Eternal Darkness Spiritual Successor Heading to Nintendo Wii U

By Jorge Ba-oh 03.05.2013 13

Eternal Darkness Spiritual Successor Heading to Nintendo Wii U on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

The spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness, an episodic project lead by Denis Dyack, has been announced today.

Called Shadow of the Eternals, the game has been put together by the creators of Eternal Darkness and led by Dyack. Shadow of the Eternals is being pitched as an episodic adventure starring multiple characters and in development for Nintendo Wii U and PC.

Precursor Games, a new studio formed off the back of Silicon Knights, is crafting the new games and it's said to be bringing back the familiar mechanics from Eternal Darkness.

Image for Eternal Darkness Spiritual Successor Heading to Nintendo Wii U
Image for Eternal Darkness Spiritual Successor Heading to Nintendo Wii U


The project will also aim to be crowdfunded, however not on Kickstarter, with the campaign launching on Monday 6th May. Those who chip in will receive access to development forums, have chances to interact with the team and much more.

The story is also said to follow detective Paul Becker as he sets out to investigate a Louisiana massacre. During the investigation Becker learns of a group called "Eternals" and the game will follow various different characters across 2,500 years of history.

Are you an Eternal Darkness fan? What do you think of the new project?

Box art for Shadow of the Eternals
Developer

Precursor

Publisher

Precursor

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

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Reader Score

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European release date TBA   North America release date TBA   Japan release date TBA   Australian release date TBA   

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Hawk is offline. Hawk 03.05.2013#1

I was just about to post this! Other than the episodic content, I am incredibly excited about this!

Working like a fiend isn't very fun... and surprisingly isn't very fiendish either.
 
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RudyC3 is offline. RudyC3 03.05.2013#2

Not too fond on episodic content, but depending on how much it costs to get involved in this, I might actually invest.

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Canyarion is offline. Canyarion 03.05.2013#3

I have to say "various different characters across 2,500 years of history" does sound very exciting. Perhaps that's what I liked most about Eternal Darkness.

I'm just afraid that the developers have forgotten how to make a good game. Eternal Darkness started as an N64 game and was later  changed to a GameCube game. It's around 12 years old I think?
Since then the only decent game they made was Too Human.

Edit: I also don't really trust them with my money, after what they've done in the last years.

( Edited 03.05.2013 23:14 by Canyarion )

 
crackedthesky is offline. crackedthesky 04.05.2013#4

I'm excited for this! Been waiting a long time.

I'm not too worried about the studio's troubled past. Nintendo owns the rights to the universe which makes me think they're going to make sure this stays on track.

Pretty interesting that it's coming to PC though. That suggests that either Nintendo isn't publishing it first-hand, or they're branching out a little bit.

NNID: crackedthesky
My blog, mostly about writing: http://www.davidjlovato.com
 
Hawk is offline. Hawk 04.05.2013#5

This isn't Nintendo exclusive. As far as I know, Nintendo has no part in this whatsoever. Precursor games has said there will be stretch goals for other consoles. Also, 1.5 million for a crowd funded project is pretty ridiculous. 

There is a countdown on the website: http://www.shadowoftheeternals.com

How awesome would it be if the crowd funding thing was a joke (playing with our sanity), and when the countdown to the beginning of the crowd funding ends, instead of the funding opening, there is just a release date.

Working like a fiend isn't very fun... and surprisingly isn't very fiendish either.
 
Canyarion is offline. Canyarion 04.05.2013#6

ED was made with the help of Nintendo, that's why it was so great.

Without Nintendo's help, I can't see this become anything more than average. Also, doesn't Nintendo own the sanity meter?

I bet Dyack went to Nintendo to discuss the possibilities of a Wii U exclusive... and Nintendo turned them down. I think that says enough.

 
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RudyC3 is offline. RudyC3 04.05.2013#7

Canyarion said:
I'm just afraid that the developers have forgotten how to make a good game. Eternal Darkness started as an N64 game and was later  changed to a GameCube game. It's around 12 years old I think?
Since then the only decent game they made was Too Human.

They also worked on Metal Gear Solid: twin Snakes with Konami, which also turned out to be a very solid game.

Cubed3 Limited Staff :: Review and Feature Writer
 
Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 04.05.2013#8

Episodic is fine, ED would have worked episodic. The only games that dont are large non-linear things like Zelda.

I trust Dyack when it comes to characters and storytelling. I just hope he doesnt get graphics obbessed - wanting to be cutting edge in all areas at once is just too costly and doomed to failure. 

I bet Dyack went to Nintendo to discuss the possibilities of a Wii U exclusive... and Nintendo turned them down. I think that says enough.

Not really - Nintendo themselves arnt that gr euphemistic at story based games.
I agree they helped make ED what it is, but their rejection (if it happened) reflects on Nintendo just as much as Dyack.

Also, 1.5 million for a crowd funded project is pretty ridiculous.

Many have got a lot,lot more then that.
The tricky thing is getting that much without a big name attached.

Canyarion said:

Since then the only decent game they made was Too Human.

And thats debatable.
Too Human.started as a massive ps1 game, a rpg too, not the generic hack and slash it become later.

( Edited 04.05.2013 10:36 by Darkflame )

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Vorash Kadan 04.05.2013#9

FUCK YES!!! Pardon my language but YEAH BABY YEEAAAHHH!!!!

It is not wise to speak on subjects you do not know all facts about, nor is it smart to judge a game based on looks alone. PSN: Nintendo_Gamer 3DS: 4296-3029-7422
 
Trepe is offline. Trepe 05.05.2013#10

I've never understood the excitement over Eternal Darkness. I bought it on Gamecube expecting a great game and I just thought it was an ok game. An ok game with some great ideas, but as a whole it failed to get me excitied in any way. 

Hopefully this game will be an improvement while retaining the aspects which made it stand out.

 
crackedthesky is offline. crackedthesky 06.05.2013#11

Hawk said:
This isn't Nintendo exclusive. As far as I know, Nintendo has no part in this whatsoever. Precursor games has said there will be stretch goals for other consoles. Also, 1.5 million for a crowd funded project is pretty ridiculous.

Agreed on 1.5 mil being a ridiculously huge goal. I'm assuming they're hoping most of that will come from a publisher. I'm wondering why they need it anyway; they have a playable game already, and from the brief glimpses of the video that didn't look pre-rendered, it looks pretty solid.

I know it's not Nintendo exclusive, which strikes me as odd. Nintendo has a copyright on the series, its universe, and the sanity meter. IGN spoke with a dev and confirmed that it will follow the same health/sanity/magic formula as Eternal Darkness, and it's very obviously in the same universe, so I'm wondering how this game is going to work around all of Nintendo's copyrights. That's actually the thing worrying me the most; I don't want the team's creativity stifled or for them to make it too dissimilar to the first game because of copyright issues.

NNID: crackedthesky
My blog, mostly about writing: http://www.davidjlovato.com
 
JoshSL is offline. JoshSL 06.05.2013#12

Not only is 1.5mil a lot of money for a video game fundraiser (I've very rarely heard of games around 1mil or more with successful crowdfunding) but it's a very obscure and niche game, don't expect it to reach the goal.

You know what's even better?

Precursor Games is under no obligation to complete the Game, or in the event completion is impossible, return any of the donations it has received.

With most crowdfunding sites, the donators are refunded if the project isn't successful. So lemme get this straight.. there's almost no way this is going to work, and if it doesn't

  • the game isn't made
  • no one gets refunded

    I would be extremely skeptical about donating to this if I were you. I'm already flinching at the thought of tens of thousands of dollars being thrown down the drain or given to unorganized and clumsy developers.

    EDIT: Nevermind they updated it.
    They'll now refund everything if it doesn't succeed. I should think so.

    Assuming they're not lying (which I'm pretty sure they'd be legally liable for) go ahead and donate if you fancy! (I still don't think it'll succeed but hey, if you really like the idea maybe it's worth a try.)

    ( Edited 06.05.2013 20:31 by SuperLink )

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    Darkflame (guest) 07.05.2013#13

    Some random games that got over $1million:

    Wing Commander - $7 million
    Elite 4 - $2 million
    Tim Shaffers Point and Click - $3 million
    Planetary Anilation - $2.5million
    Dreamfall Chapters - $1.5 million

    (and these are only what I have heard of, or pledged for myself)
    So its very possible. 
    ---
    ED2ish has $83.5 thousand so far, a long way to go - but then, there hasn't been that many funders yet - each seems to be paying  $60 or so, which shows quite some brand loyalty.


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