Deep Beyond is a short walking simulator that tells the story of sea exploration, missing treasure and family. It is a very simple game that will not take more than a few hours and features very abstract, contrast art that is certainly different, but I cannot say it was particularly appealing to me.

Pros

• Simple premise and gameplay feels very relaxing
  
• Fully voiced
  
• Chapter select
  
• Final decision at the games conclusion
  
• Easy puzzles

Cons

• Not much context is provided for the story
  
• Artstyle and overly saturated colours began to give me a headache
  
• Story is a bit theatrical and cliche with the "bad guys" trope

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You play as Lily, a sea explorer who searches for missing treasure. Accompanied by Howard, a father-figure who helped raise her after losing her family. They both are on the lookout for a final disc to complete a map to find the valued treasure. Lily can traverse underwater with the help of her trusty suit and helmet and is determined to solve the mystery of the hidden treasure. Despite being slightly cliché and a story we have seen done a million times before, this short narrative was fine, but just does not stand out amongst the many more popular treasure-hunting games. There is no real motivation to care about any of the characters as the playtime is so short and the “bad guys” trope is forced pretty dramatically, almost like in a Disney show where it felt a bit strange and overly theatrical. My favourite element was Lily’s dog, Chester, who follows her around wherever she goes (on land).

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3248076976
I felt the story was portrayed rather strangely and in an odd order. Albeit being only a few hours long, I did not feel that I had enough context for who Lily’s character is, why does she want this treasure, what is it etc. The historical name of the keeper of the treasure was mentioned consistently but not explained until much later. This had me confused, thinking I must have missed some vital lore and must have misunderstood. However, after going back, I interacted with everything that I could, I just feel that the story is told a bit unorderly. It would have been nice to interact with more optional objects to hear the narration explain a bit more of the background to players who are searching for it.


Deep Beyond is predominantly a walking simulator with very few puzzles thrown in. Even underwater you walk, not swim (due to diving gear?). You cannot run and you walk very slowly. There are only minimal objects to interact with, so most of the time is spent enjoying the scenery and unique visuals.

The puzzles that are present are ok, nothing too difficult, moreso just minor traversal obstacles. Turn an object X amount of times to remove the blockage, push something into place so you can traverse it. Line up a pattern to have it match the template and so forth. The game is very easy and felt more cinematic to play as it can just tell its story without the player ever getting stuck or frustrated.

As stated in the introduction, the visuals are undeniably abstract and unique, however I did not find them attractive or appealing. Actually, quite the contrary. The bright, overly saturated colours combined with slow movement speed seemed to cause some strain on my eyes and after finishing the game, I felt a little uneasy. The ocean is a bright orange, the background all blends into one hue of blue, characters are missing eyes, the sky will be bright neon yellow. The artistic style of Deep Beyond is definitely unique and I am sure many will appreciate it for its variance and charm, but Even without the slight nausea, I did not find it pretty or bad, just strange, but certainly memorable.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3248076957

All characters are fully voiced and dialogue is better than I expected. There are not many lines and there are no dialogue choices (until the end you can make a final decision), so you are mainly watching the story unfold infront of you, without your input. It is very slow paced and even opening doors will take a few seconds to watch the animation, but I really enjoyed the cutscenes and listening to the Lily’s charming narration as it felt genuine.

This game was played using a keyboard & mouse, and with the following PC specs.:
AMD Ryzen R5 7600x 5.4 GHz
32GB DDR5 5200 CL36 RAM
Radeon RX 6800 XT
2560x1440 resolution
NVMe 3.0 SSD
Windows 10

Playtime: Around 2 hours for 100% completion. Just over 1 hour to complete the game.
Note – I became stuck trying to find the last achievement so it took me a bit longer, however there are no missable achievements as chapters can be reloaded.

Controller Recommended? Player choice

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3248077192

Replayability value: No. For the last chapter, you can reload it and just choose different options to see the small difference in endings and for related ending achievements.


Deep Beyond is a quick and easy walking simulator that will take no more than 2 hours of your time. With a short, albeit slightly cliché story to tell, a cute dog to keep you company and an easy 100% achievements at a fair price of only $AU7.50, I recommend it for those looking for a relaxing, stress-free game. However, it is best to keep in mind that if you are prone to motion sickness or known to have similar issues in video games with overly saturated colours, I recommend checking out some clips of gameplay prior to purchasing to see if you feel this is right for you.

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I quite enjoyed this walking simulator/light adventure game. Although short, it is a good distraction for an hour or so.
Lilly is a treasure hunter in the vein of Lara Croft (she even dresses like her) and is in hot pursuit of a missing piece. Lilly's mother died of cancer and she was brought up by her father's friend and neighbour Howard. Howard is assisting her in her treasure hunting and there are others competing for the missing artefact too. I found the story, though full of holes, moved at a quick pace and I never got bored.
I quite liked the art style....it is very like the game Nuts. There can be motion sickness due to water scenes, but I just lowered the camera sensitivity which made a huge difference. I came across no bugs, but Lilly's ability to grab things was a bit off at times, but didn't interfere too much with gameplay.
Lilly's dog Chester is her loyal companion and waits on the surface whilst she's underwater. I can never understand people risking their lives to find ancient artefacts and this surfaces in the story. Is getting that last artefact worth it all? Why is greed such a powerful emotion that you are willing to kill someone for it? What price is family and friendship? Are you willing to lie to achieve what you want?
The plot delivers a twist (which I saw coming) and Lilly has to make an important decision at the end. There are 3 endings which all have achievements attached. There is a chapter select, so it is easy to pick up those last achievements.
If you are looking for a light exploration/adventure game with a unique art style and fairly easy puzzles with interesting plot, then this is for you. 7.5/10

ENG: Deep Beyond manages to do everything right. Without dropping spoilers, the story is simple but well executed, with impactful moments and voice acting for extra immersion. Visually, the game uses different reduced color palettes in each area, which highlights its beauty and makes it less monotonous. Finally gameplay side, despite being a walking simulator, it includes some puzzles that, along with its short length, ensure it is not tedious or boring. It's a solid game from start to finish and, therefore, highly recommended.

ESP: Deep Beyond logra hacer todo bien. Sin tirar spoilers, la historia es simple pero bien ejecutada, con momentos impactantes y actuación de voz para dar una mayor inmersión. Visualmente, utiliza diferentes paletas de colores reducidas en cada área, lo que resalta su belleza y lo hace menos monótono. Finalmente, en cuanto a la jugabilidad, a pesar de ser un walking simulator, incluye algunos rompecabezas que, junto con su corta duración, logran que no sea tedioso ni mucho menos, aburrido. Sólido de principio a fin, y por lo tanto, muy recomendable.