Review | Edge of Reality

“It was almost a blessing it didn’t take long to play, considering how bored I found myself becoming.”

You play as Dan, running a day-to-day pawnshop. Not exactly a thrilling life but something has to pay the bills, right? No one, especially Dan, didn’t expect a gracious young woman to enter his shop, offering him a mysterious brooch for which she asked for nothing in return. The events that followed also couldn’t have been predicted but we find ourselves searching for a person of interest who may not be all they seem. Knowing very little about what we’re about to get ourselves into, Edge of Reality is an interactive visual novel where you get to make choices which will ultimately lead to numerous endings. Should you ask questions or stay quiet? Where should you search first? Who can you trust and who is telling the truth? All these are questions you’ll need to think about. Edge of Reality has been developed by Moon Eclipse and published by Sometimes You but does it actually take us to the edge of reality? Continue reading to see where it left me.

Does anyone else get vampire vibes from this dark and mysterious gentleman?

Things I liked!

• Charming visuals | The visual appearance, quality, and detail seen in the characters and backgrounds were wonderful to view while reading through the story and probably added one of the main enjoyment features to my experience. I liked the suspicious and moody setting made with a wonderful blend of colours throughout. Mystery radiated from the well-designed characters and helped me get through the poor writing (more on that later on). Unlike when I read books in real life, flicking between pages of text, I get to visualise the characters and scenes they find themselves within which adds that extra level of connection for me. Ah, the joy of visual novels.

• Captivating music | Another fantastic and highly noticeable element which brought life into the game was the incredible music which accompanied the visuals, and damn did this game need something to give it some oomph! It’s a combination of detective drama and jazz mixed into one wonderful concoction if I do say so myself and matches the theme and focus of the game effortlessly. I don’t recall any sound effects that caught my attention if there even were any, but who cares when the soundtrack is as amazing as the one in Edge of Reality?!

Where to go next. Decisions… Decisions…

Neither good nor bad

• Interactive decisions | The one feature which excites me when playing visual novels is the inclusion of personal choices and the different routes the story can take because of these. While Edge of Reality did include these and some did lead to alternative endings, there weren’t enough of them and they weren’t as impactful as they could have been. When I say this, I mean the difference in options was noticeably lazy and often altered between saying something or nothing. There is also an interactive map which was a nice touch but I would have liked to have explored more locations or at least have spent more time at them.

I feel like it would be rude not to ask. Maybe I’m better off not knowing though.

Things I disliked!

• Lacking in length | For me, there is a rather fine line between a visual novel being too short or too lengthy; you need just the amount of text to enable optimal satisfaction when considering everything. Edge of Reality was relatively on the short side – being a slow-ish reader, it took me approximately 40 minutes to finish one playthrough. I always prefer anything between 4-6 hours with quality writing and 2-3 hours for those which are a little more compact which made this far too short for me. It was almost a blessing it didn’t take long to play, considering how bored I found myself becoming. Maybe the length wasn’t so bad, considering the overall quality because honestly, I couldn’t have imagined reading for any more than an hour.

• Unimaginative narrative | From a story/plot perspective, it wasn’t terrible but I’ve without a doubt played better. It’s pretty simplistic and straightforward to understand which isn’t bad and with multiple endings being obtainable, I easily guessed a couple while playing. That being said, the overall varying paths weren’t spectacular and with the dialogue being relatively similar, I felt the effort was lacking and would have benefited from more impactful options to further change the future choices and the outcome. I don’t think that asking for too much from someone who truly wants these games to shine.

• Dull dialogue | It goes without saying, the main element of any visual novel is the reading element. When I pick up a physical book, I need to be engrossed and excited to read every sentence, looking forward in anticipation as to what may happen next. I need it to get my brain to create different plots and scenarios to keep me interested. Yeah, about that… Edge of Reality had me trailing off counting sheep and it was almost an effort to click A to continue onto the next sentence or two. Although the writing wasn’t necessarily bad, it dodged my interest entirely and could have been far more engaging and thought-provoking.

• Easy completion | I’m sure I’ve said this before but the majority of visual novels we see make their way onto the Xbox Store tend to be known for their ‘easy completion’ aspect, with their known publishers and price points. Edge of Reality will probably become known and played for the easy achievement/completion it holds and not surprisingly, to me at least, for its actual gameplay experience – even if it’s disappointing. It truly upsets me to write this as I adore this genre and wish you had put more effort into completing everything – not just skip dialogue and pay no attention to the gameplay whatsoever.

How long did I play the review before publishing? 1 Hour
How long to beat the story? Less than 1 hour
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 17/17 (1000G)
How long to achieve 1000G | 1 Hour
You’ll love this game if you like these | Kuroi Tsubasa, Vera Blanc, and Murder on the Marine Express.