Ports and other improved versions are legion in the industry. But this time, we are dealing with the remaster of a game fantasized by the developers in their youth. Deceptively old in its origin, but really obsolete in its proposal, how to welcome the Eternal Castle at the dawn of the 21st century?
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The 80s have a strange aura that seems to cause a certain nostalgia. And nostalgia is something the video game industry is familiar with given the success of retro-gaming. Many independent developers have already sought to surf this fashion; just for the graphic bias, we think for example of Return of the Obra Dinn. In the case of the Eternal Castle, the CGA is in the spotlight. And in terms of playability, it is titles like Prince of Persia, Another World or Flashback that are the references, as evidenced by the acknowledgments during the end credits. A whole era, in short.
Mr. Dead in his pocket
Not content with being only available in English, the story is introduced by an almost illegible font text screen. Basically: Planet Earth has been ransacked by humans, an ecosystem repair program has been undertaken, but numerous terrorist attacks have put the project on hold. Most humans have taken refuge in space, but their situation is hardly more enviable. As part of an alien colonization procedure, an artificial intelligence has been sent to Earth to harvest the last of the resources, but it has now been too long since she gave a sign of life. So you decide to go to her rescue.
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You are given the choice between two characters, Adam and EVE. The difference between the two characters is minimal, it is especially the styles of melee combat that change. After boarding your shuttle, it is quickly shot down in mid-flight. Fortunately, you have time to eject yourself before the crash. And it is suspended from a tree that the adventure really begins.
After going through a first section, you understand that it is necessary to bring together four blocks of energy in order to be able to reach this mysterious castle in the distance. To do this, you have to go through three new zones (in the order you want) before setting off to storm the building, each place having its own theme and personality. In the meantime, the storytelling will be just as cryptic and fragmented as it could be in early ’80s games.
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Back to the Retro-Future
Of course, the first thing that strikes you when you embark on an adventure is the graphic style. The 2-bit CGA format is still almost 40 years old and imposes strong restrictions: only four colors displayed on a resolution of 320×200 (and therefore large pixels on our current machines). Today, the appearance seems rough and difficult to read. The format is nevertheless used here with intelligence: the screens loaded in detail do not present any particular danger and the backgrounds are simpler where the clashes take place. It is therefore pleasant to note that we never lose sight of the pixel cluster that is our character. And, finally, some paintings are even rather beautiful, the technical limitations allow rather interesting contrasts; it’s still a great exercise in style.
The character animation is also surprisingly smooth. The flexibility of the movements is reminiscent of that of the characters of Prince of Persia which had been obtained using rotoscoping. The character can run, stoop, roll on the ground, jump and catch up on ledges, always with a certain grace.
There is one aspect that has however kept a foot in the current standards: all the sound side. No, your machine will not start spitting out beeps or noon. If we keep the iconic synth for the music, the sound is clean and contributes greatly to the particular atmosphere of the title.
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So hey, we understood that all of this was pleasant to watch, on condition of accepting the retro-futuristic delirium. But with the controller in hand, what does that give? Well, on this, the observation is a little more mixed … The handling is rather heavy: the character takes a short time before jumping (critical in the case of a jump above the void) or changing direction (critical when you want to distance yourself from a fight). If there was one peculiarity in not keeping games from the time, it was this.
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Apart from that, the game offers various melee attacks: two kinds of hits and the possibility of inflicting a more powerful blow with momentum or by jumping on its target. With the fist or with a bladed weapon, the confrontations however lack finesse and quickly turn to the hammering of buttons. It is possible to pick up firearms, but their accuracy is quite relative; it happens that you empty a whole magazine without worrying too much about the one opposite and kill another guy instantly later. The furniture offers a rather random protection, especially as some destroy themselves during the exchange of fire. It is possible to carry two weapons at the same time, the change being done using one of the keys.
The character evolves during the adventure. Pieces of gear can be gleaned here and there, which improve certain characteristics (accuracy of shots or its resistance to hits, among others) or give it new abilities. There is of course a life bar, but also an endurance bar; the individual is less swift if the latter is empty. As if he needed this …
As for the progression, it’s classic table by table, side view. Different meditation stones are scattered around the area, which acts as a point of control and rest to recover life. Thirty more or less hidden fragments are scattered throughout the levels and you have to recover them all if you want to reach the real end. Secrets and other secondary paths can thus be discovered.
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The overall difficulty is variable. Already, it depends on your ability to anticipate jumps well and your luck in the effectiveness of the attacks. Opposite, they are belligerent, but not very clever: if you are not at the same height in the scenery, it may happen that the enemy struggles to join you, to the point of sometimes turning in circles. Some passages may force you to blindly jump into the void, but there is often a low platform to hang on to. The game is more treacherous in certain corners where the traps can be too well concealed and you only discover them by setting your foot on them; these moments, fortunately rare, then have an aftertaste of Rick Dangerous.
The game has been tested on the Nintendo Switch, mainly as a nomad. Some bugs are to be noted, but nothing blocking. For example, it has happened that a boss ends up killing the character (it happens even to the best) and that the section is restarted from the last checkpoint… but without the boss in question. The loading times are sometimes a bit long and some jerks were noted during the final phase.
On the other hand, the management of vibrations is catastrophic: it is simply all or nothing, no half measures. In the middle of a battlefield or in an elevator to the next floor, the throttle whirrs like a fighter plane ready to take off.
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A kiss to build a dream on
The main campaign lasts about three hours (and in a single charge of the battery from the Switch). It is possible to play it alone or in cooperation. This last option is also well hidden: you have to activate the two joycons separately at the launch of the game and the second player can only join the game from the first control point. And if one of the two dies, it’s back to the last stele for everyone.
When finished, the menu Lost Tales is unlocked and the game also offers to redo the adventure in a kind of “new game +”. In this last option, you keep the equipment and fragments gleaned during the previous part, but you must repeat the whole adventure without dying once. If you wanted a challenge, you will be served; but the worst enemy will not be the adventure itself, but rather the rustic handling of the game.
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The first mode available in Lost Tales is Duel. It offers two arenas in which it is possible to fight a second player or the game’s artificial intelligence, all in a number of rounds to be defined. The dojo offers sword fighting, while the other offers various platforms and randomly changes weaponry with each” title=”
Round
English word meaning “Tour” designating a unit of time. It is generally considered that X actions can be executed per “round”. The faster the character, the greater the number of actions that can be carried out (the number of blows dealt to the opponent for example) in a “round”.
“>round.
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The most interesting is the second mode: a Brave Sacrifice. In this brand new adventure, you control a man with the head of a dog who must leave his village to go on a sort of initiatory journey. The particularity here is that the character returns to his starting point when he dies. However, he keeps his equipment and some doors remain open, which allows you to progress without having to redo everything. The levels are less linear and the difficulty a little more severe.
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The Eternal Castle offers something very interesting, on condition that you agree to go back to old standards: for the better (a bewitching universe, a certain charm in the graphics and a controlled animation) and also for the worse (this maneuverability from another age, damn it). The experience can really be worth it, especially since the game is offered at a low price … Well, at least on Steam; Regarding the price on the eShop, it is already a little more questionable.
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Test carried out on Switch by NeoGrifteR from a version provided by the publisher.
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