Beyond Sunset has amazing level design and presentation. Both visuals and design of play areas and arenas make the most out of GZDOOM's advanced geometry and rendering ability. So many fights have environmental surprises in how they expand, change, or appear while you fight in them. Sunset City is the best environment in a GZDOOM game I've yet seen.
Playing Beyond Sunset is fun, but encounters have not had enough time on them to match the quality of the world they occur in. Lucy's arsenal is a low-power, low-utility duo of weapons that, while enough to beat encounters, don't output enough to feel like they can be effectively used. On the hidden 'Challenge' Mode, the extreme difference in player and enemy weapon effectiveness makes fights into protracted spraydowns between frenetic powerkilling, rather than the glass-cannon pouncing I expect was intentional. And even if it wasn't, spending a solid 3 seconds hosing down a robot isn't always enjoyable.
Beyond Sunset is definitely still worth it now, but I do hope its middle chapters get a refresh before its Early Access period ends. I feel the game's strengths fade as it goes on.
Playing Beyond Sunset is fun, but encounters have not had enough time on them to match the quality of the world they occur in. Lucy's arsenal is a low-power, low-utility duo of weapons that, while enough to beat encounters, don't output enough to feel like they can be effectively used. On the hidden 'Challenge' Mode, the extreme difference in player and enemy weapon effectiveness makes fights into protracted spraydowns between frenetic powerkilling, rather than the glass-cannon pouncing I expect was intentional. And even if it wasn't, spending a solid 3 seconds hosing down a robot isn't always enjoyable.
Beyond Sunset is definitely still worth it now, but I do hope its middle chapters get a refresh before its Early Access period ends. I feel the game's strengths fade as it goes on.