As time passes in Along the Edge, it leaves its mark on both you and your character.

Quick​ ​Summary

Along the Edge is a visual novel that follows Daphné over the course of a year, as she moves to an inherited family house looking for some much-needed change in her life. Through the game, your choices add up to her personality (Sun or Moon? Star or Globe?) and affect her future actions.

What’s Interesting About Along the Edge?

Many visual novels, especially ones involving scheduling, take place over long periods of time, but they don’t always feel like that to the player. Along the Edge fleshes out individual moments (your first meeting with a neighbour), hours (a lonely evening spent at home), days (a long, rainy Monday at work) and weeks (holidays pass in a blur); these segments of varying granularity give a good sense of her life as a whole.

And then there’s the visual side. Daphné changes her clothing depending on the situation (ah, the mundanity of changing clothes!), her hair grows longer, her demeanour changes depending on her personality. There are also countless illustrations that help set the mood – even if you’re just at home, things will look different when it’s Christmas than when you’re ill.

Daphné throughout the first part of the game – her hair lengthens and her style changes.

My Play

I enjoyed watching Daphné’s transformation over time and across different playthroughs. The game’s sketched character art, the quiet French countryside and the story’s tone made this a very pensive game to play – although I got a bit tired of people trying to hook up with me (why can’t I just stay single?) On a personal level, I admit I picked this up partially to practise my French, so I’m not going to comment on the writing quality, French or English, but I enjoyed the pace at which the story was told.

If you want to spend time in the countryside and love hints of the supernatural, you can find Along the Edge on Itch, Humble and Steam.