Developed By: Avis Games
Published By: Purple Play
Categories: Adventure, Puzzle
Release Date: 9.13.24
Price: $9.99

I didn’t really pay attention to Deep Beyond when it first came out, but it caught my attention last month because of the art style. All I knew about it at the time was that it was a short, narrative-driven experience with a beautiful look. That was good enough for me so I gave it a shot.

The whole experience was shorter than I would have liked and it was pretty dull at times, but the experience was solid. Why did I find it to be dull? Well, at it’s core, Deep Beyond is basically a walking simulator with a few light puzzles here and there.

Walk around the remains of a crashed plane. Walk around your home island. Do some more underwater walking. It’s a game of endless walking from point a to point b. I wasn’t a fan of this, but the rest of the game was great. The art style is fantastic, the characters are interesting, and there’s a ton of full voice acting. 

If Deep Beyond was a long game, I think the amount of walking would have ruined the experience, but for a game you can finish in an hour, the walking is annoying, but not as annoying as it could have been, so I tolerated it until the end. 

The story itself is pretty shallow but there’s at least some intrigue and the characters keep the story going pretty well. 

The game follows Lilly, a young woman whose father disappeared at sea when she was a kid. She was raised by her father’s archeologist friend Howard, who has been searching for a chalice that’s been lost at the bottom of the sea.

But things don’t quite go as planned as Lilly becomes tasked with not only helping Howard find the chalice but also rescuing him from danger. All that and more is covered in an hour of walking, dialogue, and puzzles, and they aren’t always conveyed in the best way possible.

But it gets the job done, and for a game that only costs $10, it does it well. If you want action or a real adventure, this isn’t the game for you. But it’s a bite-sized experience with beautiful visuals if you can get past the walking and story.

Overall, Deep Beyond has as much narrative depth as a ten-minute visual novel but the art style and voice acting really stand out. You’ll probably get bored of the excessive walking and often annoying puzzles but for a game that can be beaten in an hour, it’s a solid pickup.

3.5/5