Eternal Threads Review

Humanity has finally cracked the secret for time travel, though it came at a price; the world's latest Pandora's Box, chronal radiation, swept through the timeline and caused seemingly insignificant decisions to change. The result? An Earth ravaged by radioactive waste. It is up to you, a member of "The Second Chance Project", to restore time itself, one mundane decision at a time.

I'll get this out of the way: Eternal Threads is far more a narrative adventure than a puzzle title. In the game, you sit through 197 Events (121 in the Abridged version, though we'll get to that later) and see the lives of six people who died in a fire in 2016 when none of them should have. You must watch their lives unfold in order to prevent their death by altering decisions to find the important choices that change the course back to the correct timeline.

As mentioned before, there are two game modes in Eternal Threads, one that has 197 Events and 54 total Decisions to alter, while the other has a measly 121 Events and 37 Decisions. Although it might seem tempting for those with less time than others to invest in the title, the Abridged version feels like an insult to the unique Eternal Threads experience, and I'd sincerely advise against experiencing the game in this mode first. Not only will you not get the full story — as the Abridged mode locks out pivotal decisions to get the best ending, secrets, and even sections of the house — but you miss out a lot on the entire gameplay aspect. If you're going to play the Abridged mode, you might as well skip the title.

The gameplay is simple, and it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea: you sift through each event, watching as the characters (Tom, Raquel, Linda, Neil, Jenny, and Ben) live their life, and choose some of the more critical decisions. These decisions can alter things later down the timeline, often several events and a couple of days after, that you will need to rewatch and see how the story unfolded differently. Ultimately, your goal is to ensure that the house fire that occurs fails to kill any member, though you cannot stop the fire in and of itself, as it is a pivotal moment in the timeline.

Accomplishing this is relatively simple, and it is what will either make or break Eternal Threads for players; the difficulty of the title doesn't feel significant, and the tasks might become mundane for the more impatient gamers. You will navigate through a week of their lives (with a very informative HUD that I loved) back and forth and watch the same event to see how it changed and how that might affect something later down the line. Eternal Threads feels more like a The Second Chance Project Simulator title in which you take a day in the job of a person, and that's a good thing; this game doesn't need to be anything else because it is excellent at what it does. Walking through the house and watching the characters interact is a unique experience, but it isn't one for everyone.

The mundane aspect of Eternal Threads is one of its most extraordinary charms, as you really walk around the house and get to know the characters. Scattered throughout the numerous rooms are objects that hint at the lives of each personality outside of the week you get to spend with them; it isn't something important to do, but it certainly adds to the game's depth.

I hear that on a daily basis!

Each character's acting felt decent enough, though sometimes their voice-over didn't feel particularly immersive. That said, it never really affected my gameplay, as it was a unique experience and — due to the individual Events being so short — often passed by in a blur, and I got lost in the sea of the other 100+ events that I had to go through. The environment of the burnt house, the voice-overs, and the fact that I could only see the characters through a holographic image added a tint of emptiness; a post-apocalyptic feel captured perfectly through graphics.

Eternal Threads is a unique experience, one that — in terms of gameplay — you've both never played before and might never again. Living throughout the week with these characters and witnessing their stories unfold was a distinctive experience and one I'd recommend for anyone who likes story-driven narratives. That said, that really is the extent of the title's gameplay; the lack of combat sequences, puzzle elements, or even interaction with the characters from a personal perspective might make this experience a bit dull for some gamers.