XING: The Land Beyond
- September 21, 2017
- White Lotus Interactive
- 14h median play time
Get on Steam"XING: The Land Beyond" is a first-person puzzle adventure game set in the afterlife. Players traverse diverse and stunning landscapes, solving complex puzzles to uncover the story of the inhabitants who once lived there. Using intuitive controls and a variety of tools, players must navigate and manipulate the environment to progress through this peaceful, yet mysterious world.
PC
Playstation 4
Steam Deck
Virtual Reality
Windows
PlayStation
PlayStation VR
Reviews
- Visually stunning environments with beautiful graphics and atmospheric sound design.
- Engaging puzzles that gradually increase in difficulty, providing a satisfying challenge.
- Relaxing gameplay experience that allows players to explore at their own pace without the pressure of combat.
- Some players may find the puzzles too easy or straightforward, lacking the depth of more complex puzzle games.
- Occasional technical issues, such as jumping mechanics and collision detection, can lead to frustration.
- The game can feel linear, with a lack of freedom in puzzle-solving compared to other titles in the genre.
- graphics101 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning visuals, beautiful environments, and immersive art style, often described as breathtaking and well-crafted. While some players noted minor glitches and performance issues, the overall presentation is considered top-notch, enhancing the gameplay experience significantly. Many reviews highlight the game's ability to create a relaxing atmosphere through its graphics and sound design, making it a visually appealing choice for puzzle game enthusiasts.
“The game's visuals and art style are absolutely gorgeous, the locations are lush, interesting to explore, and carefully crafted.”
“Gorgeous graphics, great presentation, good story, well-executed puzzles, decent game length, and amazing music and atmosphere.”
“Amazing graphics, great music, incredibly immersive, brilliant unique puzzles, sexy weather effects, night and day cycles...the list goes on.”
“The worlds were very nice to look at, although unfortunately I had to have the graphics on the lowest settings on my laptop.”
“Even with a GTX 980 Ti, I had to turn the graphics down to medium, and even then I barely got 100 FPS at 1080p.”
“The one problem with this game is that it's resource hungry, and you're going to need a beefy PC to run it, unless you turn the graphics settings down a lot.”
- story88 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is a collection of poignant, poetic narratives centered around individuals who have passed away, exploring themes of life, death, and the afterlife. While some players appreciate the atmospheric storytelling and emotional depth, others criticize the execution, particularly the use of rhyming couplets and the lack of integration between puzzles and narrative. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a backdrop to the gameplay, with varying degrees of engagement and impact depending on individual preferences.
“The story will draw you in, the puzzles are creative and fun, and the graphics are stunning.”
“Instead of telling just one story, 'Xing: The Land Beyond' tells you many seemingly different ones in a beautiful and poetic way, only to unite them all at the end.”
“These characters narrate their story in an eloquent and poetic fashion, which keeps you engaged throughout the 20+ hour journey.”
“I enjoyed this early on, but ultimately the insipid storytelling (rhyming couplets are literally never a good idea), awful first-person platforming, and puzzles with increasingly complex and annoying execution requirements (time spent solving puzzles should be spent thinking, not running around a level to implement a solution!) dragged it down.”
“The game isn't really story-heavy, but does have story threads in every level with melancholy accounts of people's lives as they head towards the afterlife.”
“Not only do they all end in death (which may be expected since you're playing through the afterlife), it's also often a sad and senseless death that provides little closure for the story.”
- music75 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to create a relaxing atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience with soothing soundscapes that complement the visuals. While some players noted occasional repetitiveness in the tracks, the majority found the soundtrack to be well-crafted and integral to the game's ambiance. Overall, the combination of impressive sound design and a captivating score contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it a standout feature for many reviewers.
“I particularly enjoyed the beautiful soundtrack which somehow made it all worthwhile.”
“The music is soothing, and a bit sad.”
“The soundtrack is well done and you can feel the impact of it in each world as you progress through the story and find out more about the characters, as the music also changes progressively.”
“I ended up muting the music and listening only to the natural sounds (rain, wind, birds, etc.), which was nice and relaxing.”
“The music was irritating, so I turned that off.”
“Maybe to emphasize an important event or area you have entered, but this music mostly plays on a loop over and over and it is just terrible.”
- gameplay60 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by intuitive mechanics and a smooth learning curve, with puzzles that range from easy to challenging, often requiring innovative solutions involving environmental manipulation like changing the weather and time of day. While the game features beautiful graphics and varied mechanics, some players found the platforming elements and certain puzzle introductions to be frustrating or confusing. Overall, the experience is enjoyable, though it is noted for its linear progression and occasional gameplay bugs.
“It's beautiful, quite original, the puzzles are smart and challenging but not impossible (and don't have only one way to reach the solution), the mechanics and gameplay are intuitive and smooth, you can check your status any time and, well, I'm just loving it!”
“The puzzle mechanics in Xing are mostly environmental, including fantastical feats of wizardry such as manipulating the weather, time of day, and direction of the wind.”
“Puzzles are well-thought-out and mechanics were easy to learn and apply.”
“Speaking of not being able to see the mechanic of swapping to night and day and having the world change is nice and all, but I found it hard to see in the dark, making me biased towards one world state, which made some puzzles more frustrating than they needed to be.”
“Unlike a journey through the universe of Myst or Antichamber, no mystery, real or imagined, looms overhead driving you forward, as the puzzles are a purely mechanical means to travel the full length of a beautiful corridor; there exists no choice in where to look or what to solve first, and neither a satisfying moment of feeling clever nor a hunger to learn more about the world you’re passing through will overcome you.”
“The main con of this game on the gameplay front is the save system.”
- atmosphere27 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its meditative and tranquil qualities, enhanced by beautiful graphics, varied environments, and an exceptional soundtrack. Players appreciate the unique blend of soothing ambiance with darker storytelling elements, creating an immersive experience that complements the engaging puzzles. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making it a must-play for fans of atmospheric puzzle adventures.
“This game's main appeal to me comes from its meditative, tranquil atmosphere and gorgeous, varied environments.”
“I should mention the incredible sound design and music - not only are they beautifully implemented in a certain unusual way, but also they are essential for creating a truly relaxing, cozy atmosphere of the game.”
“The game builds up an immersive, engaging and magical atmosphere from the very beginning.”
“Considering the otherwise very soothing and relaxing atmosphere, the stories are surprisingly dark and morbid.”
“It's mostly about the atmosphere and the spoon-fed poetic story snippets along the way.”
“There's a very chill, new age (occasionally schmaltzy) feel to the story and atmosphere.”
- optimization20 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews; while some players report excellent performance and smooth gameplay, particularly in non-VR mode, others have experienced significant performance issues, especially in VR. Many users noted that graphics settings are plentiful and allow for customization, but some still found the game poorly optimized compared to other titles. Overall, the developers are actively working on updates to improve performance, which has been acknowledged by several players.
“Well-optimized graphics, natural locomotion, beautiful environments, tons of content, no long loading screens.”
“I had no performance issues, I played it in non-VR, and it runs perfectly maxed at over 100 frames per second on my 2080.”
“The developers have also been hard at work updating to fix bugs and performance since its launch, and it shows.”
“VR is very demanding, but it also feels poorly optimized compared to other good-looking VR games I've played.”
“The game suffers from some serious performance issues.”
“While nice graphics come at a cost, part of the problem is just poor optimization.”
- emotional7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game evokes a range of emotions, from deep sorrow reminiscent of loss to a sense of peace and spirituality, enhanced by breathtaking environments and heartfelt storytelling. While some players appreciate the emotional depth and immersive experience, others feel that the execution of its themes may fall short despite the writer's intentions. Overall, it offers a unique emotional journey that combines beauty, reflection, and challenge.
“The game can be a bit emotional, giving the feeling of the first moment you stop crying after learning someone you cared for died.”
“The story on this level gave it an additional emotional impact.”
“Outstanding: an emotional experience to view, involve yourself in, and to listen to as you're playing.”
- stability7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- -29 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with most players reporting only minor glitches that do not significantly impact gameplay. While some users noted occasional graphical issues and long loading times, these were not considered game-breaking. A few players experienced imperfections in specific mechanics, but the overall experience remains stable and enjoyable.
“The graphics are beautiful, and I haven't encountered any glitches.”
“The game runs smoothly without any crashes or performance issues.”
“I appreciate the consistent frame rate, which enhances the overall experience.”
“I did see a few graphical glitches where glowing elements of objects would appear through the environmental geometry.”
“Some rendering glitches (mostly in the last story area).”
“Additionally, game loading requires a very long time and there are some particle glitches - they could be seen only in the right eye, but not in the left.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, particularly with repetitive tasks like puzzle-solving and item collection. However, the engaging visuals and overall enjoyable experience help mitigate the boredom, making the journey more pleasant despite occasional monotony.
“Thankfully, there are no tedious achievements.”
“The grinding feels rewarding and keeps me engaged.”
“I love how the grind leads to meaningful progression in the game.”
“The action can be quite tedious at times, but the visuals helped make up for that - enjoy the journey, not the destination.”
“The puzzles are all tedious switch and key finding.”
“Overall, I never had much trouble going through them; they never felt tedious or frustrating, maybe a bit boring at times, but quite enjoyable for what the game was set to do.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
While the game features only four worlds, which limits overall replayability, players find value in revisiting earlier stages to collect missed runes, providing some incentive for multiple playthroughs.
“But I'm missing a few runes on previous stages, so there's definite replay value.”
“There are only 4 worlds to visit, and even with the extra runes you have to collect, there is limited replayability.”
“I'm missing a few runes on previous stages, so there's definite replay value.”
