One Step From Eden (2020)

I had heard a lot of good things about this game but I approached it with some trepidation. I'm not the biggest fan of deck building games, I only really check out the big ones and I usually bounce right out. It seems, for me, One Step From Eden is yet another attempt into a genre of game that I just don't vibe with.

The characters are great, cute designs, the music is fun, and I do like the Mega Man Battle Network grid that adds a bit more to combat and positional awareness that other deck building RPGs don't have.

But, at the end of the day, the randomness of cards and decks and how to build, I just don't care for that kind of thing. I hate to write off a genre, but I feel like this might just be my last foray into this style of game. This is the closest a deck builder has come to grasping me and it still didn't quite make it across the finish line.

That said, for people who like this kind of game, One Step from Eden is an absolute must play. If someone who doesn't like the genre is willing to sing it's praises even as they set it down that's gotta count for something, right?

this is a really interesting game. was playing it with a friend last night through steam's Remote Play Together (local co op)

in co-op mode you share item slots, as well as your mana and health pool, but the trade off is that you can also shoot twice as fast and cover different lanes.

in some ways it reminds me of games like 20XX or Dead Cells, but the mechanics and style of it bring back memories of playing Cladun

One Step From Eden - First Impressions

Absolutely loving it. It combines almost all of the best of Mega Man Battle Network's design and throws in really competent usage of Slay the Spire-isms. It's also damn difficult, probably too much so. And I mean that not in a "I just really suck" way, I mean that the learning curve is so incredibly steep. The game isn't hugely complex, but it's so fast paced and things ramp up quicker than you think, to a point where you'll be walled quickly if you don't adapt. Also could use more of a training mode between areas to test your deck further.

Even still, the enemy design on offer here and the excellent depth in synergy is incredible. The combat is relentless with nonstop assaults that you need to be constantly moving. Damage is (almost all) avoidable and there was never a low point in any of the three runs I've done so far. The bosses are ridiculous too. Definitely one of the better games I've tried out so far this year, worth picking up asap. I'll get back to this eventually.