VN - Ren'Py - Eternum [v0.8.6 Public] [Caribdis]

I don't usually play these types of games because of the story or characters, as they are often one-dimensional and uninteresting. That's how I felt about Eternum, so I thought, “Let's give it a try.” And what can I say—the very first scene on the train had me hooked.

The characters act mostly logically, they interact believably (for this type of game), and above all, they are all absolute 10/10. I am a huge Annie fan when i had one to choose. But they are all sexy, adorable and sweet! Huge praise to the developer and his team.
Oh, and the story develops and becomes more and more interesting the further you play. I love the story, even if it's not incredibly original. However, the characters and how they interact with the player character and each other make up for it. There's also plenty of humor, and I often found myself laughing out loud while playing.

The sex scenes are magnificent and also one of the game's absolute strengths – and the music accompanying them deserves special praise – absolutely intoxicating!

I haven't finished the game yet, but I already regret that it will be over and will continue to keep an eye on future versions. You have my support!

Amazing story and writing, really top-notch. The concept reminded me a little of the new TV series ‘3 Body Problem’ in a way. The story itself is super interesting too.

But honestly, it’s almost a bit 'sad' that Caribdis decided to go for an AVN. Don't get me wrong, the animations are incredible, especially as the game progresses, the visuals are nice, but the story is so good it could’ve been an incredible tv series or a great book. It’s funny how most AVNs have shit stories and writing, but here’s a huge rare gem with high-quality storytelling. You wouldn't typically expect that from an AVN, but here we are.

Everything just clicks in this game; fun characters, hot scenes, solid character development, interesting worlds, and great plots. It’s honestly fantastic overall.

I really hope you, Caribdis, get your talent in front of an even bigger audience at some point. Someone with this level of skill and storywriting shouldn’t be limited to AVNs, but that’s just my two cents.


Anyway, well done dude. You’ve got a new fan. You deserve all the praise.

An undisputed masterpiece. It has completely reshaped my expectations for Western VNs. The game's modeling, animation, and rendering are top-tier among Western adult games, but its true strength is its writing. Within that, I believe the plot pacing and character development are the absolute best of the best. The plot itself doesn't break free from standard sci-fi tropes, and the concept of a game affecting the real world isn't new. However, its real strength lies in how it tells this story, creating a powerful sense of immersion and making the player fall in love with the characters.

The game is updated by chapter, and each one ends on a massive cliffhanger. What a cruel developer! I'll be subscribing when version 0.9 is released.

It took me a while to discover Eternum. At first, I was scared of the horror tag (pun intended). Horror isn't my my cup of tea. I usually filter it out. However, something changed...

Eternum takes the shape of a familiar concept. "What if you could visit your favourite games/servers in real life, interact with people in game the same way as in real-life, whenever you want?"
Some games and movies are iconic. Memorable characters, stunning backgrounds, captivating ambiances. Through following the main character, you get to visit some of these scenes.

The game looks great, the characters aren't overly 'sexed up', they look realistic and appealing.
The music is chosen well, it fits the different scenes perfectly. Tense music in scary settings, uplifting music during happier times. But always fits the theme of the currrent setting you're in.

I especially love the writing. Some visual novels get stale, boring or stretch time between action way too long. In Eternum, this isn't the case. Because of the humour, the way the characters interact between each other, and the unexpected twist here and there, you keep reading. As someone who loves writing and aspires to become a famous writer one day, I can confidentely say this novel is well written. And it's clear a lot of time has gone into creating the characters, their backgrounds, story and the experience they have now and went through.
Creating well liked (or much hated) characters isn't easy, but they do become memorable. Harry Potter & Voldemort, Ben Kenobi & Han Solo, characters that you remember fondly. Characters that became alive thanks to the writers who created their personalities and described their apperances.
Even though the main protagonist here seems like your ordinary guy, he quickly becomes more confident and charming thanks to Eternum. Because of his personal growth, he becomes memorable.

The animations too are great. They aren't super repetitive, the camera changes angle sometimes.

Even because of the horror, or the constant threat of dying in Eternum, the game remains pretty wholesome. The support the characters share for each other, they way they all help the protagonist (fan favourites return from time to time, such as the Repeaters), they do appear to all be close friends (or even family).

Eternum has quickly become one of my favourites on this website. I wholeheartedly recommend everyone to play this visual novel, even just to try it out and see for yourself.

Thanks for making this visual novel! I'm curious where the future leads.

Fairytale for kids

As much as I like the whole game there are too many times where logic was thrown out of the window. Like developers didn't bother to think things through and just moved on.

The reason I was playing this game was because characters always had well done emotions, and that type of acting is charming. Good slow burn relationship is critical for AVN, and here it was done well. Also characters hang out communicate with each other and do different stuff. So it's not about getting laid.

I would normally rate this game 4.5/5 because there are games with a more solid and engaging story, but after I tried other popular games that everyone recommended, I could understand why this game is so hyped.

Eternum was honestly rather daunting to try, despite being always on my radar as one of the consistently highest rated VNs. The screenshots showed oddball characters (like a red head with an eyepatch, huh?) and the many different complicated settings (cyberpunk = heavy lore, right?) combined with the hefty download size all pointed at an imposing read.

I couldn't be more wrong. The VN is immediately relatable and funny in the first ten seconds with Chang (plus incredibly adorable with Annie). Letting the MC settle in before hopping into the video game world was a brilliant decision that grounded the story. Even the way you earn access to the game was very rewarding and showed how complex and nuanced the VN was going to be.

GAMEPLAY: 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐
At the end of the day, this is a Ren'Py Visual Novel, so gameplay was never going to be this game's strong suit. It's fine, but a huge reason why I typically only play one VN a year, as I prefer smutty emergent gameplay like getting raped in a dungeon crawl. That said, the choices occasionally made me sweat bullets (such as East Timor) and some are compelling enough I always immediately rewind to see both branches.

GRAPHICS: 4/5 to 5/5 (Gets better later) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It seems the game got a ton of funding and really stepped up the graphics quality in the later half, not that the first half was bad. At the start of the game it's mostly side boob shots paired with a typical generic MC. The second half ramps into well animated sex scenes with a chiseled chad gym bro MC sporting an 8-pack of abs. Also, do yourself a favor and check out the fan art threads for this game. The graphics and character design are amazing enough to spawn quality community art.

AUDIO: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Huge shout out to the music that appears in the second half of the game. The tracks look like they're made just for the game and are honestly fantastic additions to IRL sexy time playlists.

PORN: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
There's a solid stream of sex scenes, though some can be easily missed if you make a wrong decision. That said, the scenes are only vanilla to slightly spicy, which loses points for me. But there is hope of them progressing farther on the current trajectory (for example, there's hinting of bondage right now). Other top VN games like Pale Carnations or Accidental Mind deliver better porn, but the quality and spiciness keeps getting better with Eternum.

Porn and harem believability also skyrockets if you focus on a small detail dropped at the start of the story: 65% of the Eternum population signed up just to bang on sex servers. This explains why people want to casually hook up online (very realistic) and also partially explains why everyone is kinda incompetent except the main crew of characters. I think the author should lean into this even more, it's a win-win for boosting believability but also setting a lewd tone for everything. I also just love stories where people are banging everywhere.

STORY: 6/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Unfortunately, the overall grand plot is a poor generic "collect the magic items" from a run-of-the-mill Anime or Ready Player One/Isekai style story. The main plot moves at a glacial pace, is overly cryptic (I'm not sure the writer even knew the full plot when the cryptic messages started), and isn't particularly rewarding to unravel.

Fortunately, the vast bulk of the game's story is instead the mini-adventures of Chang's 9 (from space station horror to casino heist). These are all excellent and I find myself always wanting more of these, sometimes even getting annoyed when a sex scene interrupts them since I want to keep reading about the group's hijinks.

The final piece of the puzzle is character development slice-of-life in the real world, where some character's backstories are genuinely moving and other's personalities ridiculously endearing to read. Amazingly good stuff.

OVERALL: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Deserves its #1 spot but could be a little bit better for me on gameplay and kinkiness.

___

CHARACTER REVIEWS (Spoilers)

Eternum definitely has the highest production quality I've seen on this site, with stunning visuals supplemented by handcrafted animations and props, but if, like me, you're mainly here for the story, there's a lot to be desired in later writing. Not to spoil, but a certain character is revealed to have a completely unprecedented and straight up illogical power level that completely breaks the world building of Eternum in every way. This is about the point where I realized that most of the girls around MC just happen to be some of the best Eternum players. Even if you place world building above all else, this vn is still worth playing, but continue on with very low expectations.

This isn't to say Eternum has a bad story, it's just not grounded in any realism.

Best. Game. Ever.

Plot is intriguing and well developed. Character are rounded up, lively and different (even visually, not same-looking-dolls-with-different-hair). H scenes are well spaced, significant in plot developement and reflecting the individual characters involved. Graphics is gorgeous, animations included. Humour is good...

I'm just out of words. Can't wait for 9.0.

Standing ovation, this is an exaple of what NSFW VN can be if written seriously, with care and skill instead of "it's porn, who needs plot?"

That's the point. This is not porn with writing, is writing with porn. It would be good even without porn.

Hats off to the authors.

As a rule I don't enjoy VNs - sandbox-style games are more my thing.

Eternum is an exception to this.

Many adult games/VNs tend to suffer from "porn video plot", where the plot is thin and largely exists just to string one sex scene to another. The story for Eternum is a triple threat - well written, compelling and humorous. I'm as invested in most of the side characters (Chang & Micaleh, Mr Hernandez & Chop-Chop) as I am in the central characters.

Graphically, the character renders are excellent and seem to be unique (although I did see the Sunshot hand cannon from Destiny in there). I think my only criticism is that while some of the backgrounds/scenery are extremely detailed, some feel a little underdone (the Wild West zone as an example).

Ultimately, if you don't have Eternum you're missing out. What are you waiting for? The Gems of Doom aren't going to find themselves.

Absolutely phenominal. Cant say i've ever played a better AVN and I cant wait for more! I spent the last 4 days playing almost non-stop.. I just couldnt stop myself, the story is so compelling, the reltionships are written so well and the women are out of this world. Theres so muth depth and charater building, funny moments that actually made me laugh out loud, sad and heartwarming moments that pull at the heartstrings. I really got more than I bargained for and would highly recommend you give it a try if you havent already! I'm now gonna grab the music mod and the FPS mod to enhance my next playthrough A massive thank you to Caridbis and all of the supporters for making this incredible story!

Hooooly Moly, I'm so glad I downloaded this!

1. Great main story which isn't compromised for the faps.
2. Brilliant writing! Good amount of (importantly: also good) humour mixed in, progression doesn't feel forced, MC is neither Alpha-esque or complete pussy.
3. Characters. They are their own separate people with different views, motivations and personalities. They actually have believable character/personality/corruption progression but without losing their core traits, which is unbelievably rare in today's saturated AVN market. Seriously the writing in this is top notch; the only comparison I can make in my own experience is to Love & Magic (which has less character progression, but the characters do have their own individual humour and consistent personalities).
4. The animations! They're beautiful! Even more importantly, they're not just a 2-second loop that only focuses on the ins-and-outs; there is an amazing amount of attention on movement away from the action, and the loops are something like 15-40 second SEAMLESS looping!

As someone whose fetishes can be....controversial (my fetishes are taboo to "regular society" not necessarily because they are inherently "bad", but purely because what turns me on is the fact that it's outside the current norms. If I had been born 150 years ago, I'd probably have an ankle fetish, for example.)... the background and leadup (and I don't mean just the physical foreplay) make a huge difference to me - and whomever was responsible for the writing here is a master of his/her craft.

This is now one of my all-time favourite AVNs, and I haven't stopped playing since I first opened it!

I'll definitely be keeping a closer eye on this dev from now on!

For context, I don't usually play virtual novels.

100% recommend everyone who hasn't yet, to try it.

The plot is very engaging, in general this VN is very fun and diverse, including adventure, mystery, comedy, horror, romance and erotics - all in good proportions. The amount of content this game has is great, everything about this game makes me want to come back another day and keep the story going.
Story choices have though put behind them and make sense, this isn't just some slop just to get off to.

Characters are also well written and diverse, all with their own quirks and personalities, truly makes the game feel more lively and full.

Cg is excellent. The quality, angles, everything is truly amazing.

Although the romance and sex scene writing is very male oriented and at times /silly/, in general it's very well done, especially for an adult game.

In conclusion - absolutely amazing experience from a very good game.

Honestly, this peak fiction has the plot of the best sci-fi power fantasy.
Even without the amazing lewds, boobs and crotch tubes, It's still an entertaining ride through and through

That just shows how you don't just have skills in Intimacy Co-ordination
But you are an amazing writer. Characters get their time to shine, so often that it doesn't leave anyone behind. There's no moment where you are wondering what another character is doing. Because you've had quite an amount of time, equally with all of them.

The nuance of character archetypes is something I love. Nova is a nerd but not too much. Alex is a Tomboy but not too much. But as well they go beyond their characters. Luna is an emo but also has a Mexican background which is awesome. It's all so, "Yep that's who this character is" at their core but it's intricate character writing makes them so much more interesting than their base archetypes. I love the writing so much

Also the cg work, the different creative decisions are amazing. I won't say much to avoid spoilers. But you use such simple changes and angles and just general knowledge of editing that whenever something like that comes up, it's like DAMN THAT'S COOL!

The only thing I have to say is that I'm hyped for more. And that more funnily enough is more for the plot than the lewds. Lewds are just the cherry on top of this indulgent adventure.

Eternum is prob the best +18 VN I’ve played. The mix of humor, action, and spice is just perfect. Characters feel real, worlds are super creative, and the writing keeps you hooked all the way. Not just scenes slapped together there’s actually a plot worth following.

Story [5/5]
Every character feels important, even the side ones.

Gameplay [4.5/5]
It’s still mainly a visual novel style, so don’t expect full “gameplay” like an RPG, but the little choices and animations make it feel alive.

Final thoughts:
Updates take a bit but they’re worth it every time. Caribdis really knows how to make you care about both the story and the fun stuff.

I loved everything about the game. The characters were well written. The story was top notch, I had trouble pulling away from it when I began playing. There could be more interactive aspects to it to make it more engaging. I often times felt myself laughing out loud at either the cheesiness of the situation or the absurdity, but in a good way. I would consider this probably one of my top 5 favourite AVNs.

I started Eternum thinking it’d just be another “click through, skip to the spicy parts” kinda game… but nah, I got completely sucked in. I’ve been playing it nonstop, and honestly? It might be the best game I’ve played in ages, maybe ever. I’ve never been this hooked on a visual novel before. One second I’m just poking around, the next I’m six hours deep, emotionally invested in a bunch of fictional people.

The setup’s already cool, you move to a new city where everyone’s obsessed with a VR game called Eternum. But it’s not your average VR; it’s full-on “feels like real life” neural implant stuff. Inside, there are servers for everything, fantasy kingdoms, cyberpunk cities, pirate ships, horror worlds, and more. At first it’s all fun and adventure, but pretty quickly you realize there’s a dark side: shady markets, data theft, dangerous mysteries… and you’re right in the middle of it.

What really makes it click is the characters and the writing. Every girl actually has a personality, and you get to know them long before anything NSFW happens. They feel real, and the more you play, the more you care. The plot’s also packed with mystery and suspense that keeps pulling you back in. The humor? Surprisingly great, self-aware without being cringe, able to land both dumb jokes and emotional gut punches. And the music? Way better than it has any right to be.

If you’re only here for constant sex scenes, you might think there’s “too much story,” but that’s exactly why the spicy parts hit harder, they feel earned. I came for the plot (…okay, half for the plot), but stayed for the wild server adventures, lovable cast, and twisty mystery.

On top of that, the visuals are gorgeous, the animations are smooth, and the level of detail shows serious effort. The big updates keep making it better, and every scene feels elevated by its soundtrack. Overall, it’s just an amazing experience start to finish, a must-play for anyone who loves great storytelling and memorable characters.

Amazing game and visual novel! Balanced, funny, interesting story, well-paced, incredibly hot LIs, and some real emotion in there too. Alex's story especially got to me with her scenes, both relentless fucking and some crushing lows.

Everyone should play this game.

For the most part it was just boring, there's nothing spicy about the scenarios, nothing taboo or exciting. The sci-fi setting is more akin to fantasy imo, not really establishing an immersive world-building.

nothing comes close to this game. playing other avns or going back to summer time saga feels drastic compared to the quality thats in this game. there was a point in time i legit stopped gooning and was paying attention to the lore if you could believe it. plot lines and paths are not convoluted to point where you have to do something so out of the blue to get things going. id recommend playing once in a life time before playing this game as it has multiple references to that game and probably does connect lore wise. good luck

One of the best games of this kind.
Wonderful characters, great pacing and mix of story and explicit scenes. Can't wait for more content, keep up the awesome work!
If I had one thing to criticize it would be the lacking variety of breast/areola types, but in that regard this game is already a huge improvement compared to Once in A Lifetime so I'm not complaining