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Although Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a notable JRPG by a non-Japanese studio, Edge of Memories developed by Sandfall Interactive is not the first JRPG from a French team. Years ago, Midgar Studio released Edge of Eternity—a solid open-world JRPG inspired by series like Final Fantasy and Xenogears—combining a vast world with strategic turn-based combat that offered a remarkable experience despite some issues. Now, years after completing Edge of Eternity, Midgar Studio is set to continue their franchise with Edge of Memories, a game that offers a very different experience but will be appealing to fans of certain action role-playing games.
At this year’s Gamescom, I had the opportunity to briefly play Edge of Memories while speaking with Jérémy Zeler-Maury, the founder and CEO of Midgar Studio. The similarities between Edge of Memories and last year’s Visions of Mana were immediately noticeable. Many players thought that Visions of Mana was actually Edge of Memories due to these similarities. While these similarities might impact the game’s reception, the uncertain future of Square Enix’s Mana series could benefit Edge of Memories. Aside from a similar colorful art direction, Edge of Memories seems more engaging, especially in combat.
The demo highlighted some exploration and traversal mechanics that required players to use elemental powers to overcome obstacles. Notably, there were light platforming segments that often utilized these mechanics. The world had a nice sense of scale, allowing me to reach any interesting location from a distance. However, given the short time and focused nature of the demo, this might not be the case in the final release.
In combat, Edge of Memories stands out more than Visions of Mana. Fighting enemies involves multiple combo strings, skills that can be switched on the fly, and an action-oriented feel reminiscent of NieR: Automata. Jeremy highlighted how the boss battles required precise timing to avoid area-of-effect attacks marked by red circles on the ground. Controlling Eline felt smooth enough for combat to remain enjoyable even with minimal knowledge of the game’s systems.
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Nacon publishing Edge of Memories after acquiring Midgar Studio in 2022 means it won’t go through an Early Access period when it launches sometime next year on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. I hope the game will launch sooner rather than later, as I am excited to see what else it has to offer and if it will live up to the promise suggested by the short Gamescom demo.
