Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Encyclopedia
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a psychological horror
action-adventure
video game released for the Nintendo GameCube
. Developed by Canadian
developer
Silicon Knights
and originally planned for the Nintendo 64
, it was first released and published
by Nintendo
on June 24, 2002 in North America. It was the first video game published directly by Nintendo, rather than a third-party developer, to be rated M for mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board
.
The game's setting is centered around a mansion in Rhode Island
, the home of the protagonist Alexandra Roivas' grandfather and the mysterious book known as 'The Tome of Eternal Darkness' that Alexandra finds there. It is presented in a third-person perspective in which the player must navigate a number of locations as 12 characters spanning different time periods. The game utilizes unique "sanity effects" to enhance the gameplay.
Though not a commercial success, Eternal Darkness was widely praised, even winning the Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development award at the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
.
containing, among other odd items, a tome bound with human skin and bone. When she reads this book, The Tome of Eternal Darkness, she experiences a scene in the life of Pious Augustus, a respected Roman
centurion
in 26 BC. Pious is led by mysterious voices to an underground temple, where he chooses one of three mysterious artifacts. The artifact transforms him into an undead
warlock
, the Lich
e, and makes him slave to one of three Ancients, powerful godlike beings whose "Essences" are incarnated as the artifacts. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that Pious is attempting to summon his Ancient into this reality, while the powerful fourth "Corpse God" Mantorok is bound on Earth already, apparently helpless to stop it. If this summoning came to pass, the Ancient would feast on the bodies and souls of all living beings, and cast the universe into the horror of eternal darkness.
As she searches for and finds chapters of the Tome scattered throughout the mansion, Alex finds herself reliving the experiences of several (player controlled) individuals who have crossed paths with Pious or other servants of the Ancients over the centuries, and as a result came into contact with the Tome itself. While many of these individuals meet a sinister fate, their cooperation ultimately gathers the Essences of the three remaining Ancients in the mansion. Alexandra's own ancestors discover the long-deserted City of Ehn'gha beneath the family mansion, and powerful magickal machinery inside. Alexandra powers up this mechanism with the Ancients' essences, and summons a rival Ancient to fight Pious'.
While the two Ancients fight, Alexandra engages in combat with Pious with the aid of the spirits of his victims, the souls played in previous chapters, ultimately destroying his Ancient's essence. It loses the fight above as Alexandra kills Pious. Then, realizing that the Roivases and their allies have just brought another powerful ancient into the world, Edward's spirit quickly uses the mechanism in Ehn'gha to send the other Ancient back where it came from. He expresses pride in his granddaughter before he disappears.
After completing the game under all three alignments, it is revealed that all three Ancients have been destroyed — "All at once, separate and simultaneous, for the universe is made of many timestreams, many possibilities, all in harmonious synchronicity." Because he was bound, and not powerful enough to stop Pious Augustus himself, Mantorok manipulated the Roivas family into completing the work for him. He orchestrates the deaths of all three Ancients, in separate timestreams, and then connects them all, resulting in the annihilation of all three alignments. In the end, only the corpse god Mantorok is still alive, "festering in its tomb...plotting".
A fifth alignment, colored yellow, was confirmed by Denis Dyack
to be the alignment of another Ancient that was not included in the game. In-game, yellow appears on unaligned runes and disintegrating enemies.
, the Oublié Cathedral in Amiens, France
, and the Roivas family mansion with the Ruined City of Ehn'gha in Rhode Island, USA
.
relationship, which is important in the player's consideration of his or her own magic
k use. Ulyaoth (blue) affects magick ability and has power over Chattur'gha. Chattur'gha (red) affects physical health and has power over Xel'lotath. Xel'lotath (green) affects sanity and has power over Ulyaoth. By completing an optional goal, the player may also gain the ability to align spells with Mantorok (purple), which has power over the other three alignments and affects multiple parameters at once. However, there are certain spells the player cannot cast with the Mantorok alignment.
Eternal Darkness offers magical powers for healing, solving puzzles, and experimenting in combat. For example, it is possible for player characters to summon monsters like those they are fighting. This is achieved by a system of runes for the components of the spell and 3-, 5-, or 7-point "Circles of Power" which allow the runes to be scribed. Though they are called "runes" by the game (probably due to the term's association with mystery and magic), these symbols do not form an alphabet, but rather a vocabulary. As such, they would be more accurately termed glyph
s or especially sigil
ia. To cast a spell, an alignment rune (fueling the spell with the power of one of the four Ancients), a "verb" or effect rune (describing the action of the spell) and a "noun" or target rune must be used. For example, the spell for recovering health consists of the alignment rune for Chattur'gha, the rune for "absorb" (Narokath), and the rune for "self" (Santak). The same runes when aligned to Xel'lotath would restore sanity, rather than health. As more runes are discovered, more combinations are possible, although not all have an effect. With a larger Circle of Power, "power" (Pargon) runes may be added to spells to increase the intensity of the spell. Runes and Circles gathered during a chapter are stored in the Tome of Eternal Darkness and available in all subsequent chapters, as well as to Alex in 2000 AD.
One effect which is consistently used is a skewed camera angle accompanied by whispers, cries, and unsettling noises. The lower the sanity meter, the more skewed the camera angle and the louder the sound effects. Fourth wall
breaking effects include simulated errors and anomalies of the TV or GameCube; this does not affect gameplay unless the player misconstrues them as actual technical malfunctions.
There are many different sanity effects, the length they last depends on each effect. Not all effects will necessarily be encountered during a given run through the game. A few more commonplace examples include:
Some sanity effects are character-specific and reflect the individual's personal fears or experiences. When the sanity effect is finished, everything goes back to normal and the character often utters a panicked statement to the effect of, "This can't be happening!"
, in the scenario, though later changed this in 2001. The game was initially planned to be a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube
, but had to be delayed as a consequence of the September 11 attacks. A quarter of the levels were reworked because of a major setting in the Arab world
, which Silicon Knights felt the people were not ready for at that time.
, Neil Dickson
, and Cam Clarke
.
Eternal Darkness notably features many voice actors from the Metal Gear Solid
series of games, notably the aforementioned Jennifer Hale & Cam Clarke, as well as Kim Mai Guest
, Greg Eagles
, Paul Eiding
& David Hayter
.
Adam Sessler
from X-Play
stated during an interview with Denis Dyack, president of Silicon Knights, at E3 2006, that Eternal Darkness was "Truly one of the most underrated games of the last generation." ScrewAttack
rated the fake "Corrupt Data" screens the 9th "OMGWTF" moment in gaming, and rated the game itself the 10th best GameCube game. In 2010, UGO
ranked it as #24 on the list of games that need sequels.
awarded Eternal Darkness Best Sound, Best Story, and Best Graphics (Artistic) on GameCube. The game was nominated for Best Music, Best Action Adventure Game, and Game of the Year on GameCube. Additionally, the game won the honorary "Day of the Tentacle (Cthulhu
) Award" at GameSpy
's Game of the Year Awards in 2002.
In January 2006, Nintendo Power
ranked Eternal Darkness #101 on its Top 200 Games of All Time. The game was named the 5th best GameCube game of all time by IGN
. In 2006, it was ranked the 96th best video game of all time for the website's Readers' Picks Top 100 Games. Upon review, IGN gave Eternal Darkness one of its Editor's Choice Awards. In 2008, IGN also chose it as one of the Horror Franchises that Should Rise from the Grave. In the May issue of Game Informer
, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem made #10 in the top ten list of most outrageous game experiences. Game Informer also ranked Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem 4th on their list of Top 25 GameCube Games in the Christmas issue of Game Informer 2008. Both Game Informer and X-Play rated it as the 5th scariest game of all time. X-Play also said it was the 7th best game for the GameCube. In February 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine listed Eternal Darkness as the 48th best Nintendo game.
, designer of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Too Human
, said "absolutely yes" in July 2006 regarding the question of a possible sequel in his Too Human IGN blog. He stated that Silicon Knights had intended for Eternal Darkness to be a stand-alone game, but the company has always intended to make more games set in the Eternal Darkness universe involving the Ancients.
At Microsoft's Spring 2008 Showcase in San Francisco, Dyack confirmed to TVG that a return to the Eternal Darkness brand could be on the cards: "There is a chance; we love all the games we work on. We don't want to be pigeon-holed [into a genre], we want to be known for strong content...There's a strong chance we'll return to it, but there's no announcements yet."
In November 2011, Silicon Knights Knights' claimed they wanted to focus on one of their most requested titles for the next generation of consoles. This combined with the fact Nintendo had trademarked the title once again, spawned rumours that another Eternal Darkness game would be made as a launch title for the Wii U.
and Hypnotic, a film entertainment company, established a filmmaking contest in which contestants submitted ideas that would be later funded into short films if selected. Hypnotic also purchased the rights to produce a film or TV series based on the IP. The contest looked for ideas that evoke the same kind of psychological horror
that the game intends to evoke, but the films were not directly based on the Eternal Darkness characters or storyline.
The contest drew over 500 submissions. Ten finalists were selected and were granted $2,000 each to produce their respective short films. The grand prize for the contest was $20,000, and was selected by a panel of industry experts. The finalists were unveiled between May 23 and July 4, 2002. A second prize, the viewer's choice award, was awarded on the basis of its popularity among the online audience.
The grand prize winner of the contest was Patrick Daughters
, for the film Unloved. The viewer's choice award went to the film Cutting Room Floor, by Tyler Spangler and Michael Cioni.
Other videos featured on the official website included:
Psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...
action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game released for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. Developed by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
Silicon Knights
Silicon Knights
Silicon Knights is a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company is headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario, Dyack's hometown....
and originally planned for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, it was first released and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
on June 24, 2002 in North America. It was the first video game published directly by Nintendo, rather than a third-party developer, to be rated M for mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
.
The game's setting is centered around a mansion in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, the home of the protagonist Alexandra Roivas' grandfather and the mysterious book known as 'The Tome of Eternal Darkness' that Alexandra finds there. It is presented in a third-person perspective in which the player must navigate a number of locations as 12 characters spanning different time periods. The game utilizes unique "sanity effects" to enhance the gameplay.
Though not a commercial success, Eternal Darkness was widely praised, even winning the Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development award at the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
.
Story
The plot of the game revolves around Alexandra Roivas ("Savior" spelled backwards), who is investigating the mysterious murder of her grandfather Edward Roivas. While exploring his Rhode Island mansion, she discovers a secret roomSecret passage
Secret passages, also commonly referred to as hidden passages or secret tunnels, are hidden routes used for stealthy travel. Such passageways are sometimes inside buildings leading to secret rooms. Others allow occupants to enter or exit buildings without being seen...
containing, among other odd items, a tome bound with human skin and bone. When she reads this book, The Tome of Eternal Darkness, she experiences a scene in the life of Pious Augustus, a respected Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
in 26 BC. Pious is led by mysterious voices to an underground temple, where he chooses one of three mysterious artifacts. The artifact transforms him into an undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
, the Lich
Lich
In modern fantasy fiction, a lich is a type of undead creature. Often such a creature is the result of a transformation, as a powerful magician or king striving for eternal life uses spells or rituals to bind his intellect to his animated corpse and thereby achieve a form of immortality...
e, and makes him slave to one of three Ancients, powerful godlike beings whose "Essences" are incarnated as the artifacts. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that Pious is attempting to summon his Ancient into this reality, while the powerful fourth "Corpse God" Mantorok is bound on Earth already, apparently helpless to stop it. If this summoning came to pass, the Ancient would feast on the bodies and souls of all living beings, and cast the universe into the horror of eternal darkness.
As she searches for and finds chapters of the Tome scattered throughout the mansion, Alex finds herself reliving the experiences of several (player controlled) individuals who have crossed paths with Pious or other servants of the Ancients over the centuries, and as a result came into contact with the Tome itself. While many of these individuals meet a sinister fate, their cooperation ultimately gathers the Essences of the three remaining Ancients in the mansion. Alexandra's own ancestors discover the long-deserted City of Ehn'gha beneath the family mansion, and powerful magickal machinery inside. Alexandra powers up this mechanism with the Ancients' essences, and summons a rival Ancient to fight Pious'.
While the two Ancients fight, Alexandra engages in combat with Pious with the aid of the spirits of his victims, the souls played in previous chapters, ultimately destroying his Ancient's essence. It loses the fight above as Alexandra kills Pious. Then, realizing that the Roivases and their allies have just brought another powerful ancient into the world, Edward's spirit quickly uses the mechanism in Ehn'gha to send the other Ancient back where it came from. He expresses pride in his granddaughter before he disappears.
After completing the game under all three alignments, it is revealed that all three Ancients have been destroyed — "All at once, separate and simultaneous, for the universe is made of many timestreams, many possibilities, all in harmonious synchronicity." Because he was bound, and not powerful enough to stop Pious Augustus himself, Mantorok manipulated the Roivas family into completing the work for him. He orchestrates the deaths of all three Ancients, in separate timestreams, and then connects them all, resulting in the annihilation of all three alignments. In the end, only the corpse god Mantorok is still alive, "festering in its tomb...plotting".
Playable characters
The player controls the following characters in the years noted next to their names. The game does not introduce them in chronological order and they are listed in the order the player first takes control of them.- Alexandra Roivas (2000 AD) - A student at a university in Washington. The game's main protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, she is investigating her grandfather's gruesome death in Rhode Island. Finding the Tome, she reads about the past struggles against The Darkness, and of the plan to prevent Pious from summoning the Ancient. The player controls her during the intro, the finale, and in between the other chapters. Voiced by Jennifer HaleJennifer HaleJennifer Hale is a Canadian-born American actress and singer best known for her voice over work in video games like Grandia II, the Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tales of Symphonia, the Metroid Prime trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid games, Brütal Legend, and Disney's...
. - Pious Augustus (26 BC26 BCYear 26 BC was either a common year starting on Tuesday or Wednesday or a leap year starting on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
) - A RomanAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
CenturionCenturionA centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
in his late 20s, at war in Ancient Persia. He becomes the game's chief antagonist after being corrupted by one of the Ancients' essences while examining the ruins he stumbles upon. Alexandra Roivas defeats and kills him in 2000 AD. Voiced by Richard DoyleRichard Doyle (actor)Richard Doyle , sometimes credited as Richard Doyal, is an American actor and voice actor.- Early life :Richard Doyle was born in 1945 in Brockton, Massachusetts...
. - Ellia (1150 AD) - A CambodianKhmer peopleKhmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
slave girl and court dancer for Suryavarman IISuryavarman IISuryavarman II was king of the Khmer Empire from 1113 AD to 1145-1150 AD and the builder of Angkor Wat, which he dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu...
. She yearns for adventure after reading passages from the Tome. After finding herself locked in a temple imprisoning the former Khmer fertility god, she is chosen to bear Mantorok's essence. Pious kills her for her resistance to him shortly afterwards, but she remains half-alive because the essence is inside her body. Eight hundred years later, she gives it to Edwin Lindsey and then finally dies. Voiced by Kim Mai GuestKim Mai GuestKim Mai Angela Guest is a voice actress of European and Vietnamese descent. She is known to speak fluent French and Italian.- Anime/Animation roles :* .hack//Liminality - Narumi* .hack//SIGN - Subaru...
. - Anthony (814 AD) - A FrankishFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
messenger for CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, ordered to deliver a message to his liege, a message that consumes Anthony in some corrosive magick which alludes to treachery in store for the Frankish emperor. He learns that the monks are plotting against the emperor, but is too late to save him. When Paul Luther finds him centuries later, he rises as a zombie-like creature, under the control of the Darkness. Paul defeats him, prays for the boy's soul, and takes his sword and a gem needed to proceed. Voiced by Cam ClarkeCam ClarkeCameron Arthur "Cam" Clarke is a prolific American voice actor and singer, well known for his work in animation and video games. Clarke is well known for providing the voices of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original English-dub of Akira. He often voices...
. - Karim (565 AD) - A PersianSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
swordsman, sent into the desert to find a treasure (one of the Ancients' essences) for his love, Chandra. Chandra, however, is not faithful. She is mutilated and killed by a nobleman's jealous mistress, and her ghost warns Karim about the artifact's true nature. Although initially reluctant to believe her, he sacrifices himself so that he can watch over the artifact. Voiced by Rino RomanoRino RomanoRino Romano is a Canadian voice actor who has portrayed Batman in the animated series The Batman, Spider-Man in Spider-Man Unlimited, and Tuxedo Mask in the English dub of the anime Sailor Moon...
. - Dr. Maximillian Roivas (1760 AD) - A rich doctor in colonialThirteen ColoniesThe Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
Rhode IslandRhode IslandThe state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, ancestor of both Edward and Alex. Something is amiss in the mansion he recently inherited from his father, Aaron. Max eventually finds the city of Ehn'gha under the mansion, and after realizing how powerful the denizens are after barely defeating a Lesser Guardian in single combat, he attempts to warn the world, but fails. It is implied that he was committed to an insane asylum for that, but later revealed that he killed four of his servants, suspecting they were possessed by Bonethieves. Alex, surveying the room where the servants' remains lie sealed, notes that one of the corpses was missing its head, and there are only three sets of bones. Voiced by William HootkinsWilliam HootkinsWilliam Michael Hootkins was an American character actor, most famous for supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Star Wars, Batman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.-Early life:...
. - Dr. Edwin Lindsey (1983 AD) - An archaeologistArchaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
exploring CambodiaCambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n ruins under the auspices of a mysterious benefactor named Paul Augustine. Paul Augustine, revealing himself to be Pious in disguise, tries to kill Lindsey, but he escapes and makes his way through Angkor ThomAngkor ThomAngkor Thom , located in present day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those...
. Eventually he finds the undead remains of Ellia, who gives him Mantorok's essence; Lindsey returns to the United States and delivers it to Edward. Lindsey is one of the few characters to escape the Eternal Darkness without any physical or mental harm. Voiced by Neil RossNeil RossTheodoric Neilson "Neil" Ross is an English voice actor and announcer, born in London, England and now resident and working in Los Angeles, in the United States. He has provided voices for in many American cartoons, particularly those based on Hasbro products and Marvel Comics, and numerous...
. - Paul Luther (1485 AD) - A FranciscanFranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monk on a pilgrimagePilgrimageA pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to see a holy relicRelicIn religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
, the Hand of Jude. He is detained in AmiensAmiensAmiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
by the InquisitionInquisitionThe Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
on a pretense of suspicion in the murder of Brother Andrew. A custodian frees him, and helps him to find Brother Andrew's journals, which reveals that Andrew was killed to protect a secret: the dominant Ancient's Relic is hidden in the Cathedral. The Hand of Jude was a fake to lure victims to sacrifice. Paul ventures deeper into the Amiens CathedralAmiens CathedralThe Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens , or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Amiens...
, finding a metal statue of the custodian near a door. Paul must "kill" the statue with a magical dagger to open the door, but as he does so he hears a wail from nearby, and finds the custodian has been killed with a similar dagger. Later, Paul finds the Black Guardian, who violently kills him. Voiced by Paul EidingPaul EidingPaul Eiding is an American voice actor, voice instructor, and actor, perhaps best known as the voice actor behind Perceptor in the original Transformers cartoon, Roy Campbell in the Metal Gear series, the narrator in Diablo, Judicator Aldaris in StarCraft, and Max Tennyson in Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien...
. - Roberto Bianchi (1460 AD) - A traveling VenetianVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and architectArchitectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, taken as a prisoner of warPrisoner of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
while roaming abroad. He is forced to work for a warlord (revealed as Pious Augustus in a pre-level cinematic), helping with the construction of the Pillar of Flesh by surveying the foundations. He acquires the artifact from Karim while surveying the monster-infested site, and when his work is complete, he is thrown into the pillar and buried alive. Voiced by Phil Proctor. - Peter Jacob (1916 AD) - A field reporter during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, staying at Oublié Cathedral, which has been converted into a field hospitalField hospitalA field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...
. He notices that people are mysteriously disappearing, and investigates the lower levels when monsters attack. He defeats the Black Guardian, and keeps the artifact for many years until he delivers it to Edward. Besides sleepless nights, he is one of the few characters who does not suffer a tragic end as a result of the Tome. Voiced by Michael Bell. - Edward Roivas (1952 AD) - A clinical psychologistClinical psychologyClinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
, Alex's grandfather, led to the Tome by Max's ghost. His servants are attacked by a dreadful presence, the Vampire. Edward eventually defeats it and wipes out the garrisoned forces of Ehn'gha with a massive Dispel Magick spell from the city's nine-point spell circle (formed by the towers of the city). Years later, he is killed by a Lesser Guardian. Edward is the game's primary narrator, introducing each Tome chapter (with the exception of Pious') and narrating the epilogue. Voiced by Neil DicksonNeil DicksonNeil Dickson is an English actor, who has worked extensively in both American and British film and television.At the age of five, Dickson contracted polio, but he was fortunate enough to make a complete recovery a year later. He attended Worksop College in Nottinghamshire playing Coriolanus in the...
. - Michael Edwards (1991 AD) - A CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
firefighterFirefighterFirefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
sent to extinguish oil firesKuwaiti oil firesThe Kuwaiti oil fires were caused by Iraqi military forces setting fire to 700 oil wells as part of a scorched earth policy while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 after invading the country but being driven out by Coalition military forces...
ignited by IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i troops in KuwaitKuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
after the Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. An explosion at one well leaves him trapped in the Forbidden City as the only survivor. He receives the Essence of an Ancient from Roberto and destroys the City with magickally-enhanced C-4C-4 (explosive)C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
plastic explosives placed at the bridge. A few years after his return, he meets up with Edward in a city at night. Mike gives Dr. Roivas a package, believing that he himself will soon be killed by the Guardians (though his ultimate fate is not revealed). The package's contents are unknown, as the Essence and the Enchanted Gladius (if the player has acquired it) were later sent to Alex in a hastily wrapped and unmarked package dropped inside the mansion's front door, hinting at Michael's possible survival (also the fact that his statue in the Hall of the Tome of Eternal Darkness is missing, possibly meaning that his life did not end in the hands of the Ancients). Voiced by Greg EaglesGreg EaglesGreg Eagles is an American voice actor whose talents have been used for numerous TV shows and video games...
.
The Ancients
The Ancients are depicted as godlike beings that existed on Earth before humanity. The three Ancients that Pious may align with were expelled from this universe, and Pious works to bring about the return of his Ancient. The featured Ancients are:- Ulyaoth (voiced by Richard DoyleRichard Doyle (actor)Richard Doyle , sometimes credited as Richard Doyal, is an American actor and voice actor.- Early life :Richard Doyle was born in 1945 in Brockton, Massachusetts...
), whose powers focus on magick and the dimensional planes: his creations are tinged blue, and they specialize in magickal damage. Ulyaoth's form is reminiscent of a jellyfish. - Xel'lotath (voiced by Kim Mai GuestKim Mai GuestKim Mai Angela Guest is a voice actress of European and Vietnamese descent. She is known to speak fluent French and Italian.- Anime/Animation roles :* .hack//Liminality - Narumi* .hack//SIGN - Subaru...
and Jennifer HaleJennifer HaleJennifer Hale is a Canadian-born American actress and singer best known for her voice over work in video games like Grandia II, the Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tales of Symphonia, the Metroid Prime trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid games, Brütal Legend, and Disney's...
), whose powers focus on the mind and insanity: her underlings are tinged green, and have an affinity for affecting sanity. Xel'lotath has an eel-like lower body, with four slender arms connected to a torso with a large eye in the center. - Chattur'gha (voiced by Greg EaglesGreg EaglesGreg Eagles is an American voice actor whose talents have been used for numerous TV shows and video games...
), whose powers focus on physical strength and matter: his troops are tinged red, and focus on physical attacks and toughness. Chattur'gha is crustacean-like in appearance, and has two large claws. - Mantorok is described as the "Corpse God" and the "God of Chaos", and is the only Ancient known to have a physical presence on Earth. Its minions are tinged black and its magick is purple. Mantorok appears to be in a position of inferiority to the other Ancients (its only identified creatures are weak, skeletal zombies), due to a powerful binding spell cast by Pious. It is, however, described as the "Keeper of the Ancients", and maintains equilibrium among the other three Ancients, ensuring that they are bound to fight against and destroy one another. Mantorok is a massive, amorphous being with countless eyes and mouths, somewhat reminiscent of a ShoggothShoggothA shoggoth is a fictional monster in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being was mentioned in passing in sonnet XX of H.P...
. The murals of its temple depict it as once having a more defined, but still very grotesque shape.
A fifth alignment, colored yellow, was confirmed by Denis Dyack
Denis Dyack
Denis Dyack is the founder and president of Silicon Knights, a video game developer. He founded Silicon Knights in 1992 after publishing Cyber Empires in 1991. He has a Bachelor of Physical Education Degree from Brock University...
to be the alignment of another Ancient that was not included in the game. In-game, yellow appears on unaligned runes and disintegrating enemies.
Setting
The action in Eternal Darkness is divided between four principal locations. The game skips back and forth through time when the player begins or ends each chapter. The locations include the Forbidden City in Persia, a Cambodian temple in Angkor ThomAngkor Thom
Angkor Thom , located in present day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those...
, the Oublié Cathedral in Amiens, France
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, and the Roivas family mansion with the Ruined City of Ehn'gha in Rhode Island, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Gameplay
Initially, the player controls Alexandra as she investigates the mansion, which serves as a hub, in 2000 AD. Upon finding The Tome of Eternal Darkness, the player takes control of Pious Augustus in 26 BC. After Pious' chapter, the player resumes control of Alex as she finds additional chapter pages around the mansion. With each chapter, the player assumes control of a different character in the past, and ends with the perspective returning to Alex. Each chapter progresses the story and provides both the player and Alex the knowledge and abilities needed to progress. Alex does not actually engage in combat herself until late in the game.Alignments and Magick
The player chooses which of the three essences Pious attempts to claim at the start of the game. This determines which of the three Ancients he is aligned with, and subsequently which enemies dominate. The alignments are identified by color, and have a rock, paper, scissorsRock, Paper, Scissors
Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items ....
relationship, which is important in the player's consideration of his or her own magic
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
k use. Ulyaoth (blue) affects magick ability and has power over Chattur'gha. Chattur'gha (red) affects physical health and has power over Xel'lotath. Xel'lotath (green) affects sanity and has power over Ulyaoth. By completing an optional goal, the player may also gain the ability to align spells with Mantorok (purple), which has power over the other three alignments and affects multiple parameters at once. However, there are certain spells the player cannot cast with the Mantorok alignment.
Eternal Darkness offers magical powers for healing, solving puzzles, and experimenting in combat. For example, it is possible for player characters to summon monsters like those they are fighting. This is achieved by a system of runes for the components of the spell and 3-, 5-, or 7-point "Circles of Power" which allow the runes to be scribed. Though they are called "runes" by the game (probably due to the term's association with mystery and magic), these symbols do not form an alphabet, but rather a vocabulary. As such, they would be more accurately termed glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
s or especially sigil
Sigil (magic)
A sigil is a symbol created for a specific magical purpose. A sigil is usually made up of a complex combination of several specific symbols or geometric figures, each with a specific meaning or intent.- Name and origin :...
ia. To cast a spell, an alignment rune (fueling the spell with the power of one of the four Ancients), a "verb" or effect rune (describing the action of the spell) and a "noun" or target rune must be used. For example, the spell for recovering health consists of the alignment rune for Chattur'gha, the rune for "absorb" (Narokath), and the rune for "self" (Santak). The same runes when aligned to Xel'lotath would restore sanity, rather than health. As more runes are discovered, more combinations are possible, although not all have an effect. With a larger Circle of Power, "power" (Pargon) runes may be added to spells to increase the intensity of the spell. Runes and Circles gathered during a chapter are stored in the Tome of Eternal Darkness and available in all subsequent chapters, as well as to Alex in 2000 AD.
Sanity effects
The game's standout concept, patented by Nintendo, is the "sanity meter", a green bar on screen which is depleted under various conditions, generally when the character is seen by an enemy. It can be restored under various conditions, such as performing a "finishing move" on an enemy. As the bar becomes low, various effects occur, reflecting the character's slackening grip on reality. If the bar remains empty, further damage to sanity decreases the player character's health.One effect which is consistently used is a skewed camera angle accompanied by whispers, cries, and unsettling noises. The lower the sanity meter, the more skewed the camera angle and the louder the sound effects. Fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
breaking effects include simulated errors and anomalies of the TV or GameCube; this does not affect gameplay unless the player misconstrues them as actual technical malfunctions.
There are many different sanity effects, the length they last depends on each effect. Not all effects will necessarily be encountered during a given run through the game. A few more commonplace examples include:
- Sounds, such as footsteps, women and children screaming, doors slamming, the rattling of chains and the sound of a blade being sharpened.
- The player character finds him/herself walking upon the ceiling after entering a new room.
- Walls and ceilings bleeding. Attacking them causes more effusion.
- The volume is lowered, accompanied by a fake television volume indicator on the screen.
- Appearance of large numbers of monsters that are not really there, and disappear when attacked.
Some sanity effects are character-specific and reflect the individual's personal fears or experiences. When the sanity effect is finished, everything goes back to normal and the character often utters a panicked statement to the effect of, "This can't be happening!"
Development
Karim was not in the early builds of Eternal Darkness. Writers Denis Dyack and Ken McCulloch had originally placed Joseph De Molay, a Knight TemplarKnights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, in the scenario, though later changed this in 2001. The game was initially planned to be a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, but had to be delayed as a consequence of the September 11 attacks. A quarter of the levels were reworked because of a major setting in the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
, which Silicon Knights felt the people were not ready for at that time.
Audio
The music and sound effects of Eternal Darkness were composed by Steve Henifin. The soundtrack was made exclusively available through Nintendo Power magazine. The disc contains 14 tracks from the game, many of which are extended versions of those heard in the game. The game also features voice-overs from actors such as Jennifer HaleJennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-born American actress and singer best known for her voice over work in video games like Grandia II, the Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tales of Symphonia, the Metroid Prime trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid games, Brütal Legend, and Disney's...
, Neil Dickson
Neil Dickson
Neil Dickson is an English actor, who has worked extensively in both American and British film and television.At the age of five, Dickson contracted polio, but he was fortunate enough to make a complete recovery a year later. He attended Worksop College in Nottinghamshire playing Coriolanus in the...
, and Cam Clarke
Cam Clarke
Cameron Arthur "Cam" Clarke is a prolific American voice actor and singer, well known for his work in animation and video games. Clarke is well known for providing the voices of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original English-dub of Akira. He often voices...
.
Eternal Darkness notably features many voice actors from the Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
series of games, notably the aforementioned Jennifer Hale & Cam Clarke, as well as Kim Mai Guest
Kim Mai Guest
Kim Mai Angela Guest is a voice actress of European and Vietnamese descent. She is known to speak fluent French and Italian.- Anime/Animation roles :* .hack//Liminality - Narumi* .hack//SIGN - Subaru...
, Greg Eagles
Greg Eagles
Greg Eagles is an American voice actor whose talents have been used for numerous TV shows and video games...
, Paul Eiding
Paul Eiding
Paul Eiding is an American voice actor, voice instructor, and actor, perhaps best known as the voice actor behind Perceptor in the original Transformers cartoon, Roy Campbell in the Metal Gear series, the narrator in Diablo, Judicator Aldaris in StarCraft, and Max Tennyson in Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien...
& David Hayter
David Hayter
David Hayter is a Canadian-American voice and screen actor and screenwriter. He is best known for providing the English voices of Solid Snake and Big Boss in the Metal Gear video game series, and for writing the screenplay for X-Men and co-writing the screenplay for The Scorpion King and X2...
.
Reception
The aggregate review site, Metacritic, has calculated a metascore of 92 out of 100 for Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, which is interpreted as "universal acclaim".Adam Sessler
Adam Sessler
Adam Donovan Sessler is co-host of X-Play on G4 with Morgan Webb and, as of December 17, 2008, editor-in-chief of G4's game content for the network. He is the only remaining television personality from the G4's origin network ZDTV.-Background:Sessler was born in Berkeley, California...
from X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
stated during an interview with Denis Dyack, president of Silicon Knights, at E3 2006, that Eternal Darkness was "Truly one of the most underrated games of the last generation." ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
rated the fake "Corrupt Data" screens the 9th "OMGWTF" moment in gaming, and rated the game itself the 10th best GameCube game. In 2010, UGO
UGO
UGO Entertainment, Inc. is a website providing coverage of online media in entertainment targeting males age 18–34. The company is currently based in New York, New York, United States. On July 24, 2007 it was announced that Hearst Corporation would acquire UGO Entertainment...
ranked it as #24 on the list of games that need sequels.
Sales
In Japan, the game has sold 17,748 copies as of December 31, 2006.Awards
In 2003, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem won the "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development" award at the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. The game was nominated for "Console Game of the Year," "Innovation in Console Gaming," and "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction." At its Best and Worst of 2002, GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
awarded Eternal Darkness Best Sound, Best Story, and Best Graphics (Artistic) on GameCube. The game was nominated for Best Music, Best Action Adventure Game, and Game of the Year on GameCube. Additionally, the game won the honorary "Day of the Tentacle (Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
) Award" at GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's Game of the Year Awards in 2002.
In January 2006, Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
ranked Eternal Darkness #101 on its Top 200 Games of All Time. The game was named the 5th best GameCube game of all time by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
. In 2006, it was ranked the 96th best video game of all time for the website's Readers' Picks Top 100 Games. Upon review, IGN gave Eternal Darkness one of its Editor's Choice Awards. In 2008, IGN also chose it as one of the Horror Franchises that Should Rise from the Grave. In the May issue of Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem made #10 in the top ten list of most outrageous game experiences. Game Informer also ranked Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem 4th on their list of Top 25 GameCube Games in the Christmas issue of Game Informer 2008. Both Game Informer and X-Play rated it as the 5th scariest game of all time. X-Play also said it was the 7th best game for the GameCube. In February 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine listed Eternal Darkness as the 48th best Nintendo game.
Sequel
Denis DyackDenis Dyack
Denis Dyack is the founder and president of Silicon Knights, a video game developer. He founded Silicon Knights in 1992 after publishing Cyber Empires in 1991. He has a Bachelor of Physical Education Degree from Brock University...
, designer of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Too Human
Too Human
Too Human is an action-RPG video game developed by Canadian developer Silicon Knights and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console...
, said "absolutely yes" in July 2006 regarding the question of a possible sequel in his Too Human IGN blog. He stated that Silicon Knights had intended for Eternal Darkness to be a stand-alone game, but the company has always intended to make more games set in the Eternal Darkness universe involving the Ancients.
At Microsoft's Spring 2008 Showcase in San Francisco, Dyack confirmed to TVG that a return to the Eternal Darkness brand could be on the cards: "There is a chance; we love all the games we work on. We don't want to be pigeon-holed [into a genre], we want to be known for strong content...There's a strong chance we'll return to it, but there's no announcements yet."
In November 2011, Silicon Knights Knights' claimed they wanted to focus on one of their most requested titles for the next generation of consoles. This combined with the fact Nintendo had trademarked the title once again, spawned rumours that another Eternal Darkness game would be made as a launch title for the Wii U.
Eternal Darkness films
In 2002, NintendoNintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and Hypnotic, a film entertainment company, established a filmmaking contest in which contestants submitted ideas that would be later funded into short films if selected. Hypnotic also purchased the rights to produce a film or TV series based on the IP. The contest looked for ideas that evoke the same kind of psychological horror
Psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...
that the game intends to evoke, but the films were not directly based on the Eternal Darkness characters or storyline.
The contest drew over 500 submissions. Ten finalists were selected and were granted $2,000 each to produce their respective short films. The grand prize for the contest was $20,000, and was selected by a panel of industry experts. The finalists were unveiled between May 23 and July 4, 2002. A second prize, the viewer's choice award, was awarded on the basis of its popularity among the online audience.
The grand prize winner of the contest was Patrick Daughters
Patrick Daughters
Patrick Daughters is an American music video and commercial director currently signed to The Directors Bureau, after departing Black Dog Films in late 2006....
, for the film Unloved. The viewer's choice award went to the film Cutting Room Floor, by Tyler Spangler and Michael Cioni.
Other videos featured on the official website included:
- Article Number One by Julian Cautherley
- Dinner with Kip by Chris Schwartz
- Del by Chris Milnes
- Suburban Nightmare by Christopher Reves
- Darkness Visible by David McMillan
- Corner of the Eye by Peter Hunziker
- Carnal Noise by Francisco Aliwalas
- << by Rich Gallup