Vernal Edge on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Vernal Edge is a 2D action-packed Metroidvania featuring an intense combat system, tight platforming sequences and a powerful story of rivalry, revenge and growth.
Vernal Edge is a metroidvania, female protagonist and action game
developed by Hello Penguin Team LLC
and published by PID Games and Dear Villagers.
Released on March 14th 2023 is available only on Windows
in 8 languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese - Brazil.
It has received 543 reviews of which 425 were positive and 118 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.4 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 3.39€ on Steam with a 80% discount, but you can find it for less on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified Vernal Edge into these genres:
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 8
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G or higher | i5-7600/i3-8100 or higher
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GT1030/Radeon RX 550
- Storage: 1 GB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
After beating the game, I will say I enjoyed what I played A solid platformer with neat and an array of movement options uncommon to most metroidvanias (no I'm not just talking about dash and airdash) that come together nicely for exploration and jump puzzle sections A metroidvania with no conventional double jump is definitely an eyebrow raiser, but it works Unlike a majority of metroidvanias out there, Vernal Edge decides to split their worlds and zones into floating islands, where you travel to each via airship (reminding me of those overworld sections in Final Fantasy games) Visually, this is very appealing and brings much positive nostalgia In practice though, this makes the game's map a nightmare to navigate In a lot of other metroidvanias, you have the whole world map depicted in a 2D space, allowing you to easily visualize and mark POIs or areas to return to Here, you have to land on the island first to see the map, and (I may have missed it, but) I found no way to mark specific points on the island maps - which made it near impossible to remember where some secrets were in order to return to once you gained the necessary movement ability (no, I'm not gonna physically write that shit down) Actually, I lied I had to write something down during the bell-puzzle Wouldn't need to if I had a way to mark things on the map The combat, however, is definitely the game's strongest point, with a decent variety of combat techniques and spells that you can acquire throughout the game turning from a basic jump-and-slash-man to a side-scrolling DMC if you decide to put the time into learning combos and juggles Speaking of acquiring techniques, a machine that instantly teaches you to read? Friggen sign me up The enemy variety is... adequate The main issue is having multiple combat arena segments that pit you against the same enemies in varying combinations time and time again This part is where it gets a bit stale Enemy attack tracking is definitely something that I didn't enjoy, but had to get used to I would much rather see an attack winding up and dash behind it to avoid it, than have them instantly flip around and swing in my direction The story is straight-forward, following Vernal's journey of revenge, uncovering the plot of the big bad along the way in order to save the world Simple often is best, and much of the plot points including motivations make sense Vernal's character may be a little 1-dimensional, but eh, I'm playing a metroidvania, not a visual novel - I'll let it slide In the end, it's a compact metroidvania that does what it sets itself out to do Solid combat and traversal options (once unlocked) Map and navigation leaves much to be desired Story is alright, I liked it
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For an indie studio's first game, I thought Vernal Edge was quite well done. The art style does vary widely; from literal MS paint doodles, to sophisticated sprites, but the game itself is otherwise reasonably polished. The story is a generic YA 'time to kill my father' emofest. I thought it could have done a better job of incorporating the different islands (there are perhaps 3 with real plot significance), and that the dialogue in general could have done a better job of pointing out which islands were of interest to proceed the plot. Overall not bad though, the combat is fun and bug free; I would have liked to see the enemies developed more instead of being bullet sponges, but it doesn't seriously detract from the game. The difficulty curve is quite flat---every boss before the final area feels about the same, quite easy. The Final boss area is a sudden difficulty spike owing largely to spammed large area attacks that track your character---that said you have plenty of options to block or dodge these in your toolkit at this point so it's not frustrating to beat so much as it is surprising to suddenly have a difficult boss. While there are metroidvanias I like better, and I think Islets does a better job overall as the 'airship metroidvania,' this game is still worth a play, and I hope to see more games from this studio in the future. I do think the price is a little on the high side; I'd put it around the $10.00 mark---buy this on sale.
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I have pondered a lot on Vernal Edge in the past days, it’s a game that left me with many feelings and thoughts. I’ll give a detailed review below, but if you are interested in a very particular metroidvania where exploration it’s his strongest quality, with a flashy combat accompanied by an ethereal soundtrack and a somewhat lukewarm story, I recommend it. Let’s start from the best merits of this obscure gem; the pixel art is gorgeous, vivid and nostalgic for the lost era of PS1 games, it never felt stale. Gameplay wise the greatest strength is the exploration. You will fly around with your airship from island and island, exploring every nook and cranny. Every location is full of secrets and new mechanics, there are secret bosses, secret quests, tons of collectibles to uncover. The game doesn’t hand you any help either, you will travel without any limit except the upgrades obstacles, with no clear idea where to go next, and this felt honestly not frustrating but intriguing, I really felt as I was discovering a new world by myself. Someone criticized Vernal Edge world as lifeless, and I agree with that but not in a negative way, it’s a desolate and lonely world, life is scarce, you will feel isolated in these alien biomes. And the music improves this feeling, it’s ethereal, echoing in the background as if it was far far away. Only gradually increasing in volume during battles. Speaking of battles, here are my mixed thoughts on combat; on one hand is quick, fast, it asks you to perform combos and use your arsenal in every possible way. Dash, dodge, parry, cast a spell, heal, it is exhilarating. On another hand it never feels as you in complete control of your moveset to perform amazing combos; that’s also because most of the spell you get deal a pathetic amount of damage, don’t last at all, and in general they don’t change how you approach the combat. On harder difficulties enemy healthbars are too spongy and encounters become tedious after a while. And this is Vernal Edge biggest sin, there is no enemy variety, you have got around 12 enemy types and they don’t change much. Another issue is the story, it’s not bad, I would describe it as satisfying and unsatisfying. The writing is decent even great at times, jokes are funny, the main two characters Vernal and Chervil have a great chemistry and they get a bittersweet character development. Same cannot be said about the final villains and the plot as a whole. It feels inconclusive, as if it’s missing one (or more) piece of the puzzle, and I am not going to enter in spoiler territory, but as I said before it left me satisfied because the character arcs of the main protagonists got resolved but unsatisfying because the ending left too many plot points being unfulfilled. Despite these negative points, I still had a great time with this metroidvania and still think about it when I can, I recommend it. P.S.: One great frustration of mine, (that is not a real criticism to the game as a whole) I completed the game on Vicious difficulty for the first time by using a code, but it did not give me the achievement for completing the game, and as I am obsessed with 100% games, that left me very annoyed. If there aren’t any other paths to get it on my save file then blimey! I’ll do another fast run later to get the achievement, but this left a sour taste in my mouth, anyways rant over, I still recommend Vernal Edge. P.S.S.: I have obtained all achievements of Vernal Edge after making a speedrun of the base game, it wasn’t difficult but two playthroughs are mandatory if you aim to complete it.
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This game is frustratingly close to being great. For what it is, it's worth a discounted price. tldr; 6/10. Game's fun, but rough edges make it a chore to play sometimes. Get it on sale. I have a number of small gripes about the game that add up, but I'll start with the good. Artwork looks great. I really like the fantasy-steampunk setting, and all the sprites look solid. Music's pretty good. Can't complain. Combat is pretty cool even if I suck at it. It's a very dynamic system, with lots of moves to chain and combo together. Dodging, breaking enemies' guards, then unloading special attacks on them can be pretty satisfying when done right. After you get a few movement upgrades, the platforming is nice. Chaining together jumps, wall bounces, and midair dashes can be nice. What I don't like: Vernal. The main character is aggressive and rude to nearly everyone she meets. The one time she meets a character she has a past with, she pushes them away with insults and aggression. I really don't feel invested in her revenge plot at all. Lamps. One of the movement upgrades allows you to vault off of lanterns hanging on the background wall. You jump over a lamp, automatically land on it, and tap the button to jump off of it. The problem is that the lamp's hitbox is really narrow, and you can only stand on it for a split second, so using them for platforming is needlessly finicky. Difficulty settings. When you start the game, you choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard. You cannot change difficulties midway through. Having trouble and stuck on a tough fight? Better be ready to start from the beginning! Progression. The game does not tell you anything. If you get stuck, it's pretty much just checking every single island from top to bottom to see if you missed anything. Which brings me to another point: Maps. Goodness gracious, the maps. Maps in this game are useless. You'd better be ready to memorize every inch of every level, because for a game that requires heavy backtracking, this game does NOT show you anything. First, there's the overworld map. It's not terrible. You can mark islands with colored rings, which is nice. The problem is that viewing the full map doesn't show you the islands' names, so you just kinda have to remember where everything is. Then there's the devil itself, the island maps. When you enter a new island, you have no map. You have to find it somewhere in the level, if it exists at all. The town islands don't seem to have maps, so trying to find vendors and secrets is a chore. When you do finally find a level map, it displays each separate area (separated by loading zones) that you've visited. It also shows you the doors between areas. That's it. It doesn't show you treasures, or mechanisms, or points of interest, or pretty much anything. You can't mark the maps, either. So if you find an area you can't access with your current abilities, you better hope you remember exactly where it is, because the game will NOT help you find it later. I apologize for my tone, I'm probably not being fair due to my frustration with this game. It is what it is. Ultimately, the lack of direction and lack of investment just make me not want to keep playing. It's worth buying if it's on sale, but just be ready for a bit of a slog.
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Yet again, another game on Steam makes me wish for a mixed option. Vernal Edge is a mediocre metroidvania that fails to incorporate certain metroidvania mechanics into the game, leading to a frustrating experience for players. However, it’s not entirely a bad game since there are many redeeming aspects. The art style reminds me of the DS games, but it’s inconsistent in many areas, mainly for character sprites and the lack of animation for enemies. While it mainly looks good, some characters have a simplified drawing, and some enemies lack additional frames that make them look rough when they swing and move around. The main character, Vernal, is perfectly fine, though. The problem with her was the overall attitude and lack of character, but I’ll get to that in a bit. It is definitely a metroidvania, no arguing there, but it works differently from a traditional one. Instead of traversing one big map, you go around different islands to explore to find where to go. While it sounds simple enough, the lack of a map for the majority of islands makes them a bit difficult to navigate, even if you buy the mini-map upgrade; therefore, it becomes a chore to get around and figure out where to go and what to do. The hub area is 3D, where you move around with your airship from one island to another, and the rest of the game is 2D. It has a rough but decent combo-based combat system that reminded me of Devil May Cry a bit, but it is nowhere near as deep as DMC, of course. The main gimmick of the game is the Pulse mechanic which you draw health from enemies by throwing your sword at them, but it is explained very poorly that it becomes very easy to miss such a core mechanic that could result in game becoming a bit more difficult than it’s supposed to as you progress further. The reason for that is the freedom to leave the training in the beginning. Another flaw that I’ve noticed is that most of the abilities you obtain are used only in a few areas; thus, they eventually become obsolete. The universe of Vernal Edge is intriguing enough, but the weak storyline and the horrible storytelling make such great potential go to waste. The protagonist, Vernal, is out to kill her father for abandoning her and her mother at such a young age; therefore, her attitude is insufferable especially considering the fact that she acts like a dick to everyone and rages almost all the time. While her frustration could be understandable, making such a one-dimensional, edgy protagonist is problematic itself. She barely shows any character development, and the anti-climactic ending doesn’t really help with it. Her father’s motives are unclear as well. Apparently, Vernal’s sword Pulse Edge is capable of opening portals to another dimension called “Unreality,” where one can create anything if the will is strong enough, but why he wants to do that is unknown. It’s hinted that he may try to bring his wife back, but why sacrifice them in the first place, then? So, yeah, if you can turn a blind eye to the story, you can actually get a lot of enjoyment out of it, especially since it plays a bit like Mega Man Zero and Devil May Cry. The soundtrack is also decent, but the overall volume of the game is so low that I had to crank it up to max. TL;DR A mediocre metroidvania that suffers from a bad story and storytelling. The lack of tutorials and the unique metroidvania mindset, where you have the freedom to go from one island to another, could be confusing, but if you can get used to them, it offers something enjoyable such as a combo-based combat system that slightly feels like Devil May Cry, and the wonderful traversal mechanics that is probably inspired by Mega Man Zero.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Vernal Edge is currently priced at 3.39€ on Steam.
Vernal Edge is currently available at a 80% discount. You can purchase it for 3.39€ on Steam.
Vernal Edge received 425 positive votes out of a total of 543 achieving a rating of 7.40.
😊
Vernal Edge was developed by Hello Penguin Team LLC and published by PID Games and Dear Villagers.
Vernal Edge is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Vernal Edge is not playable on MacOS.
Vernal Edge is not playable on Linux.
Vernal Edge is a single-player game.
Vernal Edge does not currently offer any DLC.
Vernal Edge does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Vernal Edge does not support Steam Remote Play.
Vernal Edge is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Vernal Edge.
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The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 29 January 2026 02:35 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 22 January 2026 02:29 |
| Steam price | 29 January 2026 20:34 |
| Steam reviews | 29 January 2026 08:04 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Vernal Edge, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Vernal Edge
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Vernal Edge concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Vernal Edge compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
4
Developer
Hello Penguin Team LLC
Publisher
PID Games,
Dear Villagers
Release
14 Mar 2023
Platforms
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