Celebrating All Things Romantic: eden*

Today I’d like to talk about eden*.

With the subtitle “They were only two, on the planet” and a description of “the planet’s final love story,” it shouldn’t surprise you that this visual novel has a bit of a melancholy tone at times.

Set in a world where an approaching red star heralds the end of all life on Earth, eden* follows a soldier sent to guard the genetically modified superhuman girl called Sion, who has spent the past 100 years working on a plan to evacuate all of humanity and save them from the world’s destruction.

The importance of this plan means Sion has never gotten to see the outside world, and that is her sole wish.

Despite the bleak premise of the story, eden* actually has a bit of humor, especially early on. It also has some action in the early parts of the story, but its core is a slow-burn romance with slice-of-life scenes to build up the growing relationship between the characters.

It is a kinetic novel, without any choices. All you have to do is follow the story.

There is something bittersweet about its story, a story that can’t escape the shadow of the end, yet pushes a message of love and hope. The excellent art and music help build everything up.

Now, there’s also a version you can get with 18+ content, or 18+ DLC to add that content to the Steam game, but I didn’t play it. According to the reviews, it adds some blood/violence and nudity to certain parts of the main story, but the sex scenes are separate side stories rather than being integrated into the main visual novel. So you can decide if that sounds like something you want to pick up or not.

eden* is certainly not one to read if you’re looking for a lighthearted, feelgood story, but if you want a soft, melancholy romance told at the end of the world, then I definitely recommend it.