Game Review: Deep Beyond

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Sometimes I wish that something like the short story or short film format exists within video games, as I think it would help classify many titles. Obviously shorter games exist, but it's strange to see them often lumped together with larger games, or even open world experiences. Enter Deep Beyond. Deep Beyond is a short, first-person interactive thriller that is coming soon to consoles following an earlier release on Steam. We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today, and see if this shorter title is worth creating an entire new genre over. There's really no need for further intro, so let's dive right in!

Deep Beyond places you into the role of Lilly, a young girl who's hunting down an artifact that may point to a treasure that her father lost his life trying to find. This isn't an Indiana Jones-type deal though, Lilly is a deep sea diver foraging through shipwrecks and the like for her lost artifacts. While the entire adventure seems like a simple treasure hunt at first, things take a dangerous turn when some shady looking people show up looking for treasure too. From there, the narrative takes many twists and turns, and the stakes are raised to their highest. Though I'm going to refrain from discussing any further plot details, rest assured that the game delivers one that is both well-written and perfectly paced. Said pacing is actually fairly brisk, as Deep Beyond falls into that short game genre I mentioned at the start of the review. Brief though it may be, the story it tells is very entertaining, and that's a good thing considering how important of a factor that is in a game that doesn't have a lot of gameplay in it.

Discussing Deep Beyond's gameplay is a rather tricky subject, as it really doesn't have much of it. Calling this an interactive movie wouldn't be an incorrect statement, and the few puzzles found within the game aren't really worth mentioning in detail. There are some light adventure game mechanics, but they're all impossible to fail, and feature the most basic of solutions. Part of me wonders if this started life as a VR game before moving to a standard first-person adventure game, as it has all the hallmarks of one. There is no set fail state, there are no "wrong" solutions, and the game never lets you backtrack. It's one straight path to the end, and the few breaks for gameplay feel like they're there just so you stay invested. Though this might seem like it would be a negative, I'm not sure I see it that way. Though light on actual gameplay, the focus on narrative does trim away anything that could be considered padding. There's no fluff at all here, and every single scene and action serves a purpose. This is not a game that wastes your time. It may be a bit direct in how it guides you along, but that can be forgiven when the plot and characters are as good as the ones found here.

Presentation-wise, I can't help but feel that that those playing Deep Beyond on the Nintendo Switch got the short end of the stick. It's by no means an ugly game, but the visuals are like night and day when compared to those found on the PlayStation 5. I guess that's to be expected when a game releases across such widely differing platforms, but I felt it was worth pointing out nonetheless. That aside, Deep Beyond has a visual style that's very charming and appealing, even if I was a bit put off by the lack of eyes or facial features on most of the characters. That was such an odd decision that I had to make sure it existed on other platforms, and it does. That small complaint aside, and keeping in mind that the Switch version is a bit behind the times visually, I can say that the visuals are rather impressive.

Things are just as good in the audio department, with the game's soundtrack having a distinct cinematic feel to it. None of the music ever particularly stood out, but it did a good job accentuating whatever scene it was in. There's even a vocal song that opens up the game that's pretty good too. The game is also fully voiced, and the voice actors all did a great job bringing the characters to life. Admittedly the acting did feel a little stiff here and there, but that's to be expected in indie titles I think. I would probably give the audio a perfect score if not for the fact that the voice samples all seemed to have been recorded using sub-par equipment. The voice audio randomly peaks, and often sounds extremely compressed. I'm not sure if it was an issue with bitrates and mastering, or if something went wrong in the recording studio, but it took me out of the game more than once. Thankfully it only gets truly noticeable a handful of times, but it's unfortunate since everything else was pulled off so well.

I was able to reach the end of Deep Beyond in about an hour, and I can't see anyone taking much longer than that due to how the game is structured. There are multiple endings, but they all involve a single choice at the end of the game that you can simply jump forward to if you want to see them all. This shorter length doesn't necessarily detract from the game, since it feels like watching a short film, or maybe even an episode of a good TV series. What is harder to justify though is its price. At the time of this writing it sits on the Nintendo eShop at $9.99, and I assume that's similar across its other console versions. Not only is that price a bit high considering the amount of content one gets, but it's also twice as high as its current price on Steam. (It currently sits at $4.99 there.) That makes the game a very hard sale, and made me wish it was set at $4.99 or lower.

Though I have some reservations about its current price, I whole-heartedly recommend picking up Deep Beyond if you're a fan of narrative-driven games. Adventure game fans might find something to enjoy here too, but the limited gameplay might leave them wanting more. I guess one can try to pick it up on sale to get around my one big caveat, but I'd still say get this one however you can. It's a great cozy experience that I don't regret going on, and the ending made me want to see a follow up or sequel one day. If that happens, I promise to review it too. See you in the next one!

Check Out Deep Beyond on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/deep-beyond-switch/

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Story: A
Gameplay: A
Graphics: B+
Music/Sound: A
Value: B

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A well-paced game that plays very much like an interactive movie.
+ Though the Nintendo Switch version feels a bit rough around the edges, the graphics and art style look very near amazing.
+ The story is well paced and written, and its many twists and turns will leave players on the edge of their seats.
+ Both music and voice acting are top notch, even if the audio sampling with the latter leaves something to be desired.
+ Oh, and you can pet the dog!

Cons:
- This is a very short game, and there isn't much reason to play it again after you beat it outside of wanting to experience it again.
- Actual gameplay is extremely limited, with the game basically shepherding you along the correct path at all times.
- Some quirks of the visual style, like the apparent lack of eyes and facial features for the characters, feel like odd choices.
- Its current $9.99 price (on consoles at least) seems a bit high for the amount of content one gets.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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You can pet the dog!

#Narration