Child of Eden

Child of Eden is a Rail Shooter with Rhythm Game elements developed by Q Entertainment and designed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. It was released in June 2011 for the Xbox 360, and released for the Play Station 3 in September. It is the long-awaited Spiritual Successor to Rez.

On September 11, 2019, Lumi is given birth to aboard the International Space Station, making her the first ever human to be born in space. As she grows up, she dreams of coming to Earth, and expresses her desire through music down to the people of Earth. After she dies, Lumi is preserved and all of her memories are archived.

As the centuries progress, humanity makes great strides in space exploration, and builds a vast collection of data containing the history of humanity, storing it into Eden (read: the Internet), which is connectable to from anywhere in space.

Fast forward to the 23rd century, where scientists attempt to recreate Lumi within Eden, complete with her memories and persona. Unfortuantely, the project is under a virus attack, and this is where the player comes in, diving into Eden to purify it and help bring about the success of Project Lumi.

Child of Eden plays much like Rez: you move along a fixed path and destroy (or rather, purify) the surrounding targets. Enemies destroyed go out in a shower of pyrotechnics and sound. The player can either use lock-on shots like in Rez, or use the Tracer, a new weapon that fires rapid-fire shots that are weaker but can destroy purple enemies and projectiles, which the lock-on shot cannot do. There are 5 main levels, called "Archives", each representing a different theme of humanity, and a Bonus Level, "Hope", a lengthy and difficult score attack stage. Players can either use the standard controller just like in Rez, or use the Kinect or Play Station Move peripherals and make pointing and firing motions to play.

Reception to Child of Eden has been widely positive, with a score of 85 on Metacritic. Many reviewers cite it as an example of a Kinect game done right.

Child of Eden contains examples of:

 * Award Bait Song: The touching ballad "Flow", appropriately used during the ending credits.
 * Boss Rush/Sequential Boss:, similar to the final stage of Rez, is a medley of all the major boss forms from the previous four stages, before the lengthy final boss itself.
 * Licensed Game: The entire game's soundtrack is made by the Genki Rockets, which Lumi is also the main star of. In short, this game can be summarized as "Genki Rockets: The Game".
 * Lighter and Softer: The visuals are much brighter, and the plot is also more on the positive side: Instead of trying to save an AI that is shutting itself down, you're trying to save an AI in near-complete development. In addition, you don't destroy enemies, you "purify" them; this is best shown in the boss battles, in which the large wonders you fight don't disappear, but instead evolve into a friendly One-Winged Angel form.
 * Musical Gameplay: Locking onto 8 enemies (aka an "Octo-Lock") and then releasing in time with the beat nets a "Perfect" multiplier. Each successive Octo-Lock raises the multiplier, all the way up to x8. Getting an Octo-Lock but failing to release on the beat (or at least get a "Good") will reset the multiplier.
 * Real Song Theme Tune: Child of Eden uses "Heavenly Star" by Mizaguchi's band, the Genki Rockets, fairly often.
 * Scenery Porn: Puts even Rez HD to shame.
 * Score Milking: Averted, in contrast to Rez. Simply destroying parts of a boss won't necessarily give you points, and neither does shooting down projectiles aimed at you.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: All the way on the Idealism side.
 * Space Whale: Evolution's boss, accompanied by Space Manta Rays.
 * Which transforms into a phoenix when it goes One-Winged Angel!
 * Technology Porn: Archive 4, "Passion", is a tribute to human technology, featuring wonders such as giant gears, race cars, space shuttles, and a nice big satellite for a boss.
 * Theme Music Power-Up: "Heavenly Star", during the final battle.