Japanese

We’re all still recovering from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 fever, right? Whilst the dev has revealed there’s more set in the world of Maelle and pals to come, I can only imagine I speak for a fair few of us when I say: I want more French-made role-playing game goodness. To that end, I booked in some time at Gamescom 2025 to play something that may not be on your radar – a follow-up to 2021’s underrated Edge of Eternity curio, Edge of Eternity.

Now, if you just want more of the same turn-based catnip present in Sandfall Interactive’s emotional tour de force, I’m sorry to disappoint you: Edge of Eternity is more action-RPG than anything else. In a 30-minute demo at Gamescom, it felt more like a mix-up between Devil May Cry and Xenoblade Chronicles than the Final Fantasy X-aligned turn-based system we saw in Expedition 33. But that’s no bad thing: the modern take on old Japanese role-playing game tropes, all realised through a jaunty French lens, is more than worthy of at least a sliver of your attention.

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Let’s start with the pedigree: though the core team making this peculiar sequel is mostly French, there is some serious, well-established talent propping up the plucky young studio. Whether you’re looking at Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda (with NieR lyricist Emi Evans), Xenoblade Chronicles character designer Raita Kazama, orFinal Fantasy XV combat designer Mitsuru Yokoyama, there is storied talent everywhere you look in the game, and the collective work of these veteran devs actually melds really comfortably into a gorgeous, watercolour double-A title that is as refreshing as it is off-beat.

The game is set in the same world as the previous game, named Heyron, where a malignant presence called ‘the Corrosion’ has either killed or transformed the denizens of the planet into “misshapen abominations.” In just 30 minutes, I was privy to some cutscenes that reminded me of the darker moments in, say, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood – all family trauma, death, and hopelessness – that set a contrasting tone to the bright, airy world of Heyron.

From what I can gather, the world is standard RPG fare (this isn’t a bad thing: sometimes, you can feel very at home in a trope, especially in this genre). You play as Eline, aided by Ysoris and Kanta in your party, as you set out on a quest to cure the Corrosion-afflicted continent of Avaris from its unnatural plague. You control Eline for the most part, but quick commands can be thrown out to your erstwhile companions so that they can modify your attacks and generate combos with you (I can see the influence of Final Fantasy XV, here, for sure).

Their bark is worse than their bite. | Image credit: Midgar Studio

There are elements (fire, ice, and thunder) and related abilities, of course, that allow Ysoris and Kanta to stack effects up on enemies, letting Eline swoop in with berserker rage and pile on the DPS. That Devil May Cry reference comes back with a vengeance here, because as Eline dishes out the hurt, she can charge up what we’d know as a ‘Devil Trigger’ and start to tap into the power of ‘the Corrosion’ in order to dispatch foes with prejudice.

The demo ended with a boss fight against some sort of malignant mass that was heaving with body horror limbs, claws, and all manner of grizzly bolt-ons. Timing commands to the support characters whilst hopping, attacking, and dodging – it felt great. There are times when you can tell the game is developed by a small team of about 30 (the world is quite sparse, and the zones you’re corralled through are simple in their layout), but when the combat is firing on all cylinders… well, I can see myself slurping this one up greedily.

If I’m being completely honest, the game has a PS3/360-era feel to it. But I’m not saying that as a pejorative: some of my best non-mainstream RPG experiences came from bizarre RPG efforts in the seventh generation of consoles. Titles like The Last Remnant, Eternal Sonata and Infinite Undiscovery became totems of the mid-2000s era for me, with the likes of Lost Odyssey and Tales of Vesperia representing the ‘high tide’ of the era.

Here’s a proper look at the game’s comabt.Watch on YouTube

I came away from my time with Edge of Memories thinking about those misspent months of my life (laughing with pals at Gamescom about the appalling ‘dinner dance’ in Infinite Undiscovery, especially). I think your mileage with Edge of Memories will vary drastically depending on how sugary your soft spot for that aggressively mid-era of role-playing games is, but I honestly found this game juicing on the nostalgia glands for a period of gaming history I didn’t realise I missed so much.

The game, coming to PS5 and Xbox Series and PC, is currently listed for a 2026 release, and carrying a £31.99 price tag. I think that’s the sweet spot; you’re not going to get a full, premium experience out of this, but at the right price point, it’s definitely going to be more than just a forgettable romp. I’ll be checking out the full release next year.

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