Not all anime games I cover are based on stuff I have had any previous contact with, but I never see that as a bad thing. It’s always an opportunity to be introduced to a brand new IP, and who knows, I might even end up enjoying it. For instance, J-Stars Victory Vs., as janky as it was, was my gateway drug to stuff like Bleach, Gintama, and even JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. This is one of the main reasons I wanted to give the Edens Zero game a go, even if I had never heard of the anime prior to tackling it. So, was this yet another slam dunk that made me want to spend additional hours watching copious amounts of overexaggerated shonen? Let’s find out.

So, Edens Zero lets us play as a group of space adventurers (who are also digital influencers, as much as it pains me to see that finally arriving into anime territory) wandering around the cosmos in search of majestic content and the ultimate goal of meeting “Mother”, an all-powerful being worshipped as the Goddess of the Universe. Sadly, the endgoal of the quest is all about dem clicks, but the journey is more interesting than the final objective.

The protagonist of our story is Shiki Granbell, a human who grew up as the only one of his species in a theme park planet inhabited solely by robots. After being rescued from it, by chance, by a girl named Rebecca, and after a shockingly emotional scene involving past friends, Shiki sets off on said adventure, getting to know more about the galaxy, becoming an adventurer, and learning more about his place in the universe. You know, the typical shonen stuff. A lot of “power of friendship”, getting tied to organizations with a bureaucratic rank system (hello, One-Punch Man!), a plot that becomes more serious and completely detached from the original premise the further it gets, and so on. And I learned most of it… from the Edens Zero anime wiki. The game did a terrible job at properly telling me the show’s story in a coherent manner…

I’d say this is the game’s main issue: its pacing is bonkers. The game starts off by basically recapping its ENTIRE plot in a janky and stupidly rushed manner, before actually remembering it’s not meant to be an abridged summary of the Edens Zero anime on Youtube and starting off its plot for real. There are moments in which cutscenes can go on for hours, with other moments feeling rushed, as if content had to be cut before launch. Entire sections and volumes of the manga were removed, for instance. Edens Zero rushes its plot like a madman until you get to the titular ship that gives the anime its name. This is when the game starts properly, its gameplay opens up, and things become truly interesting. You just have to go through some janky introductory sections at first.

It helps that the game features a really solid presentation, which helps make you ignore its initial shortcomings. Like most anime-based games, Edens Zero goes for a cel-shaded art style, but even if this idea doesn’t sound like the most revolutionary decision in gaming design history, the game does a great job at properly animating character reactions, giving it a much bigger anime feel than most of its counterparts. Some occasional framerate glitches hinder the overall presentation, but all in all, it’s pretty good.

And I guess I have to commend the sound design as well. Same principle: follows the usual tropes seen in other anime games, but when there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken, “more of the same” is more than enough. It’s a typical shonen soundtrack comprised of J-Pop and guitars, with some really competent (but overexaggerated, as all shonen are) voice acting. A lot of voice acting, mind you. Not your traditional “saving the VA budget solely for the main cutscenes” schtick seen in a lot of Japanese games, with Yakuza being one of the main culprits. But after talking about the plot, the visuals, and the sound, I guess I have to start talking about what the hell Edens Zero (the game, that is) is even about.

Gameplay-wise, it’s an action RPG on paper, a beat ’em up in spirit, but a borderline Musou title in principle. Like an older Yakuza game, you’re transported to a small arena whenever you come into a foe’s eyesight. Press different attack buttons and combinations to get rid of all foes in front of you, gain experience points, improve your skills via a concise skill tree, the traditional schtick. The occasional sidequest, some cooking elements… nothing fancy, nothing revolutionary. You can also play as multiple characters, and swap between them with the press of a button. Each one plays completely differently from the other, which is a plus, but not all of them feel fun to play.

I mentioned that the combat also feels a bit Musou-ish because whenever you begin a battle against an enemy, you’re not fighting just one foe. You’ll have to take care of, like, fifteen dudes at once. As you can imagine, they all feature brain-dead AI, and your stronger attacks can take care of multiple foes with a single blow. But that also means that characters without an area-of-effect attack are at an automatic disadvantage. It also throws any semblance of strategy off the window, as Edens Zero is best enjoyed by just mashing buttons like a lunatic until there isn’t a single foe standing. Additional mechanics are available, and dodging is essential against bosses, but none of them ever felt remotely dangerous.

Still, this can be fun, with the right mindset. Even if the button responsiveness is a bit faulty, and the camera controls feel as dated as a PS2 game refusing to acknowledge the improvements first seen in Ocarina of Time, there’s something about Edens Zero‘s dumbed down gameplay loop that make it enjoyable. Attacks pack a punch, and being rewarded with some high-quality cutscenes is the right kind of dopamine incentive to keep you pushing forward towards the next mission.

As an outsider looking in, the video game adaptation of Edens Zero confused the hell out of me due to its disjointed take on the manga’s plot. Its combat and overall mechanics could have been just a bit more polished. Still, with that said, I had a pretty good time with it. It’s dumbed down in terms of its gameplay, and its presentation is really freaking good. It won me over due to its simplicity. Now, did it make me want to actually watch the Edens Zero anime? No, it didn’t. Maybe it was due to how it presented its story in such a sloppy and rushed manner…

Graphics: 8.5 Even if the usage of cel-shading might look generic at first, the game does a great job at properly animating character reactions, giving it a much bigger anime feel than most of its counterparts. Some occasional framerate glitches hinder the overall presentation, but all in all, it’s pretty good.	Gameplay: 7.0 The combat can be fun at times, depending on the character you’re using, but there are issues tied to responsiveness and camera controls. Edens Zero also throws a lot of ideas at the table, never fully committing to any of them.
Sound: 8.5 Your typical shonen soundtrack comprised of J-Pop and guitars, with some really competent (but overexaggerated, as all shonen are) voice acting.	Fun Factor: 7.0 As an outsider looking in, I was puzzled at the plot, as the game is paced in a very bizarre way, and the combat could have been a bit more polished. That being said, I had fun with it, as it’s not exactly the most complex of games that require too much of your time and attention span. Did it make me want to actually watch Edens Zero, however? Nope.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Edens Zero is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Edens Zero was provided by the publisher.