Introduction
The Edge of Allegoria is a turn based rpg that takes inspiration from 90’s era RPGs. This game was developed by Button Factory Games, and published by CobraTekku Games. On behalf of the Handheld Gaming Community I would like to thank CobraTekku Games for the review code. You can purchase The Edge of Allegoria on Steam for $19.99. Content Warning this game is intended for adults only. It contains lots of coarse language, and sexual innuendo.
Overview
The game starts you off as the hero, and you will start your journey with your dog, and start battling monsters. I think I should say potential hero, as the game is pretty realistic about the situation you find our hero, brutally realistic. That is what makes The Edge of Allegoria unique. It is constantly berating you, or using coarse language during battles. You will find all sorts of odd material when searching your towns various houses. This game is definitely not for kids. The Edge of Allegoria is a 90s JRPG style game. The battles look a lot like battles in the classic Pokémon games. I confess that I have only played the most recent Pokémon games for the Switch as they were a little after my time.
Weapons, Armor and Special Moves
Weapons and Armor constitute the makings of your special moves. Initially you have to have the weapon equipped to take advantage of the skills they provide. However, after you have mastered a piece of armor or a weapon, you can use the skill, even if you don’t have it equipped.
Status Effects
During battles you will suffer status effects. They have the classic status effects like poison, but they also have some unique ones like madness, stiffness, bleeding and burning. During a battle these status effects may resolve on their own, but often you will need to use an item to remove the effect.
Items
There are a wide variety of items in the game, and most will help you recover HP, or remove a certain status effect. You will acquire different items from your battles, and can sell those to afford new items from the store. One of the most unique items happen to be a part of the joint rolling mini-game.
Gameplay
I am about 7 hours into the game and the joint rolling mini-game seems to be the only mini-game in Edge of Allegoria. You will need rolling papers and of course some cannabis, all of which you can buy at a store in that one town. In that town you can also find cannabis in the same house where you play the mini-game. The plants grow back pretty quickly, so it was a great way to make some money.
In the classic 90s JRPG style, you will need to be constantly grinding and looking for new weapons and armor. Your trusty dog can help move you around the map to locations that you have previously visited. If you happen to die, you will be taken back by your dog to the nearest town. The only penalty for dying is that you lose progress towards mastery of a weapon.
Graphics
Edge of Allegoria is going for a Gameboy style, and it really works for the game. I kind of felt bad for playing it on my Steam Deck and PC. It would have felt easily at home on Evercade or other small handheld systems.
The game stays at a constant 60fps. So it is well optimized. If you are playing on a Steam Deck and you occasionally lower the refresh rate of your screen to 40hz to run more demanding games better, you may want to switch the refresh rate back to 60hz or you may find moving around the map to be needlessly slow.
Sound
The sound while it doesn’t stand out in the game, adds to the Gameboy aesthetic very well.
Story
The Edge of Allegoria is going with a 90’s JRPG feel, and with that you are given a very bare minimum story. Often in JRPPGs of that era, you play the hero, and no one doubts that you will do great things. Well this game admits you are probably going to have a tough time, and will probably die. (They say it in more expletive terms)
Edge of Allegoria may not have a main story that will turn heads. However it does include lots of little stories peppered in the various towns and wild areas that are very interesting. It gives the game a lot more depth than it would otherwise be credited with.
One thing that you should be warned about is the profanity and sexual innuendo that is pervasive in the game. Oh yeah drugs too. I didn’t think it was an issue, but I grew up on Kevin Smith movies, so your milage may vary.
Value
You can buy The Edge of Allegoria for $19.99 on the Steam Store. If you want a charming, foul-mouthed 90s style JRPG, then you will have a really good time with The Edge of Allegoria. I have spent 7 hours with the game, and keep coming back for more. It is that much fun!
Conclusion
If you like games like the original Pokémon game, or JRPGs in general odds are you will really enjoy this game. The Edge of Allegoria has very funny writing with lots of coarse language. The mechanics of the game are simple but a lot of fun. I would estimate that I am not too far away from the end of the game, and I have about 7 or 8 hours into the game so far. I like this length. You get an entertaining experience, but don’t have to spend so much time slogging through the game. The Edge of Allegoria was developed by Button Factory Games, and published by CobraTekku Games. You can buy The Edge of Allegoria for 19.99 on the Steam store. On behalf of the Handheld Gaming community I would like to thank CobraTekku Games for the review code.
