Energy Cycle Edge review for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Sometimes You?s ?Energy” series has always been a little hit or miss for me. I enjoyed Energy Invasion for what it was (that is, a Breakout clone), and Energy Balance wasn?t too bad either (provided you like math and number problems). However, I had all kinds of trouble with the original Energy Cycle. It?s all about how good you are at spatial logic puzzles, and as someone who is horrendous at those, I didn?t have a whole lot of fun with it.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Energy Cycle?s sequel, Energy Cycle Edge, wasn?t much more enjoyable for me.

In fact, in some ways, Energy Cycle Edge is even less accessible than its predecessor. Right off the bat, you?re just presented with 44 puzzles, with nothing in the way of context or instruction. True, it?s not exactly a challenging mechanic to figure out — you have to change all the cells on the screen into one colour, which you achieve by clicking on parts of lines, and before long you have to rotate the puzzles on a three dimensional plane to get all of them — but the fact there?s not even an introductory level means that, especially at first, you?ll be doing a lot of random clicking.

What?s more, this game gets hard. Whereas Energy Cycle was renowned for being an easy Platinum, Energy Cycle Edge seems to want to make up for that by upping the difficulty significantly. Unless you?re the sort of person who scoffs at Rubik?s Cubes, when the puzzles here go 3D, you?ll probably be looking online for some guidance.

There?s also the problem of a lack of variety. Energy Cycle didn?t just have a standard puzzle mode, it also had Time Attack and Infinite Play, giving you a bit of variety. Energy Cycle Edge has none of those — here, it?s just puzzles. Obviously, given the challenge level, you may not want any more of these puzzles once you?ve finished the 44, but if you do, you won?t get them here.

Having said all that, I?m fully aware that my perception of Energy Cycle Edge is skewed by the fact I?m terrible at it. But at the same time, because it?s so lacking in variety and so intimidating right off the back, I suspect my experience with the game might be the most common one. If you?re really into puzzles that push your brain, then by all means check this out, but otherwise, you?ll probably want to avoid Energy Cycle Edge.

Sometimes You provided us with an Energy Cycle Edge PS Vita code for review purposes.