Welcome to our review of Edge of Eternity, the classic turn-based RPG that has me baffled for more than one reason.
The world of Heryon is torn apart. Years ago, the arrival of a mysterious alien force ultimately plunged the planet into an endless cataclysmic war where both magic and technology were unleashed to their worst and darkest extremes. Now an even greater threat has emerged : in a despicable act of war, the invaders released the Corrosion, a fatal disease turning living forms of all kinds into misshapen abominations.
In these desperate times, a young soldier will have to face his destiny and embark on an epic journey that will change the fate of Heryon forever… An enthralling story filled with plot twists and heart-wrenching moments. A gorgeous fantasy world to explore and epic battles with a unique and strategic turn-based combat system. Charismatic and unforgettable characters as well as a stunning soundtrack featuring Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger & Xenoblade Chronicles) and a crafting system. A fearless yet adorable beast to befriend and well over 50 hours of gameplay
Midgar Studio is a small French independent development studio created in 2008 and composed of thirteen video game enthusiasts. The studio is located in Nîmes in the south of France and specializes in hardcore games, especially on PC and consoles.
Edge of Eternity is a bit of a weird one, I had rather high expectations from this title and I was kind of overwhelmed but also underwhelmed at the same time. Let me start with the negative as that list sure is shorter than the good list. First of all, the lackluster approach to facial expressions. I know this is a smaller-sized developer and despite some very amazing graphics, it just struck me as strange as to how mechanical the faces looked. Like they were teleported from the PS2 era and just polished a little instead of given a complete workover.
Another thing I kind of disliked is how some side missions really get you to mindlessly run around the map. I know that’s typical in RPGs to make you backtrack parts to do a silly mission, but it just annoyed me a lot more than I probably want to admit in Edge of Eternity. Go to point A, back to B, back to A, back to B again… Just all this backtracking felt like it was used to add gaming time without real meaning behind it.
Now what I did like, is the weird approach to the storyline. Sure, in true RPG fashion, we got a final battle-style intro to the game, where allies and foes alike die one after the other. You, the main hero, barely surviving and suddenly thrust into a seemingly different story where you seem to be in a completely different world. It makes sense when you play it, I just have to write it this unclearly to lessen the blow of unpredictability the story sometimes has.
I do like the battle system as well, which incorporates a few nice extras on top of your everyday turn-based action. Being able to fend off certain attacks, escape others and special powers make up for a well-varied game for lovers of old-school RPGs. I do think it is more oriented towards the classic genre rather than the more modern games like the modern Final Fantasy games for example. Nothing wrong with that, this developer sure did a lot of work to bring a decent game with some quirks to the PlayStation.
In conclusion, I do still wonder if this game will do enough to keep you fully entertained in its 50+ hour campaign and this is where it might fail for some. Also… them facial expressions, they still crack me up.
7/10
Tested on PlayStation 5
