HorrorTober 6 - Eternal Darkness : Sanity's Requiem (GameCube)
Who would've thought that Nintendo would have an exclusive horror game? I mean seriously...Nintendo? Well, believe it or not, it's real. It was originally intended to be on the N64, but got held off and eventually put out on the GameCube. Can it possibly be any good? Well there's only one way to find out, so let's cut this one open and dig in.
So not only does this game fail to use the C-Stick as a second joystick for camera movement, it fails to use it period for anything in the game at all. But is it an issue? Let's find out how it stacks up during the gameplay.
The Alex sections take place during the present day inside her grandfather's mansion, driven by discovering what happened to her grandfather. Once you first find the Tome of Eternal Darkness, you're also driven by finding the rest of the pages of it to harness the knowledge within them in relation to spells to cast as well as learning more about the ancient race.
During these sections, you're mainly left to explore and solve puzzles throughout the mansion. Combat isn't a focus in Alex's areas until later in the game. But, everything you learn as the other playable characters in the Tome sections can be brought back and used by Alex.
The Tome sections are unlocked by finding the chapter's hidden around the mansion as Alex. When you activate each one, you will live out the section of the book that you have uncovered, and take control of the person it follows. These sections cover vasts gaps in time, from ancient Rome all the way up to the 1980's, and none of the sections repeat so you always meet someone new during these.
No matter who you play as, this is where you learn most of the core elements in the game, such as the magick and the sanity meter. Magick involves you locating all the pieces of the spell you are trying to form, and then actually putting it together piece by piece. Once you learn it in the Tome section, Alex then learns it in the present day as well.
The main element of the game is the sanity meter. You initially learn about it during the second Tome chapter, but this becomes a factor in the mansion sections as well. The way it works is once you encounter the enemy force, which are usually in the form of skeletons or other ungodly looking things, your sanity meter will drop a bit, and the only way to refill it is by performing a finishing move on one of the downed enemies. If you fail to perform the finishing move, your sanity meter will not refill and then it will start to have an effect on the rest of the game in any number of ways. It can be anything from large enemies appearing that aren't really there (causing you to use and waste ammo), hearing whispers, voices and screams all around you, even "actual" effects like a fake volume meter appearing on the screen or a dreaded blue-screen of death (this latter type doesn't have any actual effect on the game itself, unless you as the player react to it like it does by turning off the game or restarting it).
Lastly, your combat is pretty much universal throughout the whole game, whether you're fighting bosses or the more "normal" enemies, whether you're doing it as Alex or in one of the Tome sections, it's always the same way, you target the body with R, you can then move the joystick around to target specific body parts, and then you slash or shoot away. Also universal is the finishing move mechanic to restore sanity. Once your enemy takes enough damage, he'll drop to the ground where you can walk over and trigger the finishing move once the prompt appears. If you miss this, they will stand back up and the next time they go down you won't be able to restore any sanity.
Overall Eternal Darkness is a fun and unique game. The sanity meter adds a new twist to things that hadn't made an appearance in many games at that point, but how does it effect the challenge of the game?
Let's take a look at what was good and bad about this one before moving on to the final verdict.
- Wide Variety of Characters. Playing the story out over such a vast span of time is a lot of fun. You get just enough of each character to enjoy their story, but doesn't run the risk of any one of them being overdone and becoming stale or boring. The one common thing among all of these is the playable characters come across the Tome itself, and seeing how they do so is pretty cool.
As for the horror in this one, it's more psychological and messes with your mind every step of the way. It even goes down to the tiny little things, like at one point I was walking around the mansion as Alex and headed down a hallway where there was a bust statue, and as I walked past it the head began to move and follow me around. So if you're more easily scared by the stuff that messed with your head, then you'll be in for a fun ride in this one.
The Story
Set in Rhode Island, the game begins with Alexandra Roivas arriving at her grandfather's Rhode Island mansion where he's been murdered. However, she is not pleased with the incompetence of the local police department, so she set's out herself to uncover the truth behind her grandfather's gruesome murder. While investigating the mansion, she discovers a hidden study area of his, and inside it lies a book that is bound with human flesh called the Tome of Eternal Darkness. As she reads it, she experiences a moment in the life of Pious, a Roman Military Commander. As she discovers other chapters, she also experiences areas of other people's lives and uncovers a plot being set forth by an ancient race of people that would bring forth an eternal darkness for the entire world. Now wrapped up in the plot herself, can Alex stop the eternal darkness from beginning, and will she discover what really happened to her grandfather?The Controls
Eternal Darkness is one of the many GameCube games that take place from a third-person perspective, but fail to use the controllers C-Stick as a second joystick. The main joystick controls all of your character movements, and it's always relative to the screen (so moving it up moves you towards the top of the screen instead of it being forward and moving where your character faces). B is your action button, A is your main attack button, and X allows you to move slower and sneak. L let's you run, R will target an enemy for you to attack, Z reloads your weapon (if it's reloadable obviously), and lastly the Y button and the four directions on the D-pad act as quick selects for any of the spells you learn through the game.So not only does this game fail to use the C-Stick as a second joystick for camera movement, it fails to use it period for anything in the game at all. But is it an issue? Let's find out how it stacks up during the gameplay.
The Gameplay
Eternal Darkness takes place from a third-person perspective, with some areas where it's a fixed angle view, and it's not so much a survival horror game as it is a psychological horror game. It's fairly linear, and the game plays out in two main sections. There are the Alex sections, and the Tome sections.The Alex sections take place during the present day inside her grandfather's mansion, driven by discovering what happened to her grandfather. Once you first find the Tome of Eternal Darkness, you're also driven by finding the rest of the pages of it to harness the knowledge within them in relation to spells to cast as well as learning more about the ancient race.
During these sections, you're mainly left to explore and solve puzzles throughout the mansion. Combat isn't a focus in Alex's areas until later in the game. But, everything you learn as the other playable characters in the Tome sections can be brought back and used by Alex.
The Tome sections are unlocked by finding the chapter's hidden around the mansion as Alex. When you activate each one, you will live out the section of the book that you have uncovered, and take control of the person it follows. These sections cover vasts gaps in time, from ancient Rome all the way up to the 1980's, and none of the sections repeat so you always meet someone new during these.
No matter who you play as, this is where you learn most of the core elements in the game, such as the magick and the sanity meter. Magick involves you locating all the pieces of the spell you are trying to form, and then actually putting it together piece by piece. Once you learn it in the Tome section, Alex then learns it in the present day as well.
The main element of the game is the sanity meter. You initially learn about it during the second Tome chapter, but this becomes a factor in the mansion sections as well. The way it works is once you encounter the enemy force, which are usually in the form of skeletons or other ungodly looking things, your sanity meter will drop a bit, and the only way to refill it is by performing a finishing move on one of the downed enemies. If you fail to perform the finishing move, your sanity meter will not refill and then it will start to have an effect on the rest of the game in any number of ways. It can be anything from large enemies appearing that aren't really there (causing you to use and waste ammo), hearing whispers, voices and screams all around you, even "actual" effects like a fake volume meter appearing on the screen or a dreaded blue-screen of death (this latter type doesn't have any actual effect on the game itself, unless you as the player react to it like it does by turning off the game or restarting it).
Lastly, your combat is pretty much universal throughout the whole game, whether you're fighting bosses or the more "normal" enemies, whether you're doing it as Alex or in one of the Tome sections, it's always the same way, you target the body with R, you can then move the joystick around to target specific body parts, and then you slash or shoot away. Also universal is the finishing move mechanic to restore sanity. Once your enemy takes enough damage, he'll drop to the ground where you can walk over and trigger the finishing move once the prompt appears. If you miss this, they will stand back up and the next time they go down you won't be able to restore any sanity.
Overall Eternal Darkness is a fun and unique game. The sanity meter adds a new twist to things that hadn't made an appearance in many games at that point, but how does it effect the challenge of the game?
The Challenge (or lack thereof?)
Breaking down the challenge in this game is honestly hard to do, and it's all because of the sanity meter. It can literally effect anything in the game if you're letting it drain out, so if you're focused on keeping it full you'll have an easier time, but if you let it drain things will get...interesting to say the least. This game will throw tons of enemies at you that don't really exist, if you're low on health it will give you a room that's loaded with health supplies and the moment you leave, everything goes back to normal. So with the sanity having an effect on every aspect of the game it makes it harder to say just how difficult the combat is, or the exploration, or any singular aspect of it. So as far as the challenge goes, if you keep yourself sane in the game, you'll have an easier time of it, but if you let it drain out the games going to be pretty difficult, making it as challenging as you choose to for yourself.Let's take a look at what was good and bad about this one before moving on to the final verdict.
PROS
- New Twist on Horror Games. The Sanity Meter was a new thing for Nintendo to use and it went over brilliantly. The fact that it can "mess" with your TV as well was a nice touch, reminding me so much of the PsychoMantis fight in the original Metal Gear Solid where it would blue screen and change channels on you. It put a new spin on things and makes you wonder what's really going on with each hallway you enter.- Wide Variety of Characters. Playing the story out over such a vast span of time is a lot of fun. You get just enough of each character to enjoy their story, but doesn't run the risk of any one of them being overdone and becoming stale or boring. The one common thing among all of these is the playable characters come across the Tome itself, and seeing how they do so is pretty cool.
CONS
- No Combat For Alex At First. Her sections in the mansion are very short in the beginning, requiring such minimal play time that in the beginning it's kind of upsetting. She comes bursting into the mansion, distraught at finding her grandfather murdered and decapitated, blatantly calls the head cop incompetent, and then proceeds to stomp through the mansion on a quest to actually get to the bottom of her grandfather's murder. And then you barely see her for the first few chapters. It just gives her part of the story a really slow start and while it pays off in the end, it makes the opening chapters not as entertaining.Final Verdict / Horror Level
This one is most definitely worth it. It suffers a bit of a slow start, but it's a really fun ride and worth the opening chapters dragging on a bit. Let me clarify that they don't completely drag, so it's not like you're suffering through a horrible game opening, it is still very enjoyable, it just might not live up to the faster pace that some gamers would prefer. You can find a loose disc copy of this game for just over $30, or a complete in box one for around $40. So again, a bit of a harder to find game with a somewhat hefty price tag, and with no alternative source of finding this one like with Obscure, you're left to battle your wallet. But even though this ones a bit pricier, it's most certainly worth the price tag.As for the horror in this one, it's more psychological and messes with your mind every step of the way. It even goes down to the tiny little things, like at one point I was walking around the mansion as Alex and headed down a hallway where there was a bust statue, and as I walked past it the head began to move and follow me around. So if you're more easily scared by the stuff that messed with your head, then you'll be in for a fun ride in this one.
