Eternal Eden 2 Announced

By: Guest Reviewer

On: May 26th, 2009

[This is a guest review by Craig Stern. Submit your own reviews to TIGSource here (forum membership required).]

Word has it that Blossomsoft has confirmed a sequel to its well-received indie RPG Eternal Eden, creatively named Eternal Eden 2.

The original Eternal Eden is a JRPG take on the Eden myth from (you guessed it) the Bible. Although a straightforward RPG Maker game in many respects, Eternal Eden stands out largely because it encourages player exploration. There are no randomized battles – you can walk around to your heart’s content without fear of being attacked, provided you’re nimble enough. Enemies are visible as clouds of smoke wandering somewhat aimlessly across each area. So long as you don’t walk into them, they will leave you alone. Additionally, items and loot are hidden in nooks and crannies all over the place, discoverable only by walking over them and pressing the space bar. The game informs you that it is essential to gather these in order to survive, and given how difficult some of the in-game battles are, I reckon that’s correct. Between avoiding enemies and searching for pick-ups, Eternal Eden occasionally feels more like a slow-paced game of Pac-Man than it does a JRPG. This is a good thing – it helps keep Eternal Eden from feeling too same-y. (The game does encourage you to fight monsters, however, via special treasure areas that open up only when you’ve cleared an area of enemies.)

Eternal Eden is not without its flaws. It relies heavily on pre-packaged RPG Maker graphics, and the in-game writing is sometimes quite clumsy. For instance, while searching for someone you know near the beginning of the game, one of your companions helpfully suggests that you kill every monster in the area in order to make her appear. Why a person in the world of Eternal Eden (who, come to think of it, has never even seen monster-containing smoke clouds before) would think those two things are related, much less announce it aloud without prompting, is beyond me. Presumably, this dialog is in the game because no rational player would ever make that connection either.

In spite of its flaws, Eternal Eden is on the whole a well-produced game with some innovative features and an interesting premise. It seems that the sequel is going to have its share of twists as well. Blossomsoft has described the forthcoming EE2 thusly:

Eternal Eden 2 will focus on Japhee, a female protagonist who possess a mysterious clairvoyance gift. Thanks to her special ability, the player will be allowed to influence parts of the game by reading the future through special artifacts.

Influencing the course of future events by learning of them in advance could make for a really interesting gameplay mechanic. The way I imagine it, however, it would take some strong non-linear writing to make it interesting and non-gimmicky. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how Blossomsoft makes it work. In the meantime, you can decide for yourself whether the original Eternal Eden is worth your $19.99 by downloading the demo, which lets you get as far into the game as you can in the span of an hour.

TIGdb: Entry for Eternal Eden

Posted in Previews, RPG, Windows | Tags: Blossomsoft

Duckmeister

This review certainly put things in perspective, as I don’t really enjoy RPG Maker games, especially with all the pre-packaged graphics and such.

However, “myth” was not the proper word to use, Craig. The story in the game itself may be a “myth”, but this is no place to show a form of religious discussion by the terms you use to describe biblical events.
Random Valencian Guy

What? are you implying that the eden really existed?
Nicholas Moon

Yes, he is. He also doesn’t understand what the word “myth” means: a sacred story of creation. Every religion has a creation myth. It probably wouldn’t bother him if they had used the Lakota or Hindu creation stories.
blocko

isn’t myth used to describe classical sagas, like myths about zeus and such? anyone who believes in the creation story would not put it on par with a myth, as in greek myths

so he does know what myth means.
Nicholas Moon

I just explained what “myth” means, public defender. Yes, it is used to describe ancient stories, as those are ALSO from religions, religions that just don’t happen to be practiced widely anymore.

Your definition does not replace but is encompassed by my own. As the original poster used it. As I explained. To someone else. Who you are *not*.

He doesn’t want his myth put next to those myths. Understandable, as that suggests his will one day fall out of use as well. Only the religious make that distinction, however.

This is a game site. Quit trying to pull religious discussion in. I’ve had enough of them for this lifetime.

On topic: I will never pay any money for an RPGMaker game. Ever. Let alone $20. I’m not sure why I would have to explain that policy.
AmnEn

And how is the Myth of Zeus any different in importance and evaluation han the Myth of creation? :)
Yes fundies, I’m going to hell. See you there. :P

Anyways, thank you for posting this. My issue with that game is that it uses standard RPGMaker Tiles and while that in itself isn’t a bad thing, it turns sour for me if something goes commercial while using standard Tiles.
phu

I have to imagine influencing “future events” will involve a few branches swapping in different arcs or dialog options later in the game rather than something that truly affects the environment.

I can’t imagine the latter would even be possible with RPGMaker… the fact that it’s made in this prefab game kind of kills it for me anyway. While I’m sure it’s good, it just feels like cheating — and I know that’s just me projecting my own ideas about game development onto someone else’s creation, but… well, a large part of the technical work just isn’t there.

I understand that that’s part of the draw and ‘advantage’ of prefab game making software… I just can’t help feeling like it pollutes the idea of indie development to consider these on par with a game that’s actually been developed in a more literal, concrete sense than click and drag, pick your sprite, pack and sell.

Of course… selling RPGMaker titles… compounds the pain. So that doesn’t help either.
Alive

The Creation story as depicted in the bible is not supposed to be taken literally. The church has expressed that this story is merely a representation of what may have happened and is only in the bible to help us explain something that can not be put in words
Flamebait

@Duckmeister:

I hope you find the term “creation myth” deriding no matter what belief it’s applied to. By the way, technically “myth” contains no information on truth, it just denotes a kind of story. Though people often use it to imply BS.

“decide for yourself whether the original Eternal Eden is worth your $19.99”

“[Eternal Eden] relies heavily on pre-packaged RPG Maker graphics”

That’s all I needed to know. Good review.
RayRayTea

I like RPG Maker games that aren’t too long, are reasonably well done, and free if possible!
Duckmeister

@flamebait:

Yes, I do. No system of beliefs deserves to be derided like so, whether the system of beliefs is truthful or not.

@Alive:

No, only a select few antinomian non-standard churches have that view, and the actual Christian community claims that view is wrong.

However, that discussion is for another place and time, as a discussion about a game is no place for this, which is what my first comment was all about.

@Nicholas Moon:

I believe blocko was telling you that *gasp* your definition of myth is wrong. Deal with it. Besides, it looks like you are the one who is bringing religious discussion in, my original comment was about that term inappropriately bringing that discussion in and therefore I criticized the article for it.
blocko

moon, i was saying that your definition is wrong, or at least is too specific

i think you need to realize that he’s trying not to bring religious discussion in, and that’s why he made that comment, so, yeah, i think we all just need to shut up
Human Fish

I like creation myths that arenâ€™t too long, are reasonably well done, and free if possible!
OrR

Come on, guys, don’t judge the game so quickly. Gameplay is what counts, and while EE can be repetitive at times, the basic gameplay is fresh enough to make it a lot of fun IMO. Also, while the writing is not perfect, I found the story to be quite surprising and funny at times.
Scott

i bought san andreas for $20 the other day
fucrate

I will never pay any money for Rockstar game. Ever. Let alone $20. Iâ€™m not sure why I would have to explain that policy.
Quazi

especially if it uses prefab black guys, let alone those from the Ganton area
Paul Eres

I, too, look down on those who call God’s great place, Eden, a myth, and on those who don’t program their games from scratch in machine code and pixel every single dot themselves. I am telling everyone about such things on the internet.
RazputinOleander

From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_(disambiguation))
A myth is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form.

From Merriam-Webster (definition 2.a): a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone ; especially : one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society

So blocko and Duckmeister, why don’t you accept definition 2.a. from Merriam Webster?

If I can find a copy of the story of Eden as taken directly from the Bible by searching for “Christian Creation Myth” and getting this result: “http://www.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_15.html”, then I think calling the story of Eden a “myth” is perfectly acceptable ideologically and semantically.

Now, regarding the game.
I wasn’t aware that it used stock tilesets. I agree that’s offputting, and I’d have trouble spending $20 to support that. However, the creator claims he spent a full year in creating the game, much of which involved a programming. I think making assumptions about the amount of effort spent on the game because it’s made in RPG maker is a little silly.
Dusty Spur

I can’t even begin to describe how much I don’t give a shit about your petty religion arguments.

I can stand poorly written games but not ones with as many grammatical errors as Eternal Eden. Hopefully the creator has since wised up to the fact that something like that could, *gasp*, turn someone off the game.
Blade

@phu:

You said:

*I understand that thatâ€™s part of the draw and â€˜advantageâ€™ of prefab game making softwareâ€¦ I just canâ€™t help feeling like it pollutes the idea of indie development to consider these on par with a game thatâ€™s actually been developed in a more literal, concrete sense than click and drag, pick your sprite, pack and sell.*

Of course. You just ‘click a few things’, pick some sprites, and the program automagically generates a complete RPG. Maybe you ought to familiarize yourself with the later versions of RPG Maker (RMXP and VX). There’s menu-based support for the most common elements of RPG’s, but there’s also a heavy focus on programming in Ruby for creating more sophisticated and unique play mechanics. If anything, I’d liken it to Game Maker – it’s easy to build relatively simple RPG’s ‘from the kit’, but you’re expected (and encouraged) to get your hands dirty with some actual coding if you want to move beyond the basics. Or do feel games made in Game Maker (like Spelunky, to use an outstanding game as an example) ‘pollute the idea of indie development’ because of the package used to make them, too?

My only problem with this game as a commercial product is that it uses the tilesets and sprites bundled with the program. Visuals are a big part of what gives a game its character. If you’re going to sell an RPG, then give it the custom art and music it deserves to bring the story to life. *Hire* an artist if you have to.
Ezuku

Firstly, $20 is a bit rich for a gamemaker game, especially one that doesn’t seem particularly innovative or anything of the sort.

Secondly, definitions aside, with which I believe your definition is misleading, the term “myth” is most often used in a context when it denotes that something is untrue. For eg, reading in the newspaper about â€œThe myth of a low fat dietâ€ would imply that there are significant elements of a low fat diet that are untrue.

This undoubtedly offends some people (myself included) when you refer to this as a myth. End of the matter is, why not just substitute another word for myth like “story” which is equally descriptive and don’t offend somebody by pushing your viewpoint onto somebody who doesn’t share it.
Duckmeister

I think ezuku hit it on the head.

Frankly, I could care less what the webster dictionary says about it, as the people who write dictionaries have beliefs too, whether they are atheistic or theistic.
Kyle

I played this game a few months ago. “Familiar” graphics aside, it’s a great game.

I really liked the story, gameplay, and optional quests. I was worried that the story was going to have heavy overtones of sin and judgment, but it worked out much better than I expected.

I stumbled upon a free version (^_-), but then liked the game so much that I decided to support the creator with a donation. That’s the method I recommend =D
Craig Stern

Ezuku, the pejorative sense in which you imagine I used the word “myth” is actually the least preferred of the dictionary definitions on dictionary.com. Read up: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/myth That holds true for the American Heritage Dictionary and Webster’s as well, by the way.

Besides, I wrote this review to bring peoples’ attention to an indie RPG that had not yet received any coverage on TIGS, not to incite a religious debate.
Freep

Dictionaries are written by hundreds, even more, people, and are written with as objective and unbiased a methodology as is humanly possible. Why not create your own meanings of words and try and put them into popular usage? If enough people start using it it’ll be put in a dictionary and you won’t be able to complain about how the dictionary compilers are out to spread the evil word of Satan.
Blade

If anything, the people here complaining about the author’s choice of phrase and suggesting that he substitute another, less ‘loaded’ word for ‘myth’ are the ones trying to foist their beliefs on others. Religious freedom means you’re free to worship as you wish. It *doesn’t* mean you get to demand anything that implies your faith isn’t indisputable truth be censored because the mere suggestion *offends* you.
Radiokid

It’s rather hilarious that without this little “mistake” (laughable at least, some people will use anything as an excuse to get their feathers ruffled), there would probably only be 4 decent replies here.

$20 for an RPGMaker game? Yeah Blade you can rant about the coding and everything involved in XP and VX, but unfortunately none of those things (or any of the games created over many, many, many years) have done anything to shake the convention that RPGMaker games are a waste of money (at least those that people want you to pay money for are).
BeamSplashX

That much is true; I’ve played and enjoyed a good deal of RM games but have seen few really knockout titles that would be worth paying for. And since there are a lot of really really good ones for free, you need something INSANELY good to justify selling it.
Ezuku

It’s about common decency. If you have a choice, avoid offending somebody on an unrelated matter. Sure, if you wanted to discuss the authenticity of it, that would be another matter (and inappropriate on an indy gaming blog).

Everybody has some things which are close to their heart, and anyone can be riled up by with the wrong comments directed at this, so lets avoid doing that please and get back to discussing indy games.

Also, seriously, $20 is a bit rich since for the same price, I can buy almost any other Indy game, and a lot of non-brand new mainstream games. Sure, if this was really really good I might pay for it, but considering it’s “little known”, probably not worth the effort for most people.
Deacon Blues

There’s nothing offensive about the word myth, you only think that, because you are wrong. You are touchy and difficult to talk to because you have a poor vocabulary. It’s not the dictionary’s fault that no one reads it.

And as much as I love the idea of paying $20 for “Tap attack until all monsters are dead, get treasure, enter next room, repeat”, I’d rather discuss how much I hate the easily offended.
Ezuku

Please, can we cut down on the personal attacks. Anyway, what you’re basically saying is “It is alright for me to use this word to describe something because I’m picking a lesser used meaning of the word for which it is technically correct, even though most people won’t interpret the meaning such”.

By the same token, since the The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language lists one definition as “A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal”, would it be appropriate for me to say “The myth of 9-11”, “The myth of slavery in America”, or even “The myth of the holocaust”, since at the very base, those are beliefs (true of course) associated with a person, institution, or occurrence? Of course not, since people will assume I’m using it in that context to describe those events as partially or entirely fictitious.

English works by how the majority understand and interprets a statement, not by academics sitting in ivory towers defining words for others.

Thus, the word “Myth” in that context is offensive to people when it refers to something they believe in.
Blade

@Radiokid-

Be that as it may, it *still* doesn’t mean that any game made in RMXP or VX should automatically be dismissed as unfit for purchase because of the package used to make it. (Let alone get bashed as something that was bolted together in a few minutes using a drag-and-drop interface, or be described as ‘polluting the idea of indie development’ by dint of the software used to make them.) There’s certainly nothing about RMXP or VX that would make RPG’s developed in them *inherently* inferior to ones made using another language/framework/package.

You can make a crappy game in RPG Maker with very little effort, and many people have. The same is true of Game Maker. That doesn’t mean people are *limited* to making crap with either app. And that was really the whole point of my ‘rant’, as you put it: Don’t reject a game out of hand based on the software used to create it. (And this is doubly true when you really aren’t familiar with the application in question to start with. :p )
Derek

@Ezuku:

So you’re comparing 9-11, slavery, and the Holocaust, events from the last century in which millions of innocent people suffered and died…

To a story about two nudists made from mud that was written three thousand years ago…

To prove a point about semantics on a game forum?
Ezuku

Eh, you didn’t read my post properly.

I’m pointing out that using the word “myth” in that context implies to most readers that one believes it untrue, thus making it offensive, even if it’s a technically correct usage.
Blade

@Ezuku:

You said:
*Thus, the word â€œMythâ€ in that context is offensive to people when it refers to something they believe in.*

The people in question need to *accept* the fact that others don’t share their beliefs, rather than trying to force everyone around them to censor or rephrase the things they say to better suit their worldview.

There are people out there who don’t share your beliefs. They may follow another faith, or no faith at all. If the fact that they feel this way and make no effort to conceal it *offends* you, that’s *your* problem, plain and simple. Understand that these other people *aren’t* obligated to pay lip service to your religious convictions, no matter how thoroughly convinced you are that they’re inalienable fact.

When the adherents of a faith – *any* faith – start insisting that all statements which deviate from their religious worldview should be censored to avoid ‘giving offense’, there’s a definite problem.
Paul Eres

For a more serious comment than my last one:

I played the demo of this game a while back and found it really great. I didn’t even know the tilesets weren’t original, honestly. That does dampen it a bit, but I doubt *all* of the graphics are unoriginal. A lot of them did seem original, the portraits in particular, and the big images like that tower and the like.

That it’s RPGMaker doesn’t bother me at all — but that’s easy to say since I released a commercial game using Game Maker (Immortal Defense). Aveyond and Aveyond 2 also are commercial indie games that use RPGMaker. As someone who has used engines like this I know it takes *more* work, if anything, than pure programming does, since you have to deal with getting around all the little intricacies and bugs of that particular engine. Less time, yes, but more work, and it’s more annoying work. So I’ve as much if not more respect for someone who uses an engine like RPGMaker than someone who uses C++ or Flash or something.

As for Eden, it obviously is a myth in both the denotative and connotative sense of the word. Even if it somehow is true, it’d still be false, because the information we have on it is mythical: incomplete, vague, and hard to understand. So even if that information actually does correspond to how humans were actually created (which is pretty doubtful) it’s still true that the *description* of that original event is put in mythical terms.
Ezuku

Oh, the issue was the denial that the word “myth” implied something was untrue and was thus non-offensive, since a dictionary meaning of it was that it referred to â€œa sacred story of creationâ€.

If you don’t particularly care if something is offensive to a group of people, well… eh, that’s a different issue. Nothing I can particularly do about it except feel offended.

But hey, this has really dragged on long enough consider it was based on an offhand comment.
Paul Eres

Nobody likes to offend people (well actually many do, but I don’t think the person who wrote this blog entry is one of them), but I think it’s a bit much to ask that someone change how they word everything in order not to be offensive to some niche group or another. Some things are going to be offensive to somebody no matter how you word it. It’s a fruitless pursuit.

Besides, Ezuku, do you agree that Christian blogs would be offensive to atheists if they use wording which implies that the Eden story is true and that evolution is false? Would you argue that they should also use more neutral terms, and not call evolution false?
Ezuku

Well, the issue is that this is a gaming blog. Ie, it’s supposed to be neutral and aimed at a broad public, to offend as few people as possible.

In the same way, if I was writing a gaming review, I would be neutral with language regarding the Eden story. In the same way, I might try to keep comments about Republicans and Democrats, the war in Iraq, Sri Lanka and LTTE to a minimum. Part of being tolerant is a little bit of self control, especially since such modifications on my behalf are minor.

On the other hand, a Christian blog is aimed at… Christians. Therefore itâ€™s relatively integral that it uses language that may offend people that hold alternative beliefs. In the same way, a gaming blog need not cater for those who believe that games are inherently offensive.

Of course, I understand that this is a little slip the author made, and it’s a guest author and all, but there’s no call to jump on somebody just because they called it offensive (as people rapidly did when Duckmeister noted it was inappropriate).
therunningman

i didn’t know evolution had been proven.
Ezuku

Eh, technically it hasn’t, and will never be, on account of the fact that it’s a theory and cannot be proven. Evidence for and against it can be applied and it can come into and out of acceptance as the predominant theory, but thatâ€™s all.
Paul Eres

Understandable position Ezuku — but this isn’t a professional game review blog, TIGSource is more informal, so I think it’s natural for unrelated opinions sneak into writing now and then to color it. I like when reviews are personal rather than objective, they make them more interesting to read.

For instance, when I wrote a review of a political game, it wouldn’t be out of place to refer to my own beliefs about the politics it portrays. Similarly, this is a game related to religion (along with Faith Fighter). It’s not just a game, but a game dealing with religion. So the reviewer’s own religious views are relevant to the review, because a person’s religious views will influence whether or how you enjoy any particular religious game.
Boy

I hope you slowly die of cancer, religious nuts :)
Scott

i like how they throw in a little throwaway “OH YEAH AND SERIOUSLY 20 DOLARZ LOL” after their paragraphs on religion
http://www.blossomsoft.com/ Elder

Hey everyone, I’m the creator of Eternal Eden.

Craig, thank you very much for the nice review. I really appreciate it :)

Thank you everyone for the nice discussion on this thread. I hope that many of you will try Eternal Eden with an open mind and possibly support my future efforts.

P.S: Nice debate on ‘myth’ :D
SURPRISE!

Drama on TIGSource, what else is new? Let’s all watch Oprah and have a good cry.
guy

Ezuku – “(Evolution) technically hasn’t (been proven), and will never be, on account of the fact that itâ€™s a theory and cannot be proven.”

So, you’ve shown you don’t understand the definition of either “myth” or “scientific theory”. Would you like to go further in proving you are a religious zealot and willfully incompetent?
sensible onlooker

This is nauseating.
lokijki

Look, the people who were offended by the term “myth” are arguing that the word being used was offensive while others are arguing that its not offensive.

To those arguing that its not offensive – people were offended. Leave it at that. Arguing that the word means something else isn’t going to solve anything. You’ve picked a fight and got one, and you’re just keeping it going.

Of course you’re not offended by it, you don’t believe its true. If he had said the “blatant lie of the garden of Eden” you wouldn’t have been offended, while some are offended by the word myth, which to them implies it is not true. So just give it a rest.