The Pale Beyond

I just want to start off by clarifying that the Pale Beyond is not a horror or a mystery game. It's a survivor game which tells the stories of people trapped in extreme conditions with you having to lead them to safety. The game's strength is by far its story. The Main characters each have compelling backstories and goals which drive their personalities and conflicts with each other. The writing is great at writing nuance characters, no one on your crew is a bad or comically evil person however just like people in real life their flaws can cause conflict with others and you dealing with those things as a leader is the gripping part of the game. Even the minor members of the crew have been given enough information so you at least get an idea of who you're dealing and some even have a little arc. Honestly I can't imagine playing this game without the epilogue but even still I wish some of these minor characters also appear in the epilogue so we can get some closure on their small...

Played through his game in one 10-hour sitting, after having purchased it and waited on trying it out for over a year. I was surprised how much I had a sense for the entire crew of the ship (except for about 3-4) by the time I was in the second act on to the third. If you like the prospect of nautical travel through frozen, uncharted waters, then this game does a very good job of taking you there.

This game was incredible. It starts with solid historical source material,"Endurance" by Alfred Lansing, which lays the foundation for this grand narrative about an arctic expedition gone "south" so to speak. The book's influence is woven expertly throughout the entire game. Consequently, the story is excellent, but it is also backed up by compelling resource management and choice-based gameplay. Managing the collection and expenditure of scarce food/fuel via "worker placement" mechanics at intersecting story junctions is great, it really rewards planning ahead as you would need to in an artic survival situation. The dialouge and choices you make in regards to each character affect their loyalty and lead to rewarding outcomes that feel earned. The only thing that holds it back from a perfect score is the lack of a manual save and a few curveballs thats didn't quite match the fairness that the the game mechanics deliver for the majority of the game. Overall the narrative and how ever...

This review comes in three parts; a brief, spoiler-free summary of the game and my opinion of it, a reflection on the game in terms of its trigger warnings, and the portion of the review that elaborates on what I avoided for spoiler's sake. Do not continue past the trigger warning section if you'd like to be relatively surprised by how the game unfolds and possibly ends. That said, I definitely cannot spoil the entire game for you as it has multiple endings. TLDR: The game has an illustrated style that does well with office laptops and other devices that aren't Gigachad PCs. There are some bugs where the dialogue options freeze on the screen that appear to be tied to specific weeks. I will report those to the game if I can go back and record them all. The bugs have no other recourse but restarting the day, which I found annoying. I liked the audio, it was very interactive and prompted by the choices/events of the game. I would say it deepened the immersion. If I had to give th...

Who would of guessed using a hunting shotgun on a leopard seal would end so badly.....

Came with low expectations; ended up gripped from start to finish. Lovely story.