Beyond

About

Beyond is a single player action game. It was developed by NotLink and was released on August 22, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Top-down 2d dungeon-delving twin-stick shooter with a moody aesthetic, in which the player is a young adult that ventures into danger to defeat evil and put their family to rest.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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68%Audience ScoreBased on 19 reviews

graphics3 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Unique interactive storytelling with intriguing plot and strong performances by lead actors.
Impressive graphics and art style, especially considering its origins as a student project.
Well-designed combat mechanics and variety of weapons that add depth to gameplay.

Game suffers from frequent crashes and glitches, causing frustration and loss of progress.
Controls, especially jumping and dodging, feel unresponsive or overly sensitive.
Short game length with limited enemy variety and lack of save features reduce replayability.

gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The gameplay combines top-down twin-stick shooter mechanics with bullet-hell elements but lacks uniqueness, progression, and a sense of reward, leading to a frustrating experience. Technical issues like inconsistent jumping and locked controls further detract from enjoyment, while the 2D graphics and presentation feel lackluster. Overall, the gameplay is functional but uninspired and limited in depth.
- “Beyond merges the gameplay of top-view twin-stick shooter mechanics with bullet-hell gameplay.”
- “The mechanics are not unique, nor do they have any need to be.”
- “The developer could've drawn a couple of dozens of individual rooms, added a bit of procedural generation in dungeon layouts, with variables that slightly increase enemy hit points and quantity being generated, which could carry the game through hours of gameplay with increasing difficulty.”
- “Beyond the mechanics, I also find the lack of progression and the lack of any sense of gain at a loss to be frustrating.”
- “Gameplay is okay, jumping is a bit hit or miss and doesn't always work properly.”
- “The developer could have drawn a couple of dozen individual rooms, added some procedural generation in dungeon layouts, and included variables that slightly increase enemy hit points and quantity. This would allow the game to carry itself through hours of gameplay with increasing difficulty.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The graphics feature a 2D art style that is an improvement over Isaac but suffer from lackluster presentation and locked, unchangeable resolution with no available tweaks, limiting customization and visual satisfaction.
- “The graphics are better than Isaac.”
- “The art style is impressive.”
- “2D graphics with a unique style.”
- “There's also no graphics tweaks.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story is minimal and poorly explained, making it feel bland and generic compared to similar games like Binding of Isaac. However, the gameplay objectives remain clear despite the lack of narrative depth.
- “The story is not explained at all, which I kind of miss.”
- “It's a 2D top-down Binding of Isaac ripoff, with the somewhat dark, twisted story of Isaac replaced by a bland, generic fantasy/dungeon theme, and the enemies are gemstones instead of grotesque mutants.”
- “Even without the explanation of the story line, I understood pretty quickly what I'm supposed to do and what's my goal.”