When did you first discover Eternal Eden?

The following blog post carries the personal thoughts of Elder Prince, founder of Blossomsoft Games.

Back in 2008, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many parents introduced their children to Eternal Eden, a video game I had created. One such parent was Jennifer, who used the game to help her son improve his English reading skills.

Now, it’s quite possible that those kids who played the game back then have grown into teenagers or even young adults!

I also encountered many gamers who were retirees at the time. I sincerely hope they are still enjoying life. It’s a somber thought that I couldn’t deliver a sequel to those who may have passed away since then, but I like to think that they might be watching my progress from the heavens above.

Some of you may have been following me since the days of Western Lords, my very first game project.

My game also served as an inspiration for many individuals who aspired to become game developers. Quite a few of them reached out to me privately, sharing insights into their own development journeys. Interestingly, some of these developers admitted to initially critiquing the challenges I faced during my game’s development “hell,” only to later grasp the complexities that come with game creation, especially when you’re a one-person team on a tight budget.

Here’s a cool anecdote

I had the serendipitous opportunity to meet Phil Barlay, one of the creators of Sea of Stars, at an Internet Cafe. What makes this encounter even more remarkable is that we hail from the same hometown, Shawinigan Falls. Around 2017, I casually showed Phil and his friend some of the work I was doing on my laptop. When I mentioned that I had earned 100K from my experience with Eternal Eden, it may have provided them with some motivation to embark on their own project. It’s truly a small world!

So, how did you come across Eternal Eden?

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September 6, 2023

Chitter-chatter, EE1

12 responses to “When did you first discover Eternal Eden?”

thnax

September 19, 2023

Hi! Belated jumping on the train of excitement, so to speak!

I’ll start off by saying that Eternal Eden has been one of my favourite games, top shelf, ever since I played it in 2009. It’s a game that has endless innovative ideas; even if there were things that I felt could be improved, the pros were honestly staggering for me. The puzzles were so fun, the hall of treasures was an ego boost and incentive to not completely rush through the dungeons like I do in Literally Every Other Game, the religious callbacks were very interesting to note especially because it was handled in a way that didn’t necessarily shove the whole lore in the player’s face, and the characters were endearing once you got past some of the dialogue (the fact that they were only children may have softened my heart completely from the get go). Jean has remained the son and sun of my life for all these years. [I *did* want to see Fierro and Jean awkwardly tiptoeing around each other, with Fierro doing most of that oblivious tiptoeing, even at the ending, but you win some, you lose some…] I also loved the bounty system; I have to ask if something like this will be in the revised game? It was a fun way to revisit old places and get great perks!!

I do have to say that I often played the game on mute unless there were tons of battles going on, because while I loved the battle music the general/default music was a little bit monotonous after a while.

I honestly have to say that you’re bringing a lot of new elements to the RPG that I haven’t really seen pulled off anywhere before; still, I really think that before 2009 I would have been turned off by the idea of puzzles being so integrated with dungeons, and that worked out wonderfully in your favour. I’m also interested in the puzzles being sidequest-only thing, actually; the fact that enemies don’t resurrect pretty much seals the deal as far as dungeons go, lol. I have faith that you can execute your vision well! I’m really excited about the representation you’ve been speaking about; I think inclusion of more races in the game would be honestly really great, especially with one such inclusion being of a major character.

As somewhat of a creator myself — not for games, which is a gargantuan feat, life you said — but for writing alone, I know how hard it is to get the creative process going. At one point, it becomes hard to turn the perfectionism *off*, lol — it’s like, wow, this thing is my baby, I have to make sure everything’s great. In any case, I really hope that you can continue to work on this game in a relaxed manner; please don’t worry about dates and the negativity and please focus on not burning yourself out. Real life does take precedence over this. I hope everything smooths out for you and you can take a breather and work on this without problems.

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regian06

September 12, 2023

Definitely played first in high school when it first released. Just played it again and had a blast.

A little bummed that I missed 4 bravestones and half the Sagrada crest, but otherwise completed everything.

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Catcoalatte

September 11, 2023

I got the scoop on Eternal Eden while tuning in to this streamer, Riggy2k3. He’s got a thing for playing itch games and sharing his thoughts. So, I snagged the game from there, and honestly, I had a blast with it. It’s way more fun than most games from those big developers!

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blugem

September 9, 2023

Might be Aldorlea community, cos I remember playing one of their games before that (last game from them I played was Millennium A new hope). Sadly rarely play any games cos my old laptop HDD went kaput directly after finishing and submitting my final year degree thesis. After that busy with working in the utility industry. Planned to play EE again in one of my old working laptop once I’m done with my exam next week(one of my engineering competency exam)

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1. Elder
  
  September 9, 2023
  
  Wishing you all the best on your competency exam!
  
  I totally get what you mean about balancing gaming as an adult, especially when a career keeps us so busy. Even though I’m a game developer myself, finding time to actually play games can be a challenge. It’s ironic, right?
  
  I tend to lean towards retro games, like those on the Super Nintendo, because they’re more straightforward. Nowadays, it feels like modern games are all about sucking us into complex systems or huge open-world exploration. Take the newest Zelda games, for instance, like Breath of the Wild – they look incredible, but I hesitated to dive in because I knew it would be a massive time commitment. Climbing every mountain peak without knowing where it leads? That’s a lot!
blugem

September 7, 2023

I was in my 1st year of college for my diploma (age 18-19). Now I’m turning 37 and got my Masters degree last year. I think my 1st introduction was via a game walk-through website recommendation or one of the online forum. Was looking for some RPG game to play when I have free time from uni. Then i went to the forum for the game to see how to get through one of the dungeons. I think it was the Ifirit? cave/boss.

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1. Elder
  
  September 8, 2023
  
  Were you perhaps searching for some walkthroughs on the forums over at Big Fish Games? Quite a bunch of my followers actually found their way to me from there. Otherwise walkthroughs were popular among the Aveyond or Aldorlea communities.
Ana Leguillou

January 5, 2021

ahhh! The memories of playing Eternal Eden are one of my all-time favorites! I hope you read this because I’d love to share a precious memory with you.

I remember the first time I stumbled upon the game, it had been just after playing the first Aveyond, and I wanted more like it. With a little luck, I found EE, and was really intrigued with the description of the game. I remember downloading the demo and falling for the story so hard that I wanted it, but being a kid, and your parents unable to afford stuff, it made it seem impossible. I ended up getting the game in a not too proud way, and started my journey, falling for each character, wanting to punch Jean in the face, loving Noah, crying for Downey! But another moment that really stayed with me was the surprise you put into the game for people who found your game in “not so proud” ways. You didn’t block them from playing, but simply hoped that they’d contribute later. That made me feel so bad, yet so amazed that someone would do that. It took me awhile, but finally, a few years later, just before EE was pulled down, I was finally working, and EE was one of the first things I bought, wanting to truly own the game. Its one of my most treasured memories, and although I sometimes miss seeing that in game message, it always makes me do happy to have finally been able to support you properly!

Thank you for your storytelling, for the soundtrack, for memorable moments, and for being an amazing part of my memories. I truly am looking forward to hearing more news on EE, and I can’t wait to play. Stay radiant!

it really was something that surprised me, and really stuck with me, truly thank you for giving me a chance to experience your game 💛 and of course! I’d love to! I’m just happy I was able to share this memory with you, I always told myself I wanted to, but I guess I always convinced myself there wasn’t a point. So thank you for the birthday wish and thanks for taking time out of your day to talk to a fan! 💛

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ShaelileTealeaf

April 28, 2018

I don’t know how many times I played through EE. It was the RPG to introduce me to RPGs when I was young. It’s been a long wait for this new game, but I know it’ll be worth it. In the meantime, I’m planning a DnD campaign based on the story line of the original EE.

Is there somewhere we can make donations? A kickstarter or an indiegogo page?

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Naomi

September 23, 2015

Hello Elder Prince, I love your game very much! I’m playing the game again after seven years, but I lost the walkthrough PDF, and I can’t find slimsie antidote, sagrada trios ,etc.Could you please provide the PDF again?

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Dora

September 1, 2015

Hi Elder Prince!

Hope you are fine!

I tried demo version of Eternal Eden few years ago and it was one of the best games I have ever played of this genre (and I really play a lot of 2D rpg). Is it still possible to get a version of Eternal Eden by buying Project Dechentreiter?

Kind regards!
Dora

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Paolo Baroni

February 10, 2015

It was the first RPG Maker game I ever played, and I did it with a dear friend of mine. We had a blast getting a 100% playthrough.
Also, it was the start of a long term fanship, which recently evolved into an actual friendship.
It’s been 7 years since then, it is time for EE to step forward as the Hero of Time (The Legend of Elder, which sounds like a bad Legend-of-Zelda \ Elder-Scrolls crossover)

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