Time travel has always intrigued me, and I love jumping between different eras and dimensions in video games. So, when Another Eden Begins promised a time-travelling adventure, of course, I was ready to dive in. Originally a mobile game, this console adaptation attempts to turn its gacha origins into something much grander.
Unfortunately, the journey failed to live up to its exciting premise, leaving me feeling like I’d just played ‘baby’s first RPG’. While it had some moments I enjoyed, the overall experience left me wishing I could turn back time.
A Tale as Old as Time
In Another Eden Begins, siblings Aldo and Feinne are found abandoned in the forest and raised by the mayor of Baruoki. Sixteen years later, their peaceful lives are interrupted when the Beast King kidnaps Feinne. Aldo wastes no time setting out to rescue his sister, only to find himself transported 800 years into the future, turning a simple rescue mission into an adventure across time.
Unfortunately, the story felt fairly predictable and never did anything particularly exciting with the idea of time travel. Each era felt like a separate world to explore rather than part of one cohesive journey. I struggled to connect with the characters and often wanted to skip through the dialogue rather than get swept up in their adventures.
Back to the Future, Then Back Again
Another Eden Begins lacks the polish I’d expect from a console RPG. From simplistic animations to repetitive gameplay loops, it was hard not to be constantly reminded of the games’ mobile origins. While the developers have done well to cobble everything together, I couldn’t help but wonder whether starting from scratch would have resulted in something more engaging.
Exploration feels incredibly basic: Run towards the green quest marker, fight a few enemies, and return to watch another cutscene. Your map highlights almost everything, including treasure chests and other points of interest, leaving little room for discovery. Throw in some repetitive backtracking and limited fast travel, and the adventure often feels like a series of mindless fetch quests.
It’s not all bad though; adorable kitties roam the world, just waiting for you to find them! Not only can you pat these little floofballs, but you can have your a feline friend follow you around on your adventures. With plenty of cute designs to choose from, this was one of my favourite parts of the game.
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Toad-ally Unstoppable!
Classic turn-based combat offered some comfort gaming food for this RPG fan. With standard attacks and various skills at my disposal, I enjoyed strategising how to take down enemies, exploiting their weaknesses to obliterate them.
Chaining attacks and skills builds up points, eventually rewarding you with a bonus turn. While useful during tougher battles, having no control over when this activated occasionally left me feeling like a passenger watching the fight rather than controlling it.
Despite being able to create multiple parties, I rarely changed my strategy once I found one that worked. Customising gear and crafting food for combat buffs offered some variety, but most enemies put up little resistance, making these features feel unnecessary.
A strange but welcome moment came during a big boss battle, when Cyrus the frog warrior, somehow became immune to almost every attack. With the rest of my party unconscious, I spent an hour slowly chipping away at the boss’s health. Whether it was a bug or some incredibly lucky gear choices, Cyrus was officially the GFOAT, Greatest Frog of All Time!
Time After Time, Same Old Song
Visually, Another Eden Begins is a mixed bag. The environments are visually appealing, with vibrant colours, nice lighting and layered backgrounds that give the world a sense of depth. Unfortunately, the oversized 2D characters look flat and awkward against these environments, almost like Paper Mario characters who have wandered into the wrong game.
The soundtrack features some catchy tunes, particularly the battle theme. However, hearing the same music across different dimensions was disappointing, making each era feel a little less unique. While the fully voiced story is a welcome addition, some performances feel stilted and a little corny, and some overly repetitive character lines drove me mad!
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A Journey Best Left in the Past?
Another Eden Begins never quite managed to shake its mobile origins, delivering an RPG adventure that felt more like a chore than an exciting journey through time. Between the shaky animations, predictable story and repetitive exploration, I found myself simply going through the motions rather than feeling invested in the adventure.
Time travel is such a fascinating concept, and I wish the developers had done more with it. With Cyrus the frog easily stealing the show, introducing more unusual companions from different time periods could have made this adventure far more memorable.
Fans of the original mobile game may find something to enjoy in this console adaptation, but for seasoned RPG fans, there are far more exciting adventures waiting on the other side of the time portal.
Another Eden Begins is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam for $55.95, as well as Nintendo Switch 2 for $60.95.
Quest Daily Scores Another Eden Begins:
6/10
Access to Another Eden Begins was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
