Another Eden Begins Key Art
Image: Wright Flyer Studios

I've always felt that it was a terrible waste for mobile RPGs to just fizzle out and be lost forever, and it seems, finally, that publishers agree. Another Eden Begins, launching today, is a single-player, offline partial adaptation of the popular (and still ongoing) Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space from Wright Flyer Studios. The latest in a growing number of mobile titles saved from oblivion by adapting them into offline, self-contained stories.

Another Eden is unquestionably inspired by Chrono Trigger. A young swordsman hops across time and space, recruiting weird friends from around the multiverse, including a taciturn swordsman who is also a giant frog, although in this game, he's a samurai instead of a knight. Clearly, two completely different character concepts. Still, a big goofy anime adventure through time is a timeless (heh) concept, and a fine hook to hang an RPG adventure from.

As the title hints, this isn't the entirety of the Another Eden saga, but rather just the first story arc. A full-length game unto itself with multiple possible endings and heavily tuned-up mechanics, for sure, but I'd not be surprised to see this evolve into a whole series if this initial release works out well for Wright Flyer Studios. That said, initial reviews have mentioned that the game does very exciting things with its New Game+ mode, opening up some significant new content and story branches on return trips, which is a rarity in RPGs, but also very fitting for a time travel story.

Mechanically speaking, this is more than just a straight port from mobile too. While in the original mobile game you could only move across pre-defined lanes, characters in the overworld are now free to just run wherever they please, making it feel more like a proper JRPG build for gamepad use, rather than touchscreens. This also means that you can wiggle your way out of random encounters in the overworld by just scooting around enemies, in classic Chrono Trigger style.

Another Eden's battle engine has also been reworked significantly for this new version, expecting the player to build several fully functional parties that can be tag-teamed between mid-combat, and those party compositions are important as skills synergize and charge up the attacks of other adjacent characters. Honestly, I'd love to see all of this stuff flow back to the mobile version someday, but this is definitely more than just a straight port.

Another Eden Begins is out now for £35.75/$40. There's also a generous demo that lets you carry your progress directly over to the full game. Less positively, the game also launched with an eye-wateringly expensive season pass (£43.75/$45!), featuring several optional characters and their respective personal quests, potentially making this one more expensive than its sticker price suggests. It might not be gacha, but it's still questionable business. Almost £80 for an adaptation of a mobile game is maybe a BIT much.

And with that said, this is still only one major story arc from a much larger, still-ongoing game, so if you're not allergic to games with mobile progression and business models, the original Another Eden might still be worth a look, especially as it features lengthy, non-time-limited crossover story arcs featuring characters from Final Fantasy, Chrono Cross, Persona, the Tales series, and even The King of Fighters. There's no one right answer here, though, especially considering the Begins' NG+ mode. Pick your poison!