Eidolon is a beautiful, meditative experience. Sure, it's a bit simplistic and walking does get tiring after a while, but there a few games that manage to create such an absorbing atmosphere. [Nov 2014]
Eidolon demands patience from its audience. The glacial pace of its most basic operation, the fragmented mass of narrative provisions, and the initial sense of indistinguishable aesthetic diversity seem intent on wrecking Eidolon's sprawling sense of discovery. Sticking with it inevitably reveals a multifaceted excursion into an intimately assembled and oddly exotic interpretation of a distant Earth. The reward is putting it all together, provided you can summon the drive to find all the pieces.
I'm just making a review to counteract the negative reviews, because it doesn't deserve such a low rating, it's very cool in a slow methodical way. Now the rest of this rating will
This is a Marmite game - you'll either love it or think it's a waste of space.
Personally I love it - I find it absolutely enthralling.
Initially it appears as a survival game, where you have to forage in a simple but beautiful wilderness of forested hills, lakes and rivers. However, you begin to find narrative (and other) clues to a series of events in the past, which steadily builds into a compelling story.
This is beautifully atmospheric and mysterious, but not fast-paced. If you want a fast-twitch game, avoid this, but if you enjoy patiently unravelling an absorbing tale, then it's an excellent buy.
The problem is that by the time you get anywhere near something that resembles a scratch for your itch, the entire area of your body that prompted the search for it is already decaying, and just like an Alzheimer's patient without a GPS bracelet, you'll find yourself lost in the woods, confused and wondering what exactly it was that you were doing there in the first place, apart from chasing those kids off your lawn, of course.
Eidolon just randomly throws you into the middle of western Washington of the year c. 2400, leaving you only with an idea that humanity is in short gone. Who are you? What are you? Where should you go and what should you do there? The questions accumulate, and the answers are not coming. You have to find them by yourself. And so it begins one wannabe artistic adventure but of the value that will disappear like morning mist.
This game is the best game released this year. Just buy it. The writing is fantastic, the world is over 100 square miles in size (GTA V was 49 sq. miles and Skyrim was 16) and every frame of it is beautiful enough for a screenshot.
I really like this game, my friend told me about it and it sounded cool, so I bought it. He told me about the score of the game and I felt it was a little too low...
Not disappointing so far, cool game.
Only downside is that there is a ton of walking, but that's alright because the world is beautiful!
I especially like the music, it's really amazing. Look up Eidolon ost on youtube.
I just don't see what everyone else sees in this game. It's a gigantic world, yes. It has some nice soothing atmospheric music, yes. There are even some interesting visuals, despite the lack of any textures better than Minecraft quality. I feel like this is an unfinished game by a college student and not a professional release by an independent studio. I'm glad that I got this game as part of a Humble Bundle, or else I would be mourning the money I spent.
I think I see what the creators were trying to do, but the execution just isn't there. The world is actually much too large (unless there were some kind of directionhuidance given beyond a crude map and compass that endlessly leave you lost). The hunting and fishing aspects of the game are a joke. The HUDwatchinventory system is somewhat interesting, but it and many of the pages you collect and read hint at beacons that could possibly be cool, but I feel like I'd be long dead (IRL) before I ever get to that part of the game. Ultimately, you just run around endlessly, pretty sure that you have no idea what you're doing, and there is very little reward (pages that advance the story) for your efforts.
If I were the creators of this game, I would look into providing more subtle direction for the player, refining the visuals, and perhaps even shrinking the map. All of this would lead to a better game play experience. In its current state, I can't recommend this game, and I suggest saving your money for something better.
A gigantic and empty game for 15 euros, with almost no mechanics. I love walking simulators but the story is not worth the hours you have to spend walking an empty land.
SummaryA narrative exploration game located in a massive, post-human Western Washington. Navigate an open world that has been reclaimed by nature. Use journals, letters, zines, and other documents to learn the interconnected stories of the people who lived here once.