Image credit: brika
Platformers aren’t always known for their immersive stories and world-building, but LOVE ETERNAL manages to flip this expectation on its head. Developed by brlka and published by Ysbryd Games, this gem blends psychological horror with precision platforming.
While LOVE ETERNAL offers plenty of punch in its bite-sized runtime from a story perspective, it’s also got plenty to offer for diehard platforming geeks. You’ll find Kyusai’s full, spoiler-free LOVE ETERNAL reviewbelow, reviewed on PC and Steam Deck.
Dark and atmospheric
In LOVE ETERNAL, you play as a girl named Maya, who gets plucked from the real world and thrown into a nightmarish reality at the behest of a strange deity. It’s a cosmic and unnerving style of horror, but it feels strangely grounded in reality, too, as it hops between scenes and settings with ease.
The game starts with a typical family dinner, but quickly spirals from there, taking Maya through labyrinthine hallways, tumbling spirals, and webs of spikes, with everything from spider-monsters to doppelgängers to contend with.
While it may sound like a psychological horror adventure or even a walking simulator at first glance, LOVE ETERNAL is actually a precision platformer.
It’s arguably not a genre that’s famed for its story content and compelling narratives, for the most part, but I found LOVE ETERNAL’s blend of genres to be mesmerizing and I’m hoping to see more games follow suit after playing through this gem.
The fast-paced nature of its levels contrasted perfectly with the slower, dread-inducing story snippets, leading to a magnetic sense of duality. One minute, you’re hopping over spikes, the next, you’re thinking about reorganizing your manga collection.
The gameplay moved smoothly from bite-sized cutscenes and story-based exploration sections to platforming gauntlets, with small moments of normalcy threaded in amongst the surrealist platforming stages.
Maya must hop over obstacles and flip gravity on its head to get through sections safely, jumping or long-jumping to get to levers, save points, or safe spots where you can catch your breath. The flipping mechanic felt unique and added a nice layer of extra challenge to contend with.
It’s a short game – it’ll likely take you around 5 or 6 hours, depending on your platforming prowess – but it felt like the perfect runtime. Any longer, it would’ve outstayed its welcome and become repetitive, but any shorter, and it wouldn’t have had time to set up its ominous yet dreamy atmosphere.
Story-driven platforming
Difficulty levels are always going to be a hot topic with platformers, particularly if – like me – you’re not always the quickest to play through them. I’m an avid fan of games like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Celeste, but I’d be lying if I said I found those games anything but challenging during my time with them.
LOVE ETERNAL struck what I felt was a fair balance when it came to difficulty. It was challenging, with some levels being bitterly harder than others, but it never felt ridiculous to the point of making me want to put the game down and dig into something else. Cracking a level felt rewarding, especially when it led to a new cutscene.
The style of storytelling in LOVE ETERNAL will likely hit harder for some players than others. It’s surreal and deeply symbolic, feeling like you’re wandering through a fever dream, and it leans into its horrific side as the game unfurls.
Visually, LOVE ETERNAL is undeniably charming. Its pixelated aesthetic oozed style, with the cutscenes and character portraits being a particular highlight of the game. The soundscape was immersive, too, feeling muted yet vibrant all at once.
Performance-wise, LOVE ETERNAL ran well during my time with it, not throwing up any major quirks, glitches, or bugs to note. The interface was clean and simple, and the controls felt intuitive.
I tested the game on PC and Steam Deck, and found the Steam Deck experience to be marginally better than using a keyboard and mouse in terms of responsiveness, with the one caveat being the smaller character size.
LOVE ETERNAL won’t be for everyone; it’s vicious in places, with some levels that require pin-point accuracy and patience. For the right horror geeks and platformer sickos, though, it’ll prove to be a decadently dark experience, with a strange yet rich story and a fast-paced yet methodical style of play.
FAQs
LOVE ETERNAL was developed by brlka and published by Ysbryd Games.
LOVE ETERNAL is a psychological horror precision platformer.
LOVE ETERNAL is on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It’s also playable on Steam Deck.
Yes, during my time with the game, I found LOVE ETERNAL to be perfectly playable on the Steam Deck. It’s Steam Deck Verified, as per the official Steam page.
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