Eternity's Child Now Available for Steam

Wow. That's rather worrying, but it's good to know that it may just be because of a bug that has since been fixed. Especially since I've been looking forward to this game for a while.

(Adds necessary w00t for first comment. Also notes that he has not and does not plan to look at the aforementioned reviews.)

he says that any bugs will be fixed for the wiiware version so i'm sure it'll be good, just give him some time to fix the problems.

This isn't promising.....................

Mhmmm, i kinda think 1/10 isn't just due though a lousy jump button ...
maybe all other games on Steam are just marvelous

I hope the wiiware version at least get a 8/10 ..Damn 1/10 is devastating... Lets hope that Luc fixed that bug for those unlucky G's.

Luc has also stated that the WW version is the definitive version if I understand what he has written in the past.
They are two different beasts and the Steam version was sort of forced out by his programmer with some different design decisions. So I will not pass judgment on the WW version because of the steam version.
Most of the destructoid user comments are not appropriate and out of line in my opinion.

Dont worry Luc we still believe in you.

Awesome! I just can't decide whether to get the PC version or wait for the wiiware version... I'll definitely download the demo on monday!

Also, who cares what two douchebags on the internet think about a game?

Dang.
Turns out the game might not live up to the hype.

Luckily this site has a lot more mature people than on that other site.
Even if not fully satisfied, I highly doubt anyone here will be flaming Luc.

Even if it's not what you had hoped, surely you can appreciate all of his hard work and dedication.

Besides, a 1/10 was ridiculous.
I can guarantee a better review from this site.

@Chipmunk777
Get the wiiware version.

I'm agreeing with x.supermario.x that those comments are a bit out of line but "I can guarantee a better review from this site." ? I'm really hoping that WiiWare World is going to give me an honest review ... even if its sucks monkeyballs through a straw (which i'm not hoping for just to be clear)

Yes, that Steam account wound up being good for something! Now I have four things to look forward to Monday!

I meant "better review", as in an actual review.

This site gives very detailed reviews. On that other site, it looks as if a couple of guys played the game for a couple minutes, and just scribbled stuff down.

If you give the game a bad score, tell everyone why.

If anyone remembers, I wasn't excited about the game in the first place.
So either two things will happen...
1.) I buy the game with low expectations, and it surprises me.
2.) I buy the game, I'm not entirely thrilled, I applaud Luc for his efforts, and life moves on.

But this whole situation has gotten a little crazy. This is why it's cool for developers to post on gaming sites, but it can turn into a real disaster. I'd recommend Luc stay on this site though, since I'd like to think most of us are just a teeny bit mature.

@Mickeymac
what are the four things? lol just wandering.

At least visually it looks amazing. That has to count for something

Valid criticism yes, but no flaming!
That's what I like about this site. If comments are completely off-topic, or remotely-explicit, they seem to disappear.
Which is a little disappointing when you have a few deleted - like me - but it prevents certain things from happening, like we saw on that D-site.

And are we seeing the WiiWare version soon, since the game's finished?

Added: Ohs noes. Someone take away Corbie's mod powers...

There's nothing wrong with putting opinions out there, but that debacle on Destructoid was absolutely uncalled for. We'll keep an open mind about the game and give it every chance we give every other title we review here. I've personally always found the majority of the comments of this site very constructive and good for discussions.

@ SuperMario - Yeah every time you disagree with me I'm going to delete your comments.

I agree with Super Mairo.
What I like about this site is if you get off topic or start flaming, you seem to dissappear gasp like my last comment
And does the Reviewer of this played this (supposedly bad) version? I don't think they should, that would be unfair toward this game.

lol I just read like the first 20ish comments on the destructoid site... what a bunch of immature morons. it's like being on newgrounds.

Wow. This...is quite a surprise. There must've been 30 people on destructor that told Luc to go F*** himself.

@Bahamut. Hey! I saw your name on Destructor! You seemed like one of the few people on there who had a brain.

well hey guys, we are releasing a demo on monday, directly for people to test on their PC's

I seriously think that they went insane on it, and it has morally broke me down, but once you guys get a demo you will see for yourselves it's not a 1/10

However alot of people on Steam like it

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=709682

But I hope for one thing that well this does not cancel the Wiiware version, and I hope to see the other reviews

I was reading those comments last night on that site.
It was quite shocking really. The thing is they complained about the jump not working. which is a valid point.
Only a patch fixed that. Thing is, i aint even played it and I know it's worth more than 1/10 based on the Music and graphics alone.

Sad to say I might actually have to wait for the Wiiware review on this one.. even if its only $5.. I was planning to buy on impulse, not so sure now.

Hey Luc, Waiting for my Steam Version to finish downloading now. (damn SA international bandwidth).

I scanned some of the comment on D-Toid .. and your right... criticism is good and all... but geez. Things like that are why I hate the internet.

However finding games like Eternity's Child and Aquaria are why I love it. I cant say if I will love or hate this game yet. I can say that I will probably buy it twice because if there is one thing I really believe in its supporting the little guys with big ideas.

Thank you man, for sticking this crap out and believing in your own product. Not many people have the guts to do that nowadays.

well the good thing that comes out with the steam version is that we can fix annoying things with patches

so then the wiiware one comes out pretty much awesome

right now I believe EC is a good platforrmer, nothing groundbreaking but well worth the 4.99$

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/37846.html trailer

@Tony

Samurai Showdown II, Ys I & II, whatever's coming out on Wiiware tomorrow is bound to be good for me( especially if it's Potpurri), and now Steam is releasing Eternity's Child demo! Monday's going to be a good day indeed!

@x.SuperMario.x

Yeah, I remember like fifty comments on a Gyrostarr article getting deleted one time, they were pretty off-topic though, but it was really weird, I thought the site broke or something. I've only had one "dissappear" so far, and it's not like I didn't expect it.

@Mario64DStyle

That's why there's demos, Mac! Though I'll admit, PC is not the best platform for platformers, so you're experience will differ from PC to WW.

@Luc

Wow! It looks a lot better than what we've previously seen! I can't wait for the demo, I love platformers!

Edit: I don't mess with the Mod.

Wow more Portpourrii hate. Don't make me further abuse my mod status!

Hmm, I was afraid this was going to happen. I believed EC was going to be at least an okay game, but I only for a moment thought it would do this poorly (at least on that site). It takes a truly crappy game to get a 1, so I think that score may have been a bit harsh. Still, there are some choices in the gameplay that seem worrisome to me. One thing is also for certain, all bugs better be fixed for the WiiWare version. It'd be a disservice to such a potentially-good game to not fix them.

In other news, when I checked the comment board on that one site, all that cussing brought memories of middle school. Talk about some unintelligent and rude people.

Oh noes, Corbie is going mad with power

I think it's great you're sticking out demos, even if they aren't great. It means that you can fix what people hate BEFORE you make them pay some cash.

@Virus. I know your pain. I try to supress my memories of middle school as much as possible.

@Luc. Well it's good to hear that you've fixed up the bugs and junk. It seems that Steam is looking at the game in a much more mature perspective that Dtor was. I don't think that a game with a great soundtrack and georgeous graphics can be bad enough to get 1/10. It takes a special kind of crapulence to get a score like that. I bet destructor played it for 5 minutes and came up with their score...

Can't wait to play the demo!

EDIT: Thinking about flash games I've seen/played in the past, I realize now that the animation really is Flash game-caliber, and moved a bit slowly too. Maybe Luc can fix that too. It still wasn't as bad as Dtoid dragged it out to be. They made it sound as if it moved at 3 frames per second.
But really I don't care how it animates, but just that it runs smoothly.

Supermario actually has a point. By deleting offensive/ broken/ gratutiously off-topic comments, it prevents from starting a nasty trend, like the "F#ck Luc Bernard" trend back at the Dtor.

Yeah I saw this earlier today and was gonna tell you about it, but ya already knew! I'm glad that patches were sent out. Let's hope the wiiware version is not only NOT cancelled, but comes out soon.

Am I the only one who had a great Middle School life? Elementary School, now that was Hell! I do have some friends who had to recover from Middle School though.

As for the game, I think animation was what impressed me the most, and I've seen a lot of crappier retail games score higher than that. I'm starting to think he forgot to type in a 0 after that 1

Heh, all school is evil. Be it the brats of elementary school or the druggies of college (or even high school in some places), no one escapes untraumatized.

@Mr. Cheez
I also wondered why the reviewers complained about the animation in the review so I spent some time watching the videos we have on the internet. Although my eyes weren't torn from my sockets when I started realizing it, I can almost see what they are talking about. Then again, I wouldn't care about the animations as long as it doesn't hurt the gameplay. I'm one of those guys that would accept N64 graphics on a WiiWare game. It has nothing to do with my love of the N64...of course not...

@Virus

Meh, the main sprite's animation ain't the best, now that you point it out, but it's more than functional, and I don't really notice it unless I look for it.

Flash...can do that? That's awesome!

Yeah, I still want this game. I have trouble respecting Destructoid at times, and I'll judge for myself on Monday. I didn't know about Steam! This should be interesting...

we'll try to get the demo out for monday

don't worry guys it will come, before the wiiware version comes out for sure, so you will be able to test the game yourselves to see if it's worth your 500 points

I'm not surprised....the game didn't look good to me the second I saw it

Very excited about the demo option...even if its the PC version...

I just played this game for about an hour, and I've got to say a 1/10 is absolute rubbish. I really enjoy this game. The charged shot/shotgun mechanic is really cool and fun to play with. Guiding the charged shot with the cursor is a really cool idea, and useful in the gameplay. I will now read through the destructoid review and give my take on each issue they discussed.

Unfortunately, the graphics only look good in screenshots.

I have no idea what they're talking about. The game looks fantastic, especially once you turn on some antialiasing! The backgrounds, the sprites, the shots. Maybe he has a piss-poor graphics card? The main sprite animation is kind of flash-esque, but it doesn't look bad. I'd go so far as to say that it looks great! It certainly does not warrant the comment: "In motion, the game looks as good as, if not worse than, most flash games you might find on Newgrounds"

Unless you feel like memorizing a bunch of proper nouns and abstract plot points the game throws at you in its first five minutes, then the story of Eternity's Child will be irrelevant at best, and nonexistent at worst

Haha..... Apparently these people don't like reading! The intro was MAYBE a minute long, and pretty interesting. Nothing to memorize, no "abstract plot points"... And anyway, it's a platforming game. What was the story in the first mario game? I had no idea the first time I played it! No clue the man was a plumber! There was no elaborate story telling in mario to explain to me that I'm searching for the princess. At any rate, how could know anything about the story of the game without finishing it? There are back-and-forths between Rose and Angel, and I'm only on the 5th level (out of 20) anyways so who's to say that the story doesn't develop more?

Let's talk about level design, or the complete lack of it on display in Eternity's Child. How the player is given essentially no direction as to where to go, but to move randomly eastward, hoping to bump into something of importance while making blind leaps of faith, praying to land on something to show that they're on the right track

This I have to agree with partially. Now, I wouldn't say there is a "complete lack of [level design] on display in Eternity's Child," but I did feel very confused as to where to go at some points during the game. But again, I've only played the first 5 levels, and I only had this problem at a few points thus far. The main problem I had was the "leaps of faith" he talks about.

Or that the player must kill every single flying enemy they see, because even if they manage to temporarily run away from them, even if they run all the way to the opposite side of the level, the enemies will eternally chase them, so that five minutes after escaping a horde of Evil Flying Robotic Heart Things, you rest for just a moment and, from out of nowhere, the Evil Flying Robotic Heart Things you'd forgotten about come from offscreen and kill you.

This is just stupid. Why would you not kill the flying heart things? They take one charged shot to kill, and almost always drop a heart. Also, these are the only enemies I have encountered that follow you around. The big, hard-to-kill flying guys you can run past, the guns that shoot at you don't follow you.

And speaking of combat, the shooting mechanics just don't feel right

Wrong again, it's as if they didn't even use the charged shot. That's probably because its use was explained in text at the beginning of the game! Anyway, for the guns that shoot at you, all you need to do is fire a charged shot and maneuver it with your cursor to kill them easily. The charged shot destroys all of their bullets, and if you just drag the shot onto the enemy, it dies quickly.

There is nothing good about this game

...

On to the next guy's review:

The problem is that it's difficult for the wrong reasons, most directly in terms of control

The game is hard, but I found it had nothing to do with the controls. Maybe I missed something..? I thought the controls were just fine. I had only one quarrel with them (which I will talk about at the end).

The charged shot is interesting because you can catch it with the cursor and then direct it around the screen to kill enemies. It's a cool idea that utterly fails in execution due to how precisely the cursor must be placed

I don't know what to say here, really. I found it easy to use the charged shot. And, I really only guided it when I was trying to kill mass amounts of the flying heart things. Most times I just used it as a shotgun (you can hold right click, and when it's fully charged hit left click and it fires like a shotgun. Or, you can fire the charged shot and then shoot it with another shot and it explodes).

Whatever you do, don't buy this game. In fact, don't even say its name, for that might give its already unholy form power.

Score: 1.0

Um, reading the second guy's review, it didn't sound like it warranted a 1/10. It sounded like he liked it a lot more than the first guy (he also sounded like he gave it more of a chance), but then at the end wanted to follow along with the first guy's low score.

My take on the game is this: It is fun, it is challenging, the levels are pretty well designed except for a few points where you have to just jump off and hope for the best. The artwork is great, the music is outstanding, the gameplay is not as loose as they make you think.

My only real problem with the game is the jump mechanic.

One: I would like more control of the jump itself. If I tap the jump button while running, I'd like to only jump a little bit, if I hold it I'd like to jump higher. What I described does occur in the game to an extent, but it only works when you're not running. This is not a problem, it does nothing to detract from the game. It's just something that I feel increases control in a platforming game. Those little precise jumps just make the game flow better.

Two: I have died a few times due to the fact that I tried to jump at the apex of a moving platform's route, and he just didn't jump! I assume it's because Angel was in the air for a split second or something when the platform started to move down again? I'm not sure, but that is mildly annoying.

But aside from that, I love this game. I'm sure the wiiware version will be better though, and I will of course buy that one too. And I would bet you that this is the best game you can buy for 5 bucks.

All in all, I'd give this game an 8/10.

@Chipmunk. That's probably the longest post I've ever seen on this site. Mickeymac will be positively green with envy!
And a great one too! Makes a monkey out of Dtoid's review!

@Chipmunk
Thank you for a REAL review. Destructoid blows.

Yep the Destructoid review is a f@#king joke. I just finished the first chapter and while it's not perfect it's still very enjoyable. For me it has happened 3-4 times that the jump button didn't do what it was supposed to do. I'm also not a fan of fall damage. But with time and updates this can grow bigger and better. I would rate this game after one play through 7/10. If just some of the small issues are fixed it will be rated higher. Also the music in this game is epic.

Just read all the comments a DTOID... man, what a bunch of hugglebunnies.

I've been pretty excited about this game since I first heard about it, so I'll definitely be getting the Steam demo.

Btw, is this game coming to the US WiiWare?

I agree that the comments on Destructoid are somewhat unfriendly. That may be, because the comments are probably uncensored unlike in other forums. But apart from the comments, I believe that the review is honest and critical. I did not have the feeling that they wanted to drag the game in the mud for no apparent reason.

Now I'm curious what the conclusion of the Wiiware-World review is going to be. Maybe they reveal the truth and everything is different than expected. Or maybe not. I hope that they are also honest and critical.

Will installing Steam to my computer cause me to get any computer Viruses? I downloaded a Flash player from IGN to play E3 Vids, and I got an assload of viruses. I don't wanna take that chance again.

@Mr. Cheez

No you won't get Viruses, just lots of cookies.

Besides, the demo doesn't seem to be up yet. It is Monday, right? I'll check again tomorrow.

Nope, can't find it either. :S And it's Tuesday.

Yeah, maybe they meant next monday. Guess I had nothing to look forward to today, though they did have a bunch of other cool indie games to try(including a fun Kamatari clone), and I'll probably get WWG if there's nothing good next monday, so it's not so bad.

@Mickeymac
In his newest blog that he posted today he said he was hoping to have it up in the next few days. So it should be up by friday.

By Destructoid's standards a 1/10 means the game is unplayable, at the time of review they did not have the patch up to my knowledge, so only correct jumps 1/3 of the time sounds like unplayable to me. However, since the patch did get released. I'm highly disapointed that Luc allowed the game to get released in that state of form. I haven't played the game yet because I'm waiting for the Wii Ware version, so I'm in no way bashing the game as a whole, it caught my interest so I believe now with updates and what not it can be a good experience. I also must express my disapointment in Mr. Luc Bernard. Yes, your "baby" got heavily criticized but this is the internet after all, just take in the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and forget all the bashers that have nothing good to offer. Nothing personal to you though, I'll still support Eternity's Child on Wii Ware and give it my honest opinion(though I'm sure no one will care what MY opinion is XD), and I wish you the best of luck in your career. There is my thoughts/rant on this whole situation D:.

@Hyper Metal Sonic

Evidently you haven't played PC games, otherwise you'd know that what Luc did was par for the course. Many games get released in essentially Beta form, either to keep a schedule, or in Luc's case, to test a game before retail release. What he did was no different from what anybody else would have done, and now the Wiiware version will be better because of it.

@Andy

Thanks, I'll check it again on Friday, and it will be a very happy day if it is there.

@ Mickeymac

You're correct, I'm not much of a PC gamer. I'm not calling you a liar, because like I said, I'm not a PC gamer, but I find it very odd for it to be normal to release an unfinished buggy game on purpose just for the sake of "testing" it. Isn't that what. . .beta testing is for? Which is free for people to do. I understand the time constraint part, especially when you're a newbie like Luc you can't really say "Oh I need more time" and then he's granted more time. But you say it's for Luc to test the game before retail release? The game isn't getting a retail release is it? It's Steam and Wii Ware only, the people HAD to pay for it, so I don't really understand that. I don't see how releasing a buggy version of a game and charging for it is good. . .sorry if it sounds like I"m attacking what you're saying, I'm not, I just think doing stuff like that is crazy(which I guess is normal for someone out of the loop of the PC world XD). I guess it's for the best I"m not into PC gaming XD.

Edit: At the beginning, I used "unfinished" the game is obviously done, sorry for poor wording DX.

@Hyper Metal Sonic

There was no bug actually about jumping, Angel just bended before jumping, Wiiware World's preview would of mentioned it if not, it was not my fault if the reviewers did not know that you needed to hold the jump button in order for him to jump lol

@LucBernard

Did he even bother to read the instructions?

@Hyper Metal Sonic

You can't release patches on Wiiware, you have to make sure you got it right the first time, just like retail.

Besides, I never said it was a good policy, but it's what people do, a status quo, and I we can't do anything about it. Plus, there wasn't a bug anyways, so my assumption that Luc was conforming to that status quo was a little off.

Actually, I'm not sure if companies do use the retail release as testing on purpose, it may be a more of a "bonus", though they do tend to release them a little "unfinished", mostly for release date purposes. It isn't that smart, nor is it good for the customers, but since they can release patches to fix any problems, it doesn't really do much harm.

Not everbody does this mind you, but enough do so that one isn't really surprised when it does happen.

@Chipmunk777

Dang, you sound like a professional! Nay, better than a professional, since you actually played it .

@Luc and Mickey

Thanks for clearing some stuff up for me ^_. Sorry for not being too knowledgeable when it comes to PC stuff .

hey guys the review is up on kotaku for this game.

@andy836

Thank you, it was a pretty good review. I should check out their reviews more often, I like how they don't use a scoring system, instead just telling you a rather breif summary of the game, and what the reviewer did and didn't like.

A lot of people are apparently disappointed that there wasn't more to the story than the backround at the beginning, but considering most traditional platformers don't have much of a story, and the Backround was pretty in-depth, I think I'll be fine with it.

He also didn't like the whole two-character thing, and the fact that you had to stop to shoot. That sounds a bit nit-picky to me, so I'll probably look past it with ease.

What does concern me is that the AI, especially that of the Bird, ain't so good, though I think that's being adressed. Also, he didn't like the designs of some of the levels, though apparently the one that ticked him off the most is being removed.

All in all, he thought it was a great game that was hindered by "sub-par gameplay choices". Personally, it sounds just fine to me, and the only things I was really worried about are already being addressed, so I'm still anticipating it's Wiiware release.

@Mickeymac
Luc has said that hes going to add more to the storyline. He's put up some new blogs today if you wan to read them.

@andy836

Wow, he's really working hard on that game isn't he, even after release! I'll go check out those blogs.

A platformer with awesome graphics? How could this not be a good game? I'll support games like these. it looks like Luc has put alot into the wiiware version so it sounds like we are getting a polished game. Day one buy here.

@LucBernard Where exactly can we get this demo. Hit us up with a link.One more thing will that PC demo support a controllers (phillips retractable)?

Regardless of the review I'll be buying this game. I'm a fan of platformers anyway, but i dont need a review to tell me how good a platformer is. I like them all. The artwork here is what catches my eyes the most .It almost feels like darkstalkers mixed with gothic tones. Honestly games like these make the wiiware service so much better than the competition.