Between Horizons

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"Between Horizons" is a 2.5D pixel art adventure game set aboard the Zephyr, humanity's first generation ship. As Stella, the Chief of Security, you must investigate a conspiracy that threatens the ship's mission and social order. With a branching narrative and semi-open world, this game offers increased player agency in the investigation process and challenges players to make tough decisions that will question their moral compass.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

93%

Audience ScoreBased on 118 reviews

story51 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

The game features a compelling story set on a generation ship, exploring interesting societal dilemmas and moral questions.
Puzzles are well-designed and require logical deduction, making players feel like true detectives as they gather clues and solve cases.
The art style and atmosphere are beautifully crafted, enhancing the overall experience and immersing players in the game's unique setting.

The user interface can be clunky and disorganized, making it difficult to manage evidence and navigate through the game's various elements.
There is a lack of clear guidance on what to do next, leading to potential frustration as players may find themselves backtracking unnecessarily.
Some players felt that character development was lacking, with limited interactions that did not fully flesh out the supporting cast.

story
120 mentions
43 % positive mentions
55 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The story of the game is a captivating blend of science fiction and detective elements, set aboard a generational spaceship facing societal dilemmas and moral quandaries. Players navigate through a series of intriguing cases that influence the narrative, with choices impacting the outcome and character development. While the pacing and character depth have received mixed feedback, the overall writing, atmosphere, and plot twists have been praised for creating an engaging and immersive experience.
- “Its story plays off of some very interesting societal dilemmas which we are facing in the real world right now as well.”
- “The writing and story are engaging, and everything eventually comes together beautifully.”
- “The story is good, the mystery unraveling knot by knot, and the pacing is on point.”
- “The game world is not very interactive other than what is barely needed to push the story along, and most of the investigation process is fumbling around between the huge pile of evidence and your case notes to write down the nibbles of data and eventually deduce the answer.”
- “Story-wise, I felt it was a bit rushed, didn't go deep enough, and kept throwing in too many characters that had no or little time to actually be of any importance.”
- “Overall though the story writing was solid, I hope the devs cook up another one but take some notes from Shadows of Doubt - a freeform evidence handler and allow the user to assign their own cases to drop evidence into and draw their own conclusions.”
gameplay
27 mentions
30 % positive mentions
59 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The gameplay is centered around detective work, involving investigation and deduction mechanics that allow players to gather information and solve cases. While some players appreciate the engaging detective elements and the logical conclusions they can reach, others criticize the user interface and certain mechanics, such as the object highlighting system, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the gameplay is a mixed bag, with strengths in its detective elements but weaknesses in execution and polish.
- “Gameplay is mostly detective work, spruced in with choices you have to make about the mission and the lives of everyone aboard Zephyr.”
- “Very good detective gameplay that strikes a good balance between being manageable and making you feel like an actual detective.”
- “Good plot, to-the-point writing, gameplay doesn't waste your time and it is up to you to come to the (right) conclusions, so it's a game which takes the player seriously.”
- “However, the gameplay and user interface does not cut it for me.”
- “If you are looking for classic point-and-click with gathering and combining objects, I can tell you: it's not included in this game; look no further if this mechanic is vital for you.”
- “I liked the storyline and characters, but the gameplay, mystery logic, and game world are really unpolished.”
graphics
23 mentions
57 % positive mentions
30 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
The game features a unique 2.5D art style that blends pixel graphics with a vibrant atmosphere, creating a visually engaging experience reminiscent of classic point-and-click games. While the overall aesthetic is praised for its beauty and personality, some players note inconsistencies in the graphical quality between characters and environments, as well as minor technical issues. Overall, the graphics are well-received, contributing positively to the game's storytelling and immersive qualities.
- “It has a really unique 2.5D art style I haven't seen much before, and the art direction is just fantastic; everything feels so personable and alive.”
- “The pixel graphics are nicely animated and serve the atmosphere well.”
- “And so far, they have exceeded my expectations: I love the new 2.5D graphics and the setting.”
- “However, there are minor technical quirks, like a somewhat clunky interface and a graphics style that feels uneven (characters deserve more pixels, the environment could do with less, so that it feels more akin to pixel art adventure games instead of Octopath Traveler -- but maybe that's just me, as I do not like the mixed style much).”
- “Let's talk about the graphics.”
- “Overall, story, setting, visuals, music, voice acting and well-designed puzzles combine to make a really engaging sci-fi thriller.”
music
18 mentions
50 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and fit the story's tone. However, some players find the soundtrack repetitive and forgettable, lacking variety across different stages. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's ambiance, it may not leave a lasting impression for all players.
- “Solid detective game all around and the soundtrack/atmosphere blend really well.”
- “The story is interesting, the music is great, and the voice acting is good when it's there.”
- “The music does a great job of capturing both the sci-fi and mystery moods of the game, and provides a good ambience while usually not being too attention-grabbing.”
- “The biggest issues I have is probably the music feeling very samey and looping over and over again, and not having more options for chapter selection to try out the different endings/choices.”
- “The music was repetitive and traversal was janky, but overall bearable.”
- “The music is fine, but entirely forgettable.”
atmosphere
10 mentions
70 % positive mentions
30 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its captivating blend of art, sound, and storytelling, creating an immersive experience reminiscent of classic point-and-click adventures. Players appreciate the richly detailed pixel art and the engaging sci-fi worlds, which enhance the overall enjoyment and replayability of the game. Overall, the atmosphere is considered top-notch, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “Solid detective game all around, and the soundtrack and atmosphere blend really well.”
- “The story and atmosphere are gripping, and I had fun trying to find out what everything is about.”
- “Digitales creates these fantastically atmospheric pixel sci-fi worlds that are an absolute pleasure to play in.”
emotional
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players have noted that while the game contains emotionally impactful moments, the lack of character development, particularly for key figures and the protagonist's relationships, detracts from the overall emotional engagement. Many felt disconnected from the outcome, with the protagonist's limited emotional expression contributing to a sense of detachment from the narrative. Overall, there is a consensus that enhancing character depth could significantly improve the emotional resonance in future titles.
- “Some moments in the game made me emotional, and there were great 'aha!' moments.”
- “I wish some of the more important characters had been fleshed out more, as well as the protagonist's relationship with them, to give them more emotional depth and meaning. This is definitely a point that could be improved in the developer's next game.”
- “The character you play as comes across as emotionally stunted, given how little time they get to express anything. At the end of the intro, it was almost comedic how quickly things went from 'a chase' to 'guy stuck in door' to 'oh, we're at a funeral' to 'oh, we're in bed again.'”
grinding
3 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and often pointless, as it does not significantly reduce travel time and can disrupt gameplay with frequent tutorial interruptions. The need to navigate the ship to locate specific characters adds to the frustration, while puzzles vary in difficulty, contributing to an overall sense of annoyance.
- “It reduces the time, but not by much, so it feels pointless: either the player wants to travel on foot to discover new things or they want to go somewhere specific, in which case a 'move to room' travel system would have been far less tedious.”
- “Tedious in places having to run around every part of the ship to try to find specific characters to talk to; the puzzles are either too easy or annoyingly unclear about what you are supposed to do.”
- “You are constantly interrupted with tutorial pop-ups, grinding things to a halt.”
stability
3 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Overall, user experiences with stability are mixed; while some players report a smooth performance with no bugs or visual glitches, others have encountered significant issues, particularly with branching dialogue and UI glitches. It appears that the game may require further updates to address these bugs and improve overall stability.
- “I will say, it's quite buggy, with a lot of branching dialogue issues at the moment, so I might wait a couple of weeks for things to get ironed out.”
- “The choices feel real, but there are UI glitches that detract from the experience.”
character development
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
-100 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the main narrative is engaging, character development, particularly for side characters, feels underexplored due to the game's focus on mystery. Additionally, a faster-paced introduction leaves little room for deeper character exploration, suggesting that incorporating slice-of-life elements could enhance character depth.
- “The intro's pacing is too fast; I think having some slice-of-life elements after the funeral would have helped with character development.”
- “In a longer game, I would have liked to see more character development from many of the side characters, but the game's focus is clearly more on the mystery rather than the characters.”
- “The main character feels one-dimensional, and the lack of depth in their backstory makes it hard to connect with them.”
- “While the game has an interesting premise, the character arcs are underdeveloped, leaving players wanting more substance and growth.”
replayability
1 mentions
200 % positive mentions
-400 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
The game offers a decent level of replayability due to the variety of choices available, though it may not reach the depth of options and consequences found in titles like Baldur's Gate 3.
- “The game offers multiple paths and endings, encouraging players to explore different strategies and decisions, which significantly enhances its replayability.”
- “With various character builds and storylines to experience, each playthrough feels fresh and engaging, making you want to dive back in for more.”
- “There are a lot of different choices one can make, meaning there is a reasonable amount of replayability, even if it's not on the level of Baldur's Gate 3 when it comes to choices and consequences.”
- “The game lacks significant variations in outcomes, making multiple playthroughs feel repetitive and unfulfilling.”
- “While there are some branching paths, the overall experience doesn't change enough to warrant replaying the game multiple times.”