Episode 82: Eternal Darkness

Eternal Darkness is a game that holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. You play as Alexandra Roivos, called to her father’s mansion to confirm his identity after he is found dead and horrifically mangled. Annoyed by the police’s incompetence at solving this murder, Alex begins to explore the mansion in the hope that it will reveal some clues as to how he died. Before too long she discovers the first pages of the Book of Eternal Darkness, detailing the first encounter of a Roman legion named Augustus with an Eldritch Abomination. As she continues to explore, she learns more and more about these cosmic horrors and ordinary people’s encounters with them, and how it all ties into her father and her family history.

The game was released to insane critical acclaim, and on paper it's easy to see why. Spell crafting, full body dismemberment, a terrifying story about lovecraftian horrors and a story spanning 12 characters and 2000 years. But do these aspects all add to a compelling narrative and gameplay experience, or is it more shallow than initially appears?

On this episode, we discuss:

• What does it mean for something to belong to the cosmic horror genre? Is Eternal Darkness truly lovecraftian, or is that just a disguise it wears over the top of something far more banal?
• How does the spellcrafting, and spellcasting of Eternal Darkness work? Does it provide you options in combat both offensively and defensively? Are you given enough rope to truly craft your own spells?
• How challenging is Eternal Darkness? Are you limited in terms of resources, and are the horrors of the story reflected in its mechanical identity?

We answer these questions and many more on the 82nd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Eternal Darkness OST: Steve Henifin

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Is there more depth to the spellcrafting than there initially appears? Was there a particular vignette that stood out to you as well done? What are you hoping to see in a sequel? Let us know what you think on our community discord server!