VN - Ren'Py - Eternum [v0.8.0] [Caribdis]

Good game.
It's quite plain in story and you don't have much choises.
Girls personality is interesting and shown well. Sex scenes are very good and even have decent animation.
There is also some interesting stories and twins from Atomic Heart in one of them.
Waiting for updates.

[Reviewed v6.2]

One of the best games in active development. So much well-developed content, beautiful girls and renders, and engaging dialogue amidst a gripping near-term sci-fi story. The developer Caribdis, between this game and their last one, has to be considered one of the very best in the genre.

The Good ()

• Gorgeous models -- hyper detailed and beautiful
• A number of love interests and paths that don't necessarily exclude one another
• Creative use and inclusion of sci-fi elements that feel pulled from the news (AI, metaverse, etc.)
• Gripping execution in the cinematography and visual storytelling
• An original story that draws from many sources of inspiration but still feels entirely fresh
• Hours and hours of content
• The H-scenes feel "earned" and they are infrequent enough that the build-up creates great narrative tension

The Not-So-Good ()

• This far into the game, it is hard to keep track of some of the plot lines and some of the stakes seem to be moving around. Sometimes, plot events and narrative can feel "rushed".
• Mild horror elements can be a bit disturbing

Overall, an outstanding title with so much care and consideration for the story, renders and dialogue. Can't recommend this enough!

v. 0.6.2

I mean, seriously. How does Caribdis do it? The first version of this I played was filled with such pure joy (Chang, chop chop, fucking TRIVIA NIGHT!!?) and ended on such an incredible high (showdown on Ogygia) that it's still one of my favorite times in games/movies/anything ever. Seriously! I'm already happy! Do you really have to top that? Oh, you do (horror)? Oh, okay, again(magic)? Oh wait, ok, again(party showdown)? Again and again and again(at this point I can just name whatever scene comes to mind because it's all great)?!

I loved Star Wars as a kid, and though I cherish those feelings of childhood wonder, as I grew older it just didn't hold up. Eternum has taken me right back to that place of being enraptured and fully immersed in a story that just keeps on giving and giving.

I can't be more grateful to the person(s) responsible for creating this glorious work of art. So happy to count myself as one big fan among so many others!

Thank you, bravo, congratulations, and etcetra forever.

Version 0.5

I really like this game and it is one of my favorite vn games.
The rendering is very good, in terms of the characters and the place within the eternum game itself.

The story is also interesting, the humor is also funny, and the horror is also quite scary.

I really like the heroines, but so far my favorite female characters are Luna, Alexandra and Idriel (although Idriel is only an AI in the Eternum game).
And for the "Lady" who sometimes seems to haunt the main character, for some reason every time I see her, I feel that the "Lady" although scary but looks beautiful.

And for the newest version, I haven't had the chance to play it, even for version 0.5, I actually downloaded it a long time ago, but I only had time to play it recently.

Sorry for my bad English, and thanks for the game.

v0.6.2

People seem to be heralding this as if it’s the greatest adult VN ever made, and while I do think it’s a solid game, I really don’t see where all the immense hype is coming from, from what I’ve played so far.

Don’t get me wrong. The renders, character models, and animations are all great, especially for Honey Select. A lot of the music choices are solid as well, albeit a few extremely overused royalty-free music/sound effects. The game is also very well-coded, no bugs or glitches encountered. But that’s honestly where the majority of my praise ends.

The story, dialogue, and overall writing is… simply serviceable; I’ve seen way better. Caribdis is by no means a bad writer, but the entire game just feels so tropey. The main plot is heavily Ready Player One inspired, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it certainly plays into a lot of the cliches seen within a “secret/virtual world” story. Excluding the first hour or two of introduction, the narrative digs into an extremely predictable and formulaic cycle: protagonists go to a certain world in Eternum to find one of the macguffins/infinity stones/whatever, something goes wrong and they have to escape or fight, MC does something cool and then maybe gets his dick sucked/fucked during or afterwards. Rinse and repeat for a majority of the runtime.

Obviously the point is to use these scenarios to help MC grow closer with his love interests, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get interested in much of the Eternum plot stuff whatsoever. It’s clearly trying to drag out the climax for as long as possible in order to just throw the characters into some random world inspired by pop culture that Caribdis believed would be entertaining enough for an update while the player is continuously teased with sexy time. You’ll get maybe one lewd scene with a love interest every 20-30 minutes and most of them - I repeat, most of them - don’t even go that far in terms of intimacy until many hours into the game. It doesn’t work for me.

I feel like the amount of time used in this game to explore cliche tropes and scenarios within Eternum could instead be used to cultivate some legitimate character development in the main cast, which there isn’t a whole lot of. Really, the only way that the characters grow at all is with their relationship with MC. And even then, the relationships grow at such a snail’s pace at times because so much time is spent on other things that I couldn’t bring myself to care about.

I also don’t find much of the attempted humor that funny. Just generic and predictable comedy/pop culture references for the most part, although it’s not insufferable.

Overall, I can’t deny that Caribdis is one of the hardest working adult game devs out there and actually tries to make good games, but aside from the quality visuals and coding, Eternum has surprisingly not done a whole lot for me so far. Certainly a serviceable adult game experience and even has moments of brilliance, but not at all one of the best ever.

A very high quality and simply marvelous VN!

Well written plot with light and not intrusive humor. Lots of different references and easter eggs.

The sex scenes are very good. The animations are done at a pretty high level.

All the girls are very hot and have quite different characters.

Nice soundtrack and ambient.

Caribdis is one of the few developers here that always puts out high quality content and never disappoints!

I'm not generally a fan of visual novels as I like something more interactive but this game is something else. I've been glued to my screen getting through it. The sex scenes are excellent but the story is actually meaningful and got me hooked. I don't usally leave reviews but I felt like I had to for this one.

first played the game about 1.5 years ago and loved it. i always stick to waiting a few updates before going back so it dont ends so fast. and i had a blast i had playtime of prob 10+ houers for 2 updates or something like that. might be alot for some but i like to rewind and check other roads to go and scenes or chat options to pick and sometimes like to admire details and stuff. loving the game even more. and im gonna check out the first game made by
Caribdis later this weekend after a long week of working myself. dont want to post like all others by that and by that. just want to give my support and saying this game is 100% worth playing. loving the fairness. the qulity. the god damn pog memes. and the story. ( the memes are amazing ) darksoul. the twitter. the meme from other movies-books-memes. the goddamn changs girls mucsle face. and the jealus faces of girls to man C. well Caribdis cant wait to see what you come with next. till we meet agian. <3

This game is what Ready Player One should have always been, why make a fantasy-themed game, or a sci-fi game, when you can do all and both at the same time?

The girls in this game are beyond gorgeous and sexy, but more than that, they are well-written and each has their own strengths and storylines that make me care more and more for them.

My favorite girls are Alex and Penelope. and as of 0.6, that last scene might be the best sex scene I have ever seen in a VN.

The story and characters are sublime, and the MC goes from a not great modeled one with a dumb haircut to a much more attractive one. I am not a huge fan of purposefully hurting your MC by giving them dumb hair as character growth, but games like this and Pale Carnations do it and it works well, and you can see why they are the top-rated games on this site. I enjoy the art style a lot and I can't wait for the next update, this game has tons of content and I recommend it to anyone who has not played it.

one of the top 5 visual novels I've read/played. Fantastic story and character depth. Proof that you don't need to have a sex seen every 5 minutes but still spicy enough to make it worthwhile. Animations are on another level! Thank you so much for your creation. I cannot wait to finish this one off. This may be in my top 5 but it will probably be the first time I actually head over to Patreon and chip money in due to the quality of the product.

Eternum is a rare breed of visual novel. Not often is a story so enticing that it keeps me engaged between the "good parts". The following review is based on the entire game up to 0.6.

The story is well written It is an adult visual novel, and it delivers on that, but it is so much more. The narrative has me so enamored that I could easily enjoy it, even if it didn't satisfy the "A" in "AVN". It does have some slapstick humor moments, but they are very well placed and fit naturally. As a huge fan of the sci-fi genre, specifically around technology and gaming (gaming within gaming? Yes please!), this ticks many of my boxes for what I want in a video game plot.

The visual art has a unique style compared to the frequently reused artwork across many novels. Are there similar models used in renders & animations? Yes, but that is pretty standard across the gamut of visual novels. The novel takes those common assets and makes them unique. The differences can be subtle, but they truly differentiate Eternum from other visual novels. One thing that is specifically refreshing, is a range of character body types. It is not all "barbie-type" bodies - there is a range of body types to appease all tastes.

One place where I have not seen a lot of recognition is in the music. The music is paired extremely well. It sets the tone for not only the scenes, but also each characters unique personality. I have found myself frequently playing the music in the background such as when I am working, doing housework, or even playing other games. (In fact, I have been listening to the music while writing this review). My only qualm about the music, is there is no way to just play it inside the game!

The characters develop organically within the confines of three main pillars: self, environment, and interactions with others. There are no sudden leaps or growth of characters that cannot be traced back to one of the three pillars. As in many games (VNs or otherwise), the main character has the most growth overall, but it can still be linked to something about himself, his environment, or the others around him. Even when he does exhibit a large step forward, it is not a sudden "power crystal in the plot hole" ex machina situation.

While there are choices within the game, I have found that they largely have either one good choice, or the choices don’t matter. That makes Eternum more of a kinetic novel, but that does not diminish the story (nor does it make it any less fun trying to figure out what choice is the best or right one).

Overall this is one of the best examples of what a visual novel can be. It combines well written narrative and dialogue, beautiful and unique artwork, and perfectly selected music to drive a compelling, organized, and downright fun story.

I look forward to future chapters & updates, and could not be more eager to continue playing!

As per 0.6

This review will be short but I hope this count
Tbh no long words needed as if you jump to the game you will get the awesomeness vibe to it and even more the deeper you play.
To make it short this game is truly a not only triple A but quadruple-A avn that anyone should try

A for arts
A for story
A for humour
A for music
A for spice

9.9/10

If only this game has girls sfx/voice over it will be a 10/10
I know giving sound can give polarizing opinion as it attached to girls personality
But given how devs work is so well done I know you'll make it work

This game deserve love.
If you hesitate to try this because for example you only play completed game, you only miss out the good stuff in life.

As with the previous game by Caribis, this game is well made with a proper story, fun characters, none of the "stupid boyish MC having all girls fall for him for no reason", and of course, amazing scenes. There is genuine good writing and humour here, which is getting rarer by the hour.

The only thing that made this a 4 and not a 5 is that it's pretty simple to create the harem and get all the scenes. In the previous game by the dev, you had to make specific choices to unlock points with a character and get some scenes. Here, the throbbing heart icon is a pretty straightforward giveaway of what to choose. That's my only issue with this game, which I guess says more about the overall quality and the expectations on the back of the previous game. Also, would be amazing to see more of the silly recurring characters in eternum as well, like the nod to President Stab in the beginning

(Review is as of v0.6.2 Public)

Eternum should feel pretty familiar if you've gone through Once in a Lifetime, as the foundation of both are the same: you play as a guy with a stupid haircut and a (honestly, maybe a bit too) huge dick, and you'll have your pick of a wide variety of girls, several of whom seem to have made a daring escape from the cantaloupe factory. And as before, supernatural elements and shenanigans ensue. Whereas Once in a Lifetime featured a supernatural cult, Eternum is a world-within-a-world virtual reality that...probably...isn't run by a supernatural cult.

The similarities don't end there. The characters have their own quirks and personalities, the MC doesn't suck in every way imaginable, and the jokes are actually funny. Furthermore, the choices seem more geared toward you enjoying yourself than trying to kick you in the dick because you did something wrong.

I really like the virtual setting. If I had to nitpick one thing about it, it's perhaps that the MC seems to have learned to tap into his powers a bit too easily. It kind of feels like Shirou Emiya in Fate/stay night: he doesn't know what he's doing and he's supposed to suck at basically everything, but whenever he needs to do "the thing", he's somehow always able to do said thing. But again, this is a minor nitpick.

It's well-written. It's funny. It seems to want you to enjoy yourself as you go through it. Isn't that what it's all about?

[v0.6]

● Story/plot - 10/10
● Graphics/visuals/renders quality - 8/10
● Animations - 10/10
● Music - 9/10
● Characters - 10/10
● Amount of content - 10/10
● Overall 5/5


● Story/plot
It is the best asset of the game and I cannot wait to reveal it all. Idea was great and execution was even better. It is hard to find VNs with a real good and original story and even if someone gets good idea it ends with untapped potential. Tbh I'm not sure it that is all your idea or it is based on something but if it is yours then you should trademark is somehow because it has great franchise potential. Can you imagine TV series base on that story?
● Dialogues
Caribdis is one of the top in both, stories and dialogues. Not much to say here, quite realistic emotions with great sense of humor, keep up great work here.
● Foreplay
Just like I said above, Caribdis is dialogue master and foreplay scenes are sometimes even more erotic and exciting then sex itself. It is not straight-to-raw-fuck-like game but it comes with great feeling and atmosphere which is not an easy task to do so.
● Music/Sounds
It is not perfect yet but top class for sure. Many productions has no sound at all and if they have it is just some looped crap. Here we have really nice sounding scene adjusted to current events, creating even better gameplay experience if story and all I said above is not enough.
● Characters
The only thing I do not like here is I would like to see them more "magic MC's dick resistant". I find them all great written, each with own personality and full of emotions. Each of them has really nice background story, own hobbies and goals, somehow unique also in relations with each other. And what I'm saying here is not just about main girls but there are bunch of others met during the story which I am not even able to name them all. Really amazing job here.
● Amount of content
As it was my first time I played Eternum (I was kinda delaying it for months) I wasn't sure how long it will take to finish (v0.6). To be honest it exceeded my expectations. At some point after hours and hours of play I was sure it will end in second but I kept playing and playing. The inevitable finally came but it was quite a long journey I must say. If we consider "content" as a variety of stuff to do then there is not much of that (like phone, equipment, mini-games etc). There is small roam at the college party but that is it I guess. Does it affect overall experience? No. Not every game has to have all variety of this stuff and as we know it consumes A LOT of creation time so it is better to focus on the story.
● Locations
This is just WOW. That was a big challenge based on the given game plot and it's unlimited potential. Space station? No problem. Wild west? Sure. Cyberpunk city? Medieval? Early 1900s? Ancient Rome? Magic school? We got you covered! Variety of places and each one with own great story that could be a game on it's own. Tbh it is mind-blowing how much work was put to that...
● Models and renders
Overall I would say they are great. The minor things to make them even better is to pay more attention to proportions, especially girls (they can be sexy af with little smaller breasts and hips) but also MC's (later in game looks little buffed but his forearms are thin). Some places could be better organized, look more alive but I guess appetite grows with eating and I need to remember about render time needed for each scene with additional stuff in it. Caribdis has his(?) own style and I loved it since "Once in a Liftime". Another plus goes for clothing, many games pay attention to just girls clothing making MC look like a clown but here it is all in symbiosis with the story. Awesome job.
● Overall
All I said above putting and mixing together gives us one of the best AVN created so far. I will be honest, I spend all weekend doing nothing but constantly playing this...


● Harem
Personal preferences, not sure I like harem or not. I guess the problem with Eternum is that MC sometimes confess too much and it is either "I want to be with you"->sex or the opposite. Something like "it is just for fun" dialogue would be great or some info at the beginning of the game that it is harem game(is it?). For now I am not sure if I will hurt them all at some point or it is fine to play along with them all.


● Enormous breasts
Not a big fan, quite opposite actually. Personally if the world in story is based on real one, I like to feel kinda immersion, with realistic dialogues, physique etc. Sure, it is AVN and great bodies is a must but Penny/Nancy/Calypso would be considered as a disability in real world... The other girls even have insecurities about theirs breast despite fact that they are perfect/more than enough sized. MC's dick could be little smaller too but yeah, one of those games.
● Male friends
I wish there will be AVN one day where there will be more than one jester/unable-to-get-laid best male friend, where player will be rival with some other normal male friends for the girls... I know it would need a bit more work then just make MC and all girls wanna fuck him but yeah... One day maybe... At least Chang on his own is really nice character, fun but not jester for sure.

This is one of the best games I have ever played and not just as an adult visual novel but any types of visual novel games I have played. It satisfies the thirst of anyone who loves anime, games, and power fantasy stuff. It has a charm that hooks me every time I play it, no matter what scene I’m in or what mood I’m feeling. It’s a pretty polished and well-thought game that clearly knows what it’s doing. And the graphics and characters are amazing. The characters have such charisma, like even the side dude Cheng is a blast to interact with. And the girls, man, those are some impressive character models you got there. I have two favorites, Dalia and Nancy, but Penny and Alex are also close contenders. That shows how awesome all of them are. Heck, even the girl whom the MC met at a brothel has an interesting personality. My favorite scene is the conversation between Axel and the MC under the rain before the MC visits Alex. And on top of all that, the music is just perfect. Chef’s kiss, nothing more to say. I have nothing but praise for this work and I’m really looking forward to the next update. Thank you and best of luck. Solid 5+ out of 5 stars.

This game is a true masterpiece, whoever made this, is a freaking genius. This whole work is just amazing, characters' personalities are extremely carefully designed. You can even feel what kind of person they are, simply from their phone text style. Story goes smoothly, almost has no logical mistake. The emotional development between characters are just so realistic, so perfect. I've played lots of games like this, and this is definitely one of the bests I ever played. The idea, the music, the art, the story... Incredible!

A really great game. 5 stars because the girls are beautiful, the story is intriguing, the plot is fun, the world is fun...

It's a harem story by design apparently, and the only thing you may find strange is that girls seem to have no interest in keeping clothes while they are close to the MC almost from the start. But in a porn game, is it really a flaw?

As of 0.6 it's very fun to play, and has many funny scenes. I expect this game to remain of that level of quality up to the end.

Animations -12/10 absolutely the best animated game I have ever played.
Story - 10/10 Half the time I find myself firing this game up just to continue the story.
Sound - 10/10 Never really cared much about sound, until @Caribdis showed me how much sound can improve your gameplay experience. Never played another game with such masterful execution in this regard.
Models - 15/10
All I really want to say is wow. Best VN i've ever played and I hope you'll keep making them for a long time. I just learned you did Once in a Lifetime, so now all this makes sense.

I play lots of AVN, some of them is good, some of them is mediocre, and some of them is truly one of the best... and one of the best is Eternum. Its interesting that the author/developer knows lot of references in the real world especially Anime, Mythology, Video Games, underrated Books like Eros & Thanatos which is kinda like easter egg in the game, I'm just amazed that there's a lot of real world input in the game which make the story better. The rendering department of those 3D and 2D animation is truly one of the best if not the best in the whole AVN's, Storywise yeah one of the greats also.. I like the comedy and lots of action pack in the story! Characters is amazing too, I'm more of Penelope fanboy but all of them is great! I highly recommend this to gamers that want a high quality AVN and if you're one of those horny dudes out there.. you need patience to play this game because this like more of story driven game and not "unlimited fuck to easy girls type of AVN".
Lastly I'm just amazed, hands down to the genius of Caribdis.