Another Eden

Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space[lower-alpha 1] is a free-to-play role-playing video game developed by Wright Flyer Studios and published by GREE, Inc. The game features the collaboration of writer Masato Kato and music composer Yasunori Mitsuda who both worked on Xenogears and the Chrono series of role-playing games. Another Eden involves time travel elements, where players explore different points in time. It was self-published and released for Android and iOS in Japan in April 2017, and worldwide in 2019. Future ports for the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows have been announced as well.

Another Eden
Developer(s)Wright Flyer Studios
Publisher(s)GREE, Inc.
  • JP: Wright Flyer Studios
Director(s)Masato Kato
Producer(s)
  • Takashi Daisuke
  • Ryo Miyase
Artist(s)
  • Takahito Exa
  • Shinwoo Chei
Writer(s)Masato Kato
Composer(s)
Platform(s)Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch
ReleaseAndroid, iOS
  • JP: April 12, 2017
  • NA: January 28, 2019
  • EU: June 26, 2019
Nintendo Switch
Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Despite being a mobile game created on the GREE platform, the game has little focus on social interactions and log-in bonuses frequently found on the platform.[1] The game is free to play, with in-app purchases for in-game items.[2] The game features 66 chapter main scenario that continues to grow,[3] with the gameplay involving the player time travelling through three main time periods; the past, present, and future.[4][5]

The game primarily plays as a side-scrolling JRPG, at times opening up for full 3D movement.[6] The player directly maneuvers a character between locations and interacts with non-playable characters to progress through the game.[6] Confrontations with enemy characters are played out with turn-based battles.[5] New characters will join the party and grow stronger naturally over the course of the game flow, however the player may opt to spend "Chronos Stones" to obtain a larger roster of characters to use throughout the game.[6] "Chronos Stones", which can be obtained naturally through playing the game, or bought through in-app purchases, allows access to the "Star Dreaming Hall", which allows the player to gamble gacha-style for a wide variety of characters.[6][7]

Plot

The game centers around a boy named Aldo, the game's protagonist, and his sister Feinne.[8] The two live plain and peaceful lives in a small village, however one day the Beast King appears and seeks to use Feinne's dormant abilities to erase humans from the world, leaving the planet only for beast-kin. Aldo desperately attempts to rescue his sister from the Beast King, but a distortion in space-time occurs in the air and whisks Aldo away 800 years into the future.[7]

Development and release

Development on the game started in early 2015,[9] with its first announcement occurring in September 2015, at that year's Tokyo Game Show.[4] The game was revealed as a new project by Masato Kato, who had written and directed Chrono Cross, and wrote parts of Xenogears and Chrono Trigger.[4] The game was developed by Wright Flyer Studios for iOS and Android devices on the GREE, Inc. platform,[1] with Kato directing and writing the game's scenario and script.[4][10] Kato collaborated with GREE producer Daisuke Takasaki, who previously worked on Puyo Puyo Quest, on the game, as they shared the same vision of putting a more traditional JRPG on mobile device, something Takasaki felt the platform generally lacked.[9][5] Importance was placed on making free-range movement comfortable on button-less devices, something Takasaki felt was poorly, or not at all, implemented on many mobile RPGs.[9] Graphics were kept two dimensional to help accommodate the game's large scope, with 2D graphics being cheaper and easier to create on a larger scale.[9] This was necessary to realize Kato's large scope for the game's story as well.[9] Similar to the Chrono series, the game is centered around time travel.[1] Additionally, a "day and night" theme is also in the game.[11][12]

The game's soundtrack was primarily composed by Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Mariam Abounnasr, with the opening theme and a few additional tracks by Yasunori Mitsuda, who had previously worked with Kato on Xenogears and the Chrono series.[1][10][13] The development team was initially unsure on whether or not voice acting should be implemented into the game, though after an impromptu questionnaire was issued to fans, over 70% favored its inclusion, so the team decided in favor of it.[5] However, the limitations of the game being on mobile platforms lead to it only being partial voice acting, not full voice acting for every scene.[5] A two-disc official soundtrack was released by Procyon Studio, Mitsuda's music label, on September 27, 2017.[14]

The game was initially targeting a release in mid-2016,[1][5] but was later pushed back to April 12, 2017.[3][2] Prior to the game's release, a sign-up for a 1,000 participant closed beta testing was held in late February 2017,[10] and conducted for a week in March 2017.[6] Post-release, the game received large-scale advertising and promotional support from GREE, including regularly released updates featuring new gameplay content.[15] It was first released in English in selected countries on January 28, 2019, and later in more regions on June 26, 2019.[16][17][18] In addition, a port for Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows is announced.[19][20][21]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic88/100[22]

RPG Site praised the original Japanese release of the game, stating that despite it being on mobile devices, it still played like a "fun, traditional RPG" and that they could "barely call it a free-to-play game. The annoying trappings (like stamina and timers) are almost nonexistent".[23] They also gave praise to the graphics, soundtrack, and post-release game updates.[23]

Notes
  1. アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫 ("Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Space-Time") in Japanese
gollark: Why should your personal preferences affect what *everyone* gets to do?
gollark: Basically, with large groups, you can pull up many, many examples of single people doing bad things, even if the rate of them doing bad things is the same or lower than for other groups.
gollark: Are you aware of "chinese robber fallacy"?
gollark: You are obviously not guaranteed to do a good job just because of being an opposite-gendered pair.
gollark: How can you prove *anyone* is a good parent?

References
  1. "Smart Phone RPG "Another Eden" Features Talent from "Chrono Trigger"". Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  2. 株式会社インプレス (4 April 2017). "スマホ用「アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫」、配信日決定 ニコ生番組出演者のサイン入りポスターが3名にもらえるキャンペーンを実施". Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  3. "A new aspect of smaho RPG! "Another Eden" CBT Report". March 16, 2017. Archived from the original on April 5, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  4. "Chrono Trigger And Xenogears Writer's Smartphone RPG Another Eden To Be At TGS 2016". September 9, 2016. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017.
  5. 株式会社インプレス (31 January 2016). "スマホ「アナザーエデン」、一部プレイ動画を初公開 グリー高氏がぶっちゃけながら開発方針を決める「開発定例議会」を開催". Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  6. 株式会社インプレス (16 March 2017). "スマホRPGの新たな境地！ 「アナザーエデン」CBTレポート 冒険を能動的に楽しむ「本格RPG」に真正面から取り組むグリーの意欲作". Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  7. "Another Eden game review". GameDeets. 2017-04-13. Archived from the original on 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  8. Romano, Sal. "Another Eden 'Meet the Characters' trailer". Gematsu. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  9. 株式会社インプレス (18 September 2015). ""発明満載でお見せできない"新作スマホRPG「アナザーエデン」 ドット絵時代のRPGの冒険をスマホに。加藤正人氏、光田康典氏らが参加". Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  10. 株式会社インプレス (22 February 2017). "「アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫」、クローズドβテスト参加者募集開始 新作PRG、シナリオ・演出に加藤正人氏、メインテーマには光田康典氏が起用". Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  11. "Chrono Trigger Writer Works on Another Eden Mobile RPG". Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  12. "【TGS2015】『クロノ・トリガー』のシナリオライター＆サウンドクリエイターによるタイムトラベル冒険RPG『アナザーエデン』発表 - インサイド". Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  13. "Another Eden Original Soundtrack". iTunes. Apple. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  14. "Another Eden Original Soundtrack". Procyon Studio. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2018-03-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. Reese, Zack. "Game Info Another Eden: The Cat That Travels Through Space and Time global and Switch release announced". RPG Site. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  17. Romano, Sal. "Another Eden 'Creators Interview Part 3: Scenario and International Release Producer' developer diary". Gematsu. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  18. Glen Fox (2019-06-24). "Another Eden Launches in 34 More Countries in Europe and South East Asia on June 26". Gamezebo. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  19. Romano, Sal. "Smartphone RPG Another Eden coming to Switch". Gematsu. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  20. "アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫（アナデン）". アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫（アナデン） (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  21. "PC版 アナザーエデン 時空を超える猫 | Shift". shift.games (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  22. "Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  23. Reese, Zack. "Game Info Another Eden: The Cat That Travels Through Space and Time global and Switch release announced". RPG Site. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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