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

[wrunc]

yeah they tend to be a bit strange, combing through them you can even see some of them repeat not to mention every 4+ stars review is liked by caribdis while others are not. it comes of as disingenuous and i'd be lying if i said i didn't smell something fishy going on here.

also i don't wanna start a war, but compared to other top titles on this site this game is just nowhere near that level. it's actually insane how well this game is received despite being mediocre at best.

And? Go to any thread where the dev is active and you will see high rated reivews are liked by the creators (it is the same with Pale Carnations and many other games for example).

While I am not the highest tier supporter of the dev, I do bump my support during release times so I have had access to the higher tier discord channels during release times. Not once have I seen the developer ask anyone to write reviews - not here, not on itch.io and not on discord. You think he somehow convinced over 670 people to give him high ratings without ever even mentioning reviews to his patrons? Go support him at the $60+ tier (thats where you get access to all the discord channels) and read through his posts on the discord channels yourself if you think I am lying. You will see that he actually tries to distance himself from this site which is why he is not active here other than liking the occasional comment or review.

Also stop with the 'i don't wanna start a war' crap you know exactly what you are doing with a post like this. Look at the growth on patron since the game came out:

You must be registered to see the links

- that would not happen if people did not like the game or do you think there is some conspiracy there too where the dev is somehow tricking people into giving him money?

You have no right to decide what people should feel about this game. If you dont like the game then just go away - stop telling people how they are supposed to feel about the game. And stop making stupid conspiracy theories and implying that the dev is engaging in review manipulation when you dont know what you are talking about.

 

[Son of Durin]

also i don't wanna start a war, but compared to other top titles on this site this game is just nowhere near that level. it's actually insane how well this game is received despite being mediocre at best.

Spoiler: You claim you don't want to start a war...

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[ArDZer]

Spoiler: You claim you don't want to start a war...

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Spoiler: When one single facepalm doesn't cut it

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This expression is also on point. And he certainly got some artillery thrown at him (despite stating that he did not wanted to start a war but did anyway).

Edit: This also reminds me of this meme

Spoiler: So much for fun

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[HardcoreCuddler]

compared to other top titles on this site this game is just nowhere near that level. it's actually insane how well this game is received despite being mediocre at best.

Agreed that it's mediocre.
The entire game is basicaly just content over content and some more content.
There are pretty much 0 actual mechanics to speak of besides some basic "congratz you changed a variable that determines which set of images are rendered after around 100 scenes from now".
But...so what? If people like it, that's fucking great to me.
The content editors are putting in hard work to get the story and renders out, and they're cashing in. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Deleted member 5730975]

Agreed that it's mediocre.
The entire game is basicaly just content over content and some more content.
There are pretty much 0 actual mechanics to speak of besides some basic "congratz you changed a variable that determines which set of images are rendered after around 100 scenes from now".
But...so what? If people like it, that's fucking great to me.
The content editors are putting in hard work to get the story and renders out, and they're cashing in. I see nothing wrong with that.

I am not going to bother responding to that obvious troll but I will respond to this.

How does lack of mechanics make the game mediocre? The point of any game is to entertain not pile on mechanics nobody cares about that only serve to frustrate the audience. You can have the most mechanically complex game in the world but if people dont have fun playing it, it is going to be a stinking pile of dogshit. Similarly if a game has no mechanics other than variable changes but is entertaining to most people that play it, then to me it is an excellent game.

I completely disagree with your assessment that mechanics are what make a great game. I think you should judge a game by the entertainment it provides to you because that is the whole point of playing a game.

 

[Frowster]

Agreed that it's mediocre.
The entire game is basicaly just content over content and some more content.
There are pretty much 0 actual mechanics to speak of besides some basic "congratz you changed a variable that determines which set of images are rendered after around 100 scenes from now".

So your biggest criticism of Eternum is that... it focuses on storytelling at the expense of gameplay mechanics?

Seems reasonable, considering the definition of a visual novel:

Visual Novel
Visual novels are interactive stories. They focus mainly on character development and plot rather than action and gameplay mechanics.

(...) Visual novels are distinguished from other game types by their generally minimal gameplay. Typically the majority of player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving as if they were turning a page (many recent games offer "play" or "fast-forward" toggles that make this unnecessary), while making narrative choices along the way. (...)

Okay, that's enough internet for me today.

 

[Takkatakka]

Agreed that it's mediocre.
The entire game is basicaly just content over content and some more content.
There are pretty much 0 actual mechanics to speak of besides some basic "congratz you changed a variable that determines which set of images are rendered after around 100 scenes from now".
But...so what? If people like it, that's fucking great to me.
The content editors are putting in hard work to get the story and renders out, and they're cashing in. I see nothing wrong with that.

I mean...it is a renpy game and a visual novel, it isn't supposed to be Anno 1800 or Crusader Kings 3.

 

[tewinter]

In my opinion Eternum is the best in what it tries to be, it's a silly adventure with a lot of eye candy and a good story, it's self aware and doesn't shy away from using tropes. But I wouldn't compare it to Artemis or Leap of Faith which are other games I really like, because from my POV they don't even attempt to compete with each other, the way the stories are told isn't the same neither is the apparent end goal, so I would only compare it to other games with a similar premise.

With that said, just go and enjoy your VNs, don't try to stir shit just because you think you're funny, spoiler alert, you aren't, you're pitiful at best and only deserves to be ignored.

 

[1tomadeira]

Please don't go Fullmetall Alchemist with the reviews. I also that anime and some fans are so damn obnoxious downvoting other animes just for FMA be at the top. Same for games around here, everyone has their tastes and it should be respected. I don't like Pale Carnations that much, and to me Caribdis games are better, but if people like it I must respect it. If tastes were all the same, life would be boring.

Unless you love pineapple pizza. That is a crime, fuck that shit.

 

[PeterSBigD]

I know this is a long shot and probably i am horribly wrong......Dont you guys think alot of the reviews have a little bit of same style to them?

alot of them contain at least these points or similar
- Best game/best from the developer/developer's make another good one/banger from developer
- Dissing honey select games yet this one is different/doubt about 3d/doubt about honeyselect models.

Well i hope its nothing though, coz i like this game.

I AM NOT A BOT. I AM NOT A BOT. CHAOZENIGMA, I AM NOT A BOT

 

[YpsitheFlintsider]

yeah they tend to be a bit strange, combing through them you can even see some of them repeat not to mention every 4+ stars review is liked by caribdis while others are not. it comes of as disingenuous and i'd be lying if i said i didn't smell something fishy going on here.

also i don't wanna start a war, but compared to other top titles on this site this game is just nowhere near that level. it's actually insane how well this game is received despite being mediocre at best.

What are some of these other games?

 

[wiseold6996]

yeah they tend to be a bit strange, combing through them you can even see some of them repeat not to mention every 4+ stars review is liked by caribdis while others are not. it comes of as disingenuous and i'd be lying if i said i didn't smell something fishy going on here.

also i don't wanna start a war, but compared to other top titles on this site this game is just nowhere near that level. it's actually insane how well this game is received despite being mediocre at best.

I find other top titles mediocre compared to eturnum

 

[HardcoreCuddler]

I completely disagree with your assessment that mechanics are what make a great game. I think you should judge a game by the entertainment it provides to you because that is the whole point of playing a game.

Mechanics are, in my opinion, what make a game a game.
Content and storytelling are what make a great story, not a game.
This is not a game to me by any stretch of the imagination because there's no actual gameplay. Making a decision every 20 minutes isn't gameplay.
But this can be a great story and that's it, that doesn't make this project any lesser than others on the website that have abysmal story and content but boast a ridiculous amout of pointless, annoying and poorly balanced gameplay (ahem literaly 50% of the games on this site)
Hell, I prefer having loads of content (story, animation, CG's, whatever) over loads of gameplay because that's the fucking reason I'm on this site. I'm here to lay back and relax not optimise my fucking attacks in a fighter game.
I've enjoyed things like Eternum and Harem Hotel more than most projects on here and the main reason for that was that they're mainly just stories, not games. If anything I prefer the open-world feel of Harem Hotel as a gameplay aspect but besides that I don't want any other shitty gameplay mechanic in my sexy stories.

So your biggest criticism of Eternum is that... it focuses on storytelling at the expense of gameplay mechanics?

I really didn't mean that as criticism. Eternum is better than any shitty gameplay-filled project with close to no smut on this site.

I mean...it is a renpy game and a visual novel, it isn't supposed to be Anno 1800 or Crusader Kings 3.

Again...yea...I know it's not supposed to be. I didn't say that it should have more gameplay.

 

[Dragon59]

And? Go to any thread where the dev is active and you will see high rated reivews are liked by the creators (it is the same with Pale Carnations and many other games for example).

While I am not the highest tier supporter of the dev, I do bump my support during release times so I have had access to the higher tier discord channels during release times. Not once have I seen the developer ask anyone to write reviews - not here, not on itch.io and not on discord. You think he somehow convinced over 670 people to give him high ratings without ever even mentioning reviews to his patrons? Go support him at the $60+ tier (thats where you get access to all the discord channels) and read through his posts on the discord channels yourself if you think I am lying. You will see that he actually tries to distance himself from this site which is why he is not active here other than liking the occasional comment or review.

Also stop with the 'i don't wanna start a war' crap you know exactly what you are doing with a post like this. Look at the growth on patron since the game came out:

You must be registered to see the links

- that would not happen if people did not like the game or do you think there is some conspiracy there too where the dev is somehow tricking people into giving him money?

You have no right to decide what people should feel about this game. If you dont like the game then just go away - stop telling people how they are supposed to feel about the game. And stop making stupid conspiracy theories and implying that the dev is engaging in review manipulation when you dont know what you are talking about.

Wow, imagine developers liking positive reviews about their work. Something insidious must be going on for sure!

 

[Takkatakka]

Again...yea...I know it's not supposed to be. I didn't say that it should have more gameplay.

I mean...if you're saying that it is mediocre because it has little gameplay that implies that it should have
more gameplay and game mechanics to be better:

Agreed that it's mediocre.
The entire game is basicaly just content over content and some more content.
There are pretty much 0 actual mechanics to speak of besides some basic "congratz you changed a variable that determines which set of images are rendered after around 100 scenes from now".
But...so what? If people like it, that's fucking great to me.
The content editors are putting in hard work to get the story and renders out, and they're cashing in. I see nothing wrong with that.

And again: That is just not what it is meant to do and honestly: Most games with a lot of game mecanics on this page are a disaster.

 

[PervyParadox]

Mechanics are, in my opinion, what make a game a game.
Content and storytelling are what make a great story, not a game.
This is not a game to me by any stretch of the imagination because there's no actual gameplay. Making a decision every 20 minutes isn't gameplay.
But this can be a great story and that's it, that doesn't make this project any lesser than others on the website that have abysmal story and content but boast a ridiculous amout of pointless, annoying and poorly balanced gameplay (ahem literaly 50% of the games on this site)
Hell, I prefer having loads of content (story, animation, CG's, whatever) over loads of gameplay because that's the fucking reason I'm on this site. I'm here to lay back and relax not optimise my fucking attacks in a fighter game.
I've enjoyed things like Eternum and Harem Hotel more than most projects on here and the main reason for that was that they're mainly just stories, not games. If anything I prefer the open-world feel of Harem Hotel as a gameplay aspect but besides that I don't want any other shitty gameplay mechanic in my sexy stories.

You're right, content and storytelling are what make a great story, meanwhile the choices and the clickable elements are what makes it a game. Even though the mechanics are simple, this is still a game by every stretch of the imagination. No matter how you turn it around, as long as someone have to interact with it to move it on, so as long as there is mechanics no matter how simple, then this is a game. Period.

Also being simple don't necesseraly mean "mediocre", but I'm trying not to go too much into that obvious conflict-seeking comment. Just pointing out real quick that 'simple' and 'mediocre' are not the same thing : it can be simple and still do the job and be well done.

And honestly, as much as I enjoy Eternum mainly for the story too, I don't think I would enjoy it as much if it wasn't a game. Making choices and clicking elements on a screen is more satisfying than just watching a story unfold, no matter how great the story can be.

 

[GingerbreadMan]

...
Making choices and clicking elements on a screen is more satisfying than just watching a story unfold, no matter how great the story can be.

I'm entirely with you, I just wanted to add to this point:

Some people seem to be under the impression, that only CHOICES are choices. Unless you have 'twelfty' paths and are in an open world where you can decide/define everything, you are restricted and therefore those choices are no choices or don't count or whatever.

If you want Airplanes, don't play Age of Empires and complain. You don't like a VNs' mechanics or the story told or the characters involved? Maybe do some critical feedback and then leave or compromise.

Sure, some give you a great deal of decision-making in their VN/game, but I feel most of them just don't have a STORY to begin with - they are either more like a toolset/device for an array of sexy encounters, empty like a lot of those sandboxes, or cram a set of stories in the paths to cover more audience, cramming together stuff that hopefully won't interfere with each other all that much and take away development time from your preferred path(s).

There are exceptions, sure, like Eternum for me is an exception in creating an artistically well-done/pleasing to the eye HS game.

Sometimes I even feel like choosing LIs is too many choices for a game for it often reduces the canon story parts of the story that mostly are the best fleshed-out story parts. So either the story gets crippled or the LI was not part of it from the start.

Some slight involvement/choices like in Eternum that keeps you involved/active is great though.

I'm more into VNs/stories though than 'actual' games around here.

 

[Odisey85]

It's simple , i like this game and i think it's a quality game .

 

[Takkatakka]

It's simple , i like this game and i think it's a quality game .

I don't think anybody can really argue, that Eternum is bad in what it tries to do. I really couldn't come up with a single thing that any other visual novel I played did considerable better. There are some that I would consider on a similar level like PC or BaD, but not better.

One point that could be mentioned is that - at least so far - Eternum doesn't seem to have any big decisions that excludes you from others. Since it is a harem game the different paths aren't exclusive to each other like the ones in BaD now are.

 

[An known]

I'll just drop this shit before the war ends.