Eden Genesis review

Eden Genesis review

As a seasoned gamer with over three decades of gaming under my belt, I’ve seen it all – from Pong to VR. Eden Genesis, developed by Aeternum Game Studios, is a title that caught my attention due to its intriguing premise and the promise of hardcore gameplay.


More recently, Aeternum Game Studios have been creating some quite impressive 2D action games. The Metroidvania-style game, Aeterna Noctis, and the roguelike, Summum Aeterna, are both tough but engaging titles that might not always deliver a perfect ending, yet they offer fresh concepts and thrilling gameplay within beautifully vibrant settings. Their newest release, Eden Genesis, continues this trend, offering a series of challenging time trials in the hardcore gaming genre.

Imagine a game reminiscent of “2D Ghostrunner,” set in the year 2072, a world dystopian in its cyberpunk essence. The majority of inhabitants are equipped with technological enhancements called “Neural Amplifier Links” to boost their physical and mental abilities. Unfortunately, this advancement leads to a debilitating condition known as “Synthetic Neurodegeneration” (SND), characterized by severe migraines that eventually disintegrate the mind entirely.

Leah Anderson, our strong-willed heroine, exhibits many traits typical of tough female leads. She’s known for her sharp tongue, frequent use of profanity, and fashion sense that leans heavily on leather and cloth wraps of varying thicknesses. There’s a hint she might have served in the military. To rescue herself and her companion, she enrolls in an experimental project aiming to find a cure for SND. This program requires her to conquer mental obstacles and seal off certain areas of her mind.

Eden Genesis review

It’s fortunate for us that this occurs in a Matrix-esque realm residing within Leah’s mind. Here, she encounters movement and combat tasks across diverse locations modeled after the cyberpunk city of Eden. Each door presents a challenge, evaluating your performance on a scale from D to S+, with the highest three grades granting access to unique memory cores, which in turn unlock additional areas.

For every challenge, there’s a set of goals, and these goals don’t often deviate too far from typical patterns. In movement challenges, your goal is to finish the course as swiftly as you can, whereas combat challenges call for taking out enemies rapidly while incurring minimal damage yourself.

Leah carries a “pulsating sword” and a “Debugger”, a long-range laser weapon that needs recharging and should be used thoughtfully. In every level, you’ll encounter spinning cubes filled with SND substance. To eliminate them, simply run through them. This action boosts Leah’s “Synchro” energy, and keeping it high is crucial for obtaining the top grade.

Eden Genesis review

To make this possible, Leah is quite agile and versatile. She possesses a quick burst for sprinting, the skill to navigate down steep slopes, a triple leap, and even run on ceilings if she maintains her momentum. Colliding with an enemy in mid-air regenerates one of her jumps, while smashing onto glowing areas on ramps propels Leah ahead at astonishing speeds, enabling high leaps of great distance.

In Eden Genesis, it’s not as simple as it seems. Just like Ghostrunner, mastering Leah’s abilities and chaining them flawlessly with pinpoint timing and placement is a challenge that’s tough to conquer at high speed. When I mess up a jump or kill an enemy too early, denying myself the extra boost, or find myself lagging behind the target time, I hit LB on my controller to restart the room. If I’ve already completed a stage, I can follow a ghost of myself to learn the optimal route, or even download the ghosts of other players for additional insights.

One potential way to rephrase your statement could be: The main challenge I find in playing Eden Genesis is the rapid pace at which information is presented. Unlike other games where abilities and powers are gradually acquired, Leah starts with all her abilities from the beginning. This means that players need to quickly master using multiple abilities simultaneously, which can be quite demanding, especially when challenges demand an S-Rank or higher to earn enough currency for progression to the next area.

Eden Genesis review

Consequently, mastering the game can seem challenging and demanding. However, when you manage to get a level just right, there’s a sense of achievement. Unfortunately, achieving perfection in a run might be difficult for many players since it requires considerable effort, memory recall, and precision. Nevertheless, each challenge is relatively brief, and they can all be repeated, so the key is practice and improvement with each try.

Beyond the obstacles themselves lies Eden, a vast urban landscape brimming with common elements of this genre: bright neon signs, flashy fast-food joints, and idle citizens. It’s further adorned with nods to various other intellectual properties, such as Sea of Stars, The Matrix, and Akira (notably the motorcycle you can acquire for swift travel between districts).

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that this game is indeed a beautiful one to behold. The character Leah, with her vibrant personality, truly brings the game to life, and the lush environments are nothing short of breathtaking – although they may not be entirely original in concept, they are still visually stunning.

Eden Genesis review

It turned out that Eden Genesis wasn’t something I could play for extended periods because its mechanics felt repetitive, even with the diverse level designs. The frustration level of the difficulty was high, and it made me less enthusiastic about achieving higher grades and revisiting levels to improve them. However, I must admit that it runs smoothly on Steam Deck, providing an excellent gaming experience on my device.

Title “Eden Genesis” is a challenging game for experienced gamers, similar to “Ghostrunner.” To truly enjoy its depth, one needs to master its intricate systems and mechanics, which can be satisfying on its own. However, I found myself not deeply invested in Leah or her universe, so repeatedly confronting the game’s difficulty felt more like hitting my head against a wall than an enjoyable challenge. Your experience may differ based on your skill level and perseverance, but make no mistake – Eden Genesis expects you to bring your best effort or simply stay away.

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2024-08-06 23:16