VN - Ren'Py - Eternum [v0.8.4] [Caribdis]

Just beautiful! Better than its predecessor. I started it just looking for a laugh and a wank, and I ended falling in love with everything, from the plot to the characters. Definitely adding it to my personal top of bests VNs ever! Hope to be there to witness this remarkable story to the very end.

So far, Eternum is a perfect game, even without its NSFW components (i.e. if it just faded to black), it would arguably still be a Solid A, with the Ready Player One influences, characterization and the mystery going on.

The NSFW scenes though are what raise the game to an entire other level. It's easy to see how skilled Caribdis is, the first notable scene with Annie has the song "Run Boy Run" play which sensually accompanies the outer teasing. There is also the Nova riding scene where the two can barely contain their desire for each other. But most notably I believe is the Alex first sex scene, with the powerful line "never in a million years" that show she has broken her own principles in order to lust or love our main character. The triple whammy scenes that follow in a roll really seals the deal and makes the scene ground breaking to me, for a free to play game.

Other notable scenes include the Egyptian which adds diversity and exotic feeling, and the Spanish influenced music playing while you are massaging Luna. I look forward to the full game of Eternum...

Incredibly exciting story with very good dialogue, of course a big plus is that the visuals are of the same quality as the story. Many other screenwriters could learn from Eternum to mix humor with suspense.

I kind of struggle to find the motivation to write a review for Eternum. It is after all a legend in the English AVN world: a game that has received innumerable 5 star reviews, recommended countless times on Discord, created one of the most financially profitable indie adult game developers and a platinum standard bearer that has inspired numerous game developers to borrow elements from it in their own development journey.

What I can pile on simply makes no difference, but I suppose the least I could do is to write something to express my appreciation to Caribdis for bringing us players Eternum and also to a certain extent for uplifting the standards and quality of the AVN industry.

Story
MC moved to a new town to start college with his childhood friends Anna and Chang. He and Anna plan to stay with former nanny Nancy and her two daughters Penny and Dalia. The first 30 minutes or so may give an impression that this will be a typical adult game where MC wanders around a house full of women looking for sex.

Whatever misgivings one might have of this being a “porn story” is abruptly interrupted by a ringing public phone outside the airport that brought a cryptic but ominous message. This small but significant event draws up the curtain on Eternum and dispels the notion that this will be a brainless sex fest game.

Namesake “Eternum” is a 100% immersive VR game that is wildly popular around the world and something which the MC and all LIs will eventually get involved in. The overall story combines various intertwined adventures and developments in both real and VR game world that slowly unravels to players the mysteries and dangers of not only the game but also its developer company.

Most good games focus on a particular genre and do it good, some try to span across a few genres and usually either fall flat or end up mediocre. Eternum on the other hand goes the other extreme: it dabbles in so many genres - adventure, Sci-Fi, romance, fantasy, paranormal, mystery, slice of life, school life, wild wild west, Roman, war, humor, horror etc. that it’s hard to even keep count.

The truly amazing thing is they all synergize with each other well due to a clever plot device of having unlimited servers on Eternum which allows players to jump into different VR worlds. Caribdis might not be the first to come up with this concept, but they are definitely the only one I have seen so far that executed this mammoth undertaking to near perfection.

In a certain sense when you play Eternum, you are playing multiple games all at one go. You never know where the developer is going to bring you to in the next story arc - you can be in the kitchen having dinner with your LIs one moment and slashing through enemy magic the next; riding a car to school now and sloshing through intergalactic space 5 minutes later.

Game Mechanics
Mostly a kinetic novel with choices that affect love scores and scenes with different LIs. It is recommended to save regularly as some not so apparent choices might lead to skipping development with a certain LI subsequently.

Background / Character Renders
Naturally this being a supra-genre game means the number of customized background and UI required is explosive. Surprisingly you don’t see much repetition as each time MC and his team leap through servers, an entire suite of new maps are introduced. The amazing thing is most appear to be highly customized and rendered from scratch, there is little generic stock images used despite the insane number of highly differentiated backgrounds.

Then comes the MC and his 7 LIs - HS2 in nature, each of them is lovingly designed and highly distinguishable. MC is smart and clean looking (no hentai pervert or wussy look), Anna is cute petite without being loli, Dalia is obviously the sporty one, Luna is an elf without long ears, Nancy the MILF (looks too young for her age IMO), Nova's cute pirate eye and my personal favorites Penny is sexy and lascivious while Alex is wild and curvy.

Oh and all the main characters come with many unique outfits you get to unlock as the game progresses. Last but not least, Eternum also has a significant number of minor characters that are all uniquely designed and many a times they either serve as humor subjects or play an important role in carrying the story through. Many of these minor characters have good enough designs to serve even as MC and LIs in a normal AVN game.

Character Development
We have as ordinary and real for a 18 year old male MC as one can get. The guy’s funny, cares for his friends, horny when he sees pretty girls, flounders in the presence of someone powerful like Bardot or Founder and gets his head in the clouds when he has some small accomplishments. There is neither maledom nor doormat stereotype, no exaggeration of sexual perversity or out of norm gungho-ness. Nothing sticks out, but to me that itself is a breath of refreshing fresh air in adult games.

As for the LIs they are quite diversified, if not slightly troupey. Annie the loyal childhood friend, Dalia the sports girl, Penny the influencer, Nova the geek nerd, Luna the cute loli, Nancy the MILF and Alex the wild cat. As of V0.6 not all of them are fully developed, but we do get to learn more about some of them and it helps to remove the troupe stereotypes. For e.g. Penny is actually quite smart and not the typical bimbo influencer, Nova is rather cute and fun loving for a nerd while Alex has a very strong but adorable character beyond first looks.

As is expected from Caribdis, many other male and female minor characters play their part well in either enriching the story world or unfolding the main plot.

Sex Scenes
Not a lot as of V0.6 so in a sense it’s a bit of slow burn as well, but those that are unveiled so far are really hot. The holistic combination of erotic dialogue, ambience through clever light shading, music, sound effects, teasing camera angles and animation brings each scene to a high seldom matched by other AVNs.

For e.g. almost every lewd scene comes with its own unique sound track or song. Some like “If I had a tail” fit like a glove and could have passed off as a commissioned song for Alex, others like “Run boy run” or “Halo” would never have been associated with sex at first but somehow Caribdis makes them work.

Every single scene so far is memorable, but my personal favorites are Annie’s spaceship quickie, Alex’s wild night at home and Nancy’s lift drama.

BGM and Sound Effects
BGMs are aplenty and used well to convey the mood and situation - it’s surprising to see so much improvement here considering that the developer’s previous work OIALT hardly had any music and players were playing in silence most of the time.

Oh and one good thing that comes from playing Eternum - I got to know many great songs which I have never heard of as they never appear in any hit charts. Personal favorites are “I rather stay on earth”, “What is loving anymore” and “Run boy run”. Another notable mention is the main theme at the title screen “Orion”, either that’s a commissioned piano track or the developer is goddam good at selecting one from the free use library.

Sound effects are also used quite frequently and accurately and complements the game nicely.

Conclusion
If you plot a RPG radar chart profile of 5 star adult games, most would look like a star or odd shaped polygon i.e. they excel in a few strong areas and score average or above average in other areas. Occasionally, a few developers will be able to create a top tiered game by clever synergy even if all the game elements are only average or above average level.

Then we have Eternum, a game that would look very close to large circle on a radar chart because it excels in every facet. Is it the very best in the industry in every single dimension from story, graphics, sound, UI, gameplay, sex scenes? Debatable.

But in my opinion, it is the only game I have seen so far that scores a consistent A to A+ across all measurable dimensions, hence its status as a legend in the AVN world.

Unironically my favorite game for a while now, now in contention with Crimson High as well but this is for sure one of the best games I have ever played without question. Story is great and interesting, complicated and lore heavy, doesn't avoid and delay sex scenes nor is it just a slideshow of them, it genuinely feels like a real world and I love this creator so much I can't wait to play once upon a time as well. I have absolute faith in anything and everything they have done, 10/10, highly recommend!

Review for [v0.7.5] Had this game bookmarked for awhile without playing it, but now that I did... I gotta say, this is such a great game, that it's actually crazy. Eternum is easily one of my favorite VN's that I've ever played. Now the story is something I really enjoy a lot, its is engaging, interesting and paced well,I kept playing non-stop wanting to find out more about the story. Now the characters, they are all really unique, different, and well-written. Initially I wasn't a fan of the design as they look cartoonish, but they really grew on me over time. Can't talk about the characters without mentioning the girls, they are all designed very well, and I really love the progression of the relationships and growth of the girls over time as well. I absolutely love Penelope, everything about her from the design, personality and all. Alex and Dalia are really great as well. On top of the top tier girls, the animation is excellent as well. Interface of the game is great, and being able to see the some information of the girls is a nice touch.

One of the major cons from this game, would have to be that it lacks any actual romances. Sure there are growth in the relationships between the Li and MC, but they just seem to be friends with benefits at the end of the day. Would love to see meaning relationships between the characters.

Pros:
-Great story
-Well written and designed girls
-Penelope, she's perfect
-Great animation
-Great music and sound effects
-Good UI
-Replay gallery

Cons:
-Some of the girls look a little to similar
-Lack of actual romance

Just when I thought I had seen the best f95zone had to offer, I find yet another hidden gem. Eternum has got to be hands down my favorite game after all these years. I'm still only on Chapter 2 but holy am I in love with the game

Pros:

• Captivating story with a good premise that leads to more interesting events
• Diverse character stories, personalities, and development
• Beautiful design of the girls (to my taste, at least )
• Varied music selection art styles fit with the narrative and being such bops
• Well made action scene animations that add more to the story
• References and assets reused (Pascal from Nier, Red Dead Redemption, Cyberpunk, etc)
• Mini game modes (RPS, among us, 10 questions, etc)
• Good humour being used at the right place and not feel forced

Cons:

• The girls are almost same-face (but that's applied to most other VNs)

If someone asks me where to start their journey with AVNs, I will recommend Eternum
Summary:
Pros:

• Interesting and engaging story
• Well-written characters who don't feel like dolls and have their own personalities
• Wide range of love interests available(Luna,Nancy ,and Dalia are my favorites)
• High-quality custom animations, environments(mostly custom) ,and outfits(mostly custom)
• Good humor
• The music is always on point and enhances the experience
• Consistently good camera angles

Cons:

• Mostly linear

Overall:10/10,Must-Play

AMAZING game, its one of the first games I played when I found out about F95 and it has had many updates that all make me want to rate this game even more than just 5 stars, the animations, stories, renders, EVERYTHING is just almost perfect and I am in love with this game, the updates are a little slow but I understand and they're always worth it, I truly believe I can leave this 5-star rating here for months, maybe even years to come.

Great game keep up the good work and I give you the best of luck.

Lovely Game can't wait to get more of it. Nice high-quality graphics. Great and interesting story line. Nice Character design there all really nice and not just there models i wish wie could got more options sometimes but other than that this game has so much potential. I hope it wil be finished! GREAT WORK for all who work on this one!

Have absolutely loved every second of this game. Hands down the best VN out there right now. Nothing anyone says can change my mind. There's the perfect amount of story and lewd scenes to keep you wanting to keep playing. Also, you get very attached to each main character.

This is one of the best games that I've played recently. The graphics and the story were both amazing. The women and the sex scenes were super hot. I really liked all the different outfits and environments throughout the game. The BGM was good choices too.

I've played Eternum three times now so I feel it's a good time to write an objective and honest review about it.

Pros

• Excellent story
• Excellent writing
• Excellent English (very few language mistakes)
• Excellent humor
• Excellent characters & love interests
• Unique and fun characters
• Excellent environments, visuals, and renders
• Engaging and fun to play
• Excellent story progression & game pace
• Excellent sex scenes
• Excellent animations
• Great blend of story vs lewd content
• Lighthearted and engaging storyline

Cons (explanations below bullet list)

• Honey Select 2 character models
• Characters act and behave like they are in Middle School (ages 11-13)
• Lack of actual romance in the game

Honey Select 2 character models. All Honey Select female character models that I've seen in every Honey Select game that I've played has the same problem. Their lower half (hips, ass, and thighs) is disproportional in size to their normal sized upper half (torso, neck, and head). Their hips, ass, and thighs are twice the size they should be. They also often have short or normal sized torsos with very long legs (unnatural). This makes them look like cartoons whether the author wishes this or not. I have yet to see a female Honey Select character model that doesn't have grossly exaggerated features. It isn't a big issue or a deal breaker but it is annoyingly unrealistic at times. Congrats to all the players that love big hips and big asses though!

Most of the characters in the game are between the ages of 18 and 25 (at least those close to the MC). The way the various characters act and behave is what you'd find in a modern day Middle School (ages 11-13). They often act immature, inexperienced, and have the life experience of a 12 year old. A great example of this is with the MC taking the various LIs on dates. They act like they've never been on a date before. They are super nervous, don't know what to expect, and don't know how to act once they are on the date. This is exactly what 11-13 year olds experience in Middle school. The comparison is so real it's uncanny! After playing through the game three times, I can confidently say that the game actually takes place in Middle School but with 18-25 year old characters (IMO).

The last problem is the lack of actual romance between the MC and the various LIs in Eternum. Yes, the sex scenes are some of the best on F95Zone, however how you get to them is what I sometimes take issue with. Nearly all lewd scenes in the game are done as "Friends with Benefits". In most cases the MC just "stumbles" upon the sex/lewd scenes. They find an excuse to take off one article of clothing and then it escalates from there. "Oh, I did that to you (made you hard)? I guess it's my responsibility to take care of it." Then the sex scene unfolds. This is just one example. The bottom line is that they usually find an excuse to remove clothing and then the scene escalates from there. Almost no romance leads up to the sex scenes. They are just great friends and have a bit of harmless sexy fun together. There are some romantic hugs and romantic kisses but they play a very minor role in the relationships.

Conclusion

Overall, Eternum is a near masterpiece! Yes, there are things I dislike about the game but the execution is brilliant overall! Everything works and flows naturally. The writing and humor set the game far above most others on this site. We finally have a game that isn't riddled with English errors!

Everything from the unique characters to the perfect game pace make this game brilliant! The story is original and very compelling! I generally don't play a game more than once unless I really like it and almost never three times. Me playing the game three times is a testament to how good it is!

Hats off to the author for a near perfect masterpiece! I highly recommend this game and encourage others to give it a try!

Eternum is the best AVN I've played so far.

The writing is top-notch, I'm really intrigued by it, I honestly want to know more about the world and the mysteries it contains. It left me with this feeling of wanting more, something that's rare for an AVN do to me.

The girls are very likeable, lovely and adorable, the relationships feel very organic and natural as they progress and the game manages to keep them unique, interesting, and compelling... I couldn't help but fall in love with Nancy and Nova.

Animations are some if not the best I've seen in a AVN game and they all feels quite special when you finally get them, a major event for the characters, it's good that the dev went with a “quality over quantity” mentality.

Overall a 5/5 game, I can't wait for the next update... especially more Nancy and Nova stuff.

Just what I expected from this game. I saw a lot of people praising it and I gotta say it's deserved. From the story to the characters the world building, it's all top notch.

Now let's talk about my favorite aspect, The Animations.
Holy shit do they look good, I've never seen animations like this in all my years of playing Adult Games. Eternum definitely has the best Animations in this genre of games. What I also liked is the MC, He's a real G, taking what he wants but at the same he's caring and genuine to all the other characters.
Simply 10/10 game no flaws whatsoever for me. I hope to have more fun playing this game and I'm sure I will, especially seeing 0.7 ending it got me shocked. I'm super excited for the next update!!

If F95 decides to make a Hall of Fame, this game should be on top of the list.

Seriously though, I've finished playing this game a few days ago after finished Once in a Lifetime and I'm totally speechless about how good this game is. It improves and exceed all the expectations based on the foundation of OiAL.
If you have played Once in a Lifetime, then you are surely familiar with the pros and what this game can offer.

The *only* major downside of this game is: It may set your standard to the next level that surely, will be hard for you to find an alternative options when you've finished the game.

This is the first VN i played, and it didn't disappoint. as a guy who mostly play RPGM, I definitely enjoyed this one. The story and animation are really good and got me hooked into it. Even all the characters are really likable, Dalia is my fav haha she's just so hot. I'm really looking forward to the next update.

The story is well written and consistent. The pacing is perfect and tight with a very, very entertaining story even if not groundbreaking. One of the few AVNs where every LI is extremely appealing and likeable for everyone, which is good because this is a harem game. You have choices who to do things with but that's just choosing to miss content, not have alternate routes.

In terms of visuals and the VN reading experience, this is hands down the best looking 3D VN on this site and probably the best looking ever, unless you despise the Honey Select 2 art style. Quality animation, amazing sound and soundtrack choices, perfectly written characters with the hottest and best paced lewd scenes ever. Every sex scene feels special and important to the characters, instead of just three pumps and a few scene changes. 5 star game all the way.

Really solid game for this website. Lately F95zone or perhaps the adult gaming market is going through a downturn of terrible japanese rpgm/VN, lazy ai art games, patreon milking developers and generally uninspiring boring games with semi good artwork. Eternum is a slow burn kind of game. You build up your relations with these cast of characters. The relationships feel very organic and natural as they progress and it really is a fun immersive style SAO type of game.

I`m giving it 4 stars due to the fact that the game isn`t finished and the story in my opinion gets a little weird with the mom character and the Rome style world. In-addition the art/animations aren`t bad but they're not stunning either its above average. Nonetheless great game.