Tetsuya Mizuguchi is a legendary figure in the world of game development. During his time with Sega, he worked on titles such as SEGA Rally, Space Channel 5 and Rez – the latter of which is considered to be his magnum opus.
Since leaving Sega, Mizuguchi's body of work has been equally impressive; the music puzzler Lumines being on high point, and his more recent offering – Tetris Effect – revolutionising the way people experience the famous Russian video game.
Mizuguchi has done a good job of ensuring that his past glories remain readily accessible, with Lumines and Rez getting expansive updates on modern-day hardware, but one game remains locked in the past: 2011's Child of Eden.
Designed with Microsoft's defunct Xbox 360 Kinect hardware in mind (it was also released on the PS3 with support for the console's Move controllers but could be played with a standard pad on both systems if you wished), the game was billed as something of a spiritual successor to Rez and once again focused on generating 'synesthesia' in players, mixing visuals, sound and action in a way that makes them all feel totally interconnected. Child of Eden received positive reviews at the time of release but sold poorly – it is reported that just 500,000 copies were shifted.
Our sister site Pure Xbox gave it 9/10 and said:
In a way, Child of Eden isn't as much of a game as it is an experience, an experiment in synesthesia, and one that benefits in many aspects from Kinect's barrier-breaking controls. It may not be the most mechanically original piece of software, but it's unparalleled as a virtual rush, and it is very refreshing to see something take such bold leaps in crazy directions and nail the landing.
So far, Child of Eden hasn't had its second chance to shine, and on a recent episode of the My Perfect Console podcast, host Simon Parkin popped the question – is there any chance of the game getting the 'Rez Infinite' treatment on modern systems? "You should ask Ubisoft," was Mizuguchi's rather terse reply.
While the game was developed by Q Entertainment – Mizuguchi's former studio, which closed in 2013 when he left to establish Enhance, his current studio – it was published by Ubisoft, which, it would seem, still owns the rights to the game. As Mizuguchi implies, Ubisoft would need to sign off on any remake or update of Child of Eden, and it's hard to see the embattled French publisher taking a punt on resurrecting a game that only sold half a million units at the time of release.
It's a shame because, despite the motion-control focus, the game is equally playable without Kinect or PS Move, and we'd personally love to experience Child of Eden again on PSVR2. For now, at least, we'll have to stick with the 2011 original, but it is well worth seeking out if you're a fan of Mizuguchi's stunning work in the field of synesthesia.