Eternal Darkness

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a 2002 horror game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It was produced and directed by Denis Dyack. The game follows the story of several characters across a period of two millennia and four different locations on Earth, as they contend with an ancient evil who seeks to enslave humanity. The gameplay distinguishes itself with unique "sanity effects", visual and audial effects that confuse the player and often break the fourth wall. Development on Eternal Darkness began after Nintendo, impressed with Silicon Knights' Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996), contacted the company to propose a collaboration on an original mature title. Silicon Knights based their concept around Lovecraftian horror and the Eternal Champion concept, and decidedly avoided making a survival horror game. It was originally planned for the Nintendo 64, and was mostly completed before development was moved to Nintendo's forthcoming home console, the GameCube. It was the first game published by Nintendo to receive an M (Mature) rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). While Eternal Darkness was widely acclaimed by critics and won numerous awards, the game was not a commercial success, selling less than 500,000 copies worldwide. A direct sequel to the game was explored but never materialized, and Silicon Knights went bankrupt and disbanded in 2013. Attempts by Dyack to make a spiritual successor entitled Shadow of the Eternals with his new studio Precursor Games failed both of their Kickstarter campaigns, leading to the project being placed on indefinite hold. In the years since Eternal Darkness' release, it has been regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time, as well as one of the best horror games ever made.