Game Review: EGGLIA Rebirth (Nintendo Switch)

We embrak on a new adventure with a classic Japanese mobile game re-envisioned for the Nintendo Switch! How did we find EGGLIA Rebirth? Let’s take a look and find out!

	Title:	Egglia Rebirth
	Publisher:	Brownies
	Developer:	Brownies
	Platform:	Nintendo Switch
	Resolution:	1920 X 1080
	Audio:	English
	Subtitles:	English, Japanese (White)
	Local Players:	1
	Online Players:	N/A
	Install:	YES (700MB)

Our View:

Developed and published by Brownies, the studio who brought us the visually stunning farming simulation spin-off Doraemon: STORY OF SEASONS, comes EGGLIA Rebirth, a modern-day Nintendo Switch port of Brownies previously released smart phone game of the same name. While, to some, this may be of concern; the actuality is that EGGLIA Rebirth is a reasonable game that offers something a bit different to your typical life simulation RPG.

EGGLIA Rebirth is a life simulation mixed with Strategy RPG turn-based board game mechanics and it sees the player take control of a Redcap, known as Cabo, in order to help new friends Robin, an elf like villager, and Marigold, a faire, to restore the world to its former glory.

As part of this experience your character, Cabo, finds himself crash landing in an unknown land with no memory of his past self. Fear not my dear reader as this is not an isekai game, as Cabo has simply lost his memories after a traumatic event. Upon waking up Cabo meets Robin and Marigold who explain that the world has been sealed up into Nibel eggs after a vicious orge attack.

As part of this back-story you learn that Robin and Marigold’s dream is to restore the world to what it once was, and to develop a village that accompanies all races and cultures. Herein begins the adventure of EGGLIA Rebirth and its driving factor for moving the story along as Cabo is the only one who can unseal the Nibel eggs and restore the world to its former glory.

With the basic plot out of the way the game you are thrust forward into your first area and it is here where the rinse and repeat process which you would expect to find from a mobile game begins to surface.

As mentioned the driving factor of EGGLIA Rebirth is to restore parts of the world that have been sealed away into Nibel eggs, and these can be found by exploring new areas that have been unsealed. This is where the rinse and repeat prospect of the game comes into effect, as once you recover the Nibel egg in that area you will unlock a new area which in turn will hold another Nibel egg.

Additionally each area that is explored is accompanied by new characters that, once befriended, will bring additional benefits to your town. Becoming friends with these characters is part of the core story, but later on you can further develop the friendship to unlock additional perks within the village.

Initially the concept of searching an area to find a Nibel egg to unlock access to a new area is appealing, but by the third egg it becomes rather mundane and repetitive. For instance the task of locating the egg is achieved by simply playing through the game board and defeating the boss at the end and throughout this process you’ll have dialogue between you and your new companions.

As you begin to unlock new areas you’ll soon know exactly how it is going to play out, with the only difference being the character personality traits – which even these start to wear a little thin over time – and the style of the area.

On the flipside, the rinse and repeat process of obtaining eggs and unlocking new areas does offer a way for your mind to switch off and relax. There is something quite appealing of just following the same process, but on this particular title I quickly grew tired of its repetitive nature and it felt like I had to take regularly breaks to ensure I wasn’t become bored with the overall experience.

Usually there is a force driving you to continue playing, but sadly here I found no real incentive to continue playing other than to see if the game formula changed in any shape or form, which to an extent it did – especially in the latter stages of the game.

Speaking of these new areas, the areas are unlocked by unsealing the Nibel egg and the player decides on where the egg is unsealed. In this situation a map of the world will be displayed and you will have limited areas to place that egg. Simply move the icon cursor across and place the egg for it to be unsealed and unlock a new area for you and your party to explore.

Even more interesting is that if you are unhappy with where areas have been formed you can adjust them accordingly by replacing them. It’s an odd, but unique, little feature which means that the layout is tailored to your design ideals rather than a preset unlock method. Furthermore these areas do have a bit of variety to them, with areas such as forest, sea, desert and mountains being offered for exploration.

So, what happens after unsealing the egg? Well you will be able to explore the area it creates and this will throw you into EGGLIA Rebirth’s game board style mechanic. Each location is split into multiple zones and these are presented as game boards with enemies and collectibles throughout. In order to move the player must roll a dice with the number dictating how many spaces the player can move on the game board; additionally enemies also have to throw the dice in order to move as well.

When players meet an enemy (or an obstacle) then they can attack them, with the throw of the dice dictating how much damage will be dealt to the enemy. To make this whole process even more of a challenge each game board has a set number of moves.

It’s an interesting approach but the whole combat and game play system within each area is designed like a board game. There is very little room for freedom or exploration. Dying at the hands of a monster, or running out of moves, will ultimately result in a game over screen. Fortunately recover items can be used and these can either be collected on the game board or made in the village using items found. More importantly clearing these game boards, and defeating monsters, will grant players experience points and items that will make them stronger in battle.

To aid in battle players can also use items in specific locations to summon monster spirits in the village, of which will join you in battle and support you, and these can also earn experience points to grow stronger. A wide variety of spirits can be summoned in the village with the result varying depending on the different items you use. Much like the characters you meet these spirits can also be interacted with, and your friendship level will grow with them the more that you interact with them.

EGGLIA Rebirth also offers a bit of replay ability to these game boards as well, as players can come back and challenge them again to further obtain more experience and items, and as you progress you can even explore new game boards within the same area. These additional game boards will offer slightly stronger monsters and more rewards to be gained, but overall they are played and presented in the same manner as the previous boards in that area.

Storyline and Combat aside the Village acts as the hub, your home base, within EGGLIA Rebirth and characters you meet during your adventure will set up home base in the village. Each character you meet will bring something different to the village, such as Weapon Creation, Item Making, Building Creators and so forth. At the beginning these characters will offer little support, but by taking on their side quests – which are generally fetch quests or monster slaying requests – you will be able to develop further relationships with them to unlock additional perks.

This is where the life simulation mechanics come into play as you will also be able to have conversations with them to develop their friendship level with you. Sadly you won’t be able to marry them, but by forging a stronger relationship you will develop a better village and have access to better items that will add in your quest of restoring the world to its former glory.

EGGLIA Rebirth brings the classic Japanese mobile game to the Nintendo Switch platform and it does so without feeling out of place. The artistic pastel coloured backgrounds with clean 3D characters models offers a nostalgic feeling of older RPG’s (namely Rune Factory 4) while still retaining a modern feel.

For me it is the visual aesthetics of EGGLIA Rebirth that is worthy of praise as it draws you into the game. Sadly while the visuals offer nostalgia and calm the overall game is a bit of a mixture. The repetitive nature of unlocking new areas and replaying them, along with the numerous loading screens between said areas, screams mobile gaming and leaves me a bit bored, yet the life simulation and combat elements are enough to draw out some positive experiences for those that wish to put in the effort.

Whether you remain to stay within the world of EGGLIA Rebirth is ultimately up to the player, as it certainly offers something for everyone, but yet at the same time does not seem enough to satisfy completely. Some elements seem half-heartedly implement while others feel like an afterthought, and it really does try to cater to all different types of fans within the RPG demographic. That being said EGGLIA Rebirth does offer something interesting and different to the tried and tested formula while at the same time offering similarities to competitors.

Score:

EGGLIA Rebirth is now available for the Nintendo Switch as a digital download from the Nintendo eShop.