Another Eden is a good JRPG, with special appeal for that subset of RPG players that love to grind. Yes, the game is directed by Takashi Tokita (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross), and some of the music is composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross), and the game is thematically similar to certain classic JRPGs (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross). With all that talent, there might be a significant group of people out there content to play through Another Eden's halfway decent story and then just move on. Believe it or not, this game is merciful enough to let you do that without paying a cent. While the gacha system utilized by this game's cash shop enjoys its share of rightful infamy, I found it to be rather generous in dispensing great characters with the currency I got for free, plus the game passes out free characters every event that are especially useful gapfillers for your party, particularly the characters it gives out during crossover events with other games (like Chrono Cross). Steam players don't have the ability to watch ads for cash shop currency like mobile players do, but I still found myself waiting to run into a premium content wall that never came.

While Another Eden offers a broadly appealing JRPG experience for the very reasonable price of free, the real star here is the grind. The entire endgame is about grinding and only grinding. You grind your way to max level, then you grind for materials for better and better weapons. Then you grind materials to unlock new classes and skill trees. Then you grind materials in tougher maps for even better weapons. Then you grind to boost the weapons themselves. You grind your ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ face off until all that's left of your head is the back wall of your skull and then maybe, JUST MAYBE, you'll be ready to take on your grandpa.

In summation, Another Eden is a good JRPG, free, and sporting a nonintrusive cash shop. There is a ton of content to play through already, with more always on the way. There's enough story and challenge to please casual fans of the genre and enough endgame material to keep free players zoning out in comfy, grindy bliss for literal years. I had my reservations about this one, but 255 hours in with no end in sight, I can say I'm pretty pleased that I set them aside.

Another Eden is a good JRPG, with special appeal for that subset of RPG players that love to grind. Yes, the game is directed by Takashi Tokita (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross), and some of the music is composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross), and the game is thematically similar to certain classic JRPGs (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross). With all that talent, there might be a significant group of people out there content to play through Another Eden's halfway decent story and then just move on. Believe it or not, this game is merciful enough to let you do that without paying a cent. While the gacha system utilized by this game's cash shop enjoys its share of rightful infamy, I found it to be rather generous in dispensing great characters with the currency I got for free, plus the game passes out free characters every event that are especially useful gapfillers for your party, particularly the characters it gives out during crossover events with other games (like Chrono Cross). Steam players don't have the ability to watch ads for cash shop currency like mobile players do, but I still found myself waiting to run into a premium content wall that never came. While Another Eden offers a broadly appealing JRPG experience for the very reasonable price of free, the real star here is the grind. The entire endgame is about grinding and only grinding. You grind your way to max level, then you grind for materials for better and better weapons. Then you grind materials to unlock new classes and skill trees. Then you grind materials in tougher maps for even better weapons. Then you grind to boost the weapons themselves. You grind your goddamn face off until all that's left of your head is the back wall of your skull and then maybe, JUST MAYBE, you'll be ready to take on your grandpa. In summation, Another Eden is a good JRPG, free, and sporting a nonintrusive cash shop. There is a ton of content to play through already, with more always on the way. There's enough story and challenge to please casual fans of the genre and enough endgame material to keep free players zoning out in comfy, grindy bliss for literal years. I had my reservations about this one, but 255 hours in with no end in sight, I can say I'm pretty pleased that I set them aside.