The Eternal Castle Remastered Reviews
The Eternal Castle successfully captures the visual magic of cinematic platforming, but it's unnecessarily frustrating thanks to poor controls
The Eternal Castle Remastered is a stunning, evocative cinematic platformer that recalls a long-past era of PC gaming.
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] try to demonstrate the current maturity of the videogame medium simply using a few modern tools in a structure inspired by the adventures of the 80s, playing with the player mind starting from the title.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Eternal Castle Remastered delivers a faithful MS-DOS inspired title. That means it comes with all the issues those games carried with them. If it was simply a visual representation with modern game mechanics, The Eternal Castle Remastered could have been an amazing title, but alas, the broken platforming, melee combat that sees you button mashing until you win an encounter and gunplay that leaves you running for your life more often then holding your ground all conspire to make The Eternal Castle Remastered feel desperately dated. The unique art design is visually appealing, and when the electronic music plays, it sounds incredible. Unfortunately though, it's not enough to save The Eternal Castle from being a below-average title.
This faux-remake does what it sets out to do eerily well. There's just the question of whether that goal was worth achieving.
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] is a neo-retro masterpiece. Even if you play the game from start to finish just once in a single sitting and never come back to it, this minimalist post-apocalyptic epic will stay with you for years to come. If you already have Another World and Flashback in your Switch collection and are looking for the next true evolution of the genre, look no further. They just don't make them like this any more… and we found ourselves wondering 'why not?'.
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] prevails through its devotion to the garish glitz and grime of its early 90's apocalyptic techno/retro-future. It's a complete aesthetic that romanticizes graphical antiquity and idealizes a parallel with the maximum of its era's volatile culture. The artifact of The Eternal Castle may be invented and artificial, but it's no less effective in proving its power.
If like us, taking one look at a screenshot makes you immediately wanted to play it - be sure to check it out.
Confusing marketing and a visual choice that impedes while in motion will probably alienate potential customers. The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] is targeting a narrow audience, with a 2-bit CGA graphics gimmick. Some will enjoy it a great deal. Others, like myself, will develop eye strain, and end up reaching for FLASHBACK instead.
If this was the “remastered” version of The Eternal Castle, I would hate to see what the original was like. The best thing about this was the marketing gimmick and the music.
The Eternal Castle is a fantastic experience with a stunningly unapologetic appearance that evokes strong retro vibes and has a very modern feel under its hood.
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] is not like any other game I’ve played. It is both hyper-modern and old-school, horrifying and uplifting, rich with detail yet surprisingly concise when all things are considered. It has immense replay value, not in the least because of extensive new game plus content. On the whole, it is something of a cinematic masterpiece that still feels like a game and rewards a gamer’s curiosity, investigation, and persistence.
You'll start to question everything as you play The Eternal Castle.
Watch a video of someone playing The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED], and you'll love it. The faux-retro, 2-bit colour palette has been used to paint a dark, grungy, and deeply atmospheric post-apocalyptic Earth, whose style will surely be appreciated by - very - old-school PC gamers. A great art style can never replace great game design, however. The visuals make it hard to understand what's going on, leading to even more trial-and-error that's already needed, not to mentions that the controls are a bit of a mess. There are things to like here, but the ride isn't usually that exciting.
The Eternal Castle [Remastered] is a big trap for the unsuspecting as it seduces them through the prism of nostalgia and, when you least expect it, delivers something new, captivating, a bit extravagant, full of retro personality, with some irritating elements (like an unresponsive gameplay system), but with an above-average narrative and aesthetic experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] is a faithful replication of nostalgic cinematic adventure games like Prince of Persia and Another World.
With that older era comes a much more vague approach to the story that I actually appreciated. It is strange how little you are given to know, but the entire time through the game I always felt like I was progressing towards something and getting closer to my final destination. And each area of the game itself feels like it’s own thing while still fitting with the game’s overall theme, from a doomed lab to an abandoned cityscape, and a wasteland in the middle of a war.
The Eternal Castle is a vintage-flavored adventure inspired by classics like Prince of Persia, Flashback and Another World. The limited color palette and minimalism does not prevent it from being a visual poetry, as well as its hard and challenging gameplay. The soundtrack deserves a separate mention and is one of the reasons why it deserves to be played. A real independent gem.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Your enjoyment of The Eternal Castle will weigh heavily on either having fond memories of the era or wanting to leave it buried. It’s difficult to see how younger players will react to its visuals and punishing difficulty, but it serves as stark reminder that we’ve come a long way, baby.
The Eternal Castle: Remastered is a fun cinematic platformer that sparks imagination and frustration as you make your way through the minimalist levels. The developers have taken the genre and made it their own by implementing more action-centric elements and branching paths.