izigame.me

This game puts me in a weird place for "recommending" because, do I recommend this game? Yeah, I do recommend Dustforce, the game this is obviously inspired by, self-admittedly so since there's an explicit shout-out to Dustforce in game. Eden Genesis is Cyberpunk Dustforce. If you liked Dustforce, you'll like this game. If you haven't played Dustforce... go play that first? It's cheaper, bigger, better, and comes with a full level editor and community levels?

That's the thing, when you make a game so obviously inspired by another game, it's impossible not to hold it to that standard. And I don't think Eden Genesis plays quite as good as Dustforce, or at least, the rough edges felt more visible. It's not a direct copy, mind you, it adds a second action charge in air, a genuinely great stomp that's leagues better than Dustforce's, and replaces the super attack with a beam attack that lends itself well to some solid platforming puzzles that are completely original to this game. Tack on an increased sense of speed and a secret-filled overworld map, it's definitely its own thing, even in spite of its similarities.

But then there's some flaws that shine through the more you play - the aforementioned stomp, for one, which is mapped to "down + jump" or "down + dash" and likes to either not work in specific scenarios (trying to stomp off a ceiling while in a booser), or triggers when you don't want it to (trying to jump right after a downward-angled beam attack and just getting a stomp). The beam is also a pain to aim sometimes, eight-directional is already a problem Celeste had and basically mandated that game be played on keyboard for optimal precision. It's not as frequent an issue in this game and I did play through the entire game to 100% on controller, but misaimed beams came up frequently enough that it was a nuisance - and it's even more awkward that there's absolutely no delay or time to reorient yourself after using one, which can lead to what feel like cheap deaths. I also frequently experienced a failure to cling onto ceilings, even when I was bumping my head against them, and I swear that in Mirror Mode I was having dropped inputs - never felt this way in standard mode but it was happening all the time in Mirror Mode, I dunno if it was just a psychological thing but whateverrr.

And when I say Dustforce is "bigger" I mean that it just, straight up has more levels. There's 41 main levels and 14 expert levels in this game for a total of 55 levels, but around a dozen of those main levels and one of those expert levels are combat rooms, the worst type of level in Dustforce we really didn't need to carry over, much less this many times. I dunno, I don't like them. But that's compared to Dustforce's four sets of 16 increasingly difficult levels each, on top of the three tutorial levels and a bonus world of 7 more levels pushing it over the 70 level mark. With levels in Dustforce also trending longer than some of the pitifully short easier ones in this game.

The level design's also super hit-or-miss, because there's just, lots of moments that feel really inelegant even when you do nail them. A lot of the standard levels feel super slapdash, even replaying them at a higher level of skill, and while there's some that are cool they're mostly confined to the endgame. The expert levels are also pretty hit or miss, with a few of them actually being really cool and fluid and interesting to figure out while others feel finnicky and bad no matter how many times I play them to S+ them. I'd like to highlight the final level of Xanadu in particular, which feels like it was made on a bet to make the most awkward and nitpicky level design imaginable without making it too obvious the level designer was trolling. Truly atrocious level, that one. Genuinely think it's harder than the super secret bonus level, too, which is. Something. I could ramble on all day about this but it's hard to explain when something just -feels- bad, and while the game has more than its fair share of levels that feel good, between the number that don't and the combat levels generally feeling bad, it's a very mixed bag of levels overall.

The presentation is also... while nice, visually, even if it doesn't have a ton of personality, it can get reeeeally cluttered, especially with some of the visual effects like the aforementioned beam attack or some extreme zoom outs that can make it easy to lose track of where you are. There's also, bafflingly, a few levels with a sharp orange background, y'know, the same color as all the cubes you're collecting and enemies you're smashing, which just makes those handful of levels especially awkward as you struggle to even see what you're doing sometimes. The music is... fine, the story's... not great, there's like, an entire second story going on in the background that has little implications on the main plot, which resolves without really resolving anything and doesn't feel particularly satisfying, but it's an edgelord cyberpunk plot that doesn't really have much to say anyways so, whatever. Uhh. The voice acting can be pretty shaky, too, but it's, whatever.

I probably sound really critical here but I liked the game enough to 100% its achievements, which is, y'know. Perfecting all the levels, twice, and doing an entire second playthrough to speedrun it. It's fun to get caught up in the level-to-level flow and the game on the whole feels good to control even despite my nitpicks...

...but it's just, slightly worse Dustforce at the end of the day, so I can really only recommend it if you've already played Dustforce and are hungry for more.