Earth Defense Force 6 is an absolute blast, making time travel seem almost real despite being a game where you mostly just shoot stuff.
Watch out, spoilers ahead for Earth Defense Force 6!
Time travel is everywhere in this game’s story. It might not look as flashy as the time-hopping in Dishonored or Titanfall, but it’s way more interesting. The gameplay integrates it in such a clever way that it feels unique, ending up even crazier than taking down a god.
The Future is Full of Bugs
Years after EDF 5, humans barely survived the Primers and had to hide underground. You start EDF 6 blasting giant, gun-wielding frogs. These foes are familiar but seem tired of fighting. After a while, you encounter a weird new ship that opens a portal. Everything turns white, and suddenly, you’re back in EDF 5 levels. Talk about a wild ride.
Fans think the storyline is pretty awesome.
Jumping back to the future, things have changed. Dark terraformers fill the sky, and fresh enemies emerge. You find that same portal ship again, destroy it, and move to EDF 7. This loop keeps going until EDF 9. It might sound repetitive, but every round brings new missions and tweaks to older ones, hinting at the time travel theme. You and a scientist figure out the loops, learning along the way.
By repeating the cycle, the scientist proves time travel is real. But how do you fight an enemy that keeps upgrading and traveling back in time? It’s not just a loop; it’s a never-ending arms race. How did it all begin?
Time Travel as a Cool New Thing
The first 132 levels, with their improved pacing, build a strange feeling around time travel. Then, EDF 6 does something amazing: it stops adding new levels.
Or so it seems.
EDF 6 has six mystery missions labeled ??? that you find as you try to understand what’s happening. Each mission represents a key victory you’ve never achieved in any timeline. Maybe you save someone who usually dies, or destroy a ship sooner than expected. Complete them all, and the future becomes awe-inspiring.
The End is Just the Beginning
In this final future, you face the portal ship once more. Destroying its control unit doesn’t send you back in time. Instead, tentacles and turrets emerge to attack. But this time, you find two new weak points, destroy them, and win the war. Or do you?
A new portal opens, releasing a massive metal dragon. It’s so big that aiming is hard. The game says it’s over 1 km long. This upgraded portal ship comes from centuries ahead because the Primers keep improving their tech and sending it back. After a long battle, the ship’s head transforms into EDF 5’s final boss: a godlike being. You discover the aliens are from Mars and launch a rocket there, trying to stop them at the source—even though they attack from the future. Mind-blowing, right?
Twists, Time, and Tentacles
The Primers attacked Earth because of the missile, but you only launched it because they attacked Earth. That’s a paradox, and it’s not good for any timeline. The game has you keep fighting until you win, but how it explains this loop is super cool.
The scientist says the paradox needs fixing, or timelines could collapse. The paradox will choose a winner, so you must weaken the Primers and their god to make them lose. As you keep fighting, you tip the balance in humanity’s favor, and the Primers are erased from the timeline.
Earth still took a hit, but now society can thrive with tech from multiple timelines, creating a utopia. Why isn’t all that erased? Who knows, but no other game makes time travel feel as essential as Earth Defense Force 6 does. It’s not just about defeating a god; it’s about conquering a time paradox, which is as epic as it sounds.
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