Eternal Darkness: The Greatest Lovecraft Game Nobody* Played

#EternalDarkness #EternalDarknessReview #SurvivalHorror #Lovecraftian

MONSTERS OF THE WEEK: ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY’S REQUIEM

Eternal Darkness is often named as one of the greatest survival horror games ever made. It was highly creative, technically impressive and a great example of both, great lovecraftian fiction in video games before it became ubiquitous in media, as well as how much a narrative-first approach in game design can benefit a good experience.
It’s an amazing game that sadly almost nobody at the time bought and played.

Chapters
00:00 Part I: And With Strange Aeons
06:44 Sponsor
08:14 Part II: Re-Animator
17:59 Part III: The Call of Xel’Lotath
25:46 Part IV: The Shadow over Silicon Knights
32:05 Indie-Showcase: Prodeus & Credits

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How to emulate Eternal Darkness with the Dolphin Emulator (Settings used for this video), plus some notes on legality of emulation and video game preservation:

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Get PRODEUS DRM-free on GOG!

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Credits

Original Script & Eternal Darkness Footage: @MichaelSaba

Copy Editing & Captions (English): Matt Cox

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Sources/Gameplay Credits

Roger Ebert declaring Video Games Can Never Be Art

The complete Lovecraft works free for ebooks

Violence in Video Games 1983 Senate Hearing

Denis Dyack Interview with The Escapist

Video Game Patent: Sanity System

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Ported to Switch | NintendoLife

World of Longplays:
PlayStation 4 Longplay [024] Beyond Two Souls | Played by: Spazbo4
PC Longplay [567] Outlast | Played by: Spazbo4
PSX Longplay [004] Resident Evil | Played by: Spazbo4

BIG BAD WOLF | Case Animatronics | JackSepticEye

Quake - End_ Shub-Niggurath's Pit | LightningBoltForever

Resident Evil (Gamecube) Full Playthrough as Jill | TheInnocentSinful

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Video Games shown in this video (in order of first appearance)
Until Dawn (2015), Beyond: Two Souls (2013), Outlast (2013), F.E.A.R. (2005), C.A.S.E. Animatronics (2016), Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 (2015), Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014), Silent Hills (Teaser, 2014), The Sinking City (2019), Baldur’s Gate III (2020), Bloodborne (2015), Quake (1996), Alone in the Dark (1992), Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet (1993), Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002), Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen (1996), Resident Evil 4 (2005), Metal Gear Solid (1998), Resident Evil (1996), Silent Hill (1999), Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004), Resident Evil (2002), Prodeus (2021)

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Movies shown in this video (in order of appearance)
Lovecraft Country (2020), Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood (2012), Spongebob Squarepants (1999–)

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Music Credits

Contains samples from
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem OST
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen OST
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 OST
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth OST
Metal Gear Solid OST
Prodeus OST by Andrew Hulshult

Spongebob Squarepants Theme Song by Derek Drymon, Mark Harrison, Stephen Hillenburg, Blaise Smith

lucafrancini - We Are Ready for the Glory

Cecil Opia - Shame, Stains

[just-a-duck]

What I love about Eternal darkness is that even if you come across a glitch you’ll never truly know if it’s a glitch or not, the game has gaslighted you that much.

[reboot]

There was also a special ending if you beat the game 4 times getting a different special rune the first three runs to be able to unlock the ultimate rune. THAT ending was true Lovecraft horror and was a blast to obtain when I was younger.

[loganagle]

I am still unironically pissed about the lack of a sequel. The Sanity/Madness Mechanic was something that could have been expanded upon and refined in subsequent games, especially with the progressively better graphical capabilities of subsequent console generations. Eternal Darkness could have been a franchise IP to rival Silent Hill, Outlast or even Resident Evil. Instead it's another infinitely-promising baby that was strangled in the crib.

[thinkstoomuch]

I love how “Eternal Darkness” combines HP Lovecraft’ s and Edgar Allan Poe’s literature to create something truly unique!

[cherrycordiaI]

"An incredible game that, sadly, next-to-nobody actually played."
It's me. I'm Next-to-Nobody. This was my favorite GC game growing up and I've played through it at least a dozen times. I even did a report on it in middle school. Last summer I replayed it again for my husband, since he's a huge Lovecraft fan but not a console gamer.

[shnerdcast]

I use to watch my brother play this when we were kid's. It always scared the crap out me when I tried to play, so I would just watch him play it lol. Every now and then we talk about this game and how not many people knew about it.

[jikrebelloza]

The sanity system was first filed in 2000, and the amount of time that a patent can last is 20 years, so the sanity system should be fair game for literally anyone right now in the current year of 2021

[HeBeHu]

"May the rats eat your eyes!"

So many good memories of this game. The insanity effects were really well done really creeped me out the first time experienced them. Shame about the sequel not ever making the cut.

[BisectedBrioche]

I was a total Nintendo fangirl in the early 2000's, so I was actually kind of surprised to learn it was obscure years later, when cosplaying Alex Roivas got me back into wearing dark eyeshadow. I remember the memes around the time Too Human came out basically boiling down to "...and then you'll make ED 2?".

[Effel]

Eternal darkness is what got me into lovecraft! I honestly thought that E.D. was gonna be as huge as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Still waiting on the sequel...Patiently.

[RagnarRoxShow]

*The title (i.e. "...that nobody played") is of course a mild dramatic exaggeration pointing to the fact that it didn't sell enough to bring it its development costs, which made Nintendo cancel the sequel in development, but in case you actually _have_ played it, please don't hesitate to rush into the comment section and tell me how the title is wrong! (it boosts engagement)

[traviswilde]

When I played this many years ago I almost punched my little brother in the arm because the TV volume turned all the way down. Turns out my in-game sanity was so low, the game was messing with me in real life. This game is a master piece.

[GAZF]

Liked before watching simply because Eternal Darkness is underrated as hell. Praise Mantorok!

[dechangeman]

I love these videos. I never played Eternal Darkness, since it didn’t appeal to me back in the day. What a waste. Hoping to get a glimpse of it through emulation soon.
Keep up these great videoessays.

[Razalude]

My cousin and I found this game in the bargain bin one summer when we were teens and we fell in love with it. We are getting matching tattoos when we’re together again and they’re from Eternal Darkness. Im so happy you covered this!!!

[WynneL]

One of my favorite games of all time. I've still got a copy back at my parents' home. Can confirm: it is a true masterpiece, and the fact that it has never really been emulated (spiritually) or given a sequel or a PC port or something is absolute tragedy. EVERYONE should play this game. Hell, *I* want to go back and play it again! The plot is just SO GOOD. Watching this made me miss it all over again and remember how fun it is. I seldom replay games, but this one is the kind that you return to with renewed love and notice even more amazing details over time.
This has to be remade. They just did it for System Shock, one of the best sci-fi horror stories, so who knows?

[Mooseknuckle-ml]

Every video that discusses eternal darkness always has a sanity moment in it. And i fall for it everytime

[eldritchmorgasm]

"Eternal Darkness & Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the World" were some of the first things that got me into Lovecraft, and both are on my Favorite Games List

[puffythedestroyer]

Normally, I feel the phrases “lovecraftian” or “eldritch” are often overly applied to generic media that’s hardly lovecraft-esque in subject or tone, or just ripping off his source material in the surface level sense.
Eternal Darkness, however, is one of the few videogames that wholeheartedly, rightfully & lovingly earns those accolades while creating it’s own intelligently crafted universe & rules.
(Even with a bit of E.A. Poe & Legacy of Kain flavor on top of that)

[NoUploadsEver]

I only ever got to play a small amount of it, but I was impressed with both the sanity system AND how combat dismembered enemies by directly targeting limbs. Way ahead of its time. Biggest potential for a series that was squandered with just one game.