If we had to use one word to describe EDENS ZERO, it would be ‘basic’ — but we don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. This is a very straightforward adaptation of the sci-fi manga and anime series, retelling the source material’s plot across a rather rudimentary action RPG structure.
Fortunately, if you’re not familiar with prolific author Hiro Mashima’s work, the game does a decent job of relaying important plot points. This isn’t a one-to-one, immaculate recreation of the manga — and just to be clear, it only covers a chunk of the original story — but it certainly won’t leave you lost like other anime-based titles often do.
The narrative itself is told through (mostly) voiced, text box dialogue and a smattering of action-heavy cutscenes. Admittedly, the presentation isn’t great; limited animation work can sometimes make scenes seem awkward and stunted, but again, it’s enough to keep things moving.
And move you will, as EDENS ZERO is surprisingly fast-paced. The narrative is broken up between set episodes, each of which cover an individual story arc — or thereabouts — of the source material. Obviously, corners are cut with regards to less pivotal events, but all of the main character introductions and key fights are present and correct.
Interestingly, there’s also an open world element to the game that’s accessed through its own menu option. A planet named Blue Garden acts as both a recurring story location and a huge map that you’re free to explore at almost any time.
Blue Garden offers up side quests, secrets, and loot — and based on our experience, it’s all completely optional. The main story episodes are balanced in a way that assumes you’re tackling them in a linear fashion, so it’s not like you’re being asked to grind through side content in order to progress.
However, if you want to maximise your party’s abilities and get everyone decked out in the best gear, you’ll need to engage with Blue Garden at some point — and it’s a bit of a slog. Cookie-cutter quests either ask you to gather specific items to defeat a certain enemy out in the field, while the open world design is largely barren and lifeless — especially for how vast the map feels.
Blue Garden is very much a case of quantity over quality, but we did still find ourselves returning to it after every story chapter, if only to test out our new combat abilities.
Now, EDENS ZERO’s combat system isn’t going to wow anyone with its generic mix of light and heavy attacks, cooldown-based special moves, and time-slowing dodge rolls, but it does come together in some fun ways.
For example, there’s a nice variety in how each party member plays. During a battle, you can swap between up to four heroes, and while the mechanics appear to be pretty dull to begin with, individual skill trees unlock much more interesting attacks and techniques.
Sooner or later, you’ll start stumbling across abilities that seem somewhat… overpowered. And while melting groups of enemies with the same broken combos invites tedium, we think combat does ultimately benefit from letting you experiment with a suite of highly effective tools.
We get the impression that EDENS ZERO isn’t looking to challenge its players — beyond the optional super bosses back on Blue Garden — and that’ll be part of its charm for many. There’s a breeziness to the release that makes it easy to dip into, whether you’re blasting through the next story chapter or just partaking in the mindless open world grind.
It’s just a shame that the game looks so rough. From what we can tell, it takes the vast majority of its assets — models and artwork — from mobile title EDENS ZERO Pocket Galaxy, doing little to improve texture quality or visual effects in the process.
What we’re left with is a particularly ugly release that’s subject to nasty amounts of pop-in and even some noticeable frame rate drops out in the open world.
Conclusion
EDENS ZERO is a competent adaptation and a very basic — but often fun — action RPG. Generic in its design and held back by some seriously rough visuals, it’s the kind of game that’s barely going to appeal to those outside of the established fandom, but there is a charm in how breezy it is to actually play.
The bottom line is that if you’re looking for an easygoing anime-based adventure, you could do worse than EDENS ZERO — although it does take a few hours for things to feel mechanically interesting.
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