Further footage of WiiWare title Eternity's Child has materialized, and ... well, we're not going to sugercoat this: we're just not that crazy about the above video. It is, as another member of the team put it, kinda janky.
However, there's an important distinction to make here, because we're convinced that the game itself still has potential -- its lush, inventive art style and sweeping orchestral soundtrack will ensure our heads remain turned, and we're still intrigued by the idea of controlling two characters at once. We're giving Luc Bernard's game the benefit of the doubt for now, but here's hoping that more promising coverage isn't too far away.
[Update: Sorry folks, but it appears as though the original trailer has been removed.]
[Via Go Nintendo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-25-2008 @ 2:19PM
SoshiKitai said...
It's like a Flash game from Newgrounds.
A mediocre Flash game from Newgrounds. O_o
Er... hopefully people find it fun? If it is, I'll give it a shot.
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3-25-2008 @ 4:55PM
Zachary Hinchliffe said...
a mediocre flash game from newgrounds that I made? as in, Key to Adventure?
hell, I'm honored you even played it.
3-25-2008 @ 4:57PM
Zachary Hinchliffe said...
sorry, i just went back and read the article again. maybe you didn't play my game. i was just thinking about the whole "controlling two characters" part combined with "mediocre newgrounds flash game" thing. oh well.
3-25-2008 @ 2:40PM
ArmiMaan said...
Looks like they still have a LOT of work to do on it.
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3-25-2008 @ 2:41PM
cygnusx12112 said...
My thoughts exactly. If they can put low CPU powered stuff like this on the Wii, then where the hell are games like N, and Line Rider???
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3-25-2008 @ 3:45PM
Arthur Lucena said...
A bit disapointing, I guess. .. hmm.. and I hope that I´m wrong. The graphics is very nice and also the sound, but the gameplay seems odd, almost mediocre (as said before).
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3-25-2008 @ 3:47PM
Rocketboy said...
My first video game?
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3-25-2008 @ 3:47PM
TWOO DEE said...
the only thing this game has going for it is the art style...and only barely. the gameplay footage has always made this look kinda boring
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3-25-2008 @ 4:10PM
Alex said...
it's really odd how it seems like this guy is playing for his first time, he like looks back and weird stuff. I really have the characters eye and head movements, I really hope that's just the first level and the game gets better as it goes.
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3-25-2008 @ 4:14PM
samfish (Brawl: 2793 0291 2277) said...
The graphics and sound are excellent, but the gameplay just...looks incredibly dull, unfortunately.
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3-25-2008 @ 5:11PM
Orion said...
I actually laughed because the music is so epic... and they it's coupled with that cruddy gameplay.. it's comical. And why the heck did the player go back in a loop at the end for like 5 minutes straight. Mario Bros did this jumping bit much better back over 20 years ago.. this is inexcusable. Also, where the heck are the enemies. The only thing somewhat threatening looking is a sun in the background that you cant interact with lol.
they should be embarrassed. I'll support WiiWare, but only games that have more than a few weeks of development time put into them. This person seems to be a much better artist than a game dev. Please move on to other avenues... please.
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3-25-2008 @ 5:42PM
DomoBraden said...
The character animation is stiff and amateurish... I could do much better than that, (granted I am an animator...but still).
I'm still intrigued by the game though, this didn't show enough for me to know what the full experience will be like...unless of course the entire game consists of jumping from platform-to-platform in a loop for no apparent reason. *shrugs*
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3-25-2008 @ 5:42PM
Ethan said...
I think those characters are in dire need of knees and elbows. Oh, and maybe something could actually happen.
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3-25-2008 @ 6:12PM
Jayenkai said...
Bring Back Plok!!!!
I don't know why, the animation reminded me of Plok.. Not the art style, the way the guy animates..
And if you're going to do that, ffs, do it with harmonica.. And Plok..
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3-25-2008 @ 6:57PM
Blue_Falcon said...
This was one of my more hyped WiiWare games...
...now, not so much. I'll still wait for it to be released and hope some positive press comes out of it, but I'm a bit disappointed in what I'm seeing here.
The best thing is though that the game is only $5. Even if the game is somewhat meh, it beats out most other downloadable games going for that same price range.
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3-25-2008 @ 7:18PM
Rollin said...
This looks like a bad SNES homebrew, which might be redundant.
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3-25-2008 @ 9:21PM
Ronald said...
Cheburashka?
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3-25-2008 @ 9:48PM
LucBernard said...
ahem guys, don't do so much random hate, unlike other wiiware games I don't have funding
so instead of well just random hating behind your keyboards, as you see well I listen to smart critics not childish stuff, and it's in progress and this is the first level
plus the animation is supposed to be like that, it's a storybook came to life...
anyway now I see why other devs don't bother listening to players if your reaction is this bad
I mean seriously what were you guys expected? this is a wiiware game
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3-25-2008 @ 11:51PM
Safiel said...
It's hard not having funding (I currently work full time at a company with very little/no funding). I've found that when working with upcoming software people jump all over things often because they are actually misinformed about one thing or another. A lot of the time people are actually trying to help out, but they don't have all the details/know what features are coming in the near future/forget that you've been thinking about the problem way longer then they have.
Keep at it, the game style you have setup is awesome (I'm looking forward to you ds game!). Don't get down on criticism but keep it in mind.
Well, it's back to coding for me.
3-26-2008 @ 1:12AM
Bob the Tomato said...
Okay, here's some constructive criticism: from that video alone, there's no inspiration at all for me to play this game. Nothing *happens*: if I want to jump around on random platforms, I'll play through the first world of Super Mario Bros. 1, and there's actually 1) enemies to avoid, and 2) stuff to collect. I personally have nothing against the game's style, regardless of other people's opinions of animated elbows and whatnot, but again, from that video alone, it seems that there's no gameplay.
3-26-2008 @ 1:27AM
SoshiKitai said...
That's why the title included "and how not to show off your game"... if this was just a simple early stage, then they shouldn't have shown it. It was a stupid move on their part.
3-26-2008 @ 10:07AM
Jayenkai said...
A developer's actual response? Surely not..
I get the whole "strapped for cash" thing, but it doesn't cost money to make kick-ass games.
Centipong, Blockman and Alien Deathmatch are three kick-ass windows games I've made so far this year, and each time I've kept to the "I can't draw, so I'm going to keep things simple, and aim for the gameplay instead." rule.
Sure, Pick an art style and run with it..
But at the end of the day, that looks like a guy jumping around a fairly empty none-level.
Give us something special.
You can do it!!
3-26-2008 @ 9:52AM
Rocketboy said...
"I mean seriously what were you guys expected? this is a wiiware game"
Um, not garbage?
If this is really from the developer, It's apparent that he's just trying to get a quick buck. Wiiware, meet your first shovelware.
3-26-2008 @ 9:01PM
Safiel said...
@RocketBoy
I've got to totally agree with you on this one. If you're the sort of person to make something for the world, make it great! You also have to take into consideration who you are competing against, in this case companies with polished games and high budgets (like square). It makes it hard to be a small company, but it also means you have to be extra clever :) Pretending you're competing with low quality games when you're not is very foolish.
3-26-2008 @ 8:25AM
Patrick R said...
Looks pretty, but gameplay seems very dull. There doesn't seem to be anything at all to interact with. They took "platformer" pretty literally, it seems.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:40AM
Ben! said...
http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/9791
Is that the trailer in question? If so, you guys (commenters, I mean) are being incredibly harsh. It looks fine. Relax.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:54AM
Bob the Tomato said...
Nope. That wasn't the video to which this story referred.
3-26-2008 @ 9:59AM
Ben! said...
Alright, then. Does seeing the trailer I linked change any of your minds? Because, as I said, it doesn't look bad at all. And the art style is great.
Also, the "shovelware" comments are way over the line.
3-26-2008 @ 9:55AM
Jayenkai said...
I won't deny that the looks are great, just that so far I've seen nothing more exciting than "Generic Platformer #284"
Then again, I never really liked Earthworm Jim, so... You know..
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3-26-2008 @ 1:35PM
ZagZagovich said...
Wow. That was some of the worst jumping mechanic ever. It really looks like a flash game(even has the usual slowdown). I never really liked the style in the first place and without it there is no reason to buy the game anyway. also the trailer in the comments is from the early 360 version and it has the same problems. It's like they didn't even tried to make the game play better.
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3-26-2008 @ 1:35PM
ZagZagovich said...
Oh and by the way: jumping without bending your knees never looks good in a platforming game.
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