Eternum (2022) v0.4

Introduction:

Eternum was created by the fast growing and renowned Visual Novel creator Cardibis. This is only their second published project under this name, and yet the game feels like a veteran of Visual Novels created this. You can find it here: Eternum by Caribdis (itch.io) Categories and Explaination of Categories:

(skip this section if you understand and want to go straight to the review)

As for the content in the game itself, I will separate into 7 categories: Story, Audio, Visual, Variety, Creativity, Fun, and Length. Each category gets scored from 1-5, with deviation allowed via decimals. These categories are all pretty self-explanatory, but for the sake of clarity to the readers and creators I will give a brief explanation of the SAVVCFT Formula.

-Story: The quality, or lack thereof, of the games story. This may have very little impact on your decision to try to game, for some it is entirely essential to connect with characters. When is a game deemed lesser for a great story?

-Audio: Audio is a very important facet in gaming, some games being legendary and instantly recognizable with just a short audio clip or an OST. Sound, especially quality English narration and dialogue, is a rarity within the Adult Game Community. I will rate dialogue, OSTs, general effect noises, etcetera, if available.

-Visual: Does the game only have static images? Is it uncensored? Pretty much just how good are the games visuals, pornographic and otherwise.

-Variety: Here I will cover variety in the form of seducible characters, position variety, kink variety etcetera... -Creativity: Is this just another visual novel with a basic story and naked 2-D waifus, or is it a trend setting and innovative game? The art style and audio play into this category as well. -Fun: Did I enjoy the game? Was it fun in the expected ways, in other ways?

-Time: How much content there is, as well as the general pacing of story and time between scenes. decided not to do length here as there are tons of great short form adult games. This is more of a quality of time spent versus total time spent.

Review

Story: Eternum combines a fun universe with complex characters and a fresh sci-fi spin on VR style gaming. I try not to spoil the games, so expect me to be a little vague here. The story is intriguing and unique while also not being overly tedious to keep up with. Story telling through character development is well done in this visual novel. Visual novels have to have a great story, this one doesn't fall short even in its uncompleted current state. This game has more depth in its uncompleted form than some completed multipart visual novels of similar caliber. Lots of themes are explored, some of which may be sensitive topics to some players, such as sexual harassment (not by you... usually). 4/5, will likely be a 5 in its completed state.

Audio: Better than the average VN, but still nothing too amazing. Nice, crisp sound effects and music clips. 3.5/5.

Visuals: This game takes visual novel imagery to a whole new level. Very creative and diverse world building and locations, creative and attractive character designs, lovely short animations for adult portions and non-adult portions. If you like amazing background art in your Visual Novel, then this game will be pure eye candy for you even without the porn. While it is getting creative with the ever-abundant Visual Novel software(s), it can still have that almost uncanny valley quality to its characters that VN models tend to have. This, overall, is not a big deal. Dialogue and story whisk you into this Universe, a little clipping isn't going to ruin the experience at all. For a visual novel 5/5, but in the overarching world Adult Games, I'd give it a 4/5. It's definitely a step or two above average animation for a VN, but visuals are something that can almost always be improved unless you've got a very specific style in mind. Definitely a pretty game.

Variety: There isn't a huge level of variety within the game yet, but I would say it's already above average for a VN when it comes to the number of characters and the styles of adult scenes you can partake in that aren't just cheap "give me porn" scenes. 3/5

Creativity: 5/5, original characters, storyline, and universe building. Granted, the VR thing has been used countless times in similar premises but never to this degree in the realm of Visual Novels that I am aware of.

Fun: For a visual novel, this is very good at keeping your attention and has some fun minigames. Although I am not the biggest Visual Novel fan, this one kept my attention. 4/5. Time: For how early in development this is, there is a lot of content, several hours' worth! With it being a visual novel there may be certain characters you don't particularly care for that you have to waste time on, but besides personal preference this was all around a fun game with awesome characters. 4/5

Final Score: 28.5/35

Definitely a future must play once complete, this will most likely be seen in the same light as Visual Novels like Being A DIK, Treasure of Nadia, and I even daresay Nekopara once complete.

Summary:

Cardibis might be fairly new on the block, be he already proved his talents as a creator with his first project and is only exceeding expectations with Eternum. If you want a story with complex characters and fantastical adventures in worlds from cyberspace to the REAL Hogwarts (Dumbledore is an idea thief). Check out this game.