Beyond the Beyond

"Behind the times."

-Visuals 6/10-

While most people look for a good story to follow through any role playing game, you've got to have something to look at while you play, otherwise, you might as well be reading a book, or playing a table top game, instead of working your way through a video game.

The visuals of the game are grainy, and pixalated to a point of where it's apparent that not much time was spent in making much of a visual game out of Beyond the Beyond. In the days of such games like Final Fantasy VII and VIII and even Lunar: Sivel Star Story complete, this game is ranked low in terms of what to look at.

Flat characters through the battle scenes, and a less than average selection of enemies to fight, Beyond the Beyond doesn't give you the 'movie-style' visual that you would come to expect out of any good RPG. Half of any RPG is what you see, the other half is what you read...well, this one fails in terms of what you see.

The magic, is rather dull, and doesn't give you much of a thrill to look at when it's cast, but rather dulls the senses and doesn't make you say ''Holy ****'', but ''Eh, that kinda sucks''. Not nessicarily top notch in terms of visuals.

-Sound 6/10-

Bland music, weither it's traveling on the map, or fighting a battle, the game music doesn't keep you going enough to not hit play on the CD player and listen to something other than what this game has to offer...again, another downgrade in terms of what an Role Playing game should offer you.

The sound effects...well...there isn't a varity here either. You have the usual, and sometimes below par sounds of swords clanging, and explosions when a magic spell is cast...other than that...you have nothing to go on, and really nothing to hear. Again, another instance of where you can play a CD, and listen to that, and really not miss anything in-game.

-Control 6/10-

Sluggish and non user friendly menus round out this section. Giving you a few options in battle by means of the usual battle menu, or just menus in general, sometimes you'll find yourself wading through a ton of them, just to use an item that you so desperately need, or select a magic spell that's placed at the bottom of your list.

While all of the menu set-ups can be changed, it's much more work to do that, than to just play through with the default settings...yet again, another instance of what not to do with a role-playing game....kill the player with a ton of menu's during a battle.

-Gameplay 6/10-

Slow...very very slow. It does offer you an involved storyline to follow, but where the storyline fades off, and you're left with nothing to do but travel, is where the gameplay slows down to an almost snail-like pace. There are several battles to fight in all sorts of environments...and in fact, there are sometimes too many battles and not enough healing items in your inventory to keep you going.

This is where another instance of what not to do with a role playing game comes in. If a role playing game is nothing but fighting wave after wave of enemies, why make it an RPG in the first place, instead of an action game? There isn't a reason for this, other than trying to pump the challenge level of the game up to an insanely hard level of where you can't really see much of the story, but be in a constant battle.

Also, the in-battle physics of the game are mismatched. The most powerful spell only does a certain amount of low damage, and this doesn't really change with the level gains that your characters go through in the course of the story. When you nail an enemy with something that is close to a critical hit, you get a low score of damage...but when the enemy nails you, you're lucky if you're not killed, or put under some sort of bad status..

In other words...this isn't fun...and it makes for some cheap, detestable RPG gameplay.

-Overall 6/10-

This game is behind the times. It doesn't have the graphics, it doesn't have the music or the sound, and it certainly doesn't have the gameplay that you would hope for out of any good Role Playing game. When you take a good, long look at this game, you'll see that it's really nothing more than one fierce beer coaster for your coffee table.

The game isn't worth a weekend rental, and you'll get very little bang for your buck if you purchase. On the other hand, if you like nothing but endless battles, low scoring damage, and such a high rate of getting yourself either lost or killed through the numerous battles, then this game is for you...if that's not your style, then avoid the game like a history mid-term.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/00, Updated 04/03/00