Wright Flyer Studios will release a turn-based time travel JRPG called Another Eden Begins on September 17th. The game will be released on PC (on Steam) as well as Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles.
Ahead of release, producer Shinnosuke Hirasawa expressed confidence that fans of the JRPG genre – and fans of Chrono Trigger in particular – would enjoy the new product. That’s largely thanks to screenwriter Masato Kato, best known for creating Square’s hit game.
Another Eden Begins is a new JRPG based on the first part of the story of Wright Flyer Studios’ action gacha RPG Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space. Although based on the same plot, the new offering is created on a new engine and has gameplay redesigned taking into account the standards of console role-playing games.
Masato Kato, who has written the scripts for “Chrono Trigger” and “Chrono Cross”, also participated in the creation of “Another Eden”. According to Hirasawa, his signature style is clearly visible in both the original game and the new Another Eden Begins.
In my opinion, both “Another Eden” and “Another Eden Begins” have a strong sense of Kato’s signature style – the depth and complexity of his storytelling. He’s a creator through and through and truly loves creating new things, and I respect him tremendously.
The connection to Chrono Trigger is especially obvious given that the plot of “Another Eden” revolves around time travel. The story follows protagonist Aldo as he travels between different eras – the present (300 AD), the future (1100 AD) and the distant past (20,000 BC) – in search of his kidnapped sister Finn. Hirasawa admitted that the team had often heard about the game’s similarities to Chrono Trigger, which was only natural given Kato’s experience working on the series.
However, the purpose of “Another Eden Begins” is not to faithfully reproduce the plot of the original mobile game. Although the project is based on the plot of the first part of the original Another Eden, the developers note that they have added many hidden references and connections that players familiar with the original will have to discover, including the possibility of replaying the story differently. Hirasawa explained that players may be wondering which version of Aldo or which timeline they are actually following.
In this sense, Another Eden Begins is positioned as a standalone game within the same universe, aiming to expand the series’ reach in the video game market and offer long-time fans something new. For those who have never played Another Eden, the connections to Kato’s previous work may be an attractive starting point. According to Hirasawa, the game was designed to be accessible to those with little experience with JRPGs, while still retaining the series’ deep story and genre-defining gameplay.
The game brings the same passion to the scripts of Masato Kato who has worked on many classic role-playing games since the Super Famicom era, but in a modern setting.