Can this Switch visual novel compete?
Daphne is at a dead-end. She’s unsatisfied by her personal and professional life. So, when she inherits an old family house in a remote part of the country, she jumps at the opportunity to start anew. Does she decide to embrace her legacy or does she hang on to her old way of life? Along the Edge is a visual novel set in the European countryside, where your choices impact the main character’s personality and appearance. Engage with over 450 hand-made full-screen illustrations and 20 characters with over 400 different variants and attitudes. With 60 different endings and 28 achievements to unlock, your journey is just beginning.
Choosing your own adventure games have always been fun, but now so much more through videogames giving you the decisions that will map out a character’s path. This became popular over recent years thanks to the likes of the Telltale games like The Walking Dead that made your decisions either save or end lives. Along the Edge is a bit more laid back than that and you don’t get to move your character around, but the game plays out like a storybook with dialog trees and those choices will impact how Daphne’s story plays out.
The in-game engine will be familiar to those who have played Nova-box’s other visual novel game “Seers Isle”, which we’ve also just reviewed. The story itself is superb and while the debate will rage on whether this is actually a game or not, it’s definitely still an experience worth playing. I don’t want to go into too much story detail as it would spoil a lot but suffice to say that it’s beautifully written and can stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best novels out there.
The artwork is also superb to look at, pushing the story forward. The game has a decent replay value if you actually attempt to see all 60 endings, but it all depends on the way you play these types of games.
The Verdict
Having a visual novel on the go via the Switch is a great idea and I wish there were more like it. Along the Edge is a well written story and the artwork is great, while the choices are all highly important if you want to get any of the many alternate endings this offers.