Edge of Reality | Visual Novel | Nintendo Switch

Publisher: Sometimes You
Developer: Moon Eclipse 
Nintendo Switch Review

*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game for PS4 in return for a review, all opinions are mine and mine alone.

 

It's been a while since I played a visual novel game, Edge of Reality had a bit of everything a girl like me takes an interest in. Players are thrown into the story where you play as a pawnshop owner named Dan, everything seems rather quiet in his daily life until a young woman enters the shop. She offers him a brooch, not to buy from her or to appraise, she simply wanted to give it to him and be rid of it, a skeptic like me would hush her out the door knowing full well this was too good to be true, but on the other hand.. things could get interest which most definitely was the case.

Edge of Reality takes us on a short journey of how Dan ended up in a situation that was never down to him, he becomes a little detective, asking questions is what pulls him further in and them same questions change his destiny, make choices wisely whilst teaming up with characters he has just met. If you've never played a visual novel it's important to note that they are pretty simple, some have puzzles others don't, in this case it was mostly choosing the dialogue and clicking on locations on a map. Book lovers like myself are fans of these types of games due to the story coming to life visually just like when we picture a novel our own minds.

I tire of romance lately, I was glad that this game didn't focus on romance. As much as I find myself drawn to romantic fantasy novels it made a nice change for me. The game could have been longer, It felt like there was much more that could have been included especially because it wasn't as in-depth as I hope, yes I already knew it would be very short, I purposely slowed my reading down the second play through so that I could take in anything that I might have missed and get a little more enjoyment out of it. The good thing is the game does have multiple endings, this is why the choices you make are so valuable to you and the use of speeding up the game means players can skip through it faster for their next play throughs.

I can't really go into much more detail about the story as they game is so short but I can tell you what aspects of the game I enjoyed and disliked overall. What kept my interest:

• Visuals: I appreciate the artwork that goes into games, more so than I tend to realise. Pulling a story together that is reflected in its surroundings can be hard, how do you do it justice? Moon Eclipse have done a great job in not only keeping their characters at the forefront of the story but they also avoid making them blend into the background and making it too over the top.
• To the point: There is nothing I hate more than a complicated menu system, Edge of Reality keeps it simple and allows players to access the menu, settings, past dialogue and ability to speed the game along all in the speech bar, yes you need to go into the main menu to change the speed of the game which I personally didn't need to use, the pace of the game was satisfactory enough for me.
• Music: Right away you knew something mysterious was going to happen in this game just from the music, no one even needed to utter a single word for me to know. It was pretty chill even in the tense scenes, but it also reflected the main character from that scene. Doing this gave the story a bit more interest/made it feel more dramatic.

If the developers did make a sequel to this even from the different endings I would happily play it through. Edge of Reality is available on PS5/4, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft and Steam for just over £4. 

Have a cosy day

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