Between Horizons

About

"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

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 330 reviews

story143 positive mentions

grinding10 negative mentions

Engaging story with interesting moral dilemmas and character development.
Challenging puzzles that require logical deduction and exploration.
Beautiful pixel art style and atmospheric soundtrack enhance the overall experience.

Game can feel linear with less impactful decisions compared to its predecessor, Lacuna.
User interface can be clunky, making it difficult to manage evidence and clues.
Some puzzles may be frustratingly vague or require backtracking, which can disrupt the flow of gameplay.

story
360 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
59%
1%
The story of "Between Horizons" is a compelling sci-fi mystery that revolves around Stella, the chief of security on a generation ship, as she navigates a series of investigations involving sabotage and moral dilemmas. While the narrative is engaging and features well-written characters, some players noted that it can feel linear and rushed at times, lacking depth in certain areas. Overall, the game successfully combines intriguing plot twists with a rich setting, making it a recommended experience for fans of story-driven detective games.
- “Between Horizons is an excellent game, and an excellent story, that speaks to what 'justice' or 'ethics' mean in small, remote communities.”
- “The story is excellent as well, in my opinion, boasting a large cast of distinct and memorable characters with understandable motivations.”
- “It especially shines in the story department, telling a compelling and gripping story over the course of 5 to 7 hours for your first playthrough.”
- “Despite the fact that your choices can somewhat impact the ending, the story felt linear.”
- “The story goes far too fast; I don't really have any connection to the crew, outside of my 'case-work'.”
- “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.”
gameplay
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
68%
4%
The gameplay is centered around detective work, combining investigation and deduction mechanics that allow players to gather information and solve cases, often with significant choices impacting the story. While many players appreciate the engaging detective elements and the weight of their decisions, some criticize the user interface and certain mechanics as unpolished or frustrating. Overall, the game offers a mix of exploration and case-solving that builds on the developer's previous title, "Lacuna," but may require adjustments for a smoother experience.
- “The detective gameplay is fun, and with the hardcore mode of choices matter (no manual saves), it really feels like your decisions have weight.”
- “Very good detective gameplay that strikes a good balance between being manageable and making you feel like an actual detective.”
- “With tight gameplay, a tense atmosphere, a fantastic soundtrack, and a story that delves into some deep themes, this game packs a punch even though it can be finished in 5-7 hours.”
- “However, the gameplay and user interface does not cut it for me.”
- “I liked the storyline and characters, but the gameplay, mystery logic, and game world are really unpolished.”
- “Running around blindly hoping to stumble across someone is not fun gameplay.”
graphics
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
39%
4%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their charming pixel art style and unique 2.5D visuals, which blend 2D and 3D elements effectively. Many reviewers noted the art direction as fantastic, contributing to a lively atmosphere, although some pointed out inconsistencies between character and background designs. Overall, the visuals are considered a significant improvement over the developer's previous work, enhancing the game's storytelling and immersive experience.
- “The game is visually stunning even though I generally don't care for pixelated art styles.”
- “It's 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.”
- “Digitales has taken everything they have learned from working on Lacuna to create a vastly improved experience with Between Horizons, whilst keeping their accessible gameplay and signature mixed 2D/3D graphics style.”
- “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).”
- “This is an extreme contrast to the background graphics and a complete break in style.”
- “What is a pixelated player character doing in a game with high-resolution background graphics?”
music
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
40%
5%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and fit the story, while others noted its repetitiveness and similarity across stages. Some players found the soundtrack memorable and worth purchasing, while others described it as forgettable. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's engaging narrative and retro aesthetic, despite some criticisms regarding its lack of variety.
- “Once again, Julian Colbus has come through with a wonderful soundtrack that I am purchasing to put on my phone right now.”
- “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 visual style, music, soundscape, and ambience is great and just sucks you right in!”
- “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
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
16%
9%
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its excellent writing, charming pixel art, and immersive sound design, creating a captivating experience. Reviewers highlight the effective blend of graphics, music, and narrative that enhances the overall mood, making it a standout in the point-and-click genre. The game's ability to evoke deep themes and maintain a tense atmosphere contributes to its engaging storytelling and replayability.
- “Digitales creates these fantastically atmospheric pixel sci-fi worlds that are an absolute pleasure to play in.”
- “With tight gameplay, a tense atmosphere, a fantastic soundtrack, and a story that delves into some deep themes, this game packs a punch even though it can be finished in 5-7 hours.”
- “Great atmosphere, enjoyable characters, challenging cases to solve, and multiple endings for story satisfaction and replayability.”
- “The atmosphere, graphics, music, and everything else are great.”
- “Overall atmosphere is top-notch.”
- “Between horizons looks much better, but still has that atmosphere, thankfully.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly due to the need to navigate the ship extensively to locate specific characters and the cumbersome evidence collection system. The puzzles often lack clarity, and frequent tutorial interruptions further disrupt the flow, making the experience feel unnecessarily drawn out. Many suggest that a more efficient travel system would alleviate some of the frustration associated with this grinding.
- “Evidence collects in a panel that, although you can sort by 'type'; so physical evidence/person/location lists, it is still one giant jumble of crap that is tedious to scour through when you're trying to find 'Steve the hick' that you met two chapters back and he's all the way down the bottom, except you can't remember what this pillock even looks like.”
- “It reduces the time, but not by much, so 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.”
- “You are constantly interrupted with tutorial pop-ups, grinding things to a halt.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
The game offers a moderate level of replayability, primarily due to its diverse choices that can lead to different outcomes, making it enjoyable for fans of story-driven detective games. While it may not reach the complexity of titles like Baldur's Gate 3, players can still find value in replaying for discussions and varied experiences. Overall, it provides a decent replay value, especially for those who appreciate narrative exploration.
- “It gives great replay value and discussions with friends!”
- “There's not much replayability, but if you like story-driven detective games, you will have a good time playing Between Horizons.”
- “There are a lot of different choices one can take, meaning there is a reasonable amount of replayability, even if it's not Baldur's Gate 3 when it comes to choices and consequences.”
- “There's not much replayability, but if you like story-driven detective games, you will have a good time playing Between Horizons.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game received mixed feedback, with some players experiencing impactful moments while others felt a lack of emotional depth, particularly in character development and relationships. Many reviewers noted that the protagonist appeared emotionally stunted, which diminished their connection to the story and its outcomes. Overall, there is a consensus that enhancing character depth and emotional engagement could significantly improve future installments.
- “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.”
- “Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel as emotionally involved with the outcome of the game other than getting the ending that I think was the good one.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game has received mixed feedback; while some players report a smooth experience with no bugs or visual glitches, others have encountered significant issues, particularly with branching dialogue and UI glitches. Overall, many suggest waiting for patches to address these bugs, despite praising the game's concept and graphics.
- “I will say, it's quite buggy, with a lot of branching dialogue issues at the moment (a few days after release), so I might wait a couple of weeks for things to get ironed out, but the concept and puzzle system of the game are well done, and it is graphically beautiful.”
- “The choices feel real (note: but see below for the UI glitches).”
- “The choices feel real (note: but see below for the UI glitches).”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
Reviewers note that while the game effectively centers on its mystery, it sacrifices deeper character development, particularly for side characters. Many feel that a slower introduction with more slice-of-life elements could have enhanced the emotional depth and growth of the characters. Overall, the focus on plot over character exploration leaves some players wanting more.
- “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 a lot of the side characters, but the game's focus is clearly more on the mystery rather than the characters.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is praised for its excellent optimization, with users reporting that it runs very smoothly without any performance issues.
- “It runs as smooth as butter, so I can't complain about performance.”