Developer: ACE Team
Publisher: Good Shepherd Entertainment
Reviewed on: Xbox Series X
Purchased.
The Eternal Cylinder is difficult to describe. It certainly shares similarities with other games, like some light survival mechanics, open world exploration, scavenging, and… ball rolling. I also see elements of Spore and… Luigi’s Mansion? All these disparate pieces come together to form something truly unique, and something you’d never see attempted outside of indie development.
Every aspect of the game works in unison to create a unique experience from start to finish. And it starts even before the main menu, as the wonderful narrator begins to set the scene even as the developer credits roll. This narrator is the glue that holds the wild story, wacky world, and wide range of mechanics together. Because the Eternal Cylinder is a literal cylinder that’s slowly crushing everything in its path, and you as a tiny Trebhum, must find a way to defeat this massive roller while also staying one step ahead of it. Oh, did I mention the cylinder is also sentient and will send enemies out to stop you?
The outrageous story is met with equally outrageous creature designs. We have giant footballs that split open to reveal horrible, teeth-filled jaws. Bizarre melds of flesh and metal. Giant flying serpents who are somehow eaten by four legged tubes of meat covered in eyes. The art design of the creatures is what makes every new region and encounter memorable. And as disparate as it all may seem; it’s executed with such confidence that I never questioned even the weirdest of abominations. I just nodded by head and rolled my Trebhum in the other direction.
The meat of the gameplay experience is in the massive array of mutations you can find throughout the world. Many of these are hidden in various environmental objects, or creatures, that you can suck up with your trunk. Eating them will reveal a new ability, as well as a new look, for a member of your Trebhum family. The promise of new abilities pushed me forward and choosing which Trebhum got which mutations made for a fun management experience. Some mutations cancel each other out or cause impairments, so there was always a risk when eating a new, unknown mutation.
These mutations enable all sorts of traversal, defensive, and offensive abilities. Many of them routinely make you rethink the way you view and interact with the world around you. Suddenly a seemingly useless plant or creature becomes a new weapon or source of power. And the traversal mutations are used to solve puzzles, find secrets, and keep you out of danger. They often stack on top of each other, so making sure you have a Trebhum with grasshopper legs and an inflatable body is required to acquire every last bit of upgrade material.
In the end, The Eternal Cylinder is a satisfying blend of exploration, experimentation, and group survival. Once you get a large family rolling it can be hard to keep track of them all, and enemies do like to pick off stragglers. It was always heartbreaking when a long-time family member with useful mutations got killed, and I had to choose between reviving them or saving my resources to upgrade the rest of my crew.
These moments feed directly into the game’s message: That the many, if nurtured, can always defeat a singular evil no matter its size. It’s because this concise message is told not only through tradition means, but also gameplay mechanics, that truly make The Eternal Cylinder a one-of-a-kind experience. An experience that perfectly encapsulates the strengths, and everything I’ve come to admire, in indie games.
