I hate recommending a game as a “hidden gem” these days as so many people/writers/gamers claim so many other games worthy of that title. With so many “hidden gems” out there, it diminishes the value of the ones that truly are. Yet here I am saying Beyond Galaxyland is a hidden gem of a game. There simply is no other way to describe it.
The end of the world has happened. You play as a high school student named Doug. After chasing after his pet guinea pig down a country path, Doug is accosted by a strange being. This leads Doug to run away into some caves and into a portal that will change his life forever.
Upon awakening, he finds himself in a galaxy far, far away, only to be told that Earth is no more. It has been wiped out by a force called “The End”, and Galaxyland is a place where the DreamCore corporation has rescued all kinds of beings from all kinds of planets to put the survivors into one place.
Once Doung gets his bearings and finds his genetically altered pet “Boom Boom” is now grown and can carry a gun, (yes, a guinea pig with a gun!), Doug starts to explore his surroundings and eventually starts to question what he’s being told by the big, all-knowing, all-powerful corporation.
I could carry on, but hopefully, you can start to see just how well-crafted and interesting this superb story is. The story also includes a wonderful cast of characters, some with their own side stories to explore. However, Doug himself, for example, is very lonely, and that raw sense is expertly delivered in the narrative.
As well as the excellent story, the pixel art style is gorgeous. I’m not a huge fan of pixel art games, if I’m honest, but I can still appreciate just how achingly beautiful this game is. It literally is a game of art. Occasionally, some areas are bland, but for the rest of the game, there is an amazing 2.5 screen that has a superb sense of depth, with wonderful and interesting artwork all over the screen.
One of the most striking moments is actually in the very first scene. A creature within his spaceship with high-contrast green displays on the monitors over a dark background. The lighting here and throughout the entire adventure accentuates the beautiful scenes in the game as well.
Despite being pixel art, there were still a lot of wonderful animations and expressions to be seen. During conversations, beautifully drawn character models appear with their dialogue text displayed in speech bubbles.
Continuing with the art theme, the game’s audio, especially the soundtrack, is, again, excellent. There is a vast array of genres of tunes to listen to, each of them capable of making you bob your head in instant satisfaction. Combine this with some great audio for the weapons during combat, especially guns, and you, again, have a completely competent component of superb gaming standards.
The gameplay is a mix of four main aspects: exploration, turn-based combat, mini-games, and a comprehensive RPG element too. Of all of these, the weakest aspect by far is the exploration. You won’t tend to get lost in exploration, but you may at times struggle with the clunky and slightly awkward platforming. Very early in the game, Doug gains the ability to double jump, but this just doubled the randomness of the distance he seemed to go. Trying to get from one platform to the next did, unfortunately, become more of a trial of patience than actual skill.
However, all the other aspects of gameplay made up for this oversight. Combat is a very traditional turn-based affair but has a slight tweak of some real-time inputs needed to do things like defend at the right moment to lessen damage received. It’s very similar to the gameplay style of another great indie game called Sea of Stars.
Added to all this is the Pokemon-like ability to be able to capture enemies you face and then use them for future battles. You don’t necessarily spring a monster to fight for you, as some just give you buffs, etc, but some you will. Each enemy has elemental strengths and weaknesses, again, something to consider during battle.
The RPG aspects are actually fairly standard but solid, nonetheless. There is the ability to craft or buy consumables, as well as weapons/armor at a blacksmith. There are also accessories to find/buy that give players various passive buffs. It’s very standard stuff but very accessible and sensible in its application.
The mini-games come in a couple of varieties of either a puzzle to progress or a racing game for Boom Boom. Like the difficulty of the combat, nothing here was too hard. In fact, for any seasoned turn-based players, the game might come across as a little too easy during its 16 to 18-hour playthrough.
One of the only very few criticisms I’d give this game would be that the Switch version I was playing had very long longing screens, not only between scenes but in doing simple things like entering a shop. At times, they were so long that I wondered if the game had frozen.
The joy of the game, or as some would say, the ‘X factor’, is that when it’s put together, it makes for one hell of an intoxicating, interesting ride. I appreciated the wonderful characters and world designs that gave me a sense of either stepping into a bar from the Star Wars Universe full of diverse and interesting creatures to a vibrant and colorful planet the next.
The were also times when the story got a little dark, but this was handled with such a casual, professional aplomb that it meant those beats hit all the harder when you encountered them.
So, yes, it’s one of those brilliant games that will go under the radar of many but is an absolute joy to play. The proverbial “hidden gem”.
Summary
A wonderful, pixel art sci-fi adventure that is chock-full of quality in its presentation, gameplay aspects, audio, but most especially, the story and the narrative. It’s not often that you find such quality in such a small package. Anyone interested in a unique yet brilliant adventure should check this game out.
Developer: Sam Enright
Publisher: United Label
Platforms: PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam
Release Date: 24th September 2024
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Beyond Galaxyland was provided by the publisher.
