VN - Ren'Py - Eternum [v0.8.5 Public] [Caribdis]

Words can not describe how well made this game is. The visuals are outstanding, the character designs are absolutely insane, there is some amazing humor sprinkled throughout the entire thing, and even the story itself is mind blowing. Absolute perfection of a game right here. If I could give it 10 stars, I would do it in a heart-beat.

(v0.3)
I've played just over 100 games from this site, and this is the first one I've actually taken the time to write a review for. It's just that good. There's a lot (read: the vast majority) of "fast food" games on here that use lazy writing and recycled, stock models as a vehicle to get from sex scene to sex scene. Eternum is like a breath of fresh air.

The models are all beautiful and unique. The animation is top-notch. Probably the best animation work I've seen in an AVN. The lighting and posing are both good. The animations are super smooth. You can even find quite a few non-adult scenes that have very clean animation. I even found myself saying "Damn that was cool" out loud after one of them. It's a great sign that Caribdis is really going the extra mile to put out a quality game.

The writing isn't perfect, but it's better than almost anything else you can find around here. As a few other reviews have highlighted, the characters are well-written; each one has a strong, distinct personality that shines through the writing. The story itself is actually interesting as well! I found myself thinking about it even when not playing the game.

And my favorite part -- the music and sounds. It's such a shame most adult games don't take advantage of the benefits good music/sound design can bring a game. Spooky scenes, friendly banter, heartfelt conversations -- situations can and do become more than the sum of their parts when combined with good music. Eternum takes full advantage of this throughout the story and in its adult scenes. Any game that utilizes music and sound well gets an automatic 'A' from me.

If I had to choose one gripe, it would be the lack of actual adult scenes, but the story itself is interesting enough to me that's it's not that huge an issue. If I remember correctly, there's only 5.5 adult scenes (one topless scene) for about 6-8 hours of gameplay, and two of them are technically part of the same scene. That means you only get around one lewd break every 1.5-2 hours of gameplay, assuming both my memory and math are correct. (I might be forgetting one or two.) At least the current scenes are moderately lengthy. They're all so well made, it's such a shame there's aren't a few more to change up the pacing a bit.

Also be warned -- it doesn't seem like there are that many (if any) actual choices you can make in this game if that's something you're looking for. No branching paths or anything like that. Just love interest choices, but the characters and story are interesting enough to keep me hooked either way.

Overall, the sheer potential this game with its setting has is very exciting. So far it looks like it just might live up to it. 10/10 so far. Keep it up and thank you Caribdis. Can't wait for the next update.

Loveing it since the beginning <3 cant wait for it to continue
All the characters have there unique quirks and reasons.
definitely one of my favorites <3 If you didnt gave it a shot yet then you definitely should.
Real good job Caribdis

After all these years, this might be the first time I've written a review.

This is probably the best written, and well paced, VN that I've played. The storyline is great. The characters are fairly varied and fleshed out, and the situations make sense based on the world that has been created.

TL&DR - I don't skip the dialog in this one. I want to know what is happening. And the audio works great with the visuals.

5/5

Eternum [v.03 Bugfixed]

Where do I even begin…

Script:

Let’s start with this. Caribdis is the best writer I have ever seen in the AVN world. This VN here…I feel that it’s on a league of its own. The talent that you need to have to place certain nuances to each character’s vocabulary and sentence structure to bring their unique personality out and clear to the audience without the accompaniment of voice acting is crazy, but Caribdis does it phenomenally. Also, it’s not just the main cast that breathes life, the side characters as well. Every character that you encounter in that world (or worlds in this game’s case) is memorable. Why? Because they have their own quirks that makes them stand out individually.

This AVN has it all in terms of storytelling: Genre - Action, Fantasy, Mystery, Comedy, Romance. Emotions – Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Love. The bonds you create feels so important that you really feel the connections. All this because of Caribdis’ stellar writing.

Comedy (this deserves its own section):

There are games that tried and failed. I don’t like mentioning other games in a thread dedicated to a specific one, so I’m not going to do that. The…amount…of times…that I genuinely laughed out loud was immense…oh my god. Tears in my eyes, no bullshit! I’m not going too in depth on specifics of the scenes cause that’s going to kill the mood to people who didn’t play it. But this one warm happy cuddly scene was…I am chuckling while typing this right now…damn. That whole thing was genius, best scene I have ever seen in a AVN. You know what I’m talking about Caribdis.

Characters:

Everyone is memorable. All the way to the characters that only appear once. Also, this is honestly the only AVN that I had genuine trouble in picking a love interest. I’m narrowing it down slowly. So far, I have 3 candidates. I never EVER took nowhere near this long in picking an LI before. All the other AVNs I played, I just look at the introductory chapter and BAM! I already picked one. But not this one, we’re 3 updates in and I’m still struggling between 3 girls and there’s still one more girl yet to be officially revealed as an LI and if it’s who I think it is…shit…4…this is going to get harder in more ways than one…

You even start to feel a genuine friendship with the side characters. Hell, this AVN made me form a genuine friendship with a Money-Loving merchant. This is something that many developers tend to lack on that I’ve seen. Lack of depth and personality with side characters. Side characters are just as important as the main characters, they add a large layer of depth to the world that you are creating and add an extra flare to the main cast by the way they interact with those side characters quirks. Are they surprised, disgusted, impressed? It brings a lot more depth and it shows who they are as a person and how they react to different personalities. Caribdis nailed it with this.

Character, Presentation & Sound Design:

I love the character designs; I feel like I played numerous Honey Select games but I haven’t seen models that I loved more than this games. Hell, I love the MC design and that’s rare! Now the sound. Stellar…a lot of attention to detail. The fluidity of transition of effects and music is fantastic. No moment was excessive or annoying. The effects are carefully placed in various scenes to bring more life. Also, the GUI is among the handful AVNs that show uniqueness. The menu gives the whole game its own identity.

Final Verdict:

The way this AVN is going right now…I’m betting everything I have and say that this particular title is going to leave its mark as one of the best (for me, THE best) AVNs ever created. It is going to be an example to future developers on what quality storytelling and presentation is. Remember that this is my review and you all will surely feel different (uniqueness is beautiful) but every major title that I played that I gave a 5 went down to a 4.9 because this AVN right here. This is a TRUE 10/10. This is the first time I actually given a review and it’s probably going to stay that way…UNLESS!...Caribdis makes another title.

To Caribdis:

I played both of your titles. You are one in a million, shattered all my expectations and brought a new level of standards to quality writing and presentation in AVNs with Eternum. You deserve all this and more.

One of the best, if the finished game was to be released on steam I will definitely purchase it for sure. Its plot direction and story build up are really good, at the end of the 0.2 update there was an epic cliffhanger that made me wish I had a time machine to know what will happen next, also the models used in this game are really good, even tho it's about hentai I was more interested in the story and hentai became secondary haha.

This is for version 0.3. Overall a great game. Compelling story, phenomenal renders, interesting characters who actually have personality and are not just "I am girl, have sex with me." I've encountered zero bugs or error messages while playing. Each update has more content than you would normally expect from most novels of this style. 5/5 would recommend anyone on the site to give it a try.

Reviewed as of v.02

Looking great so far. If you like the previous game made by Caribdis (Once In a Lifetime), you should like this as well. If you haven't played his/her previous game, you should try it!

Same great humor, graphics, and story as the previous game. Personally, I think the best aspect of Caribdis's games is the writing and attention to detail with the way the characters express themselves. This game continues that trend.

I'm generally not really a fan of the whole virtual reality theme, but I think it's used as a good tool here for sprinkling diversity throughout the game, and allowing scenes ranging from cyber-punk to fantasy themed. So far my favorite was probably the mystery themed server, but I'm enjoying how the creator is trying lots of different things.

[Review as of version 0.2]

This is a fairly lighthearted fantasy game similar to isekai/mmorpg anime. The story is about a VR based mmorpg and the protagonist's adventures in it.

What I liked about the game:

- The characters: All the main girls are very great with different personalities. The non-antagonistic males are what makes the humor of this game so great.
- The storyline: The storyline is interesting so far - there is a lot going on both in the VR world and in the real world. There is also a surprising amount of content for just the second update and it left me wanting more.
- The worldbuilding: I quite like the worldbuilding within the MMORPG so far. The game also has in game quests (although to be fair we only had one so far) which act as self contained short stories on their own.
- The diversity of in game environments/worlds: This game is about a VR game having a bunch of different servers so far we have seen a wide variety of worlds including cyberpunk, medieval fantasy, a mystery themed world reminding me of 1800s europe and a snowy wasteland and it looks like there will be many more to come.
- The diversity of character assets: Within the VR worlds characters can change clothing and hairstyles - this I think is an excellent feature as it keeps everything new and exciting.

What I disliked:

- Choices/paths: Some of the in game choices did not make a lot of sense to me and it can feel like choices that close character paths permanently are random/arbitrary. This is by far my biggest gripe with this game.

Things I am indifferent about but others may have problems with:

- Chosen one trope: As of 0.2, I get the impression that this game follows the chosen one trope. The MC is fully compatible with the system (explained by a character to be very rare), he sees certain visions related to the in-game story etc. Personally I dont mind this trope and if executed well I think it can really help the story (harry potter and star wars are some of my favorite works of fiction and they use this trope) but others might not feel the same
- Overpowered MC: As of 0.2 the MC already has access to two of the most powerful weapons in the game and an item everyone is looking for despite playing it only for a couple of weeks. I am not too bothered and it since it is only v0.2 and I can only comment on the pacing after the completion of the game.
- The atmosphere: If you are looking for something dark and serious, this game may not be for you. It is fun, lighthearted and anime inspired - I personally love this about the game but if you are looking for something more serious and focused on drama, you may not like this.

What I would like to see in the future:

- Expand on the worldbuilding and add tidbits of lore. I hate sandboxes/grinding in VNs so I am not advocating for that but it would be great to have a glossray with item descriptions etc.
- More worlds/settings: We already have a lot of different worlds and I want more. One of the biggest strengths of this game is the creative freedom it gives to the developer (since you can have different in game servers) and I think that should be taken advantage of.
- More in-game stories and quests: I think the short story in v0.2 which resulted in the mc getting a certain item was very well done and I want more. I am happy the MC got it through an in game questline as opposed to just ambushing another player. As far as the in-game adventures go, I want to see a mix between story based quests and pvp.
- More adult scenes: Subjective of course but the one thing that is worse than a meaningless fuckfests is blueballing. I want the games I play to strike a balance between the two - while the story is great I also want adult content as long as it is not hollow.

In conclusion I would give this game somewhere between 4.5 to 5 stars. It is one of the better VN based games on this website.

This is up there as one of the best games on the site.
I usually skip most of the writing when it comes to these games, but the story is genuinly funny and does not go on and on like many other games. The characters are pretty sterotypical personality wise but are done well so that you dont really care. The animation and character design are also quality when it comes to this style.

If this is only 0.2 im excited to see what the future holds.

One word — potential. The story reminded me a bit of SAO in general. Bunch of servers (worlds), protagonist who'll become the best and girls, of course. This game will be even more success than the first game of this dev, due to the amount of content this new setting allows to create. More girls, more story, more lewd — that's what we need and already have. I also liked the art style haven't changed and animations were improved a bit. That's exactly what I was expecting, I'd say even more than I was expecting. Excellent, overall, will be waiting for the future updates

It is a great game. It's a very refreshing game with some twist everywhere you go. The whole story itself is very fascinating, and I would like to think a story where you can relate to as long as you live in the current generation. Even though the story itself is pretty dark, but the devs package it with a really good and lighthearted characters. Hopefully in the future updates the devs keeps the story to the original intended one and not branching off just to make one or two fans happy. As I'm sure this kind of story is a very good story that has multiple route to exolore.
As the characters itself, the MC is really good, because he is the typical MC who is quite dense and to some people maybe stupid, but on the contrary he is a genius. I myself almost forgot that the MC is a student exchange and has won multiple awards in his specialization. The LI are beautifully made and each characters has unique personality and traits. Hopefully in future updates, the bio of the LI can be more included (I'm sure devs already thought about it). I quite like the Penny's last scene as the correct choice of our options are based on the conversations Penny had with Dalia in the beginning of the game. I think more choice options like that where u need to read the convo or bio makes us as a player more immersed in our playthrough and the game itself. The antagonist in this current update can't be really seen as this is only a second update. I'm sure the future updates will introduced more and more villains and maybe some allies and plot twist. Man, I can't wait for the future of thiis game.
I think this is enough for the rating of this game. I really like it and hope the best for the future of this game.

Honestly hadn't even heard of this game before I just checked it out after following a fan sig and dang I just gotta say that so far this game is straight up my alley and the humour is spot on for me so I've had quite a few chuckles.

The story, graphics and sound overall is A+ for me though for now the sex scenes are quite lacking but it's still a really early version at v0.2 but looking at the animations that have been shown so far they will probably be quite nice.

I haven't quite gotten a favorite girl quite yet but some of the scenes in game like the horror part was great and even though some parts of the game seems to be some kind of reference or seemingly taken/inspired by other games parts like as previously mentioned the horror part has a unique feel for it.

I also think it's a great premise and gameplay direction for the game to play out in different servers and each server seemingly has it's own theme so therefore what happens in the game differs depending on what server you play on.

For now thought we haven't really seen how the game will play out so this might be more of a guess of mine with what has happened thus far but I really hope it is so and I will follow this game till it's finished!

This is a fantastic game!

After the first 15 minutes I was sceptical. Why such good ratings for - what seemed to be - just an average game.
But after a while it really kicks off and becomes incredible with your first visit of Eternum.

As an Ero Games enjoyer, I must say that this is the funniest novel game I've ever played.

Man, I laugh so many times that I put my dick back in my underwear and started to enjoy the history. Keep up with the game!

I noticed that Annie loves Ready Player One, just like me. Maybe, just maybe this is why i loved so much the plot.

This will be my first fan sign on my profile for sure.

Keko Approves. ♥

Amazing writing, amazing comedy, and the unique camera panning, zooming, and effects really add to that. The general odea pf the story is not so unique but the execution is marvelous.

I want more!!!!

The graphics look very nice also, great bodies, good lighting, it all looks really professional.

ETERNIUM ticks all my 'boxes' in adult games. The writing is way above par, but the animation sequences make it something special. The premise reminds me of Stephen Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" series, updated from the 70's dream premise to 21st century VR technology. The girls do fall in line rather quickly, but the inevitability of that outcome earns a spot in the 'Voluntary Suspension of Disbelief' for an adult game. My only constructive criticism involves the white-flash of the O animations. Very few games show the female orgasm. The body is flooded with hormones and the brain is flooded with dopamine. Not showing it is -pardon the pun - anticlimactic. I'm going to guess getting it to look good is difficult since almost NOBODY does it. This story is top notch, keep those updates coming!

Review of v0.2

Caribdis knocking it out of the park once again. The harem-type formula of the VN is similar to Once in a Lifetime but there are huge improvements in terms of the visuals and art style. It has a really interesting concept this time around, it allows for a lot of cool storytelling potential that I hope the dev will pick up on. I love every character, they each have a distinct personality and the humor is great. Each character is balanced out well in terms of story time. The scenes are super hot and I like the variety in the body types of the girls as well. I'm really spoiled by the quality of the whole package, I feel like I should be paying for this! Definitely one of the best adult VNs I've ever played so far.

I have one minor issue with the dialogue, it is fun for the most part but I feel like the protagonist is, for lack of a better word, too much of a simp. Nothing wrong with compliments but I feel like he goes way overboard with them sometimes. It kinda bogs down the experience a bit. Also Nancy is way too hot and young looking to be a mom, this is ridiculous!

Everyone should check Eternum out, it's a great experience. Super looking forward to the next update.

I'm so glad to have found @Caribdis' games! The high ratings their games consistently receive are by no means a coincidence.

Both Once in a Lifetime and Eternum has a certain charm to it that a lot of other R18 VNs don't have (at least from my amateur experience on F95), and that is its writing and plot.

Even w/o the R18 material, it's worth the 5/5, and I'll gladly play both of them. With that being said, I do believe the characters could be more ... realistic, instead of falling head over heels for the MC right after a few interactions

I'm happy to see Eternum changed up its art style as well, because I absolutely dig it. The story this time is also more engaging than ever, and I can't wait to experience its newer updates.

Simply the best. Not much more could be asked for in terms of render quality, character design, story telling, and fun. My highest regards to the developer, as of version 0.2, the cliffhanger has left me with great anticipation for future releases.