Note: This review addresses the PC and Switch versions of this title.

I'd like to thank CobraTekku Games for the review key to this title.

Back in the family-friendly era of Nintendo, the company created some amazing RPG games for the Game Boy. Not hobbled at all by not being "adult", they were still deep and fun games regardless. The Edge of Allegoria is an affectionate parody of both the era and the genre, with some mixed results.

The game starts with a stock fantasy intro about the world of the game, only with a fair degree of profanity alongside the high-flown prologue text. The game proper begins with you (default name Joe) as a down-on-his-luck fisherman. Since that is going nowhere, you set out on an adventure to save the world with your dog (default name Jude), mostly because it's a more productive use of your time.

It's with this cliche premise and silly motivation that the actual gameplay begins. This game follows all the stock conventions of the RPG genre. You talk to people, do quests, fight monsters, gain skills and experience, and experience an epic story. Of course, one big exception is that, unlike the family-friendly games it is an homage to, this is NOT a kids' game. The dialogue alone would not be out of place in an R-rated movie, and there is a weird mishmash of contemporary-day-like settings and situations alongside every stock high fantasy trope usually seen in these types of games

There is an interesting system of player advancement. While your character gains levels, the actual gains come from learning weapon skills and equipment mastery. Using certain weapons enough allows you to learn weapon skills you can swap out with other skills after mastering them at will. Using equipment of any kind enough allows you to add their stat boosts to yourself permanently. This encourages the player to constantly buy and find new equipment, as this is the main means by which you consistently stay strong enough to face new challenges.

Some of the other mechanics have been done before. The game maps are a series of interconnected areas, much like the original Pokémon games for Game Boy (down to having some of the connecting areas called Routes). Some areas are blocked off with various mundane and fantastical obstacles until you achieve certain conditions, so some backtracking is inevitable. A fast travel mechanic is unlocked after a few hours of play to make this somewhat less tedious.

Graphically, this game very much resembles the grey and black graphics that characterized the Game Boy. The art style of the characters and set pieces is an odd mix of contemporary day and high fantasy. This title uses a pixel-drawn style that looks very authentic to old-style Game Boy graphics.

Sounds and music are also quite authentic to the Game Boy. The sound effects are various blips and bleeps, and the music is chiptune style. If your taste is for retro gaming, then this style is sure to please.

The controls are also very Gameboy-style, with two main buttons for making actions, the start key for your player menu, and the ability to make the select key a hot key for certain actions. This control scheme is very simple to learn. There is a fair bit of sorting through menus for changing equipment and items, but this is just being authentic to the classic Game Boy RPG experience.

This title is made in Game Maker and runs well. It's very modest concerning hardware requirements, especially the PC version. It's native to Microsoft Windows, but it will run well on Linux and Steam Deck via Steam Proton.

A personal note on The Ede of Allegoria's humor and presentation. Speaking strictly for myself, I'm not shocked nor offended by crass jokes and profanity, and I do understand the logic in including them in this game, as such was needed to parody the family-friendly era of Nintendo this game is affectionately poking fun at. Personally, however, I think it's rather overdone in certain areas, as the profanity and perverse dialogue are used in such profusion that it loses a lot of impact. An occasional obscenity is shocking, but constant profanity is just boring, and unfortunately, this game just comes off as a poor attempt at being edgy in places because the writing just cannot learn when to use strong language and when to refrain to make the punchlines land.

Morally, this game has a lot of problems. This needs discussion in detail, as it heavily resembles a game one would let children play, but it is by no means meant for them.

Violence is portrayed in "give orders and watch it happen" RPG fashion. Fights are done in self-defense. There is some implied blood with a few attacks, but the graphical style doesn't reflect this.

Language is going to be very foul. There is frequent use of every known profanity, such as f*** on down. There is also a lot of crass humor involving bodily functions and sexual commentary. God's name is taken in vain as well.

The art style does not lend itself towards super graphic depictions of nudity, though some enemies (especially female ones) are depicted topless, and commentary on them confirms as much. Descriptions of some of them are also charged with graphic sexual remarks. There are depictions of prostitution and homosexuality as well.

There is a sizable amount of references to the occult and supernatural in this game. While some are fictional, some do reference real-world myths and legends. There are abilities that are supernatural that can be learned and used by the player with occult connotations.

Morally, this is set in a stock high fantasy RPG setting (albeit with some weird contemporary styled set pieces as well) where you are a questing hero. That said, your protagonist comes off as more of a mercenary for hire, with some implications that your questing actions have less than altruistic motivations. Illicit drugs and alcohol use are frankly discussed and usable by the player as well as NPCs.

Overall, it's a pretty solid RPG and can at times be a clever yet affectionate satire of the Game Boy RPGs it's designed to look like. Technically, it's pretty well put together. Morally, it has themes not fit for any save mature audiences only. If you aren't repulsed by the crassness of the language and themes, it's a decent retro throwback to the Game Boy RPG genre.