EDENGATE: The Edge of Life XSX 5.5/10 "Hello? Is it Mia you’re Looking For?" 🏃‍♀️ @HOOKcrew #IndieGames #GameDev

I am a fan of walking simulators. The appeal of a snack-size, unfolding story over a handful of hours will always appeal to me. It’s a genre that is ripe for narrative opportunities with a light interactive touch. Of course, there’s also room for things to slip into the more generic territory, with poor story-telling, stilted gameplay and an unrewarding tale.

In EDENGATE: The Edge of Life, you play the character of Mia, an amnesiac woman who wakes up in an uninhabited hospital and essentially wanders the city trying to piece together her memory, as she ponders the ruins of a society that she encounters.

I dislike giving away plot points and narrative thrusts when discussing games in this genre, as so often – they are the main points of intrigue, so I’ll try to be as oblique as possible in this regard and break the game down into positives and negatives.

A third-person adventure, EDENGATE is a smooth title that – considering the low price point – is admirable in how bug-free and well it runs. Clear sailing at 60 fps, making your way around the in-game locations is – initially – an intriguing experience.

The focus is on always moving forwards, and so you’ll find yourself ambling your way through the labyrinthine hospital, underground and surrounding city as you unlock memories which paint a fuller picture of your situation, with more – although always incredibly simplistic – puzzles revealing themselves as you proceed.

The sound design is one of the strongest aspects of EDENGATE, with the music subtly twisting and altering dependent on your situation, I often found myself getting drawn into the soundtrack, even as my interest in other aspects of the game waned, and unfortunately, wane they did.

I want to reiterate that this is a budget title, and expectations need to be set. At the start of the 1.5/2 hour experience, simply drinking in the soundtrack and the smooth – yet basic – mechanics is almost enough, especially as you are waiting for the mystery of the game -  and Mia’s situation - to reveal itself.

However, after around 45 minutes, it becomes clear that the game has peaked, and the latter half devolves into repetitive light-beam movement puzzles and unveils a story that really will be a ‘marmite moment’ for some. Personally, I felt that I had pieced together the story in a way that felt complete, if not entirely satisfactory, but I can imagine that some players will be left underwhelmed by the denouement.

At around a fiver, EDENGATE: The Edge of Life is a third-person walking simulator that has real moments of promise for the developers (HOOK) in terms of the sound design, smoothness of animation and voice acting, but bare-bones gameplay and an unrewarding narrative work against the solid foundations.