Review: Sundered: Eldritch Edition – An Enjoyable But Challenging Take On The Metroidvania Format

The Call of Cthulhu has been heard loud and clear.

The work of H.P. Lovecraft had a significant impact on culture in both the literary and broader world, leading to the creation of the cosmic horror genre which focuses on a certain kind of fear related to unknowable, dark deities. Sundered: Eldritch Edition aims to capture the heart of what made Lovecraft’s work so compelling, fusing those dark themes with a Metroidvania template that uses procedural generation. Though ambitious, Sundered doesn’t fully deliver on what it promises, but nonetheless still manages to be a wonderfully enjoyable game.

Sundered sees you playing as Eshe, a mysterious woman wandering in the desert who finds herself spirited away to an intricate cavern by an eldritch being called the Shining Trapezohedron, who very clearly is not good news. The Shining Trapezohedron asks Eshe for help in regaining its original power by collecting seven ‘Elder Shards’—dark crystals being guarded by terrifying abominations—while promising that she’ll receive that power herself if she agrees. As you explore the caverns, a narrative is slowly played out through a series of fragmented voiceovers which reveal the details of a war between the Escahton (the race of beings the Shining Trapezohedron belongs to) and the Valkyries (a group of humans with access to highly advanced technology), which resulted in both races being horribly disfigured and broken. As a human, Eshe has to make the choice between siding with the Eschaton, which represent ultimate power, or the humans, of which she is one.

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