Although the excellent Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the first taste of a JRPG not developed by a Japanese studio for many, the game developed by Sandfall Interactive is hardly the first JRPG developed by a French team. Years ago, Midgar Studio released Edge of Eternity, a solid open-world JRPG inspired by series like Final Fantasy and Xenogears, combining a vast world with a strategic turn-based combat system that made the experience rather remarkable, even with some of its issues. Years after work on the game has been completed, Midgar Studio is set to continue their franchise with Edge of Memories, a very different game than its predecessor but one that fans of certain types of action role-playing games will want to keep their eyes on.
During this year's Gamescom, I had the chance to briefly try out the game while speaking with Jérémy Zeler-Maury, Midgar Studio founder and CEO, who showed the same passion he did when I met him back in 2016 for an early look at Edge of Eternity. As soon as I picked up the controller to explore a world ravaged by a mysterious plague known as the Corrosion in the role of the Soul Whisperer Eline, I couldn't help but notice the extreme similarities the game developed by Midgar Studio has with last year's Visions of Mana.
According to the Midgar Studio CEO, I wasn't the only one to do so, as, when Square Enix revealed the new entry in the Mana series, many told him they thought it was Edge of Memories that had been revealed. While these similarities are inevitably going to impact the game's reception, and wrongly, as Edge of Memories has been in development long before Visions of Mana got announced, the uncertain future of the Square Enix series could definitely benefit the game, as, aside from a similar, colorful art direction, the Midgar Studio title definitely seems more involving, especially in combat.
While my time with Edge of Memories was short, the demo did an excellent job highlighting some exploration and traversal mechanics, which require players to use the proper elemental powers to open up the way, and some light platforming segments that often take advantage of these mechanics. What was really striking besides the implementation of these mechanics was the nice sense of scale the world, and the fact that I was able to get to any location which looked interesting enough from a distance, although, given the short time and the focused demo, this may not be a thing in the final release.
It's in the combat mechanics, however, that Edge of Memories sets itself apart more from Visions of Mana. Fighting enemies in the Midgar Studio game is considerably more involving, with multiple combo strings, skills sets that can be switched on the fly, and a general more action-oriented feel which aims to recreate the feel of NieR Automata, as Jeremy pointed out as I was trying to take down a boss with multiple targets launching area of effect attacks whose range was highlighted by red circles on the ground, in the vein of modern Mana series games. Not having had a lot of time to delve into these systems, I cannot say if Edge of Memories will feature the same combo freedom as the PlatinumGames-developed title, but controlling Eline felt smooth enough to make combat enjoyable even with minimal knowledge of the game's intricacies.
With Nacon publishing the game after acquiring Midgar Studio in 2022, Edge of Memories won't have to go through an Early Access period when it launches sometime next year on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. I hope the game will launch sooner rather than later, as I am excited to see what else it will have to offer, and if it will be as good as the short Gamescom demo suggested.
Following my hands-on session, I also spoke with the Edge of Eternity soundtrack team, including main composer Cédric Menendez, who discussed the impact of AI on music production, among other topics.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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