Beyond the Long Night
- October 20, 2021
- Noisy Head Games
- 5h median play time
Beyond the Long Night is an entertaining twin stick roguelike, but the constant time pressure it provides won't appeal to everyone.
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Get on itch.io Store"Beyond the Long Night" is a twin-stick action roguelike game set in a charming subterranean world filled with monsters, secrets, and cute characters. Explore the Dark Mountain and puzzle, upgrade, and battle your way through three randomly generated areas to outrun a deadly storm and escape to the Overworld beyond. Uncover a trail of mysteries in this ancient kingdom of demigods and explorers, all while unleashing chaos with your arsenal of weapons and superpowers.
Mac OS
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a charming aesthetic with engaging characters and a captivating story that unfolds as you progress.
- It offers a unique blend of puzzle-solving and exploration, encouraging players to pay attention to details and dialogue for a richer experience.
- The gameplay loop is enjoyable, with a variety of power-ups and upgrades that can lead to interesting builds and strategies.
- The game suffers from performance issues, including long load times and poor optimization, which can detract from the overall experience.
- Visual clarity is often lacking, making it difficult to track enemies and projectiles amidst the chaos on screen.
- Many players find the game to be tedious and lacking in variety, with some mechanics feeling poorly designed or frustrating.
- story12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The story in the game is engaging and unfolds progressively through puzzle-solving, which also unlocks upgrades. While some players find it challenging to fully grasp the narrative, the charming characters and clever storytelling keep the experience enjoyable. The game offers an easy mode for those who prefer to focus on the story without the pressure of difficulty, making it accessible for various playstyles.
“The story is interesting and keeps progressing each run.”
“Very charming and fantastic sound design enveloped with an interesting story that you piece together yourself with all the little clues the unique characters throw at you.”
“Combined with clever and compelling storytelling.”
“Although I wanted to grind out the last few storylines, I found it feeling a little like work and didn't want to tarnish my charming, memorable playthrough of Beyond the Long Night.”
“I still don't completely understand the story despite having beaten the game (I am still missing some 12% of the story, though), but that's not an issue.”
“There's also an easy mode for those who mostly want to play for the story or just don't want to be punished too much.”
- gameplay10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring thoughtful mechanics like "the storm" that encourage progression, but also suffers from pacing issues and a lack of meaningful progression. While combat is smooth and the overall experience is enjoyable with a solid loop and variety from power-ups, some players find it poorly designed and frustrating compared to other roguelikes. Overall, it offers a simple yet fun experience, enhanced by a great soundtrack and visuals, but may not satisfy those seeking depth in gameplay.
“There are mechanics in the game that are incredibly thoughtful and deserve lots of praise for how perfect they accomplish multiple goals, one of them being 'the storm', a force that forces you to progress faster up the mountain, even if that means skipping some rooms you haven't seen.”
“Combat is smooth and almost every run reveals a little bit more about both the world and mechanics.”
“While the gameplay is simple, it adds variety with all the power-ups you can find on your journey and the combos you can come up with are insane!”
“I wish I could say something good, but the lack of progression and even using the custom difficulty to my advantage isn't enough to make a difference in your gameplay.”
“It's a mess of poorly designed mechanics and quite possibly the worst-paced roguelike on the market.”
“I do recommend it for its overall feel, themes, and polish; however, the gameplay loop is one of the biggest misses in the genre.”
- music5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its amazing soundtrack and sublime sound design, contributing to a relaxing and enjoyable gameplay experience. Players appreciate how the music enhances the overall atmosphere, making it a delightful backdrop to the engaging characters and story.
“Simple and fun gameplay, amazing soundtrack, and nice visual style; definitely a relaxing way to pass some time.”
“Everything from the music to the fun characters you meet as the story unfolds.”
“Also, the soundtrack and sound design are sublime!”
“The soundtrack and sound design are sublime!”
“The music is very chill.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some appreciate the effort required to unlock the true ending, many describe it as mundane, slow, and tedious, particularly due to poorly designed traps that detract from the overall enjoyment.
“It's certainly not bad, but it's incredibly mundane, slow, boring, and at times quite tedious.”
“I love a bullet hell dodging game that allows for exploration, but the barely visible traps that will snipe you, along with the rooms that are just traps, feel tedious and cheap.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, with long loading times and frequent stutters even on high-end PCs, resulting in a maximum of only 30 fps. Players express concern that a pixelated game should perform better, especially on lower-end systems, as poor performance could alienate a substantial portion of the potential player base.
“For a game like this, it is important to run smoothly on weaker setups; otherwise, you might lose out on a fairly big player base.”
“The variety aside, one of the biggest problems currently, in my opinion, is the performance. A pixelated game like this should run quite smoothly on low-end setups; however, the max I ever got was around 30 fps.”
“It is incredibly poorly optimized, takes forever to load and generate a map, and even with a couple of upgrades, you get stutters and slowdowns on a good PC.”
“The variety aside, one of the biggest problems currently, in my opinion, is the performance - a pixelated game like this should run quite smoothly on low-end setups; however, the max I ever got was around 30 fps.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability due to its abundance of secrets, encouraging players to explore and experience it multiple times.
“Filled with secrets and has great replayability; I'm still not done while writing this.”
“The game offers so many different paths and choices that I find myself coming back for more.”
“Each playthrough feels fresh and exciting, thanks to the variety of challenges and outcomes.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users find the humor in the game lacking, particularly when technical issues, such as problems with keybinding and mouse functionality, detract from the overall experience.
- graphics1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users have noted that the game lacks adjustable graphic settings, which can hinder performance on lower-end PCs, making it difficult for some players to enjoy the visuals.
“Unfortunately, my PC can't run this well, and there are no graphic settings to tune it down.”
“The graphics look outdated and lack the detail expected from modern games.”
“I was disappointed by the low resolution textures that make everything look blurry.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the initial gameplay experience, noting that the low drop rates and lack of engaging content in the first 15 minutes diminish emotional investment and enjoyment, potentially leading to a loss of interest in the game.
