Tester’s Corner: eden* Ed. Vol 2

1Today, we’re proud to present a few words on eden* from Kaitsu!

First and foremost, while you’re reading eden*, you’ll need a box of tissues. You can use them when you’re playing PLUS+MOSAIC too, but you’re mostly going to need them during the main story. Many staff and beta testers have commented that it’s “oh god, my dog just died” level of sadness if that tells you anything… So prepare yourselves!

So before I get into the nitty-gritty part, I’d like to take a moment to share my experience with eden*. I have been eagerly waiting for its release for quite some time now and I can definitely say, without a shadow of a doubt, that it did not disappoint. I was introduced to it shortly after I joined NNL, which was just a few weeks shy of us releasing ef – a fairy tale of the two unofficially in 2010. My interest was immediately piqued when the translator for both ef and eden* promised me a story of maids in a pre-apocalyptic love story, and the gross sobbing that would come along with it. However, after ef was officially licensed and released digitally (and now as a physical copy!), eden* was put on the back burner and was put on my to-read list. We stayed optimistic on someday releasing it, and after many exchanges, hundreds of emails, and one jumping up and down like a major derp session later, releasing eden* finally became a reality. Naturally I was excited, but having only read a fourth of the game back in our NNL days, I didn’t have much else to go on but remained positive about the content, as I’ve been a minori supporter/fangirl from the start and I intended to read it one way or another. Once the plan to release eden* and funding Supipara came to fruition, I was over the moon. I cannot even begin to describe my excitement when we announced the acquisition at the Otakon panel back in August.

Istillneedtouploadthatpanelvideo… /cough

Best. Maid. Ever.

Best. Maid. Ever.

Soon after, add on another hundred or so emails, and a beta test later, we’re finally here! Having said all of that, did eden* live up to my hyped expectations?

Absolutely.

While this is a linear/kinetic novel, it does not hinder the overall feel and overwhelming beauty that this story tells. Everything from the cinematics, the backgrounds, the music, and the voices… all of these amazing factors contribute to a gorgeous, bittersweet visual novel that will give you so many feels… so many. There were moments where I can recall going “Aww~” or “Wait, what?!” as I played, and feeling as if my heart was ripped out of my chest during… certain scenes. A story that really captivates you from start to finish, especially one that is as short (it’s about 15 hours’ worth of reading material) as eden*, that definitely says something! Some visual novels take a handful of character routes and sequels to really capture your heart, but this game does it so flawlessly, effortlessly, and seamlessly that you don’t feel like you need more. It wraps up everything in a nice, pristine and sad little bow.

Oh shi-

Oh shi-

Lastly, the one thing that stuck out for me the most was that Ryou, the MC, was voiced. Obviously most MC’s in visual novels are not voiced, so it was nice to hear Ryou being a sarcastic asshole while Elica flirted and giggled her way into my heart. Mm… Elica…

Speaking of which, did you know that quite a few of the minori staff and cast members from previous titles (like ef) returned and worked on eden*? Obviously it shouldn’t be a total surprise, but notable staff members include Makoto Shinkai, Tenmon (music composition), Eiichiro Yanagi (music composition), Yu Kagami (story), and mikage (story). Pretty impressive, right? But what about the seiyuu? They are important too!

Ryou (MC) – Junji Majima. He voiced Ayumu in Is This A Zombie and Ryuji in Toradora.
Sion – Yumi Shimura. She voiced Chisame Hasegawa in Negima.
Elica – Yumiko Nakajima. She voiced Yuuko Amamiya in ef.
Lavie – Eriko Nakamura. She voiced Haruka Amami in Idolmaster.
Inaba – Koichi Tochika. He voiced Yuu Himura in ef.
Maya – Mai Goto. She voiced Mizuki Hayama in ef, as well as Ryuubi in Shin Koihime Musou.
Natsume – Junko Okada. She also voiced Kei Shindou in ef.

Whew. So much talent!

I hope after reading my little post, you consider taking the time to check out eden*. This all-CG visual novel was created by an amazing team, and both minori and MangaGamer staff alike went above and beyond to ensure that this was a fantastic release from start to finish. It’ll be money well spent!

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6 Comments

  1. some of Elica’s actions/lines had me do a doubletake…and some of the scenes made me barely avoid spit-taking on my laptop…

  2. Hmmm… So, this game is really, really sad, huh? I’ve usually avoided stories that make me overwhelmingly melancholic (doesn’t mix well with a latent depression ;P). I’ll have to read more on this game before deciding whether to purchase it or not.

  3. Very well written! Thank you for including the information on the people who worked on the game and the ones who provided voices. I love that kind of stuff.

  4. Nintendo Maniac 64

    I love your PNG screenshots and all, but how the heck did you end up with PNGs that are so poorly compressed? Even MS Paint on Windows 7 gives a smaller filesize if you resave the images as PNGs again…

  5. “Istillneedtouploadthatpanelvideo… /cough”
    Kaitsu, when can we expect the panel video? I’m almost dying to see it 😀

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