What's it like to play Another Eden again after 5 years? (AKA an appreciation of Some Guy)
Five years is a long time to step away from any game, but despite how hooked I was on Another Eden in 2021, I just couldn't keep it up while adulting at the same time. It's incredibly refreshing, then, to come back to Aldo and the gang in 2026 and find that nothing's changed but everything's changed - you're still on a quest to save the space-time continuum, it's still the same ol' classic JRPG format, and Some Guy is still the greatest character in the entire universe.
I gave Another Eden full marks in my review back then, and I stand by every word. It still is, as I mentioned, the best of the good ol' days, which is a huge sigh of relief given how it was the complete opposite for me when I went back to Last Cloudia again after five years. The main reason for that is that Another Eden is traditional but not-so-traditional - it follows a simple single-player JRPG experience without the demanding live-ops breathing down your neck.
Yes, it still has the inevitable summons pool and all kinds of gacha collabs, but these crossovers are more boons than banes, as they don't pressure you into trying to catch up with every single time-limited thing. And it's a testament to how expertly Wright Flyer Studios has mastered the formula, because five years later, it all still holds up remarkably well. So much so that the studio is actually launching the revamped Another Eden Begins in September (on Steam, but hopefully on mobile soon too) because the lore is just that popular.
And while it's chosen to forego any retro pixel art, all its other elements are as retro as they can get. There's your small-town boy on a quest to save the world, the inexplicable power from the sister-slash-childhood friend who's been kidnapped, the sword MacGuffin, and the time-twisting narrative (as expected from Masato Kato of Chrono Cross fame). There's no reason to feel like you've been left behind in the dust even if you're starting your adventure this late, as the story will always be the same - and that's more than enough to enjoy the whole thing.
You side-scroll through towns and dungeons with random enemy encounters, then battle foes in classic turn-based fashion with no skips or auto-battle features. The gacha may help you pick cool characters, but you don't really need them to win - your strategy matters more here than your lucky or premium pulls. And should you so wish, you can watch an ad or two to revive when you're downed. The main menu is also neatly tucked away in a collapsed icon, leaving your gorgeous screen clutter-free. It was and still is JRPG-ing at its finest - and I have no doubt that, much like Aldo and his travels through time, it'll still hold up five years and more down the line.
But perhaps what I'm most eager to gush about after all this time is that my beloved Some Guy - the NPC that started out as a placeholder for the devs but ended up becoming a recurring meme that's beloved by the entire community - is still doing what he does best, which is being the best darn NPC in the history of NPCs.
I was even fortunate enough to spot two of him in the same instance as you'll see below. When two Some Guys collide, the universe has to implode, right? It just has to, because humanity won't be able to handle all that awesomeness in one place.
Suffice it to say, I've been effectively sucked back into the world of Another Eden as I've been playing it for three straight days now and have no idea when I'll be able to stop. I know adulting will rear its ugly head again at some point and try to drag me away, but I can rest easy knowing no matter how long I'm gone, I can always come back and see Some Guy in Some Guy land doing Some Guy things - and that's all I really want.
