Along the Edge

This drew me in more and more as it went along. Fantastic art style, very interesting musical compositions. I thought it was fairly mature and a great story. Had me intrigued as to the other endings which I may look up.

Daphne Delatour moves to a country village where she has inherited her late grandmother's estate. Upon arriving, Daphne discovers the villagers are a bit superstitious and learns there has been a long-running feud, spanning many generations, between her family and a wealthy family that runs much of the village.

Along the Edge is a relatively short story, with a number of different choices that lead to several different endings. I enjoyed the narrative and found it to be worth a read; and should you choose to discover all the content, several playthroughs are required; though the main narrative is largely the same for each; and sadly, the skip feature does not stop on unread text.

Sadly, there is no art gallery and I enjoyed the art overall, though its certainly intended to provide quantity over quality; as much of the art has a hurried, unfinished look to it. There are a couple romance options for Daphne, but this isn't a dating simulator, and the relationships really aren't central to the story.

I think Along the Edge is worth picking up and if you're only interested in a single, blind playthrough, it should take around two hours complete.

A beautifully illustrated visual novel that lets you make a lot of choices that dictate Daphné's fate and personality and the plit. It's not too long so replaying to see different endings, plotlines and different dialogue branches is pretty painless.
I enjoyed seeing all the 4 destinies for our main character and overall how many different elements there are that mix into surprisingly varied ending results! It's a lot of fun, even though I will say at least one major plotline change was kind of hidden behind a really random dialogue choice.
I was invested in Daphné's personal journey and the mysticism side of the overarching plot, the romance part was definitely the worst part for me. I didn't care for any of the romantic options, but your mileage may vary.

Overall Along the Edge feels very unique in its genre in my opinion thanks to its carefully crafted branching narrative, art style and setting. And it has good replay value!

One of my favourite games ever. It gives me feelings I have not been able to replicate in my life with confidence. The capacity of an interactive audiovisual experience to simulate and articulate sensations I'm unable to reproduce in reality is outstanding. I'm very fond of the esoteric too so, there's a lot to relate with the main character. Sometimes I replay it just to hear the music and see the visuals again (like I do with Florence or Hilda), the ambient of the city and the village, the significance of the family traditions, and the beliefs people carry to give living more sense to compensate for a lack of fantasy and an abundance of reality. It has enriched my subjective appreciation of life by giving me something to return when dark times gets my material surroundings.

Although relatively simple and straightforward in its storytelling, Along the Edge is a nice little visual novel spin on the modern occult fantasy classic tale of the prodigal child inheriting both an old property and a legacy of mysteries and ancient magic. What stood out for me is that, due to its personality-oriented path divergence, you can have an approach to the story's events that is more rarely seen : a rational one that avoids any and all engagement with the supernatural, choosing instead to not believe and/or rely on mystic powers, and solve your problems only through tactful social interactions and making smart choices. I also appreciate the setting, a quaint small fictional French city, and the overall evocative and melancholic art direction.

It's not the most revolutionary story, and if you've engaged with that kind of narrative before you'll most likely never be surprised or strongly impacted at any point, but it's still a decent experience, like reading a fun short-format novel or watching a modest but heartfelt tv show during a quiet afternoon.

I liked my time with it but keep your expectations in check with what I just described. It's light reading, but enjoyable with a nice atmosphere.

A visual novel with multiple endings.

The protagonist left the city life behind, inherits an old family house in a remote part of the country. It says choices impact the ending, though there are not many to choose from, mostly about whether to let the protagonist accept she has supernatural power, and the way to deal with another family who's controlling the town - to revenge, to forgive, or ignore,

I don't find it intriguing during the 1.5 hours walkthrough, nor do I feel excited at the end. More like to see if my choices fit in what I had in mind. However, the photos that go with the story were stunning and enlightening.

Achievements were given at the end altogether, probably to avoid spoilers. A downside is no manual save allowed and after the ending, I had to start from the beginning to try something else. I quickly clicked completely opposite options for 0.5 hour during the 2nd run, expecting an evil ending but it turned out not that bad.

An enjoyable 'Choose your path' adventure. Choice actually matters here. This game will not be for everyone. A lot of reading, which I like. The graphics fit the mood of the story. It should take most people three to four hours to complete. There are no tricks or bad choices per say, just expected consequences of those choices. Play the game as you've been raised or play the game as your alter ego. Both are fun. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a story oriented game.

Nice visual novel. The feeling when playing is that there are enough forks, that the decisions made do matter (unlike what happens in other games), and offers a minimum of 3 or 4 hours of gameplay... obviously more if you want to try other "paths". The narrative and the artwork are beautiful, and the background music accompanies without being, in my humble opinion, anything spectacular.

I'm pleasantly suprised, my first visual novel and I ended up loving it. As someone who enjoyes games like Life is Strange, I'm glued to the monitor, carrying the laptop around and playing. Story is well written and really interesting, choices matter, excellent visual style and touching music.
Played on an openSUSE Tumbleweed laptop (native Linux version) with an HD 4400, runs perfectly. Tried it on my Arch/1660 Ti machine and works fine as well.

Just finished it. It was amazing. Bought all the other Nova-box games and can't recommend it enough to anyone looking for a good story.

“Along the Edge” was the second interactive visual novel by Nova-box I played. Initially I was afraid I might be disappointed because I loved their “Across the Grooves” so much. But about halfway through the first play-through of “Along the Edge” I realised I even liked it better.

I am a big fan of French and Belgian comic books and the handprinted artwork in “Along the Edge” is really very French and simply great. The soundtrack sounds exceptionally good, too, but that is a matter of taste, of course. Choices you make advance the story in different ways, they even change how the protagonist looks. Daphne, said protagonist, takes a break from her life in the city and moves to the old family home in a French village. She has to decide if she accepts her family’s mystic heritage or walks down a more scientific path. It is very enjoyable to see the consequences of your choices unfold. Sure, there are some cheesy possible romantic choices, but you can always choose to not get involved with romance. I think I played “Along the Edge” five or six times to make sure I didn’t miss any of the scenes and I am still not sure I witnessed everything. Scenes/dialogue you have already seen can be fast-forwarded simply by holding down a button.

There is really nothing bad I can say about this game. It is well worth it’s money even at full price.

This is the first time I've ever played a visual novel and I am quite conflicted on this one. Because I really wanted to like it. Instead the game actually made me angry at its writers. But I'll start with the easier parts:

+ The artwork is obviously gorgeous and deeply athmospheric. And consistently so. Don't worry about any slips in quality here, what you see in the sample footage is what you get. The drawings tell the story almost on their own, and in a way, it would have been better if it had been that way.
+ The music is, to my surprise, absolutely on par with the visual presentation. That's not easy to achieve. And it carries a subtlety and indecisiveness that the writing sorely lacks. Unfortunately, the cuts between tracks and between music and silence/ambience are way too rough, which can kick you out of a mood.

So. The story rests on intersting, albeit cliché premises. At this point there are probably more entries in tvtropes than the Encyclopedia Britannica. Few things have not not been done before. That's not a problem. Unfortunately, my issues with this game start right in the first scene, and I will go on from there, without spoiling anything (I hope):
- The very first character talks in exposition.
- The game utilizes a first person narrator... that frequently talks in exposition.
- People are given only the bare minimum of charactarization and (his)story to move the plot along.
- Scenes are written as a string of plot points, not as a naturally evolving story. This means a lot of time skips and time contractions that break immersion and leave the player confused and ungrounded.
- Quite a small cast of characters making the place feel way smaller than it is supposed to be.
- Important characters are not given enough history/characterization to care about them or make important choices regarding them.
- Internal monologues tend to not reflect certain choices. Maybe the game has trouble handling conflicting inputs? Makes me think using the two dichotomies to define Daphnés character was a bad idea. I get the same cognitive dissonance and detachment from my character that I felt in Pillars of Eternity and that game, while belonging to a completely different genre, has a similar system to track your "reputation".
- The game allows for little subtlety in expression and rarely asks you how you feel about a thing or gives you the chance to react to an event or situation that is not distorted by the need to interact with another character.
- The mystery plot, while intersting in its own right, takes away too much focus from the interpersonal drama, which remains underdeveloped and doesn't do the subject matter enough justice.
- Some characterization inconsistencies. Too little agency, both for the player and for the narrator.
- The results of having Daphné make resolute decisions actually make her look like a pushover in the text that follows. While this is mostly done to keep the plot from imploding, it also is a problem at less critical junctions.
- This ultimately suggests very, and I would have never thought that I'd say that in a video game review, problematic expectations of womanly behaviour and gender dynamics. Seriously, fuck you, boys.

On the plus side, Along the Edge kinda manages to put me into the shoes of a woman, so to speak, and has me feel strongly about certain situations, even seemingly mundane ones. In the end, it might be worth checking out to form your own opinion, if you are interested in this kind of game. Just get it at a discount.

Very good game - but I cannot recommend it because it has no save feature, or skip feature. So you have to sit through the entire run again and again to pick different answers. And I don't have the patience for it, or the emotional investment to care about the other options that much to repeat it. I like that your character physically changes based on choices too. But I don't think it's worth the price, and I would rather recommend Demon Heart - a much better, polished similar version of this game with a better plot, characters, and mechanics.

This review might change if they decide to add a save or skip feature.

It's not a bad game, but considering the many positive reviews I'd like to show some criticism.

The overall plot is quite all right, but it hasn't been written that well. Dialogues often seemed fake or unnatural. It felt like reading a romantic fantasy novel catering to teenage girls, with people telling you how awesome you are, and how right you were all along. And then there were, of course, the romances. They were unrealistic at best, and at times even extremely inappropriate. Stan drunk kissing Daphné after having met him only once? The option to sleep with him after having met him twice?? And then Frank getting angry at Daphné for being unfaithful, even though I declined???

As for making choices, which appears to be one of the primary features. There were too many involuntary events where I would've expected a choice. If the game presents a certain subplot as a choice at first, it will need to uphold that for the rest of that subplot. Say, if I choose to form a good relationship with some character, it's really frustrating to see an involuntary event mess that all up. I suppose the real focus of Along the Edge lies on the many different storylines you can play, so I may give it another playthrough some time.

But for now, I'd give it a 6/10

This is a great game.

A visual novel telling the story of Daphne Delatour, who finds herself embroiled in the middle of a supernaturally fuelled age old family feud, after inheriting her estranged grandmother's castle.

It's a good length to tell a decent and compelling story, without ever feeling like it's dragging on too much. No filler material.

The story has several twists and branches, with the choices that you make being rather important for the outcomes that occur. I've played it through enough to get almost all that could be seen (just missing two achievements).

I think they do it well in making the choices less about you the playing picking what happens, and more so you making choices that reveal the type of personality that Daphne has, and letting the plot progress from there. You're not choosing what she does, you're choosing who she is. I really like that from a VN.


The art direction does a wonderful job of setting the tone of the game, truly making you feel immersed in a surreal experience. The soundtrack is simple, but likewise helps set the mood.

This is a game that makes no effort whatsoever to adhere to the typical anime tropes that always seem to drag down most visual novels out there, and for that I absolutely applaud it. We need to see more of this.

I love this game so much. I love the art work, I love the story, and I love the different choices. I expecally love the art work I wish I could live in this digitally painted master piece. I would defentitly recommend everyone giving this game a play through.

And If anyone has any doubts about my love of this game you can check out my play through of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OqKkiVX_oE&list=PLO0gwvkXaoPdBoEnsSvlYjMk6n5taoQsm

"Along the Edge" was a great experience for me. I've played it twice already and I will surely play again in the future, just to see more of the possible outcomes. The game itself is short - one playthrough takes about 2 hours, but in my opinion, it's well worth the price. Writing is solid, protagonist is interesting, choices are not obvious (no morally good or bad decisions) and lead to various consequences (including protagonist's personality, responses and looks). Every character has something redeemable about them, everyone has some sort of motive and goal. I love the art style - there are so many various CGs, that this itself, should justify the price. Also, music is absolutely stunning and adds to the atmosphere.

My only complaint would be lack of skip option - replaying the game would be much more enjoyable experience if I could skip seen text.

Other than that - I strongly recommend it.

This game gives me the same hollow feeling I had after finishing Life is Strange, the feeling where you wish the story is real. I kind of hope the game develops its own universe and sequel/prequel and stuff, since you can get through one story line in about 2 hours it leaves me desired for more. Wish to see what the developers come up with next.

When I read that the game is set in an “adult universe” I took this to mean that it features a deep storyline told with multifaceted, original characters, touching on important existential problems.
What I got was a promising setting with an interesting protagonist and beautiful art, but mediocre writing, a story circling around an old feud that I failed to feel invested in, somewhat jumpy responses to my choices, and an ending that leaves me with many open questions. Another playthrough may have answered some of these questions but I have little confidence it would do so convincingly enough to warrant starting another playthrough from scratch. Note that manual saves that would allow reassessing some key moments are not possible.

I will discuss some of my concerns in more detail below, with only minor spoilers, unless otherwise noted.

The Art

The Language

Variation vs Consistency

The Characters

The Story

Final Verdict

Style

Foreword:

A few hours ago a friend of mine logged to tell me about this visual novel. I checked the game title, I never heard of it. I checked the development company, I never heard of them. I looked at the trailer, and the art style intrigued me enough to try it out.

Along the Edge is a visual novel that tells the story of a Ph.D. student that due to certain circumstances is forced to give up on her research and move from the city to a town. It is a fairly interesting story of self-discovery, of family grudges - possible ways to solve them (Stabby! Stabby! Or other more boring venues of conflict resolution...) and between scientific reasoning and the occult.

Aesthetics:

Along the Edge has an interesting aesthetic to it. The graphics are very good for its genre. They fit the story and do not disturb the reader. The choice to use pastel paintings as the imagery and the piano notes that play as we are reading help cement the rustic feel of the setting and enforce the idea that we are in a small town.

The characters portrayed fit their environment and act in a logical manner fitting their constructed personality, depending on your choices their reaction to the reader will change in a believable manner (events do not feel forced upon the reader) and depending on your choices the character's appearance will change to fit the reader's decisions (a nice touch for immersion).

The characters are not voiced (some might find this a plus for immersion – imagining character voices or a minus, I have no stance on this).

Functionality:

The game has a well thought out alignment system that helps define the character using four symbols: the sun, the moon, the globe and the star. You gain points in a certain alignment depending on your decisions.
Points are granted per choice. The alignment is bidimensional, it affects your attitude (sun or moon) and beliefs (globe or star). The consequences of those choices are visible and change the way your character looks and how she acts in certain scenes (the changes are noticed are just in small segments of text but affect the overall feel of the story). If you are positive to people and conciliatory you gain sun alignment points (no numerical value is given - they are lit after making a decision, I use the term points because it is easier for me to explain the system); if you are direct and focus on your views, even if they hurt the interlocutor or damage your social position, you gain moon points; if you are rational, a sceptic and follow the scientific method you gain globe points and if you believe in the immaterial and occult or have an inclination towards intuition and instinct rather than the concise you gain star points.

I did not encounter any game breaking technical issues (I encountered issues with steam overlay getting stuck while in fullscreen mode and using the F12 key to take screenshots only worked after alt+tabbing from the game and alt+tabbing back - 16.10.2016) or glaring spelling mistakes while playing.

The game does not have a skip functionality, it might be a bit tedious for some after multiple playthroughs.

The game's options are very limited. You can choose between sound or no sound and the display settings are either fullscreen or windowed mode.

Achievements are granted after finishing a route.

Enjoyment:

I found myself taking it very lightly while reading and before I knew it... it was over. Before I knew it a good hour has passed and I was very satisfied. The developers tell a concise and well-written story.

Conclusion:

The pricing on this game is adequate for its genre and for what it has to offer (finishing a route is 1 hour – 1.5 hours, judging from the achievements there are at least four routes). It is not a monumental work like G-Senjou no Maou, Steins;Gate, Muv-Luv etc... but it has its place. It is a very good western visual novel and I think most of the fans of this genre would find it very enjoyable.

Other notes:

None at the moment.

Wow I've just finished my first playthrough and it's really gripping. I love these types of games, which was what drew me to this game.

You play Daphne who has just inherited her grandmothers house and is leaving her old life behind to try and start again. However her family name causes a stir in the town and leads to interesting developments. You then have to try and figure out your families mysterious past all at the same time as trying to save your home from those who want to take it from you. The choices you make will change Daphne and the way others look at you. This includes her personallity and appearance.

Your choices effect Daphne are split into categories such as The Globe, The Moon, The Star and The Sun. One or two of these will be influenced by your choices. The game states that there are no good or bad choices they just effect how people and you look at yourself.

The artwork in the game is stunning some of it looks like painting that I would gladly hang up.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves visual novels and choice based games.

This game is exactly what i expected when i bought it:

It is a relatively short (first playthrough took around two hours), visually appealing interactive novel with interesting side and main characters.

Towards the end of the game the choices you made will have influence both the main character and the storyline in a mayor way which should lead to a fair amount of replayability.

If you like visual novels with mild occult themes (degree varies with your choices) you will most likely enjoy this one.