Doublehit Games, the developer of Eternal Hope, has stated that the Studio Ghibli films were an inspiration for the game, but that description doesn’t necessarily do it justice. Instead Eternal Hope sports the stylistic aesthetic of games like Hollow Knight combined with the gameplay and story of Limbo. Eternal Hope is a very dark, horrifying story, and there is ironically very little hope to be found here – but it’s still a very moving and deeply satisfying game.
Eternal Hope puts the player in the shoes of of a boy named Ti’bi who falls in love with a girl. The couple hangs out every day under the tree where they first met, and Ti’bi makes the trek to this tree every single morning. One morning, a horrible storm blows through that hinders Ti’bi’s progress to the tree, and by the time he gets there a rogue lighting strike knocks his girlfriend off the cliff to her death. After mourning the loss of his love, Ti’bi is visited by Death himself who gives him the power to shift between the living world and spirit world. From here Ti’bi sets out on a journey to collect the pieces of his girlfriend’s soul and restore her to life.
The gameplay in Eternal Hope will probably remind players of Limbo quite a bit. It is a simple puzzle platformer where players must push objects around the environment, climb on top of different platforms, or use different aspects of the environment to progress further. Players will have no weapons at their disposal, but are confronted with many perilous hazards and creatures throughout their journey. Each new area will present players with an environmental puzzle that must be solved as well before they can move on to the next area.
The most interesting mechanical innovation in Eternal Hope is the ability to shift between the living and spirit world. By pressing a button players will shift into another dimension, which allows them to see secret items or ways to progress that don’t exist in the living world. There are also helpful shadow creatures that reside in this dimension as well that help players reach platforms or otherwise give them assistance in solving different puzzles.
While the opening few moments of Eternal Hope are sad, for the most part the game is pretty charming. This takes a dark turn towards the end, however, and it’s a well-managed tonal shift that re-engages the player. Progressing further into the journey of Eternal Hope sees the world become a lot more dangerous – not to mention mysterious. Things very quickly take a turn for the worse as enemies go from normal animals or trolls to monstrous shadow creatures that relentlessly pursue the player. Ti’bi is quickly confronted with elements he wasn’t expecting and, ultimately, with outcomes he could not have predicted, and the final moments of the game are as memorable as they are moving.
Eternal Hope is an interesting yet short game. Players will be able to finish it in the span of a single playthrough if they so choose, but it is more than worth it. Ti’bi’s quest to save the love of his life is a noble one, and it’s hard to watch the lengths that he is willing to go to in order to make his dream a reality even while cheering him on. Eternal Hope is a wonderful indie title that players will find themselves thinking about for days after they finish it.
Eternal Hope is out now on Xbox One and PC. A PC code was provided for the purposes of this review.
