Eternal Threads Reviews
A promising mystery concept that doesn't quite give players a truly mind-melting temporal puzzle.
Those few quibbles aren't quite enough to sully Cosmonaut's otherwise thoughtful game, though, and it sank its talons in deep enough to keep me experimenting with "just one more" event into the wee hours. It's possible some may mislabel its careful pacing as slow, and others may think its prosaic presentation boring. For me, however - whilst it's not without its flaws - Eternal Threads presents its story, characters, and mechanical systems with care and precision, weaving together an entirely captivating experience.
An absorbing, interactive Doctor Who-style time mystery, which is, without a doubt, wholly unique.
Eternal Threads is not the most original or ambitious game, but it still manages to craft an interesting story about time travels and six ordinary characters struggling with their lives.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Eternal Threads has a fantastic idea that's well-executed, with some great story beats and characters you can't help but like.
Eternal Threads is like if Return Of The Obra Dinn was a time-travel soap opera. It can be messy, and you'll run into walls of frustration, but if you can get over these hurdles, this is a fun kitchen-sink-drama-meets-sudoku.
Eternal Threads is a narrative driven, time manipulation game that ends up being nothing more than a walking simulator and cutscene watcher. If you're into making some binary decisions to alter some future events on the timeline, then I recommend checking out the demo first. This game is much better watched, because it's just not fun to play.
Eternal Threads is still a solid game, though. I commend the writing team for nailing the characters’ behaviors and how they all balance each other. Moreover, the time manipulation mechanics are easy to use and not complicated to sift through for specific events. But it does falter in the gameplay department a bit, becoming repetitive and not all that engaging outside of opening the occasional locked door.
“Eternal Threads” almost seems aware that it’s not building a strong case for your emotional investment in whether these six people live or die. Throughout the game, mission control chimes in to remind you that these people’s lives definitely matter, that the average person has such and such number of descendants, so the fate of these six people and, more importantly, whoever comes after them could ultimately decide the fate of the world. And while that’s all technically true, I suppose, I can’t help but feel that “Eternal Threads” would have found infinitely more success laying the foundation for players to care about its existing characters instead of hinging your investment on theoretical stakes.
Players will come across the "Hidden Room" area early on and, upon doing so, reveal a moment in which a character enters the basement and goes through a wooden door that now has a combination lock on it. This is the first look at what becomes a more sinister rabbit hole that makes navigating a complicated situation just that much more difficult. Ultimately, Eternal Threads is a slow-burner that tells an endlessly intriguing story through a unique take on time travel. While this isn't everyone's cup of tea, it's something special.
Eternal Threads, at its core, is a story of six people sharing a home and experiencing pretty day to day problems. However, with the added element of time travel and the game’s emphasis on nothing being insignificant, you become invested in the way the characters’ lives play out and the choices you make for them. I found myself cringing when the characters made a mistake, feeling bad when I chose a path that hurt them, and rejoicing when they finally found peace. Due to the way these characters are given believable backstories and personalities, I took the power of having their lives in my hands seriously and made sure that my six new friends received the past and future that they rightfully deserved.
An irrefutably cool concept of "fixing the past to save the future" situated within a fascinating environment is bogged down by underwhelming writing, dated graphics, and a good deal of unnecessary, uninteresting content. For a potential-filled game about time travel, Eternal Threads is frustratingly stuck in the past.
Slightly janky graphics can't bring down this great story experience. If Eternal Threads is a walking sim, it's the best we've had in years.
If you enjoy clever puzzlers or first person, narrative-driven tales, Eternal Threads should be on your radar. Some of the tales at play can be confronting, but playing with time and discovering the outcomes has rarely felt so enthralling.
Eternal Threads is unfortunately a nightmare of potential
Eternal Threads is an interesting deductive game, but its writing could have been way better.
Review in Italian | Read full review
As far as “walking sims” are concerned, Eternal Threads stands out with its time-manipulating narrative Rubik’s cube mechanic that adds a welcome layer of challenge and delivers an interesting approach to plot progression.
You won’t have played anything like Eternal Threads before, and unless Cosmonaut Studios makes a follow-up, you likely never will again. This is a remarkable piece of storytelling, expertly written and crafted, weaving together the ordinary and the futuristic to create something incredibly compelling. You won’t want to put it down, and once you’ve finished, you’ll be thinking about it for weeks to come. It truly is something special.
Eternal Threads has an intriguing idea at its core and its small scope means that it can introduce a lot of detail to a situation, challenging players to find out everything they can before making choices. It will be interesting to see if gamers actually connect with the characters as written or if they don’t bother to get the best outcomes for the entire cast.
Eternal Threads redefines story-telling when it comes to time travel concept; and while it's not necessarily a bad game, it doesn't offer enough in terms of gameplay or visuals to be considered a memorable experience.
Review in Persian | Read full review