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Eden Rising

63%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
optimization, grinding
63% User Score Based on 1,324 reviews

Platforms

PCPCWinWindows
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About

"Eden Rising: Free Explorer Edition" is a free-to-play game that offers 12+ hours of base gameplay, including exploration of various landscapes and participation in challenging sieges. Players can craft defenses, play solo or with up to 8 players, and keep their character and progress as they move between servers. This version also allows players to access expansion content for free when joining an Ascendant Edition server. Perfect for players looking to experience the game in solo or multiplayer mode, or for those with friends who have the Ascendant Edition.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
Eden Rising screenshot
+4

63%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,324 reviews
gameplay70 positive mentions
optimization38 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique blend of open world exploration and tower defense mechanics, providing a refreshing gameplay experience.
  • The graphics and art style are vibrant and visually appealing, creating an engaging environment for players.
  • The crafting system allows for diverse playstyles and encourages exploration to gather resources and upgrade gear.
  • The combat feels clunky and unresponsive, with issues such as animation locks and poor hit detection affecting gameplay.
  • There is a lack of character customization options, with only female characters available, which may alienate some players.
  • The game suffers from performance issues, including lag and long loading times, which detract from the overall experience.
  • gameplay
    246 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Eden Rising" presents a blend of tower defense and RPG mechanics, offering a unique third-person perspective that some players find enjoyable, particularly with its crafting and upgrade systems. However, many reviews highlight issues such as clunky controls, bugs, and a lack of depth, leading to a repetitive experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the game shows potential with its interesting concepts and beautiful visuals, it requires significant polishing to meet player expectations.

    • “The gameplay itself is a cute little thing, a serviceable marriage of tower defense, souls combat, and open world gameplay in a free-to-play package.”
    • “The gameplay is fun - there are a very large number of upgrades to earn and you're rewarded for repeating tower defense sections and improving your run until you manage a perfect score, which adds some fun replay value for those who want it.”
    • “Overall, the game could use some fine-tuning but the core mechanics are a lot of fun with plenty of room to grow; I would highly recommend picking it up and giving it a shot.”
    • “The main gameplay is buggy and prone to glitches (tower defense and combat).”
    • “The gameplay feels clunky, even at 120fps; the combat is bare bones, and the gameplay is repetitive.”
    • “The gameplay pace is way too slow in the tower defense portions as a result of bloated enemy HP and poor combat mechanics.”
  • graphics
    168 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising its vibrant art style and unique aesthetic, which contribute to an engaging visual experience. However, several users highlight issues with optimization, performance, and low-resolution graphics, leading to gameplay that can feel unpolished or frustrating. Overall, while the visuals are appealing and creative, they are hampered by technical shortcomings that detract from the overall experience.

    • “The art style is beautiful, and I hope more games start to use vivid color the way this one does.”
    • “The graphic design is beautiful, and definitely unlike any other game I've ever seen!”
    • “Eden Rising: Supremacy is a fun game with an interesting concept and very nice visuals.”
    • “The cutscenes are subpar, the gameplay is non-intuitive, the graphics are cheesy and low res, and the animations are wacky.”
    • “Game did not allow changing of graphics settings. I set everything to low to try to run it on my computer and none of the graphics options had any effect. It said they were off but the settings were still on, absolutely unplayable on a lower-end computer.”
    • “They seriously look like developer graphics.”
  • story
    88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in the game is generally viewed as underdeveloped and lacking depth, with many players noting that it feels like an afterthought. While there are some interesting lore elements and a basic narrative framework, the overall plot is minimal and often overshadowed by gameplay mechanics. Players express a desire for a more engaging and cohesive storyline to enhance their experience.

    • “The art style is beautiful and the story I was able to see is well put together and engaging.”
    • “There's tons of content, pretty environments, amazing skill trees, and it has an interesting storyline, to say the least.”
    • “Small story and lore tidbits add a bit of interest to flesh out the world and game as a whole while the main focus remains on the gameplay and exploration.”
    • “The 'story' is a complete afterthought.”
    • “The story is barely present in this game.”
    • “There is some lore to the game and a tangential story, but the game largely does not have a major plot arc from what I've seen thus far.”
  • optimization
    74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, including inconsistent frame rates, lag spikes, and stuttering, even on high-end systems. Many users found the game unplayable due to these optimization flaws, which detracted from the overall experience and enjoyment. Despite its potential and appealing graphics, the lack of proper optimization remains a significant barrier to player engagement.

    • “The game has so much potential, and all it needs is just better graphics, better customization, and the most important one, performance.”
    • “Performance is a gate that can be welcoming and open or an object that impedes the player base depending on how it's handled.”
    • “Sadly, the game is not yet fully optimized and even on my 1080ti, I drop lots of frames when I am in combat or transition between zones, as there are no loading screens when roaming the world.”
    • “The game is badly optimized.”
    • “Performance was pretty poor; it didn't seem to matter if I played at high or low settings at 4K or 720p; there were lag spikes and frame drops present throughout my entire playthrough so far.”
    • “I find this game unplayable because it is unoptimized.”
  • grinding
    62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews indicate that while the game features enjoyable exploration and crafting elements, it suffers from excessive grinding that can feel tedious and slow, particularly in resource gathering and combat. Players appreciate the variety of weapons and armor but often find the need to repeatedly defeat the same enemies for upgrades to be a chore. Overall, the grinding aspect is seen as a double-edged sword; it can be rewarding but often feels like busywork, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “If the combat was a little faster, it would be more engaging, but otherwise, it's fun to play and not very grindy.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “While there is a nice variety of weapons and armor to craft, the combat itself is really slow and tedious.”
    • “It also starts to feel way too grindy early on.”
    • “This is terrible, you spent 1 hour grinding, trying to win the tower defense zone (crucible); and if you failed, go back to grind again.”
  • stability
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, particularly in combat and tower defense mechanics. While some players find enjoyment amidst the chaos, the overall performance is described as clunky and unbalanced, leading to frustration and loss of interest for many. Despite its promising concept, the persistent technical problems overshadow the fun elements.

    • “Very buggy, unbalanced, and subpar performance overall.”
    • “Overall, the game is awkward, clunky, and buggy, but does have some enjoyment and fun in between all of this.”
    • “I love the idea of how the game works but I ran into so many glitches that I quickly lost interest.”
  • music
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, players express a desire for more music in the game, particularly during exploration and farming activities, as the absence of background music is felt in the open world setting. While some reviews mention that the existing soundtrack is decent and enjoyable, many feel that additional musical options would enhance the overall experience.

    • “I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well.”
    • “When you aren't actually defending the base or the towers, you are either farming or exploring, which is fun, because each area is pretty unique and gives you different drops to build armor and weapons, but with an open world game like this, some sort of background music would be nice.”
    • “I would say that the only thing I am missing in this game is music, or the option for music.”
    • “Graphisms are very clean and the music is decent.”
  • monetization
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game has received criticism for not including the expansion pack in the free version and relying on optional in-game purchases for cosmetics and content. While there are no microtransactions, many players feel that the game's price point of $25 (or $19 on sale) does not justify its value, leading to a perception of it being a cash grab. Overall, the game is considered enjoyable, especially with friends, but its monetization practices detract from the experience.

    • “The game would be much better if the expansion pack was included in the free version and the developers' methods of generating income were optional in-game purchases such as skins or weapons, or possibly new world textures.”
    • “No, there are not microtransactions; however, when it comes to a $25 game or even the sale at $19, it is simply not worth it.”
    • “It's a good game that suffers from some unfortunate monetization techniques, but that can be twisted in your favor if you have friends to play with.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by typical developer jokes, such as amusing sign posts and warning markers, which add a lighthearted touch. However, some players find the experience less enjoyable due to the requirement of restarting progress on personal servers, diminishing the overall comedic value.

    • “The usual dev humor in terms of sign posts and warning markers :) The fast travel towers are a nice touch, and each require three data keys to be constructed.”
  • character development
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game features solid character design but lacks customization options, such as clothing, hair, skin, and gender sliders, which limits players' ability to personalize their characters.

    • “It has very solid character design.”
    • “Character design - there is no customization (clothes, hair, and skin do not allow for character differentiation; a gender slider and races or at least tattoos and markings would be appreciated).”
  • replayability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers significant replayability through a variety of upgrades and the challenge of achieving perfect scores in tower defense sections, encouraging players to revisit content. With hours of engaging gameplay and diverse experiences, players are likely to find good value and enjoyment in replaying the game.

    • “The gameplay is fun - there are a very large number of upgrades to earn and you're rewarded for repeating tower defense sections and improving your run until you manage a perfect score, which adds some fun replay value for those who want it.”
    • “Hours of content, replayability, variety, and an overall fun game experience means that you are bound to get your money's worth in some way or another.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its unique lore, universe, and artistic style, creating an immersive experience that players can genuinely feel.

    • “The lore, the universe, and the style of this game are quite unique; you can truly feel a real atmosphere.”

Buy Eden Rising

12h Median play time
12h Average play time
5-25h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 18 analyzed playthroughs

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