Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space is almost 10 years old. The game’s been running since 2017! The main campaign is up to its third part now, not counting different events that appeared. Trying to get into that adaptation could be rough. Plus it being a mobile game with a gacha element could dissuade others. Another Eden Begins is an answer that preserves what I consider the best part of its story so far and gives people a pretty strong JRPG with quality of life adjustments and no mobile nonsense. Parts of it might not be totally revolutionary, but it’s a good time.
Things in Another Eden Begins kick off much in the same sort of fashion as other JRPGs. It is set in a world in which prejudice exists between humans and beastfolk, resulting in conflicts. The story starts with the Beast King leader happening upon a baby with a mysterious power in the Moonlight Forest. When he hears noises, he leaves, and the elderly mayor of the town of Baruoki finds the baby and a young boy who emerges from the bushes behind her. He adopts both and, sixteen years later, the boy Aldo is established as a guard for the town and him and his little sister Feinne are preparing to celebrate the anniversary of them becoming a family. However, it’s also the day the Beast King and his minions invade the town, kidnap Feinne. Aldo swears to save her. At the same time, he learns he’s a time traveler and the key to saving his sister (and naturally the world) is tied to visiting different time periods to solve additional situations and learn more about Feinne and his past.
Basically, it’s pretty clear Chrono Trigger Masato Kato worked on this game, if the whole time traveling elements and party member who is a humanoid frog didn’t give it away. There are a few JRPG staples and tropes present. In some ways, the story doesn’t feel totally revolutionary or like it’s doing something incredibly unusual. In many cases, you’ll probably see where some plots are going if you’re pretty experienced with the genre. However, I will say that there are some genuinely great twists present. Especially tied to certain characters. We do get 19 of them, Aldo included, after all and some of them can be pretty fun. (I’m a big fan of Amy, Myrus, and our frog friend Cyrus.) Things are executed pretty well and, I’m not sure if it is due to the structure of this release or the additional Another Eden Begins narrative elements, but I found myself enjoying it more this time around. It’s a really solid and enjoyable storyline!
Combat in Another Eden Begins also isn’t rewriting the book on turn-based JRPG battles, but it doesn’t need to. It’s a rather solid affair. You add four folks to your party, and they can use standard attacks or special abilities. You can use points when leveling up to enhance and unlock things like passive perks. Elemental weaknesses are present. Especially notable is the Another Force gauge built up by attacks and chains to trigger additional attacks and stop an enemy from acting, since filling it is tied to common sense and good strategy. Things move in a really timely fashion, with encounters visible on the world map before you enter them, resulting in something that feels handled in a way that doesn’t force grinding to find success.
Another Eden Begins is also one of those rare situations in which I don’t mind the character designs that involve flat, 2D individuals where it feels like each body part is rigged for halting, puppet-like animations. The art direction is really good, even though it does use that, and there are some perspective shifts and story segments that add a little more expressiveness. It also features the sort of town, field, and dungeon design in which we see 2D layers and move forward and back between them, as in games like Valkyrie Profile. Here, it lends itself to a sense of depth, but still allows for a good amount of detail and to allow the past, present, and future eras to feature unique identities.
I also feel like WFS handled Another Eden Begins well when it comes to content. Having 18 characters join Aldo allows for a lot of diversity. Are we missing folks and events from the gacha? I mean, it’s a big roster now so sure. But the telling of Part 1 is handled well, the extra endings are a great feature, and what is here is handled in a way that doesn’t make it feel like there are gaps and we’re missing things. We get a solid campaign. The allies we meet have their own moments. The additional character Ramiu and endings encourage someone to go back. It’s preserving the heart of the original mobile game pretty well.
Another Eden Begins is a strong adaptation of the mobile RPG and makes it accessible to a wide audience. For the sake of preservation alone, it feels valuable. But it’s also WFS making good on a longstanding promise, keeping a commitment to its community in the process, while also acting as an example of why so many stayed dedicated to the story for so long. It’s an interesting approach and well worth playing.
Another Eden Begins will come to the Switch, Switch 2, and PC on September 17, 2026, and a demo is available.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.siliconera.com/review-another-eden-begins-is-a-solid-adaptation-of-the-strongest-part/
