Xbox One Critic Reviews

It might not live up to its inspiration, but Doublehit Games have gotten pretty damn close. Some slight stodginess on the controls can lead to unwarranted failure at times, but it’s a small slight on an other wise charming, dark, and enthralling puzzle adventure that gives those heart strings a good old tug.

Eternal Hope is a nicely played-out visual story with some great ideas and a lovely gaming technique which lets you swap instantly between two different realities. There are some problems with checkpointing and the accuracy in terms of platforming isn’t as tight as it possibly should be, but that rarely takes away from such a clever little game.

What Eternal Hope lacks in originality of its gameplay it makes up for in heart. It’s a story of love, loss and redemption. Ti’bi, like a lot of us, is just struggling to keep moving on and moving forward. Clever dual dimension gameplay and a simple but emotional story make this a great little game if you want a heartfelt adventure to get lost in for a few hours.

Eternal Hope is a platform, puzzle and adventure game based on the need to save the people we love.

It’s built around an engaging story that never outlasts its welcome – the story of a boy pining for his lost love has obviously been done countless times before, but the way it’s told here is nicely done. Further, it ties into an interesting mechanic – since the boy is collecting the soul fragments at the behest of a being called the Soul Collector, he has the ability to switch realities and see another world. This, in turn, makes the puzzles a lot more interesting, as you often have to switch back and forth to figure out what to do next.Obviously, none of this is enough to make Eternal Hope feel like it rises about its influences. But at the very least, it’s enough to help the game carve out its own tiny niche within the world of Limbo clones.

Eternal Hope is a beautiful, great-sounding disappointment. Even at its low price, it’s hard to recommend. With a playtime of no more than two hours and seemingly no replay value there are far better options out there for your time and money, but not many that look so danged pretty.

Eternal Hope had potential, and it has great presentation qualities. However, the lack of meaningful plot direction and unresponsive controls make the adventure more of a slog than it should be.

The distinct artistic direction of Eternal Hope does not leave one unimpressed. Despite some technical blemishes here and there, the musical environment immerses the player in the story from the very first moments, and we were moved by the narrative’s melancholy. The somewhat clumsy animation takes a little time getting used to, but one soon gets the hang of it. The simplicity of the puzzles and the short lifespan may be frustrating for some, but this enables the title to be experienced by a wide audience. It would be a shame to miss this heartwarming independent game.