Beyond Galaxyland [PC] | REVIEW

Beyond Galaxyland wasn’t even on my radar before a couple of weeks ago, but after playing through its exciting and creative sci-fi escapade, it now stands out as one of my favourite RPGs of the year.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Beyond Galaxyland puts players in the role of Doug, who, after spending Halloween with his friend Rosie, finds himself chased by a strange entity and led into a mysterious portal. This portal just so happens to take him to a futuristic locale known as Galaxyland, where he finds out that his home on Earth will be destroyed by something known as ‘The End’. Luckily for him, DreamCore chose him to survive, bringing him to their intergalactic setup to start a new life. But don’t worry, Doug has company: his guinea pig, who somehow grew in size and is now able to walk and talk, all thanks to Galaxyland.

There’s no doubting that Beyond Galaxyland has one of the more unusual premises I’ve seen in an RPG, but I found myself completely sold on its storytelling immediately. There’s a mysterious air of intrigue to the fate of Earth, whilst DreamCore themselves have a shadiness about them isn’t easy to ignore. It’s only natural that Doug ventures off on a journey to face these issues head-on, and with a familiar face eventually joining him, it makes for a heartfelt and exciting adventure.

At its core, Beyond Galaxyland is a turn-based RPG, with players taking Doug and his allies into showdowns and issuing commands to get the upper-hand over foes. Your actions in-combat are built around your ability points, which amass when you land an attack on an opponent. The more ability points you have, the more abilities you’ll have at your disposal, with each character having a unique set of skills that play into their strengths. If you’re familiar with turn-based combat in RPGs, you’ll feel right at home immediately, though the reliance on balancing out the build-up and use of ability points does add a strategic spin to the formula.

“Beyond Galaxyland is a real treat to play, with its gorgeous world, clever storytelling, and rewarding combat making for a really fun RPG experience.”

However, my favourite aspect of combat comes with its summons, with Beyond Galaxyland having a Pokémon-like twist to showdowns with foes where you’re able to capture them in battle when weakened. If successful, they’ll become available as a summon, allowing you to unleash special abilities that’ll cause damage, inflict status ailments, weaken enemy stats, and so forth. I’m a sucker for this kind of thing (and I didn’t even know Beyond Galaxyland featured it before playing) and found myself eagerly trying to ‘catch ‘em all’ whilst playing, with each summon adding a fun dynamic to combat that can change the tide of each battle in your favour.

It is worth noting that Beyond Galaxyland’s combat is a bit on the easier side, and whilst there might be one or two encounters that’ll put your skills to the test, it’s rare that you’ll find yourself in precarious situations or facing death. It probably helped that locales have a recommended level so I knew whether or not I was prepared to explore them (and it’s undoubtedly going to be more challenging if you face a significantly higher-levelled foe), but your core progress through the main story won’t bring with it many real obstacles to face. Still, it didn’t stop combat from being fun, with the core mechanics coming together nicely to keep battles exciting and strategic.

Exploration in the game takes place over a 2D plane, with players switching between layers of the environment when scouring across each unique landscape. It’s worth mentioning now that the world of Beyond Galaxyland looks fantastic, with the game embracing an old-school pixel art visual style that’s brought to life with modern 3D effects that really help each location you explore shine. Whilst some of the character animations could be a little clumsy, everything else is simply gorgeous, with each new location you visit bringing with it plenty of eye-catching sights that ensure the world is always a joy to explore.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Exploration is easy enough for the most part with the 2D plane meaning you’ll rarely get lost, though the game does spice things up with the inclusion of some platforming and puzzling. You’ll even come across a few little mini-games, with the racing in particular standing out as a simple yet fun endeavour that complements the slower pace of combat. Admittedly, the platforming was a little less satisfying thanks to a couple of clunky moments that broke up the flow of the game, but it never felt like a problem that stopped me from having a good time playing.

Developer: Sam Enright
Publisher: United Label
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1543710/Beyond_Galaxyland/