disconnect, so that feature was good, but I often just encountered the same effects, so never really felt it the sanity effects were fully utilised, especially when it became so easy to just cast spells and recover sanity, so you'd never encounter this.
This game felt less like survival horror and more like an adventure game at the end. I guess you could self impose limits to increase the challenge, but I have to say this game (in my opinion) didn't live up to its potential and with a few minor tweaks (greater enemy variety, limited magic, more locations) could have really been great.
Of course, this is subjective and everyone will have a different opinion :)
Easily becoming one of my favourite channels. Boulder, would you do a video on Murder House or Harvester or I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream?
Patenting game mechanics is a huge level down. Could you imagine if FromSoftware patented the stamina bar somehow. A whole genre would be out the window.
It's a real shame nintendo doesn't do anything with this. Don't own a PC and have wanted to play this for years and years
While I get it, it's kind of insane how many studios copy what Nintendo innovates. I've grown to understand why they do what they do with parents despite not liking it
@bbbbbbb51 everyone is copying eachother, and sometimes people come to the same conclusion but come from a different place. Good ideas arent meant to be hoarded.
Everyone who played this game has an vivid memory of encountering the sanity system. It truly is an unforgettable game
I'll never NOT be amused the main girl character looks exactly like Buffy.
Silicon Knights was probably trying to capitalize on the pop culture zeitgeist of Buffy by modeling Alex around Sarah Michelle Gellars likeness.
I was actually watching Buffy around the time Eternal Darkness debuted, so I picked up on the similarities between the two protagonists immediately. Gave me a good chuckle at the time when it dawned on me.
my favorite game to this day, two easy fixs, make the weapons break and do not let the icon forever adding more cost, also improvement by having effects depending on the ancient for example, if you are green you should be having a lot of issues with sanity no matter your sanity bar, on red you can become a zombie like with Anthony having effects such as accuracy lost, slow, animalistic behavior, lost of control over your character for example extending attacks, and finally on blue you will have magic effects such as no ability to use magic, receiving more damage, being attacked by magical energies or enemies etc.
Also, take for example Maximilian he is weak against green as he falls into madness and he seems to be blessed by red as he is very physical, so other characters like Paul for example are blessed by green and is weak to blue so humans can break the idea of the system which allows ancients to use them in war against each other, and see how every ancient claims victory by taking those avatars down and making them succeed as well, as the pawns they are.
Another take is obviously different missions and paths depending on the artifact so it will be different to fight against every single one of them as they would have different paths.
Finally the idea of summons making them more important and enhancing the effects on every enemy type, so fighting the blue you will deal with a magic based experience that makes you fight and defend with and against magic, red one in weapons and fights including health, and green based on sanity and puzzles, maybe you can even trick enemies into illusions for a stealth approach.
Mantoroke therefore would be or hard mode or easy mode depending on the design making you or use all of your tools or giving you the opportunity of facing the enemies and levels on your own terms.
That universe and lore is supreme, it is a shame Silicon Knights split.
That game is sooo underrated. No other horror game made such an impression on me except Amnesia The Dark Descent.
Thanks a lot for making this video!!
I absolutely love this game, completed it many many times. 9:36 was a personal favourite of the sanity effects and it really got me when it happened the first time. Another was when you play as Alex again, and my sanity was low and I ran upstairs thinking I was fine since there's never enemies, and there was fucking zombies in the corridor! It was a sanity effect and it's the only time a horror games has made me properly scream!
I really hope this gets remastered some day, or at least ported to switch store
Only game to really do Lovecraftian Horror right in my opinion. Love this game.
I remember this game and playing it late at night. This game really messed with my head and got me thinking my gamecube was crashing 😂, i always wanted a sequel as this game was so good. I gave to my friends to play and never spoiled anything, then that friend gave it to the next, while we all did not spoiled anything to the next. We all loved it and it was something that we never experienced before in a video game.
Magick - the k means it's Serious :P - a rock-paper-scissors system with a Sliiiight all-encompassing twist. (Ancient 4 has entered the game!)
Also yes agree on the voices - they made the Magick system extremely memorable.
For some reason you're like the 3rd channel I'm subbed to post an Eternal Darkness review this month. Did you guys all make a meeting about it together?
Comfy weekend starts now
huh??
What an amazing game! This was so lovingly made, I remember playing this when it came out. Bought on release date, and I still regularly boot up my gc to do 100% run again.
Devotion and detention by red candles games deserve a review. They are masterpieces of horror
They are on the list to look at some point down the road.
One of my all-time favorite games. No mention of the hidden purple rune though? (not a euphemism)
I only had 3 games for my Gamecube back then. This, Super Mario Sunshine and Resident Evil 4. Eternal Darkness was definately my favorite and I completed it over and over. A remake would be absolutely amazing.
That was a very good line up. Very repayable too. Well you can replay any game, but you know what I mean
I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
Jennifer Hale used an accent in the original MGS that she abandoned in future iterations who knows why.
You can still play it on the original Wii. Sorry if I'm late to the party, but if you have an RVL-001 model Wii you can absolutely still play ED-SR provided you gave a Gamecube controller and memory card. It's a bit of a pain in the ass but it CAN be done.
Why on earth does no one buy the rights to the game? This would kill as a re release! Between this and the Twin Snakes, anyone without a GameCube needs to emulate it. They are both great games very few people got to play.
Nintendo owns the rights to tne game
this game needs a remake so badly , the sound design in this is TOP stuff
I really hope they make a switch port for this game. I never had a gamecube and I never even bothered to check this game out during its time.
To me, Jennifer Hale's most notable voice work was as Prier, the main character of La Pucelle Tactics!💖 Definitely a PS2 forgotten gem!
I played this on a phone emulator while traveling in Guatemala last year. Was a pretty solid experience overall and a horror game on the gamecube? Yes please. Would recommend to anyone with a recent phone and a Kishi/gamepad apparatus if you're on the go or you wanna game from your bed.
I’m shocked they still haven’t remastered this game !
I legit just tune into E3 and the Game Awards in the hope that this game gets a good spirtual successor
8:17 I've never played the game before. Does this sanity effect display PC commands and language even on the original GameCube hardware?
Any plans to cover The Unholy War or Wrath Unleashed? They're both unique turn based strategy games where two "pieces" meeting would initiate a sort of fighting game using them. I don't think I've ever seen another game attempt the style since.
There is a widescreen patch in the emulator now and HD textures pack.
Delightful thank you!
Absolutely incredible
The sanity meter concept is cribbed from the Call of Cthulu tabletop game. Surprised its not more common in horror games
Looking back 20 years ago, I was too young to realise it was such a great game. Playing it currently on original hardware and the game looks surprisingly good, gameplay feels nice and still up to date. Crazy how Silicon Knights where an ass company tho..
13:12 possibly, but it'd be the other way around since the original Metal Gear Solid on Playstation already featured all of those same voice actors 4 years prior to Eternal Darkness.
I really love when games fuck with the player in real life, like the volume bar effect here or the vibrating controller in MGS. I was thinking how this could be ramped up with consoles using HDMI-CEC. The game could *actually* change your volume, or switch input. Modern consoles also have system functions that they could screw with, imagine completing a tense section and just before getting to a save room the game leaps to the home screen and nearly shuts the game off. Severe lack of this kind of stuff! What Undertale did with the hidden file that kept track of your past runs is a good recent example.
Namco has a patent for mini games for loading screens
Really wish this and the Baten Kaitos games would get switch ports. They were my favorite gamecube games
No good news on the Eternal Darkness front, but they did just announced a Baten Kaitos 1 and 2 switch remaster!
Best game of my childhood
This is a epic gamer moment
I wish Nintendo make a remaster of this Gamecube gem, not the best survival horror but a classic of the genre
If you haven't done videos on these games, ever consider doing Devil May Cry
I recognise Jennifer Hales voice from Totally Spies lol.
Saying about VA and not mentioning Michael Bell a.ka Raziel from Legacy of Kain? :P Shame! ;P
3:05 I have to say this disappointed me. I'm playing it right now and it keeps going back to the ancient temples and the different trials within. I've been holding this game in stores many times since I was a kid, wondering what that cover art meant and what kind of experience was waiting for me in this game. In 2023, going in, I was hoping for something psychological, a detective/murder mystery, playing mostly as Alex in her grandfather's mansion. I'll keep playing. I've been looking forward to this for too long.
Did you beat it?
Sir, thoughts on doing a Little nightmares 1&2 review?
8:30 Bow drawing sound effect used in Fable.
Why yes I am autistic how could you tell
Wish this one got a current-gen remake or even a rerelease.
Yes ! And I am still bitter about the cancellation of Shadow Of The Eternals. It was supposed to be a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness - Sanity's Requiem.
@@jackwilliam4436 I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
It's so depressing how the spiritual sequel didn't get greenlit, arguably because of the shocking arrest of one of the writers for child molestation. The maddening narrative about "shady" funding issues around their other titles was also a big issue, but that arguably sealed it in terms of goodwill towards Silicon Knights.
I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
Fuck man I want to play this so bad. I wish they'd release a remaster or upscale or fuckin something for the switch.
I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
Tho think that I only stumbled across this game, because REmake1 wasn't out yet and one of our friends bought this game instead.
This game was fucking awesome and creeped the hell out of me @ 13
sam from totally spies
I bought the Cube of Games solely for Resident Evil and found this game by proxy. Remake it or give us a goddamned sequel.
The best game I have never completed
Legacy of Kain series review when?
Loved this game. Wish they would remake it with new sanity effects for each console/PC. It would sell!
I Love the game, it's a shame that the Studio f it up in the end.
Pargon pargon pargon pargon
Play Geist pleaseeee
this game is so interesting and i’ve always wanted to play it, this is pushing me to actually try it out
I am in love with the blonde
The fact that no one else copied the Sanity system is not "because it was patented".
It's that other developers didn't want to spend the money, time, and effort to come up with their own solutions.
Which is the entire point of patents in the first place. Instead of one method, you get several new ones.
But sure, let's blame Nintendo for not giving away their work for free.
That's like making a patent on idle animations or new game plus. I.E. bullshit
@@steelbear2063
And it's bullshit because...?
@@brian0057
Because how can you patent something that simply exists on its own? Does Nintendo own madness and hallucinations or what? Imagine if somebody patented changing outfits for the playable character. Even if they were the first to implement that in a video game - they can't own the concept of changing clothes.
@@steelbear2063
Of course they don't own the concept. That was never in discussion.
What they do own is the method by which they arrive at said concept.
As long as you're not using their method, you can make your own clothes changing feature.
You can also license it from them, saving yourself from the R&D of developing your own solution. But that would mean giving Nintendo money.
That's the entire point of patents.
But no one wants to give Nintendo money for the license. So they don't. But also don’t wanna spend the resources and time needed to make their own solutions. So they don't. Rather, it's much easier to blame them for "monopolizing a concept" (they don't) instead of doing their job.
Nintendo's sanity patent has expired since last year, so companies and indies are free to use this system as they please :)
Companies were always allowed to make their own versions of the Sanity system, even when the game was new.
Patent expired, time to develop a new game with Sanity Effects!
amnesia was like the closest eternal darkness
I recommend Evil Tonight, It's basically a sprite based Horror game.
@@orangeslash1667
Okay we get it
@@steelbear2063 great
I used to watched my big brother played this game on Saturday night. We didn't got any sleep because i'm too scared to sleep and my brother wants to finish the game before dawn. I used to thought that this game is cursed or my old house is haunted.
Just wondering if you could cover the game tales from the borderlands? It's not really a horror so I'd understand if you didn't, but it's pretty funny and it's backstory is quite cool
Isn't the patent expired at this point? If so, come on gaming industry. Get it together.
Nintendo keeps renewing the hold on Eternal Darkness. Alex Roivas (the main character) appears as a spirit fight in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
I'm a big survival horror guy but this one just doesn't click with me at all. It's like the other games are horror films and this one is a goosebumps episode. It's not scary, the sanity aspect is just gimicky, the story isn't that interesting, and the combat is fluff.
Was anyone else around for the failed Kickstarter? Man, what a shiteshow. Before I made the mistake of using Twitter I'd never seen anyone be so rude to their customers.
Eternal Darkness & many of Silicon Knight's games are some of the greatest the industry has made. But I feel that it was in spite of, not because of, the higher ups.