Nowadays, one cannot browse multiple online stores for videogames without stumbling upon a plethora of platformers. With so many to choose from, how does any developer stand out to be the next Shovel Knight or Celeste? By being unique. This is how I ended up feeling after my time with Love Eternal at PAX East 2025.
Love Eternal is a passion project from a pair of sibling developers. The game has a multitude of influences, including the developers’ move from Oregon to Los Angeles and the desolation the wildfires inflicted on the latter area. Film-wise, this psychological platformer owes a lot to the anime title, Perfect Blue. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the game’s narrative.
Players start off the journey as Maya. After a conversation with her family in their suburban home, the phone rings in the other room. After answering the ominous call, Maya returns to find her family missing. Not only that, but the environment outside has suddenly changed. Everything is now ancient and fragmented, resulting in a disorienting feeling.
After coming to grips with reality collapsing around her (as much as one can), Maya encounters platforming sections. The main gimmick here is that Maya can flip gravity on its head, allowing her to walk on the ceiling upside down. The challenge is that she has to land before she can flip again, so you can’t abuse the mechanic in midair. Maya will eventually run into red stones she can nab in the air that allow her to flip again before landing, so expect fiendish puzzles that utilize them in tricky ways. As you can see in the above screenshot, platforming gets progressively harder as you play. Luckily, there are save points peppered throughout so you can always try again should you perish. It is clear the designers love indie titles like Celeste and VVVVVV.
The desire of Love Eternal‘s devs is for gamers to use their wits to advance through the deadly platforming traps while experiencing a surprising story. Since the summary of the title mentions “escape a castle built of bitter memories” and “a suburban child stolen from her family on the whim of a lonely god,” I’m expecting to be both shocked and traumatized by the end of the adventure. Expect a brisk but transformative four-hour journey when Love Eternal comes out later this year for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, and PC.
