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I'll be straight-up here: JRPGs and I have never seen eye to eye. I tried several of them over the years, but never fully committed. Edge of Memories, a French-made action RPG from Midgar Studio, wasn't exactly on my radar as the game that would change that. And yet, after spending time with its demo, which will be available for free on Steam on June 15 as part of Steam Next Fest, I find myself wanting more.
The demo covers the game's first chapter, running at just under two hours, and it does exactly what a good demo should: it gives you enough to understand the game's identity without overstaying its welcome.
Souls-Like Without the Punishment
The moment you pick up a controller and step into the world of Avaris, one thing becomes immediately clear. This game wears its Souls influences on its sleeve, and it wears them proudly. The hack-and-slash combat built around combos, enemies that respawn whenever you rest up, and campsite rest points that function almost identically to the bonfires the From Software games made famous; all of it will feel very familiar to anyone who has spent time in that part of the action RPG world.
What sets Edge of Memories apart from the more punishing end of that genre is accessibility. Difficulty settings mean you can tune the experience to your liking, which makes the whole thing far more welcoming without stripping out the satisfaction of learning the combat. You are still expected to think, to read enemies, and to use your tools wisely, but you won't be sent back to the title screen for the fifteenth time just because you got greedy on a dodge.
The companion system adds another welcome layer to the combat. You will meet characters along the way who join you and bring their own abilities into fights, and using them effectively feels quite rewarding. It adds a tactical dimension to what could otherwise be straightforward button-mashing, and it's clearly a mechanic with room to grow across the full game.
A World Worth Looking At
Edge of Memories is not the most technically impressive game you will see in 2026, and it makes no particular attempt to be. What it has instead is a strong and distinctive visual identity: a vivid, colourful anime-inspired art style with character designs courtesy of Raita Kazama, known for his work on Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It takes a moment to settle into, but once it does, it becomes really attractive. The shininess and the boldness of the colours grow on you faster than you might expect.
The story, at least in this first chapter, sets up an intriguing world and an equally intriguing protagonist in Eline, who wakes on the Estfalian Coast with no memory of her past and almost immediately gets pulled into a mission to rescue hunters taken by creatures born of something called the Corrosion. It might not be the most original premise you've seen in a video game, but it is told with enough confidence and visual flair to hold your attention. By the time you hit the first boss and glimpse Eline's hidden power, her transformation into the Black Beast, you will want to know where the story goes next. I certainly do.
Final Thoughts
The Edge of Memories demo will be available for anyone to try out on Steam on June 15, free of charge, so I highly recommend marking this date up on your calendar. Even as someone who has never given JRPGs their proper due, this one made a convincing argument for itself in under two hours. The combat is fun, the world is distinctive, and the story hook does its job. The full game is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC later in 2026, and on this evidence, it is worth keeping an eye on.
