Eden Genesis Is Metroidvania Reloaded

Aeternum Game Studios

Despite the technical issues facing Cyberpunk 2077 when it first released, it’s undeniable that the game (and the marketing campaign leading up to it) caused Cyberpunk‘s namesake storytelling genre to trend favorably. More and more products catering to the cyberpunk fandom—especially the cyberpunk gaming fandom—have come out since, from board games to underground card games to video games. One such project, a video game titled Eden Genesis, has recently reached its base funding goal on Kickstarter. The game was designed by Aeternum Game Studios, creators of the Metroidvania game, Aeterna Noctis. Because the cyberpunk genre itself owes much of its flavor to the concurrent development of the video game industry, it’s fitting that Eden Genesis, like Aeterna Noctis, hearkens back to the 2D platforming gameplay that was popular in the ’80s and early ’90s.

Eden Genesis offers twitch platforming reminiscent of the Metroid and Castlevania video game series. Aeternum Game Studios

In Eden Genesis, players take control of Leah Anderson, a cyborg hacker whose brain modifications have resulted in a psychic illness known as synthetic neurodegeneration, or SND. Her only hope lies in a treatment offered by the megacorp Free Your Mind, which will transplant her consciousness into the virtual world. In order to qualify for this treatment, however, Leah must pass a number of tests to reach her brain’s full potential. Eden Genesis‘s campaign video promises challenging gameplay that will demand players’ mastery of timing and reflexes, like the old-school games it emulates. Even so, the most striking features of Eden Genesis are its hand-drawn animation and vibrant use of color. Despite being a dystopian genre, cyberpunk is often visually attractive, characterized by flashy neon lights and fancy hairstyles presented in precise HD detail. The graphics team for the campaign has been very generous with GIFs that showcase the stunning beauty of this game.

As one would expect, the Kickstarter campaign for Eden Genesis offers backers a number of perks, including physical copies of the game for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, an artbook, and models of Leah and her motorcycle, Artemis-01. These scalable rewards exist to accelerate the campaign’s advancement toward its stretch goals. I tend to be cautious about campaigns that push stretch goals too heavily, because creators can easily lose control of the campaign and make promises they can’t deliver on, leading to negative consequences for backers. Sometimes this means backers will wait years to receive the actual game. However, Aeternum is not showing anything beyond the next goal to be unlocked. While the creators surely have plans far beyond what we’re seeing, they can reveal each new goal (and its funding threshold) at whatever pace they’re comfortable with. In line with this ethos, they’ve announced that a mystery world-renowned musician will compose tracks for the game at an as-yet unnamed funding threshold. But with no further information available, they’re not locked into promising anything, at least not publicly. At the time of writing, an in-game replay, practice mode, and English voice acting have all been unlocked.

Aeternum Game Studios

The base reward level costs €20 (about $22 USD), and includes a digital copy of Eden Genesis for current-gen consoles, as well as HD wallpapers for your desktop and phone. Higher pledge levels offer additional perks, including those mentioned above, the soundtrack, and Discord titles that will also get the backer’s name in the credits at certain points corresponding to the titles (for example, if you elect the “AGS Corporation” title, you’ll appear in the “AGS Corporation” section of the credits). The campaign ends on the morning of Monday, May 13.