Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GameCube)

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Description

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a psychological thriller epic starring the adventures of twelve characters that span across the world and two millennia. From time immemorial the forces of evil from beyond have been trying to manifest themselves in our world, and it is only through the actions of these forgotten heroes that the world has been saved from being overrun. Chapters take place in Ancient Rome, Persia, the Middle East, and modern-day Rhode Island. Throughout the game, the protagonists will have access to several weapons appropriate for their era, from bastard sword and gladius to flintlock pistol and shotgun.

The game features an involved Magick system, which allows different spells to be created through the combination of runes. These spells can attack enemies, dispel illusions, and heal both the body and items.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem also has a unique feature called Sanity. If an enemy sees a character, their Sanity meter drops. When Sanity gets low, hallucinations begin to plague the character. Walls bleed, voices whisper from nowhere, the camera gets disoriented. Sanity can be restored by dealing a finishing move on a dying enemy, or with spells or some items. Aside from this, characters also have health and mana meters.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "エターナルダークネス　招かれた１３人" -- Japanese spelling
• "Eternal Darkness: Mawa Kareta 13jin" -- Japanese title
• "ED" -- Common abbreviation
• "이터널 다크니스" -- Korean spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
• Inspiration: Author - H. P. Lovecraft
• Protagonist: Female

User Reviews

Great, now I'm scared of my TV	Terrence Bosky (5463)
A real horror game, in the spirit of King and Lovecraft, not just blood and gore	weregamer (169)
The One That Changed Me	Jeff Clawson (7)	unrated
Eternal Darkness is the Gamecube's gift to fans of Cthulu.	kawaii (19)	unrated
Take a step into the Darkness	SiriusCrane (9)
An enjoyable 3rd-person adventure with a twist, but not going to become a classic.	Shadowcaster (261)
A Tribute To All Things Macabre	MasterMegid (902)
Great game	Boris Stovich (29)	unrated
An excellent game with superb pacing.	Simon Strange (59)

Critic Reviews

Digital Press - Classic Video Games	Dec 13, 2003	10 out of 10	100
Deaf Gamers	2002	9.3 out of 10	93
HonestGamers	Aug 05, 2002	9.3 out of 10	93
Gamesmania.de	Oct 29, 2002	93 out of 100	93
That Gaming Site	Oct 27, 2009	9 out of 10	90
Super Play (Sweden)	Oct, 2002	9 out of 10	90
Cincinnati Enquirer	Jul 09, 2002		90
AceGamez	Nov 22, 2006	9 out of 10	90
Bright Hub	Feb 17, 2009	4 out of 5	80
GamesFirst!	Aug 20, 2002		80

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

Eternal Darkness appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Ancients

Each of the Ancients is represented by a colour, which is the colour of their alignment as well as their Magick and their creatures.

• Ulyaoth, God of the dimensional planes, is Blue.
• Xel'lotath, Goddess of the Mind and Madness is Green.
• Chattur'gha, God of physical strength and matter is Red.
• Mantorok the Corpse God or God of Order and Chaos is Purple (though sometimes Black).

However, there is also"neutral" Yellow Magick present in the game. According to Denis Dyack, a designer of the game, this actually represents a fifth, unrevealed Ancient.The fact that yellow is the complementary colour of purple may also indicate that this Ancient is diametrically opposed to Mantorok.

Canada

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is the first game to be developed fully by a Canadian developer, inside Canada, and published by Nintendo Of Canada (NoC). As a result, it was released in Canada two days before the U.S.

Development

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was originally planned to be one of the last games released for the N64. Once it slipped that release, it was scheduled to be a GameCube launch title and be shipped in October 2001. It didn't make that date and was once again rescheduled for release in February 2002. It still didn't make that date and was finally released in June 2002. Because it was in testing for so long, the in-house testers at Nintendo began calling it "Everlasting Darkness."

Fourth wall

Silicon Knights co-developed the remake The Twin Snakes of Metal Gear Solid with Konami. Given that series' fondness for breaking the fourth wall, Silicon Knights reused some of the Eternal Darkness sanity effects, such as the tilting floor effect, during the player's battle with Psycho Mantis. Eternal Darkness is also one of the games recognised when the character attempts to "read the player's mind" (which consists of reading the contents of the system's memory card). Breaking the fourth wall in such a manner is a notable stylistic similarity between games developed by Silicon Knights and those developed by Hideo Kojima.

Inaccuracies

In the manual when describing Dr. Maximillian Roivas, they put the date and setting of "A.D. 1760 - Rhode Island, USA." Not only is it glaringly obvious that the United States not even exist at that point, but Rhode Island didn't even join the Union until 1790! Oops! The developers, Silicon Knights, are Canadian.

Names

Alexandra's family name, Roivas, is savior spelled backwards.

Ratings

This was the first Nintendo only published game ever to receive a ESRB Mature rating. Conker's Bad Fur Day and Perfect Dark are older Nintendo games that also carry a Mature rating but it can be argued that they were co-published by Rare.

References

• This game has several homages to classic horror and fiction writers. As if the Edgar Allen Poe quote on the intro wasn't enough, the guy who speaks to you on the beginning of the game introduces himself as Inspector Legrasse... and there is an Inspector Legrasse on H.P. Lovecraft's tale The Call of Cthulhu. The setting being on Rhode Island is another tip of the hat to Lovecraft's place of birth.
• Mantarok, the creature encountered by Ellia, is the keeper of "The Ancients". An obvious reference to Lovecraft's Yog-Sothoth, who is the keeper of The Great Old Ones. Also they both coexist in multiple planes of reality.
• While playing as Alex, check the stack of books in the study, to find another reference to classic horror tales, including Poe and Lovecraft.
• One of the sanity effects has the character's head falling off and quoting Shakespeare, more specifically Scene I, Act III of Hamlet, the famous "To Be Or Not To Be" speech.

References to the game

In Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, magazines called ED Magazine can be used to distract guards. The magazines show Ellia on the cover and a centerfold of Alex Roivas when used, two characters from Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.

Title translation

The translation of the Japanese title in English is "Eternal Darkness: Call of 13 People".

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2002– Best GameCube Game of the Year
  • 2002– Best GameCube Action Game of the Year
  • 2002 – #2 Best GameCube Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
• GameSpy
  • 2002 – Day of the Tentacle (Cthulhu) Award (GameCube)

Information also contributed by CaptainCanuck, Jiguryo, lasse, Mark Ennis, MasterMegid, Mike Turner, Sciere and Shadowcaster

Related Web Sites

• Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (official website)
• Eternal Darkness (Nintendo of America's official web site.)
• Eternal Darkness Sanctuary (Fan page with guides, cheats and various media.)