The Eternal Castle Remastered

 Switch
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. Cubed3
    Sep 15, 2020
    40
    Watch a video of someone playing The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED], and you'll love it. The faux-retro, 2-bit colour palette has been used to paint a dark, grungy, and deeply atmospheric post-apocalyptic Earth, whose style will surely be appreciated by - very - old-school PC gamers. A great art style can never replace great game design, however. The visuals make it hard to understand what's going on, leading to even more trial-and-error that's already needed, not to mentions that the controls are a bit of a mess. There are things to like here, but the ride isn't usually that exciting.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. onemorelevel_1
    Jan 1, 2021
    10
    BY TRIAL AND 3RЯÖR:
    The visual look is rather simple and sometimes minimalistic, but all the motion and the movements of the characters were    BY TRIAL AND 3RЯÖR:
    The visual look is rather simple and sometimes minimalistic, but all the motion and the movements of the characters were detailed and realistic. I could feel a slight lag with the inputs and moving to the another scenery/screen, the transition was a little too slow. I could expect this from 1987 Mac/PC, but modern consoles should run this kind of video game smoothly. I got used to the controls and the lag fairly quickly and the right-timing-requiring jumps. The melee fighting and gun shooting also demanded timing management. I always remembered the little lag, so in the end I couldn’t be bothered about it. Along the game I got new stuff, like better shoes to run faster and other gimmicks to help my journey.

    In the beginning I died a lot! It was very much learning how to kill and use the environment, there seemed to be more than one way to solve things. The enemies had well-made AI and they did react differently, depending situations. That was something I took seriously, before approaching enemies.

    THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE:
    I have very little to say about the plot, other than it becomes more clear in the end. In the beginning I could read a long summary about the plot, but the text was mostly unreadable, due the pixel mush font. The main character crash-lands his spaceship in a mysterious planet and needs to collect parts, so he can fix the ship and leave. He goes into a “castle” and immediately runs to enemies. Some of them could kill him with one hit. Yes, then I realized how ruthless this game is gonna be! The story was interesting and I was always happy of all given little hints and writings of the happenings of that place.

    A VISUAL SHOWSTOPPER:
    I was fascinated how the game looked visually. Graphics done by 2-bit CGA -style, still managing to show depth and feeling of 3D world. The Eternal Castle is, as they claim, very action-movie-like. All the visual effects were stunning to watch and managed to create the suspence and wonderment. It’s odd to think how using only 2-bits can create so much.

    I always searched the most odd and difficult route, since as a gamer, I know there are usually something hidden in those places. Keeping player intrigued, the surroundings hid lots of secrets behind the dark shadows and backgrounds to be find. The graphics had a slight downfall, them being messy at times and hard to look at. I missed some items only due to the fact I didn’t see them soon enough. But, I can easily forgive that, because the replaybility value is very high (The Eternal Castle is meant to be replayed many times). It also includes 2-player co-op mode.

    The remastered audio and background music were nice to listen — and not some annoying peeping, like one could expect from a 80’s video game.

    The Eternal Castle had lots of checkpoints, there was few areas where I needed them badly, because after death player can continue from the latest checkpoint, which sometimes was far away. I was pleased how some of the progress was saved after dying. It truly made the gameplay little easier this way.

    REPEATING THE HISTORY:
    I don’t know the full origin story of The Eternal Castle, but according to the internet, it seems to be a big deal in video game history. It definitely rised the bar amongst the video game developers back in 1987, surely leaving everyone gaggin’ for more — probably now repeating the history.

    The Eternal Castle being now available on Nintendo Switch; I truly recommend everyone to try out this amazing remastered piece of history.    … Full Review »
  2. Flouch
    Apr 2, 2021
    10
    Absolutely beautiful game. Not just with the visuals, but with the way it delivers a story. Having a world that isn't carried by mountains ofAbsolutely beautiful game. Not just with the visuals, but with the way it delivers a story. Having a world that isn't carried by mountains of expository dialogue, makes getting lost in the world that much more enticing. If you're looking for a lovely trip through a bizarre world, I wholeheartedly recommend it.… Full Review »
  3. BADblankCARTER
    May 19, 2020
    4
    The switch is not the system to play this on. Ive only played in handheld mode. I dont know if its better on the TV but from what I've playedThe switch is not the system to play this on. Ive only played in handheld mode. I dont know if its better on the TV but from what I've played you can avoid this game. It struggles on the switch. Has a hard time maintaining a stable frame rate. Its especially prevalent in the Forgotten City level with everything going on. Combine the with the developers choice to add a response delay and youve got some downright unplayable sections.

    The game is buggy as well. The checkpoint system is a gamble. Sometimes it'll spawn you next to your last checkpoint. Other times it'll spawn you at a random checkpoint including the one at the beginning of the level. Sometimes it'll spawn you on a floor below in front of enemy turrets. In once case on the aforementioned Forgotten city Level it spawns me falling to my death instead of on the bridge where the checkpoint actually is.

    The ai is pretty brain dead so kind of evens out any artificial difficulty the developers tried to put into the game. Enemies struggle with platforms. Get stuck in corners. They do however know to fear the flower you can wield. So much so a boss will even jump to his death just to avoid it. The soundtrack as gorgeous as it is, is marred by technical issues as well. Its particularly bass heavy which causes it to clip....incessantly. Making some sections unlistenable.

    There are some fun bosses and interesting ideas in the game. And like I said the soundtrack and sound design are great when they work. The visuals are a nice treat during cutscenes but cumbersome during gameplay. More often then not you spend your time trying to distinguish what things actually are. Is that a ladder, a door, an enemy or just background detail?

    Ultimately this is a game to avoid in its current state. If you must play it seems like the it actually works on the PC. So maybe pick it up there for now. Hopefully it gets patched.    … Full Review »
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