Version: [v0.3]
Let's be honest here, you wouldn't judge a 'Captain America' movie on the same scale you would judge 'Pulp Fiction'.
Adult VN's are great, but when you consume them you come to accept some faults - mediocre dialogue, rushed storytelling, inconsistent characters and 'porn speak', you ain't getting no Pulp Fiction.
But every once in a long long while, you find a gem, a piece of content that transcends above the genre, Eternum is such a gem.
First of all I'll say this - Eternum is not a 'quick fap' type of VN, honestly, if that's what you're looking for, I'm afraid you'll be very disappointed.
There's very little sexual content so far spread over probably around 8 hours of story, most of it consists of pretty mild flirting and maybe a nipple here and there.
'So, why should I play it?' you may ask, and the answer is - for every other reason.
In the world of Eternum people can log into a 'virtual, hyper-reality MMORPG' that seems just as real as the outside world, they can hop between different servers, which are different worlds with very different vibes to them.
Caribdis uses the setting to the full extent, moving between spooky, dark mystery solving, to light, fun magic training.
It is used as a plot device to allow for relationships to progress, for friends and enemies to be made, and as a well executed excuse to just do mostly whatever the fuck he wants.
It never feel weird or out of place, Caribdis truly did a superb job with his story-telling, I was fascinated to find out more, I was worried and glad and simply very invested in the story and in the amazing, well built world of Eternum.
The characters are extremely likeable, well written, and very distinct.
They range from wild and funny, to serious, sometimes sad. all of them are deep, engaging and very interesting. honestly, as I said at the start - a game in this genre being this well written in every aspect (world building, story telling, characters and dialogue) is absolutely unexpected, truly a one in a thousand.
Relationships are built slowly, the interactions are believable, and the slow burn of both friendships and sexual tension is extremely well done, and oh so very rewarding.
From the graphical side of things - the models are pretty, the renders are often beautiful, and the large amount of different settings all look nice and visually pleasing.
The sexual scenes are very sexy, unfortunately there's very little of them so there's not much to be said other than that.
Honestly there's very little bad things to say, I'd say the magic training part was a tiny bit too long in my opinion, especially since there's very little payoff outside of a pretty cute look into the past.
Other than that - I just want more of it, I need more, it was such a wonderful charming unexpected experience I'm honestly not too sure how I'm gonna load up another VN in the next while.
This is a gem that transcends way above the genre, 100% up there with giants like 'Being a DIK' or 'City of Broken Dreamers'.
Do your self a favor and give it a try.