Follow the young hero Cross on his journey across a vast land in Eternal Edge Plus (stylized as Eternal Edge+). His goal is to destroy the three Cursed Orbs in order to awaken his wife, Evelynn. Along the way, you can find monsters, quests, chests and various events as you wander.
At first glance, you would likely liken Eternal Edge Plus to something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Your lone hero is sent on a quest to travel far and wide to break a curse and stop evil. You’ll encounter NPCs along the way for further side quests. There’s no particular barrier preventing you from scaling the peaks you see, so you can go platforming and exploring.
Treasure will be randomly scattered around the map and are conveniently marked by the chest icons. Power Levels are told to be your one way to get stronger to fight the Skeleton Lord, the great evil of the world. It would probably stand to reason that Power Levels can be found in hard to reach treasure spots.
Campfires, marked by the fire symbol, will be scattered around the world. These are your save points that you return to on your death. There doesn’t seem to be any particular downside to dying aside from losing progress. The item drops like equipment from monsters are random though, so you might never get back the same loot again.
Handily enough, when monsters are nearby, the background music changes to reflect this, so you’ll be aware of danger. They are also clearly marked on the mini map should you wish to avoid any visible threats. Combat doesn’t start out complicated. Swing your sword to hurt enemies, and block attacks with your shield. You’re able to dodge roll infinitely in the demo, so you could try kiting dangerous enemies and take down even the most challenging foe.
Your shield has durability and can break. You can repair them with items, so you don’t have to worry too much. Likewise, enemies can also use shields. Attack enemies enough and you too can break their shields. Enemies will be stunned and unable to move if you do. Get enough of the same weapon/shield, and you can combine them to level them up, increasing their effectiveness.
You’ll be able to come across various events in the open world, asking you to clear out areas or defend an objective. It makes the world feel that little more dynamic and alive. You’ll get rewarded for finishing these events, of course. The game has a day/night cycle, with the option to wake up at dawn or dusk when resting at campfires too. There doesn’t seem to be any particular difference for the demo, so we’ll have to wait for future updates.
Eternal Edge originally released on the Nintendo Switch. Plus is a revamped version of the game, with new content and gameplay planned for full release. The game says it’s best played with a controller, and I would definitely recommend that as keyboard controls, without the ability to rebind in the demo, can feel awkward at points.
If you’re looking for an open world RPG fix, keep an eye out for Eternal Edge Plus. The game is currently planned for November 2019 release. You can check out developer Righteous Weasel’s Twitter, or publisher Sedoc LLC here.