Hey it’s October, which means I get to go against my scared nature and play what I believe to be horror games. I do have the urge to play some horrible games and call them a nightmare to play, but I think I’ll go literal and play some actual scary games. For this Way Back Wednesday I’ve decided to play a game I haven’t played in a very long time.
When the Nintendo Gamecube was released I was still in my Nintendo phase, so of course I got one and a bunch of games for birthdays and holidays. One of the games I received as a gift was Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, because I was young and through I wouldn’t get scared of anything ever. Apparently that feeling came and went with that game, because I get really scared now and it’s pretty embarrassing. I remember playing the game and knowing it was a horror themed game, but I never really got that scared. In actuality I really thought it was cool that Nintendo had brought a game like this to their system. There were cut scenes and talk of decapitation and spooky spirits which I had scene in Resident Evil games, but those had been out for a while and I was used to them.
Going back to the game now was liking playing it for the firs time. I had to get used to the controls and remember just how to start the actual game. I also didn’t remember the cop in the beginning of the game being such a jerk, almost like it was a horrible thing for home to do his duty. I also didn’t understand why it took two weeks for you to go back and investigate a murder of someone in your own family and find things that the cops should have found the first day. I don’t know if it was lazy writing or just a message about the law enforcement, but whatever it was we all get it.
After finding my way to the first chapter, I realized that the levels in the game were extremely short and the paths are almost all linear. There are very few sections where you have a chance to go one of two ways and the action seemed to be slower than normal. The paths I have no control over, but the game going slow during fight scenes may have just been how my Gamecube was running. I know there were a few puzzles that I encountered that you get answers for later, and that the game messes with you as your proceed but I didn’t make it that far. I was actually pretty happy with myself because in most cases I die and end the game, but this time I made it through the intro and first chapter alive. I’m not saying that I wasn’t two hits from dying, but the fact of the matter is that I made it. The old gladiator character you play as is only one of the few you get to play throughout the game and I remember not being the game, but getting stuck in a house with a weird creature walking around. To give exact detail would be down right impossible, but hey for the first of my horror games I had fun.