It's an interesting game, especially the dice mechanics, but I think the thing that I resented about this edition of Star Wars is that Fantasy Flight separated out the Star Wars universe into three games (much like they did with the Warhammer 40K license in the three games Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader and Deathwatch). The three Star Wars games are Edge of Empire, which focuses on playing smugglers and bounty hunters; Age of Rebellion, which focuses on playing soliders, pilots or spies for the Rebel Alliance, and Force and Destiny, which is about playing Jedi and Sith.
When all three games will have been released, you'll be able to have a mixed party, but until then you can only play what you have rules for (without having to write your own).
For my part, the thing that makes it Star Wars are Jedi and Sith, so I'm waiting until Force and Destiny comes out to take another look at the game.
Each of the games comes out first as a boxed set beginner game, which is not a bad way to introduce new players to the system.
The dice system
Instead of having numbers, they have symbols that are unique to this game, and each specific dice has a different color. You have Ability die (green d8), proficiency die (yellow d12), difficulty die (purple d8), challenge die (red d12), boost die (pale blue d6), setback die (black d6), and a force die (white d12).
"Proficiency, and Boost dice provide beneficial symbols, and represent a character’s basic aptitude, advanced training, and environmental advantages. Conversely, Difficulty, Challenge, and Setback dice provide negative symbols, and represent a task’s inherent complexity, active opposition, and environmental disadvantages."
You pretty much almost never use Force die because Jedi and Sith don't exist until Force and Destiny comes out.
The most basic example of task resolution is if you have more successes than failures, you succeed.
To further complicate things, there may be factors like advantages and threats, these cause characters to suffer or recover "strain", physical or mental stress. Where it starts to get really interesting is when you add narrative opportunities, such as "you succeed breaking into a building, but unbeknownst to you trip a silent alarm" or "you fail in a conversation with a smuggler, but you learn about a weakness of his."
Edge of Empire is an interesting game, and you should definitely check it out if you enjoy Star Wars. The lack of Jedi and Sith just means I'm going to wait for the Force and Destiny in 2015.