Edge of Eternity | PS4 Review

Kickstarted by a small indie studio known as Midgar Studio, and crowd funded by hopeful donors, "Edge of Eternity" tries it's best to deliver an ambitious large scale JRPG experience worth the money. Through a lack of polish, awkward combat camera controls, and an overall identity crisis it loses itself within itself though ...

It begins promptly by showing an in progress intergalactic invasion of planet Heryon, and the sharing of the invading aliens' technologies prior to that before jumping into a linear plot heavy section featuring a cast of characters caught up in a war. A ragtag group of besties that could best be described as comrades in arms. Soldiers for a cause. It is in this very cinematic, and linear intro that we also learn of the protagonist Daryon, and his friends who each get some short lived background time before being thrust into the heat of combat for tutorial sake. 

Through Daryon we learn of a cancerous alien affliction known as 'Corrosion', and of his mother who has unfortunately caught it. We also learn of the team's efforts through Sil (an early unrealized love interest), Ordo (the best bud kind of guy), and a couple other soon to be disposed of pals who find themselves facing insurmountable odds. This leads to a climatic initial ending where Daryon, the lone survivor, makes a choice to defy fate and go see about his mum. To find, with his sister Selene, a cure for the Corrosion. From there the game's identity crisis rears it's ugly head ....

Going from a linear and very cinematic storytelling experience with a tutorial combat section in tow the game shifts to textually boxed in conversations with lightly animated character avatar accents glued to the side for added flair. The basic sum of all interactions from the available cornucopia of interactive NPC fetch quests that string you along as if you are in some sort of MMO. In fact, if you've seen the trailers of this game, it looks like something ripped from the Final Fantasy MMO, to a degree. The protagonist, Daryon looks oddly familiar in that regard as well. You'll even find the game's signature mount in this early part of the game. Giving you a way to fast track travel while utilizing said mounts as a treasure hunting multi-tool. It doesn't get much more MMO than this. With main, and side quests to tackle the cinematic story experience we were teased with, for a good portion of the game, takes a back seat.

Bad news behind, 'Edge of Eternity' as a JRPG isn't all that bad. It has it's own take on classic JRPG gimmicks, and systems to deal with as you build up your party, and equip them with the items, weapons, gear, and crystals needed to battle the more progressively difficult to defeat alien adversaries. Basic equipment, items, and weapons aside the crystal spell/skill tree doubles the benefits gained by letting the player allot different grades of color coded crystal to their respective color coded slots which house underlying buffs to base RPG stats. The crystals themselves add useful spells that can be used in combat. each of which are elemental in nature, and effective/ineffective during certain times of the day in the night and day cycle. These spells play into the combat scenarios as one might expect. Each enemy you'll face has a weakness to a certain type of elemental damage. Learning what does the best damage is crucial to clearing the enemies, and reaping the rewards that come thereafter.

Battle in 'Edge of Eternity' is a turn based and grid based affair. Kind of like Final Fantasy 7, but with a grid for strategic positioning. Each character in your party has an ATB bar which acts as the timer for when your turn will become available. Stats through equipped equipment do effect the speed of this. Once it's a character's turn you can press L2 to bring up the spells/items menu, or R2 to bring up the attack/move/escape menu. Each menu which have options that are assigned to specific face buttons for activation will take up your single action, per action chosen. Part of the combat you'll be dealing with is centered around moving around the honeycomb shaped grid for vantage, and defensive strategies. You'll find that certain attacks will light up grid spaces red signaling a major attack is about to hit there thus getting out of the way is imperative if you don't wish for that character standing in the red marked space to receive critical damage. There's also a backstabbing mechanic wherein a character can be positioned behind the enemy, and attack on their next turn dealing more damage than usual. 

Characters on your team, which can include up to four recruits including the protagonist, are governed by an HP and MP meter. Their life depends upon HP, and their spells on MP. Leveling up your characters through won battles increases both HP, and MP. Speaking of which, the characters aren't the only ones to level up after a battle. Your weapons will also level up making them more powerful with each tier while opening up more crystal slots. More crystals means a more powerful weapon, and assortment of spells to cast. While these tools may give you a proper edge in battle (pun intended) GAME OVERS will happen if your strategy fails. If in battle, all characters lose all HP it's GAME OVER. Luckily there are save stations positioned before key areas of interest. Each with a save, and teleport option for fast travel between these key locations. 

As the party leader, and organizing player of this fantasy/sci-fi adventure you'll have full access to the main menu hub. It is here you can not only equip your characters with the best gear, spells, and items, but also manage party formation. The party formation in this JRPG/MMO can be adjusted through the 'Tactics' sub-menu. It is here your party can be strategically placed on a honeycombed grid with ranged fighters in the back, and the melee or brute type characters upfront. The game will always place your party facing towards the enemy/s initially, but you will have to adjust the camera manually when the enemy/s move off camera using the R3/L3 thumbsticks. Combat formation aside learning to use traps, or interactable features in the combat grid is also a crucial part to combat success. These added defensive/offensive options add additional opportunities against the more formidable foes. Sometimes even leading to cutscenes for storytelling sake. 

Along with the basic equipment, crystal tree, battle items, and tactics menus you'll find a bestiary showcasing all the creatures you've fought, and their elemental weakness. The equipment, and item menus are what you'd assume whereas the crystal menu is the outlier among the menu features. It is your traditional skill tree though, and managing the crystal attachment/detachment is as easy as going to the equipment menu, selecting the weapon, and adding or detaching the crystal. 

Progressing through the story, as previously hinted at, involves completing main quest lines which will have you traveling from character to character or character to key location to fulfill what is asked of you. You can also take on side quests from the NPCs with the yellow exclamation mark above their heads. Ultimately fulfilling menial fetch quests for loot, and currency. Worth noting is that village hubs often times house vendors or crafting stations. You can purchase the usual JRPG wares, and 'Edge of Eternity' specific wares for a price vendors, and can craft items using materials that you can collect from the various environments you travel through. Inns, and campfires also come into play regarding progress in that your time moving out in the open world takes up energy, and this energy can only be replenished by collecting food items that can be harvested from the lands. That, or either sleeping at an inn or resting at a campfire. The campfire, in particular, has the bonus benefit of giving buffs if you have food items on hand. 

Visually 'Edge of Eternity' looks like a Final Fantasy clone in so many ways. The character design in particular gives off a late era Final Fantasy vibe. I think the developers knew people would think this, because they also included fat little Chocobo-like chickens in the farm locations. Hell, even the mount looks like it belongs in the Final Fantasy MMO. As far as the soundtrack is concerned it's your symphonic fantasy JRPG soundtrack. Not really all that standoutish, if I were being honest. It does fit the fantasy setting though, and accents gameplay nicely.

The Verdict ...

Edge of Eternity tries too hard to be more than one thing. It tries to be sci-fi, and fantasy. It tries to be a JRPG, and it tries to be an MMO. It has an identity crisis ... locked behind a ridiculous amount of loading screens, no less. Not only that, but it's obvious inspiration is so glaring that the game kind of comes off as a copycat experience, if only lightly so. The only thing really setting it apart is the combat grid, and the developers' take on Final Fantasy 7's materia system. The weapon crystal tree definitely seems like a nod to the materia system, btw. Much like the inclusion of similar basic combat turn mechanics. I hate to be that guy to bash on it, but with the lack of polish (oddly facing characters, framerate drops ...), and the identity crisis at play the game is kind of off putting. It's only real good point is the story, and fleshed out characters which sadly suffer just as much from the game's identity crisis as everything else. Does it warrant a day one 'Triple A' price? Not in my opinion. Maybe when it's on sale, and patched more it could provide some worthwhile entertainment for those who aren't put off by the game's poorly spliced blend of genres.