LOVE ETERNAL Review | As Your Shadow Crosses Mine

How much agony are you willing to put yourself through just to see the light at the end of the tunnel? That is one of the big questions driving the core narrative and gameplay of the challenging precision platformer, LOVE ETERNAL. Developer brlka takes a big swing, weaving an ambitious experimental horror narrative into a platformer. I went into LOVE ETERNAL cautiously optimistic, but left in awe of this much-needed fresh take on a beloved genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji3RdO-OhYM

LOVE ETERNAL follows Maya, a child unexpectedly taken from her family and cast into the mind of a deity. The goal is simple: find your way home. But achieving that goal, on the other hand, is not. The deity’s mind is a complex maze of spikes, lasers, and traps to navigate in hopes of finding a crack to escape. Coincidentally, it also serves as the perfect playground for a killer precision platformer.

LOVE ETERNAL does not shy away from the legacy of the genre, as each of the over 100 screens presents a methodical challenge you will surely die-and-try-again facing. The main tool at Maya’s disposal is the ability to manipulate the center of her gravity upward or downward once, only resetting when hitting a gem à la Celeste or when both feet hit the ground. This becomes the core mechanic behind navigating the various obstacles. Movement itself is snappy and responsive, and the gravity-swap mechanic has a grounded feel when it comes to momentum. I found myself triggering the gravity swap at precise moments in order to smoothly turn a corner and avoid spikes by a hair. Whether it was making small progress and learning each challenge bit by bit, reaching a checkpoint, or completing a screen, the core mechanics and feel made each accomplishment satisfying.

What’s also impressive is the pacing and presentation with which Love Eternal lays out these screens. I kept finding myself putting the controller down and analyzing each screen before making an attempt. At the risk of dating this review, I can only compare it to what I’d imagine Olympic curlers go through when thinking through their next move. That feeds wonderfully into the pacing. The order of the game’s operations feels very purposeful, with each screen teaching you new obstacle patterns or layouts and building upon them as you progress. Mileage will vary depending on skill level and patience, but each screen took no more than four or five attempts at most… until “The Final Challenge.”

The final screen of the game is deceptively brutal. It personally took me 2.5 hours over the course of two nights to finally make it through. Admittedly, I did feel an intense sense of accomplishment the moment Maya’s feet reached safety. But that said, the ramp in difficulty feels like a bit much. The best analogy I can make is that it felt more like a Celeste B-Side than part of the main campaign. There’s an argument to be made that it gives the narrative stakes more weight, and again, mileage may vary depending on your skill. But that screen alone took a whole lot of wind out of my sails, so much so that I was close to setting the game down and accepting I’d never see the credits. Unfortunately, there are no accessibility options to help ease any potential pain you may encounter.

Now, speaking of the narrative, I’m going to purposely keep it light. It’s best explored and unraveled unspoiled. But believe me when I say the narrative is where LOVE ETERNAL absolutely shines, especially if you’re a little arthouse horror sicko like yours truly. Maya’s journey is told in a severely experimental fashion, tackling themes of dire loneliness and how far one is willing to go for companionship. That’s only elevated through the gorgeous hand-drawn pixel art, smooth animation, striking environments, and a haunting score. brlka swings for the fences throughout, particularly midway through the game with a surprising swerve. Given its heavily experimental nature, I’m not sure it’s going to click for everyone. But you can’t deny brlka their flowers for absolutely shooting for the moon here. That swerve, y’all. What a moment.

Breakdown

Game Name: LOVE ETERNAL

Developer: brlka

Publisher: Ysbryd Games

Platforms: PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam

Game Length: 4-6 hours

Accessibility: N/A

Final Thoughts

LOVE ETERNAL is one of a kind. It accomplishes snappy, satisfying platforming while delivering a fresh take on psychological experimental horror. Sure, they may have somehow made this already bald man even more bald with that final screen, but brlka has become one to watch in the scene with their impressive debut.

Key provided Ysbryd games and Stride PR. Reviews on PC.