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

Jesus christ this is one of the best games I've found on this site. The models are unique, detailed, and gorgeous, the story is well written and edited, the animations, though infrequent, are beautifully executed, I can't find a single flaw. I hope this level of quality continues and shows up in more games.

Writing this review as of v0.4.

First some considerations:
1. I'm not a review guy;
2. review is something subjective. If you didn't know this, now you do.

Now let's get down to business.


My good friends, Eternum is simply absurd... absurdly fantastic.

I'm short for words to describe, the way I'd like to, how much this game (at least until the aforementioned version) blew me away.

I'll start by saying that the writing here is nothing short of amazing. We have here a very well written and well-paced VN. It's not common to find an ero-game with such an effort being put especially in the plot. We don't just have a "casual romance-like thing" going on here, oh no... we're going through a sci-fi full of mystery, thriller, adventure, action, horror, comedy... and believe it or not, much more.
Let me tell you real quick: each of these things I just mentioned is done with care. And it's fucking amazing.

The characters are believable; they feel real. And more than that, they are charismatic.
You will come across different people here. Each with they own personalities. They have background; relationships; motivations; their own likes and dislikes, fears, hobbies, problems, dreams... They have and show emotions, contradictions... You just get to know them. There is development!
And I'm really hoping, by the end of the journey, for all of them to be four-dimensional (I know you can do it, Cari!)

Graphically: gorgeous! Personally, I find the character design to be one of the best you can currently find in a game of this genre. Truly well done.
There is this thing Cari does with the backgrounds, they're somewhat "lively" (you'll get what I'm if you play). He's been doing this since OiaLt (his previous game) and I really like it. It's a small detail but as the saying goes: It's the small details that make the difference.
Oh, and the animations? Oh mama! hehe...

Now as for the soundtrack... oh boy, this will be long:
You know, I believe there isn't a single person in this world who doesn't like 'music'. I refuse to believe this.
I know many here apparently play their games (of this line) without sound, which I personally find strange(?), but I'm not going to get into the merits of this.

What I'm trying to say is: music/sound is important. And that makes a motherfucking huge difference.

And I'm really happy to say that Caribdis knows what he's doing with this department in this game. What we have and the way we have, as of now, is brilliant.

Dude, just entering the game, if you pay attention to the music that plays there in the main menu... there is just no way you can't figure out that you're about to embark on something epic.

Cari, what I'm going to write here is aimed primarily at you as I know you'll read this:

To be able to deliver a soundtrack this good... It's indescribable. You have to feel.

And now ladies(?) and gentlemen, about what is undoubtedly one of the strongest points of this game, making it the masterpiece it is: the immersion.
Holy. Shit. I... I can't believe what this man has managed to do. I mean... he's insane! Seriously, it's astonishingly well done. The very premise of the game is already, in my opinion, incredible. But Caribdis went further and simply raised the bar by creating a storytelling style that really gets you hooked.
You can't help but yearn for answers. And as the story progresses and things escalate (and believe me, they escalate fast), you just can't stop.

Not to mention that Cari made an extra effort to create a story full of references to other different media/titles in our industry; like animes, movies, series, other very well-known and consecrated games... and even, I'd say, "genres".

Eternum is the cream of what we have today in this line of game.
In all seriousness? I'd say it's a must for lovers of the genre.
And if you really like what you see/feel, at least show your appreciation to the developer. Because what he's doing... is far from just putting a smile on your face.

Luna is love, Luna is life (all girls are actually). hahaha
Thank you, Cari. ❤

I can't wait to another chapter ! This is brilliant. I loved everything : the story is fantastic, the girls are all so pretty, interesting. It 's so difficult to even think about choosing one of them. Thanks a lot for all this work.

Writing quality is there, characters are hot, overall production quality is impressive for a 1 dev team. I heard they're hiring some help for animations, will have to wait and see how that affects the finished product (currently on 0.4) for future updates.

I know a lot of fans for this game are also fans for Onceinalifetime,. Personally I wasn't too crazy about that game, it's just too old and you can really tell. The quality of renders and animations made it hard for me to get immersed in the otherwise solid writing, which was a breaking point for me when you're trying to sell a sci-fi story.

Eternum fixes all the issues above. I opted not to review this game when it was at v0.3 because I felt like it had the potential to be a 5star production but there wasn't enough content to justify it. I really enjoyed v0.4. The heist was cool, Dalia gym was cool, spaceship adventure was interesting, Alex making her case for best girl. I enjoyed everything about v0.4.

I do not give 5's easily. This is a 5star game.

Solid pacing, characters felt real, jokes slapped hard, the level of intimacy felt natural, very interesting plot especially considering most H-games aren't expected to have one! I'm just worried that this game might end up being a non harem game, i'd like to be involved with everyone if possible, especially since everyone is so likable..

This games is not only good as AVN ,the story and the writing is something else. It feels like your watching a very good sci-fi show.(Also the dev seems to like Attack on Titan which is something good to know )

It is obvious that the dev is talented with good writing and especially realistic characters .(his other game is very good in how to create believable characters which is something hard to find in this site) BTW once in a life time also is very good.

Lets start with the premise which is unique, while it is very hard to handle a big idea like that it was very well introduced with great visuals.

Plot (5/5)
We have subplots(or arcs) that each one have its own taste and gives you a whole now vibe(with many Easter eggs and pop culture references) and not just some filler arcs, each one is important to the overall story.

Visuals an Music (5/5)
I think i repeat mu self but the visuals is very good and well designed(especially in eternum), while in music, I just will say that i have like 10 soundtracks that has played in my playlist and especially loved the classics choices.

Comedy (4/5)
It was pretty good but not better the once in a life time though. Still missing stabby mike.

I see a lot of people annoyed with less sex scenes which is not much, but i like it that way, it fells balanced and give the opportunity to tell the story.

This is for sure the best game AVN i played until now, I just hope it continue to deliver with how wide the story is now.

I'm pretty sure that if this game were rated by the standards of sexless games it would be a AAA all the way and not only that but an indie AAA game.

In each of its sections, graphics, music, script and gameplay you can see the care with which it has been created.

Review for the version : v0.4

Took me a while to try this game. The art style reminded me of a lot of other AVNs of lesser quality, so I didn't even bother trying it out. Boy was I wrong. I'm still glad I waited that long, though, because that meant having 4 whole updates worth of content right away, and I've got a feeling that waiting for each update from now on will be quite the torture.

Graphics : 9/10
Like I said, the previews didn't excite me a whole lot, but once you're a few minutes in the game, you'll have forgotten all about it. Actually, it's the perfect graphics for this game, because the whole thing feels just like an anime, and the graphics are completing that style perfectly. Of course, that means the textures are less detailed than those of a game with realistic graphics, but Eternum makes up for that with a lot of animations of excellent quality, both for storytelling purposes and for the lewd scenes. It has also a very smart usage of animations, where some animations are used more than once, but it doesn't feel repetitive at all.

Sound & Music : 10/10
Hum... I feel like Caribdis is cheating on that front, so of course it's a perfect note here. I mean, there's literally a song from a Dark Souls game in the first few minutes of the game. The music used throughout the game is absolutely perfect, and greatly helps to sell the emotion of each scene. Its use of sound effects is also quite literally the best I've seen in any AVN so far, which is a much more difficult feat to pull off. Usually, the sound effects used in AVNs are of poor quality, and diminishes the immersion of the player, but not in Eternum; it's quite literally the opposite.

Story : 9.5/10
Eternum's story is one of its strong suits for sure. Firstly, the whole story is quite original for the AVN genre, but it's close enough to an Isekai that you'll feel right at home if you enjoy that genre. That being said, the best part of Eternum's Story resides in its Storytelling. The pace at which the story develops, and its narration are simply flawless. There are many scenes for you to understand who each character is, and all of them are pretty different from each other, making sure that you'll love at least one of them. The game has a lot of hilarious over-the-top humor that you usually find in animes of this genre. It's also the first AVN I've played that uses all of it's parts in such a cohesive way to tell you the whole story. In most games, the story will only be told with the use of the dialog box and with the help of some music to set the tone of the scenes. In Eternum however, every part of the game is used to tell the story; the dialog box and the music of course, but also the sound effects, the scene transitions, the style of the graphics on screen (use of filters), the special effects, absolutely everything works in harmony to tell you the story, and it's really a testament to how great of a dev Caribdis has become.

Gameplay : 8/10
Eternum is a pretty straightforward game, just as the intro of the game acknowledges. There's no cellphone mechanic like in many other popular AVNs, there's not a whole lot of mini games, even if there are some, the UI isn't extremely elaborate, there's mostly just a separate menu that lets you see your progression on every Main Girl & let's you choose the costume for every main girl it displays in this menu (but that feature is a bit janky). The choices you make DO matter, and you don't always know right away when your choice was a good or a bad one; it can take AGES for the consequences of your choices to reveal themselves, and sometimes a very small choice made at the beginning of the game can make all the difference in the end, which is awesome! It's just weird because the UI is so simple, when you make these choices, they often feel without any consequence (which couldn't be further from the truth). For the most part, Eternum's gameplay is great, it's just pretty straightforward, without any « Eternum » punch to it like the story has.

Overall, Eternum has totally earned its place as one of the best AVN you can find around here. It was one of the easiest 5 stars I've ever given. It has a LOT of content for a game only on it's v0.4. If you like animes and mangas, you're bound to fall in love with this game, and if they're not your cup of tea, you should still try this game out; I was very skeptical at first myself, but now I just can't wait for the next update. Like Annie says : Take the Leap of Faith!

Damn. Just finished 0.4 and have to say this is one of the best games I played of this genre.

Writing, humor, "I literally spilled my coffee with "Stockholm Parrot", its like I am enjoying a book with sex scenes added.

I am not going to play until August 2023 so I can really enjoy and hopefully 0.6 comes out by that time. I am unsure how often developer releases but I thought 0.4 isn't going to be long and boy was I wrong...0.4 content in this game easily equals 0.8 in most other games on this site.

I will most likely join his subscription base very soon.

A top game, an incredible story and beautiful girls, keep it up! I've never been so excited to see the sequel to a game, and I think we won't be disappointed. There are many references, films, video games, music and the humor is terrifying so funny

It's rare to find someone writing with humor, but it is extraordinary to find someone who balances the comedy and plot. So far, Eternum is the best of the games I played, regarding of whether its writing or its quality of animation.

It may sound dramatic, but it really blew my mind, the character, the storytelling, and the music. I haven't played any other game with the music on, as most of the time, it would just be some boring loop. But Eternum's music is next level, I even add some music to my list, and whenever I listen to them, I'm reminded of the scene. The dev really knows how to build the atmosphere.

10/10, the effort and talent in this are incredible.

*edit 03/21/2024* update for the newest update dropped today. Couldn't be more excited to see this drop. Still the best. The newest scenes were top notch.


I don't post. Cause I'm just here to jerk off.

Wow. This game should be a movie, a tv show. In a world lacking creativity, humor, and character, this game has it all. I didn't play this game or their previous title, "You only live once," for years. YEARS. Because of the art style. I regret it, but I don't, because it gave them more time to complete this excellent story.

Very creative. Excellent characters who are likeable and different. Funny jokes that actually make you laugh. Also, they have beautiful girls to enjoy while you watch it.

10/10. 5/5. Just best game I've ever played on here.

It's long for only being version .4

Looking forward to many years of this wonderful developer. Bravo.

i don't think i ever put up a review, despite being a loong time member. I want to make one exception for this game, it's absolutely sensational.
Script / text/ animations.
It's really next level.

The script it's spooky and you get drawn 'right' into it.
It's like you watch a film and you want to know how it ends.

Best VN iv played hands down.
-engaging story
-unique characters
-the models and visuals are outstanding
-The cliffhangers
-The scenes ar executed well
-The humor is good
-just fucking play it, IT'S GOOD
-luna best girl btw

I really like the writing. The characters are crazy enough to be interesting but not too crazy to be unrelatable.

I played Once in a lifetime first by the same developer (Caribdis). And that game didn't have the most original story (it was not bad but it wasn't the core strength and more like a tool for the good writing ). I realised the humor was well placed, there was enough exposition to get the player engaged but not too much to take away all of the mystery how characters develop or how the plot continues.


This applies to this game as well, but the story is more prominent this time.
(not real spoilers if you read the overview of this VN)
And I was sceptical if I'd like this story, since it reminded me of which I didn't find enjoyable (maybe it was just too much animeesque for my liking) and I was pessimistic that anyone could do something good from this or a similar story idea. But I was wrong. Caribdis proved again that they know what they do when it comes to writing. So even if you disliked give this a try, they may have a similar core idea, but the execution is way better in this VN in my subjective opinion.

9/10

AMAZING story, great sex scenes.

If you like a game with a good story then this is for you. Doesn't have the most sexual content but the story is getting to a point where things are getting more sexual. The story is great and one of the only games where I didn't skip the text to get to the good stuff.

PLAY THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T

I played Once in a Lifetime before I even knew about F95Zone, and loving that one led me to Eternum. Oh BOY was that a good choice.

I'm loving the characters in this game, but even more the unlimited environment makes every new chapter a surprise that can't properly be prepared for.

On top of that, the story is still developing, and I can't wait to see where it goes. (Well, I can, 'cause I have to, but I don' wana!)

Came for the sex, stayed for the story.

World similar to Sword Art Online? Sign me up.
The fantasy world, the mystery, the general narrative is really good.

Usually I go through games in a single day binge-playing. If they don't interest me that much, then I simply delete them. With this one I stuck for several days. I would play for a couple of hours and then move to something else. The lack of good sex was telling me to move on. But I wanted to learn more about the world and the story so I was returning to it for another day.

First and foremost it's supposed to be a sex game and the sex isn't good or frequent enough. The ratio is something like 94% story, 3% horror and 3% sex.

Sex scenes are very unbelievable, boring and not erotic. Generally the girls are reserved, virgins or otherwise clearly inhibited. But sex time comes and they suddenly become sluts experienced in giving head and whatnot. The dialogue during them is pretty average as well.

The buildup or transitions to sex scenes are not good. We are invested in the story, something important happening and out of the blue its sex time... I wanted to get back to the mystery around Eternum asap every time. Wanted to skip every sex scene I was so turned off. But I still forced myself to read through them since they are just 3% of total game after all.

I'd rate this 1 or 2 stars as a sex game. I'd rate it 4-5 as a SAO-like VN. Rating it 3 to make the average.

This game is just frickin awesome. Nothing but love for it! The renders are great, the girls look really cute. The writing is spot on, and has some very nice humor sprinkled in. Definitly one of the best. Can't recommend this one enough!

Eternum reaches far further than other games I've played. Carabdis is certainly an ambitious visionary who puts a lot of thought into fine detail and this is clearly reflected in the game.

With a respectable collection of character interactions, development, and progression, and a GENUINELY attaching story, Eternum will keep you absorbed in a way which other games fall short.

With the sequence of events occurring with meaning and purpose, every character receiving a respectable amount of attention and content, and every setting bringing forth a unique and captivating locality which draws elements from sci-fi, fantasy, and modern high school themes with its own creative Eternum flair, this game is simply in its own superior calibre.

With less than half the game in its completion, and evidently swift progression from the development team, this is definitely THE game to play right now, and Carabdis is definitely THE developer to keep eyes on.