Earth Defense Force 6 is the pinnacle of a series that many people consider to be a pretty silly shooter. Despite that, it also has the best use and interpretation of time travel of any game I've ever played. It does this without taking advantage of fancy, novel graphics, instead relying on quality storytelling and some very interesting meta-decisions that change the usual “just choose the next mission” routine that is present in these games. EDF 6 uses all of these things to great effect and makes the concept of time travel seem almost believable.
Spoilers for Earth Defense Force 6 follow.
The fact that time travel is ingrained in basically every aspect of the story means that, while it's not as visually striking as the time travel offered in something like Dishonored or Titanfall, it is more fascinating. The way it weaves into the mechanics also creates an incredibly fresh take on the concept that I haven't seen before, especially when it ends up being somehow more over-the-top than killing a god.
The future is full of mistakes
EDF 6 begins a few years after the end of EDF 5, when the Primers wiped out most of humanity. Even though you manage to kill what could be a god, the humans still have to escape underground to try to survive against the alien threat.
The result is that, at the beginning of EDF 6, you shoot a group of giant frogs with guns. You shoot them with guns, but they have guns too, you understand me? These are older versions of the same enemies from EDF 5, but they don't move like they want to fight: they move like they're fed up with this endless war. However, you fight them and after a few levels you see a new ship that opens a strange portal.
Then you see a bunch of other new ships enter the portal with no idea what's going on. You find a weak spot on this strange ship, and after shooting it, everything turns white, as you are welcomed to EDF 6. This is where you are reset to the levels of EDF 5, and boy, is it wild.
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You eventually find yourself again in the future, but things are a little different. Terraformers darken the horizon and new types of enemies have appeared, but how can this be possible if this is just a loop? Well, guess what: you fight a little, find the same portal ship, destroy it, and you're welcomed to EDF 7. This cycle continues until you reach EDF 9.
It seems like it should be arduous, but each time, EDF gives you a new load of missions, some are new and some are slight adjustments to the EDF 5 missions, but with subtle changes to allude to time travel. history. The missions that you tend to repeat (the futuristic ones) also come with small adjustments. Sometimes it's new enemies and other times it's something deep down. However, the most important thing is that you and the only scientist who knows what is happening are always aware of these loops and learning too.
Through repetition and study, the scientist concludes that time travel is taking place and convinces the world of this fact. How do you fight an enemy that can keep traveling through time and, more importantly, one that can also keep upgrading its technology? This is not a loop; It is an endless spiral of arms race in which neither side can win. How did this start anyway?
Time travel is the new meta
This segment covers the first 132 levels, which are thankfully paced much better than any other game in the series, and all contribute to the eerie feeling you and the characters will have about the whole time travel aspect. This is where EDF 6 does something really awesome: it temporarily stops giving you new levels.
Well, that's what it seems like, anyway.
EDF 6 has six mystery missions marked with ??? in your quest list for you to stumble upon while trying to figure out what's going on. Each of these represents a key victory that you have not achieved in any timeline. Maybe you rescue someone who has always died in another way; maybe you'll find a way to destroy a specific ship earlier than usual. Once you've completed them all, you'll reach the final version of the future, and that's where the concept goes from well-made to awesome.
The end is the beginning
The first major event in this future ending is that you once again find the portal ship, but this time by destroying the control unit, the ship itself is not destroyed. You are also not thrown into the past. Instead, the portal remains open and huge tentacles and turrets begin to emerge from it to kill you and the rest of the EDF. This time things are different, but you find two new weaknesses in this ship and destroy it. The war is won, yes! Well, no.
A whole new portal opens above you and a huge flying metal dragon emerges. It's hard to describe how big this thing is, but fighting it involves constantly leading your shots because the sheer scale of your enemy makes it difficult to aim. The game indicates that it is over 1 km long and it feels like it. It turns out that this is the newly upgraded version of the portal ship, but one from several centuries in the future, because the Primers you're fighting have all the time in the world to keep improving their technology and sending it back.
After a long fight, you seemingly destroy this ship, only to see that its head has been replaced by the final boss of EDF 5: a divine being with the power to alter reality and create life from nothing. As you continue fighting, you learn that the EDF has discovered that these aliens come from Mars. They launch a rocket at the planet to try to destroy them at their source, the present, even though you're fighting a version of them from the future. You can't read that and tell me it's less than amazing and it gets better.
Timey-Wimey, but with ants and gods
It turns out that the Primers started attacking Earth because of this missile, but you only sent this missile because they attacked Earth. This, dear readers, is a paradox and not good for any timeline. Gameplay-wise, you keep fighting until you win, but the way the game justifies this confusing loop is much cooler.
The scientist explains that this paradox must be corrected, because if it exists, all timelines could collapse. As a result, the paradox will simply choose a victor. Your goal is to weaken the Primers and their god to the point where they are the logical choice as the loser, and as you continue fighting, you eventually tip the scales in humanity's favor. The timeline erases the Primers completely.
Earth still suffered losses, but now society can thrive with technology that has passed through multiple timelines and create a proper utopia. Why isn't all of that completely removed from reality? I have no idea, but there is simply no other game that makes time travel as much a part of its DNA as the actual gameplay. Earth Defense Force 6 tops killing a god by having you kill a time paradox, and that's metal as hell.
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