Kickstarter Shout-out: Edge of Eternity

With the popularity of the RPG genre from Kickstarter, I am not really surprised that I am about to talk about another RPG. First off, let’s get some history out of the way. If the title Edge of Eternity sounds familiar, then it’s because this project has appeared on Kickstarter before. Sadly, the project was unsuccessfully funded. The team behind the game, Midgar Studio, then went to help out the team behind the popular Kickstarter game, Hover: Revolt of Gamers, which is being developed by Fusty Games. Recently, Edge of Eternity has appeared on sites like Siliconera.com, and they have now relaunched their Kickstarter. So, on top of being a 3D old-fashioned JRPG, this Kickstarter also has the stretch goal of having Chrono Trigger/Cross composer Yasunori Mitsuda, but there is a playable PC demo for any curious/potential backers if they want to check it out! Basically, this Kickstarter does a lot of things I want to see Kickstarters do. Let’s jump in and give Edge of Eternity a Kickstarter Shout-out!



The story set-up is that you are on a planet called Heryon. On this beautiful planet are these crystals that brought balance between the realms of Astrya, Junor, and Dehostra. Unfortunately, a legion of invaders, well, invade the planet and start to destroy everything. After 30 years, the invaders have not yet been defeated, and the army that was pushing them back is still at war. On top of that, there is a virus known as The Metal Sickness spreading across the land. This scary virus turns organic beings into part organic matter and part machine. You play as Daryon, a young man who became a Royal Army Officer for the realm of Astrya. Daryon meets up with a woman from the nomads which were formed by the survivors of Junor. The two main protagonists are convicted of using technology in an illegal way. It’s up to them to go on a journey, meet new characters, clear their name, and change the fate of their planet. I like that we are getting another JRPG-style RPG that is sci-fi oriented. I love my fantasy-oriented RPGs, but at the same time, one of my favorite games of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles, and its upcoming sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles X are sci-fi oriented. I feel like as long as they make enough elements unique to the overall setting, they should be fine.



 

Edge of Eternity is a turn-based RPG that gamers old and new will be familiar with. Enemies are visible in the overworld, you will have a party of four, and a lot of elements from traditional Japanese-style RPGs. One of the coolest elements is that you can have the combat system be like Grandia, or have the combat system work like the active-time-battle system from Final Fantasy. Each character will have their own skills, and means of attacking the enemy. For example, Daryon attacks with his fists, and his female ally Selen uses magic. One little addition to the combat is the fact that you can press a button on the screen to do additional damage. If you are wondering what you can ride on to traverse the massive tracks of land, well, it’s hard to describe. It looks like a giant kitten. It’s adorable and weird at the same time. There will also be an upgradeable weapon system and a customizable skill system that works like many skill trees seen in RPGs. The story will also be nonlinear, where you can travel to any location and tackle the story however you want. They have also promised that whatever you do will have noticeable changes in the overall world that you are exploring. So far, there is a lot of potential for this to be a fantastic RPG.



From what I have seen in the graphics department, it is really impressive for a four-person team. I mean, I have said before that I love seeing Kickstarters that have 3D games. It might look like a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game, but you have to give credit that it was made by four people. The music also sounds pretty good. I played a bit of the demo when I was writing this article, and the composer, Cedric Menendez should be proud of himself for making some music that reminds me of shows like “.Hack//Sign” or of games like Xenoblade Chronicles.



Any concerns? Well, I have a few. The first concern is that the downloadable demo needs certain laptop hardware to work efficiently. I didn’t find this out until later, but on my Core i7 Windows 7 Inspiron laptop, it ran like very thick molasses. I wish it was easier to recommend downloading the demo, but I would recommend first scrolling to the bottom of the Kickstarter to the frequently asked questions section and see if you are able to run the demo. The team also needs to make sure the characters are expressive. Again, the demo is in an alpha state, but they are characters and they need to emote. I also hope the overall story is well told. I don’t care if a story has familiar elements, what really matters is how they are executed. For example, the Tales franchise is well-known for having very anime-oriented-style stories, but the characters are well written. I also didn’t see anything that mentioned voice work, which I hope this game has in the near future. Sure, well written dialogue and characters are fantastic, but voice work nowadays adds that element of immersion that every game should aspire to have. Don’t just make the characters speak with text boxes. The changes that are made by your decisions are hopefully not just there because other games have them. Make the choices change the landscape in a major way.



I love this Kickstarter. It has a playable demo, it’s 3D, and it’s an impressive-looking RPG. It has already reached its funding goal of $44K, and has recently passed one of its stretch goals of putting the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It still has the stretch goal of having Yasunori Mitsuda on the team. If you love RPGs, and have enjoyed the RPGs that have come out from Kickstarter, then you should definitely check this one out! Congrats, Midgar Studios! Edge of Eternity gets my Official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to continue the support of this Kickstarter, go to this link!)