The Edge of Allegoria Is Hilarious & Packed With Nostalgia

There was a time when the Game Boy was on top, with fantastic titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Super Mario Land, and, most notably, Pokémon: Red, Blue, and Yellow. It was a simpler time when graphics weren't as great as they are now, but most games focused purely on having a fun and relaxing time. The Edge of Allegoria, developed by Button Factory Games, is a 2024 release for PC that draws inspiration from the Game Boy classics, specifically Zelda and the Pokémon series. While it's derived from these kid-friendly games, The Edge of Allegoria makes it clear from the start that it's strictly an adult game.

With combat reminiscent of Pokémon and exploration of the old Zelda, The Edge of Allegoria mixes these two elements and adds mature components such as sexual and violent themes. While the game can sometimes feel like it's trying too hard in its crude humor, the end result is a game that's addicting to play, can lead to a bunch of laughs, and has interesting RPG mechanics that are impressive for the kind of game it is. Due to the price tag only being $19.99 on Steam, it's easy to recommend to any player looking for a taste of nostalgia for the Game Boy days. Just remember, as the developer says, “This ain't no f@#%ing kid's game.”

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The Edge of Allegoria's Dark Humor Can Be Hilarious and Tiring

Be Prepared to Laugh and Sigh

The player's main purpose in The Edge of Allegoria is to explore the lands, killing any monstrous boss they may encounter. Throughout this journey, players will stumble upon various towns filled with NPCs, all of whom have their own unique personalities. While some characters don't add much value to the overall plot, some will push the player in the right direction and give hints about where to go next. Besides the helpful characters, most are hilariously written and great at generating a few laughs, even though a lot tend to repeat the same joke with different wording. Jokes can grow stale quickly in The Edge of Allegoria, but it's easy to appreciate the sense of humor the game has, especially since it's so rare for games to go for the comedy angle these days.

Players will come across towns filled with pill-popping drug addicts, a woman named Karen who is straight out of the current-day meme, a man trying to sleep with the town's milf, and much more. As previously mentioned, this type of dark humor can sometimes feel forced and random. However, if it's not taken too seriously, then it's hard not to laugh at its nonsense. Players should just be prepared to have a few eye rolls mixed in with the laughs as well.

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The great part about the game's characters is that they can sometimes change depending on what the player has done in the world. For example, after a mayor sends the player to find his wife's killer, it soon becomes clear that the mayor is the culprit; this will then lead to his death. After confronting said mayor about his crime, and telling the townfolk about it, revisiting this location will result in him hanging from a noose. Another example is saving a city from a dragon, which will then result in the king throwing the player a party when they return later in the game. It's these little changes in environments that can make exploring The Edge of Allegoria exciting.

The Edge of Allegoria Has Great RPG Mechanics

The Mastery and Infliction Systems Are a Great Touch

The Edge of Allegoria has fascinating RPG mechanics that are great at keeping players engaged with combat. For starters, there's the Mastery System, which is a percentage bar that shows how “specialized” a player is with a specific weapon or armor piece. Completely filling up the Mastery bar will result in the player learning a permanent skill that's attached to that specific weapon. Once a weapon has been mastered, the skill is then allowed to be used on any other weapon in the game, allowing the player to reap the stronger attack power of a different weapon of their choosing, while also keeping access to the skill. This system encourages players to try other weapons, since it's a great way to build up their skillset and gain access to more attack moves. In a way, it's similar to catching Pokémon, but in this case, players are catching skills.

Another cool feature of The Edge of Allegoria‘s combat system is the infliction system. There are six infliction statuses to watch out for: Poison, Bleed, Burn, Drowsiness, Stiffness, and Madness. Each of these inflictions can come at any moment, depending on the type of enemy the player is facing, and each can tremendously change the flow of combat and increase difficulty. For example, Poison and Burn damage the player after every turn, Bleed makes the player take more damage from enemy attacks, Madness makes it harder to land hits on the enemy, and Drowsiness and Stiffness can affect agility and defense. These inflictions often come, too, making it really important to stock up on items that remove them.

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Speaking of items, The Edge of Allegoria has a great merchant system to complement its combat. While players can gather money during combat encounters, the best way to get loads of coins is by selling junk and monster parts received after killing enemies. Due to the amount of money one can get from monster parts, and the importance of buying items for staying alive, grinding the game's enemies feels worth it. This is especially true if players get stuck on a challenging boss and have run out of healing items. Instead of trying the boss repeatedly, it may be worth it to grind through the game's levels, collecting as much junk and monster parts as possible and then selling them to a merchant for items to help defeat the boss that's blocking progression.

The Edge of Allegoria Isn't For Everyone

The Game Is Enjoyable if It's Not Taken Too Seriously

While combat in The Edge of Allegoria can be addicting, it's not perfect by design. Unfortunately, the more a player engages with the combat in The Edge of Allegoria, the more it begins to feel like a button masher. Sometimes, especially if a player becomes over-leveled in certain areas, fights consist of smashing the selected attack button repeatedly, requiring zero thought or strategy. Since players will find themselves pressing the same attack over and over in tons of battles, it almost removes the thrill of mastering weapons and getting a large arsenal of skills since most of them never need to be used. Luckily, this is only true when fighting the game's smaller enemies, while the bosses demand strategy and require thought when selecting a skill to execute.

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Additionally, the map of The Edge of Allegoria is pretty terrible and can be confusing for those looking to find a specific area. To put it simply, the map is a grid with an array of squares, where squares represent fast travel points, colored squares represent towns, and rectangles represent routes (such as Route 11, 12, 13, etc.) Yes, it works and is fine, but the problem is that there are a good amount of locations to visit, and the map doesn't say the name of the location until the cursor is hovering over it. This can get annoying when wanting to quickly fast travel to a certain area, but instead, the player has to navigate over a ton of icons to find the correct one. It's also a shame that the map looks so bad, considering the game's art style is impressive for a solo developer.

The Edge of Allegoria is a great game that has its flaws. The combat system, while not perfect, is the standout here and includes some interesting mechanics, such as the Mastery System and infliction statuses, that make trying new weapons and grinding for items an addicting experience. While the game's dark humor can be hilarious, it sometimes feels too forced, repetitive, and over the top and can make even those with the greatest sense of humor roll their eyes. However, if players go into this game with a less serious attitude towards its comedy elements and appreciate it for what it is, then there's no doubt they'll enjoy the experience. Be prepared to laugh, die a ton, and spend a couple of minutes here and there petting the good dog that stays by your side throughout its 20-hour story. Just remember, though: this game is not meant for kids.

The Edge of Allegoria is now available on Steam.