The Eternal Cylinder

The Eternal Cylinder is a gorgeous adventure game that features one of the most compelling stories I've seen in years. Its strict linearity may be frustrating for some, but that slight downside is vastly outweighed by this game's many strengths.

The Eternal Cylinder has a cool story, interesting exploration mechanics, a good unique idea in the mutations, and solid presentation. While it starts off a little slow, once it gets going it kept me engaged and pushing forward. The trebhums might be too cute for their own good but it’s nice to see how they solve puzzles via mutations while navigating their cylinder threatened planet. ACE Team has specialized in weird worlds, but this is the first time the studio has managed to craft one that is also beautiful and immersive. Sometimes I wanted the gameplay spaces to be a little bigger, or even entirely open world. But I understand that The Eternal Cylinder needs structure and hope that the easy-to-understand mechanics and cute protagonists will allow a wide range of players to engage with the game.

The world of The Eternal Cylinder is the most imaginative surrealist representation I’ve seen to date. You’ll be shaking your head in wonder at just how the hell anyone was able to think up such a design for a creature that just skids across the water. Or the giant floating monsters that want to sit on you. It’s a boon that the gameplay holds up as well and if you ever find it too challenging, it’s easy to turn down various settings to let you sit back and immerse yourself in something you won’t be able to easily describe to your friends. And the longer you play you’ll wonder why more games aren’t this creative in all aspects. I really enjoyed my time guiding my flock of Trebhum from danger to salvation. And I hope you will too. Just remember to roll like you didn’t know you could.

For all the team’s expertise on the weird, the fact that this visual identity is far from the intended appeal should give you an idea at just how well the mechanics and overall reaction to such interlocking systems plays out. Most of which left to the player’s own imagination with how best to utilize said tools and similarly-spoken scenarios. But not for a second do ACE Team view an otherwise absence of comprehension as an automatic fail-state. Yet at the same time, managing to burrow enough of a temptation that failure in that regard will almost always be by the player’s own curious, sometimes greedy, hand. That level of confidence but more so lenience in its concept — an understanding on when and how survival mechanics can be implemented without feeling tedious or invasive — in the end is what makes The Eternal Cylinder as fascinating an adventure to decipher as it is to watch unfold with bated breath.

Like the Trebhum, The Eternal Cylinder thrives despite its deficiencies, relying on a unique ensemble of qualities to find a way. [Issue#367, p.118]

This chase-and-reprieve dynamic makes for a well-paced campaign which should take most players 12 hours or so to complete. The Eternal Cylinder makes for a tricky game to conveniently classify, and the mix of survival, exploration, platforming, puzzle, and action elements does sometimes collide with its clumsy and slippery controls. Adjustable difficulty settings are welcoming, but even on default mode there’s a generosity of checkpointing and saves, and rarely is an attempt punished too harshly; plus, when the permanent mutation system is later unlocked, it feels practically game-breaking. Warts and all, The Eternal Cylinder remains an accessible oddball adventure of one-of-a-kind sights.