A First Look At Beyond Galaxyland—A Whole Universe in Two Dimensions

I’ll be honest when I was given the option to preview Beyond Galaxyland I kind of assumed it was going to be a vastly different game than what I got. With a name like that, I figured it was going to be some sci-fi-themed Roller Coaster Tycoon —which would be awesome by the way. Once I looked into it further, I got an interesting and fairly unique turn-based RPG.

Beyond Galaxyland is the second game developed by Sam Enright and bears a lot of similarities to his previous title, The Greater Good. Enright has clearly found a solid foundation to build from and I definitely won’t fault the guy for developing from a familiar place—if you can do something well, then do it. However, there’s definitely a lot more going into Beyond Galaxyland .

When talking about the game , Enright said, “I’m a huge fan of classic turn-based RPGs from the mid and late 1990s and some of my favourites, such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII , have provided me a galaxy’s worth of inspiration when developing Beyond Galaxyland. ” He continued, “I wanted to make a game that felt uniquely cinematic while being within a familiar genre. I hope when gamers play it they’ll appreciate how Beyond Galaxyland’s pacing will often feel closer to a movie than a videogame.”

“…worlds in Beyond Galaxyland are expansive and richly detailed.”

And that feeling is definitely present within the game. From how it starts with a bit of a mysterious misdirection to how it proceeds, the way the story unfolds in a way that’s slow-paced but high-drama. The story begins properly with a teenager named Doug getting whisked away to Galaxyland: an idyllic menagerie of planets run by the supposedly benevolent DreamCore.

Despite being told that Earth was destroyed by a cataclysmic force known as “The End,” Doug is determined to return home, and before long, he is whisked away on a sci-fi adventure—flying between the various planets of Galaxyland, meeting new friends and allies, and potentially learning the truth behind The End and Dreamcore’s true intentions. This is rounded out by a unique cast of characters that run the gamut from mysterious and alien to downright adorable—like Boom Boom, the semi-sentient Guinea Pig.

Enright’s inspirations really stand out in the combat in Beyond Galaxyland , which is a unique blend of action turn-based and active turn-based with a few clever twists to shake things up. The basics are fairly common—players wait for their turn with different status effects potentially affecting speed, and attacking and defending require players to make some precise button inputs—it combines familiar elements of classic turn-based RPGs but finds a multitude of ways to stand out on its own.

“Enright’s inspirations really stand out in the combat in Beyond Galaxyland…”

For starters, players have the ability to scan enemies while exploring each world in order to get an advantage during combat—allowing them to see enemy health and elemental weaknesses. Furthermore, players are given a pool of Ability Points, which can be used for each character’s unique Special Attacks, but there’s a bit of a twist. Standard attacks have a certain number of uses, which can be sacrificed for more Ability Points, while missing an opponent during a standard attack will actually drain ability points.

It adds a unique layer to the combat I can’t say I’ve seen before and makes each fight feel much more tense and tactical. On top of this, Enright adds Pokémon to the combat, both in theme and application. Doug has the ability to capture weak creatures—literally using a drone that almost resembles a Pokéball—which can then be summoned during combat for unique elemental attacks. Summons can be levelled with repeated use and more battles, so there’s an incentive to experiment and go into every battle as prepared as possible.

But what genuinely surprised me was how the game looks and plays. Despite having several worlds that require exploration, Beyond Galaxyland moves along a two-dimensional plane—while allowing players to jump between foreground and background. Despite this restriction, worlds in Beyond Galaxyland are expansive and richly detailed. This is helped in large part by the visuals, which land somewhere in the middle between the hyperdetailed 16-bit style of games like Blasphemous or Narita Boy , and old 90’s MS-DOS games like King’s Quest.

Beyond Galaxyland looks primed to be a breakout hit when it releases later this year. Sam Enright has clearly put his whole heart into this, and it shows—especially after releasing a demo during Steam Next Fest and implementing changes based on player feedback. This is a passion project with an emphasis on passion and I get the feeling more players than I will agree.