Platform: Playstation

Developer: Camelot Software Planning

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Release Date: August 31, 1996

Genre: Role-Playing Game

Nerd Rating: 5.5 / 10

Reviewed by Rhutsczar

You know, as we grow older going back to titles we loved in our childhood can be a refreshing experience…and most of the time it is. However, I have finally found a game that I loved and helped kick off my love for RPGs, a love that still thrives to this day. For Retroary I decided to polish off my definitely aged copy of Beyond the Beyond to explore my very first RPG once more. Needless to say, that was a mistake. I’m sorry Beyond the Beyond you did not age well.

Forces of Darkness? Have at thee!

Now a driving narrative is absolutely essential to the success or failure of an RPG. If a story fails to immerse the player in the world, it is obvious that it failed its primary directive. Beyond the Beyond follows a young aspiring swordsman named Finn who is said to be the savior of the prophecy who will drive back evil warlocks from the underground. Long before the events of the game, the world was subject to wars between humans and evil forces. Both forces compromised, working together for peace among both races. Once the evil forces begin to invade once again, only the legendary hero can save everyone.  Beyond the Beyond fits as many RPG story tropes into its core story as possible that it becomes just silly and ineffective all of these years later. The traditional version of the hero’s journey is boring and outlived its welcome.

Fun fact, Beyond the Beyond is the first RPG released in the West that features traditional Japanese RPG elements. While I am not saying that Beyond the Beyond is the first RPG to be released outside of Japan, as that honor goes to Dungeon back in 1975. Despite this intriguing fact, Beyond the Beyond is a standard bordering on mediocre RPG on its best day. The game has the fundamentals down and was able to introduce the JRPG style to the Western masses, but it had no ambition to push the genre even a minuscule amount further.  The game’s developers essentially handed presented this game to us and expected fans to not want anything remotely progressive. Nah, it’s cool, we don’t need new progress in a growing industry.

Anne…protect Finn with your useless white magic.

If there is any major positive about Beyond the Beyond, it is the design of the characters. The major element I remembered from my childhood was how vividly each of the character portraits was drawn, and even now after revisiting the game I still was not disappointed. The characters portraits, most notably Anne’s, pop with color and personality making it incredibly easy on the eyes while playing on this 30+ hour journey. To my surprise, these characters were actually designed by famous manga artist Ami Shibata.

Now anyone who has been following my breakdowns knows that I always like to focus on replayability. Most of the time, I will figure out a way to recommend each game I play to run through at least twice to discover all kinds of new and hidden secrets. I digress though, I could not find any reason to pick up Beyond the Beyond more than once. Since the story is already pretty droll and uninteresting (except with 1 or 2 twists at the end that tickle a little bit of interest) Beyond the Beyond is definitely a one and done. You know what? I’m even tempted to say to skip it entirely and move onto another Camelot title.

Camelot played it too safe.

While I was busy in my early years being mystified by the distorted polygons of Finn and company, I forgot how absolutely easy Beyond the Beyond was. Sure, with any RPG there will be one or two battles that had a small level of difficulty, but for the most part you can breeze all the way through with ease. Any difficulties that the player encounters is more due to lack of direction or explanation rather than an actual struggle against enemies. I feel that Camelot took very few liberties with Beyond the Beyond, just making a non-challenging title to just ease Western players into the JRPG genre.

While many critics have bashed Beyond the Beyond‘s soundtrack as being “ear-piercing” and like nails on a chalkboard. However, I actually disagree this time around, as the battle themes actually highlight and keep even lukewarm battles interesting. The soundtrack was crafted by composer Motoi Sakuraba, who most recently has composed the “Tales” series and even working on various compositions for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. While the soundtrack may not be up to par by today’s standards, the soundtrack inspired later scores such as Shining Force III. 

Beyond the Beyond…you had such promise.

Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way, as reviews of Beyond the Beyond when it was released were absolutely atrocious. Many reviewers and gamers highlighted the disappointing story and janky gameplay elements, with the positive outlook being mediocre at best. However, the pitfall that Beyond the Beyond ended up being could be a blessing in disguise, as Camelot disappeared from the genre for many years. What was Camelot working on at that time? how about hit titles such as Shining Force and Golden Sun?

Alright, if I learned anything from this adventure, it is that many childhood games should just be left in the past. While I loved Beyond the Beyond as a child, even being one of the games to start off my love for the RPG genre, I now know how much of a garbage fire it actually was. With very few redeeming qualities, Beyond the Beyond is better off left in the past with those aforementioned qualities trickling down to better games. Camelot, you tried and we still thank you for bringing the traditional JRPG to the States. We just wished you showed a little bit more ambition on your first try.