At a glance, Edge of Allegoria (reviewed on Nintendo Switch) looks like a cutesy, emulated Game Boy title, almost screen-by-screen lifted from the orginal Game Boy’s Pokémon games. Dive deeper, though, and what unfolds is a giddy, beefy, adult-themed satire adventure RPG.
Let’s be upfront about it. It may look like the kind of game an enthusiastic mid-30s dad would play with their kids to enlighten them on the video game wonders of their youth, as it does a great job capturing the essence of the Game Boy era. The developer of Edge of Allegoria, however, made this one specifically for you. Yes, apart from its nostalgic look, Edge of Allegoria actually plays and feels like a mid-nineties Game Boy game, only a sarcastically adult one. It’s uncompromisingly blunt and, at times, quite vulgar. So it’s better to keep the young ones away, unless you’re prepping them for the realities of the real world like sexual extortion, adultery, patriarchy, and other shades of power abuse.
South Park
In many ways, Edge of Allegoria tries to walk the same satirical line as South Park. And while South Park can be extremely blunt, it manages to stay in touch with its audience about 90% of the time, rarely going too dark or too weird for its own sake. This game, however, sometimes slips off that line, trying a little too hard, running out of creative steam, and feeling somewhat shallow once the jokes wear thin. Then again, the freedom it gives itself allows for some genuinely funny satirical moments. Many of the NPC interactions land surprisingly well, hitting you with boundary-less adolescent humor in just the right way.
Please don’t kill me
With the shock value out of the way, Edge of Allegoria essentially plays like Pokémon Gold but without the Pokémon, or any other collectable monsters as a matter of fact. You explore the land of Allegoria, unlocking it bit by bit, traveling from town to town with the sole mission of defeating the evil overlord and their minions.
During your travels, you’ll run into turn-based battles with a wide portfolio of enemies. Well, enemies? An elk? A fox? Really? A large chunk of the fights you encounter involve wildlife or fantasy trespassers that in any other RPG would probably be either part of the decor or an innocent bystander. Which is kind of funny, to be honest. Basically, you’ll fight just about everything and everyone you come across, from the aforementioned wildlife to goblins, nymphs, and dragons. He, the overload of different ‘opposition’ at least makes it a grind with variety.
Turn-based retro
Combat unfolds through both story-driven and random encounters in a classic turn-based RPG style. You can deploy abilities gained from mastering weapons you buy or find in the world. The visual and mechanical setup of these battles feels directly inspired by early Pokémon titles as well.
Abilities often center around status effects like bleeding, drowsiness, and poisoning. Some skills can set enemies up with specific vulnerabilities, creating clever damage sensibilities that add a touch of tactical depth to the fighting system.
The battles are oddly addictive, partly due to the layered use of status effects, but also thanks to the ridiculous attacks your enemies unleash. Edge of Allegoria aims to make you laugh on all its game elements. The story is absurd, the dialogue even more so, and the NPCs deliver a steady stream of nonsense. Yet it’s the silly enemy attacks that got the most chuckles out of me, for some weird reason. When the jokes land, they really land. Of course, it is for you to find out, but I assure it will at least revoke a little grin at least.
When the music hurts
What doesn’t land quite as well is the music. The 8-bit chiptune soundtrack loops far too quickly, while at the same time being intrusive and grating like there’s no tomorrow. Even for a tinnitus sufferer like me, it’s downright ear-piercing. The noise was so relentless that my partner had to intervene -on behalf of herself and the kids- to stop “that horrible noise” coming from my Switch 2. I can’t say that has never happened before, I play original hardware 4-bit, 8-bit and even a IBM-PC games that were made before Adlib and Soundblaster cards came in fashion. But for a retro-inspired game, the music is somewhat abysmal. Not all of it, fortunately, but a good selection of the music is.
Ambitious, absurd, and very occasionally brilliant
In terms of length, Edge of Allegoria is pretty beefy. Depending on your willingness to grind, it can take anywhere between 15 and 20 hours to complete. The story has a few nice hooks but isn’t the main reason to keep going. What really got me was the oddly satisfying battle system and grind loop. It certainly helps that the downtime between battles is packed with side-nonsense that’s equally entertaining.
I’m well aware the humor won’t be for everyone—it’s crude, adolescent, and often shallow. But if you enjoy South Park, Futurama, or Family Guy, you’ll probably feel right at home. Even with its flaws, Edge of Allegoria’s attempt at an adult-themed, Game Boy-style RPG isn’t a bases-loaded home run, but it’s undeniably unique in its approach. Beneath the crude jokes and 8-bit veneer lies a no-frills, surprisingly solid adventure.
Sometimes it nails its South Park-esque situational gags, and sometimes it doesn’t. Yet if you can tolerate the occasional cringe, push through the rough edges, and aren’t easily offended by literal obscenity, you’ll find a meaty 20-hour retro adventure waiting for you. Maybe it’s a little too long for its own good, given the limited mechanics, but still, for an albeit very specific audience, Edge of Allegoria is absolutely a ride worth jumping on.
The Good
- Sometimes hits the right satirical note extremely hard
- Cohesive Game Boy visuals and UI
- Huge amount of fun enemies to battle
The Bad
- Sometimes misses the satirical note and becomes dark and/or shallow
- For a 20-hour playtime it misses some additional mechanics and variety
- Ear-piercing short 8-bit chiptune-loops
