Edens Zero (PS5) is a bizarre, yet charming, game
Make friends, go fly
A few weeks ago, I wanted to play a new anime styled JRPG. Don’t ask me why, but I’m sure any gamer will know the feeling they get when they suddenly want to play a game in a specific genre.
Looking through the PlayStation store, I came across Edens Zero. Based on the manga/anime of the same name, the store listing seemed to tick all the boxes. It was an RPG, with an anime style, lots of customisability and things to do. It came out last year, so was relatively recent. I took the rare decision of not looking up any reviews of the game, and just bought it, and started playing it.
A couple of weeks later, I got the platinum trophy, having done everything there is to do in the game. The question though, is it a good game? That’s where things get a little more interesting.
The game plays out in two ways. First, is the story mode. You go through the story of the manga, chapter by chapter, in a linear fashion. If I had read the manga or watched the anime, I may have found this all quite interesting - but in video game form, the game tends to jump from event to event very quickly, not letting up, so the story was a little difficult to follow.
Each story mission plays out essentially the same way. You start in a new area or planet, go through the level beating up enemies, before getting to a boss and beating them up - rinse and repeat. The gameplay is fairly simple too. You start off with one playable character, and get more as the game goes on. Each character has their own style, but essentially boils down to a combo attack, a strong attack, a few special attacks and a finishing move.
The main character, Shiki, is your standard brawler - all of his moves revolve around big punches. You then have Rebecca, who shoots guns, a Witch who uses magic, a ninja girl, and so on and so forth. My favourite character is Weisz, because his special allows him to set up auto-turrets which automatically shoot enemies - very useful in a fight where you are dodging a lot.
Each battle takes place in a restrained circle, forming around where you bump into enemies, and ends when you take them all out. The basic combat is a little repetitive - especially when you face stronger enemies that are just damage sponges. There’s nothing unique to see here, though everyone will likely have their own favourite.
It’s a surprisingly quaint way to play a game like this, just a straightforward story where you beat up enemies, watch cutscenes, level up a bit and move forward. It’s old school - there were loads of games like this in the Playstation 3 era, but they have become less and less. I quite enjoy it though.
As you progress further in the game, you get a new hub era, the eponymous Edens Zero, which is a big spaceship. Here you can do various activities, like get massages, upgrade your armour, cook food, engage in chats with some of your crewmates, and more. Speaking of armour - the game has a lot of customisability options.
There are loads of outfits you find across the game, to dress up your characters however you want. Each cosmetic thing you find has it’s own stats, but these are largely irrelevant and don’t really make much difference by the time you’ve levelled up enough. Each item is gendered, so you can equip any male cosmetic on any of your male characters, and vice versa. I will say though - the female outfits tend to be very revealing. Jiggle physics are on full display.
Where this game gets strange though, is it’s second gameplay option - exploration mode. This mode let’s you explore the planet of blue garden as an open world. It’s an odd open world. You can fly across it, seeing enemies on the ground, chests, notes to find, but it just feels really empty. The main goal of this mode is to complete side missions and make new friends which join your crew. However, most of the side missions are essentially similiar to the main game, in which you just go to a place and beat some people up. There are a few that task you with collecting an item or taking a particular photo, but it doesn’t mix things up too much.
This open world though, has all these little areas that seem to have been really well crafted. Big forests with little glades and structures, temples, houses and churches, little villages, winding paths, shops, city streets, all sorts. None of this though is ever actually really used in the game. It’s just a backdrop, that you might fly past whilst doing a side mission.
I have a theory about this. I think there were two teams working on this game, one that made the story, and the other that made this world map. I think the team that made the world map assumed at some point the story would utilise all these areas and places that they built, but then they got to the point of release and realised they didn’t use it at all, all of the story was set in it’s own separate areas. So they just tacked on a few missions and just let you explore this big, empty world.
It feels a little low budget in a lot of places. Performance on the base PS5 can vary wildly - story missions usually run at a solid 60fps, but venture into exploration mode and things take a tumble. This has an impact on the gameplay too, as some of the more technical characters rely on being able to react quickly, which doesn’t end up being too possible. You will run into glitches from time to time as well, such as an NPC walking through the sky, or getting stuck on a mountain. It happens.
I couldn’t say I would particularly recommend this game to anyone - unless they have a specific fondness for this kind of game. If you played a lot of anime style games on the PS3 and Xbox 360, you’ll know exactly what you are getting into. Hot tip though - if you do decide to play this, get the support item as soon as you can which gives you life steal when you damage enemies. It basically makes the combat trivial.
With all this said and done, why did I end up going through and platinuming the game? Well, it’s just because it all feels curiously quiet. I wasn’t being pelted with offers for DLC, there was no shop to buy things in, no constant updates or live service elements. It’s just a straightforward action-rpg, the type you just don’t see much nowadays. It’s a blast from the past - sometimes, there is still a place for some old school design sensibilities.