Ever since I was young, I adored stories that allowed me to make crucial decisions. Do you remember those choose-your-own-adventure books? You finish one page, then depending on your choice, you jump ahead by 25 or 50 pages to the next story beat. Those fostered a love of story-telling based on my choices, and games like The Pale Beyond take the feature into a more interactive medium with video games.
So, nostalgia aside, does The Pale Beyond live up to expectations as a story-driven, survival game with choices that matter?
Note: The developer and publisher were kind enough to send me a copy of The Pale Beyond review. Despite this, my words and this review as a whole are not affected by their kindness and willingness to support my site.
Story
As a story-driven survival game, one would expect the tale told in The Pale Beyond to be captivating. Well, thankfully, it genuinely is a fantastic adventure.
I’m a sucker for long-lost exploration tales and daring rescue missions with little to no hope involved, and The Pale Beyond seemingly takes some inspiration from the likes of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, which was discovered over 100 years after it struck ice in Antarctica.
But we’re here to discuss The Pale Beyond. At first glance, with a large crew of characters to interact with and manage, one would expect to lose track of the plot and supporting cast. But that’s not the case. In fact, the characters within The Pale Beyond are so fleshed out and nuanced that, despite the collection on board the ship, you remember each one.
As the first mate, your role begins modestly enough. You’ll make a few decisions regarding where to place crew during working hours and whatnot, but eventually, the story takes a turn. Your captain goes missing, and now you may find yourself in charge with little to no experience, and time is certainly against you.
Here is where your choices make the most difference. Are you capable of saving everyone aboard? What will you sacrifice to finish the expedition and return home?
It’s captivating and, unfortunately, due to the slow-paced gameplay, can become something of a slog. If you’re not invested in the choose-your-own-adventure survival genre, then you’re not likely to pick this up on a whim. But if you are, then chances are high you’ll enjoy what’s on offer.
Gameplay
As a point-and-click game, the overall gameplay of The Pale Beyond can come across as slow and occasionally monotonous. But if you’re a fan of the genre, as said previously, you can look past the gameplay for the story.
In The Pale Beyond, you’ll manage a broad crew, each member with their own personality to consider, and various resources to keep everyone alive. Those resources—namely, food and heat—are paramount. Everything you do will center around keeping whatever crew you have well-fed and warm to avoid illness and death.
Choices you make, like sending someone out on a mission, can directly impact the overall well-being of the crew and the story’s outcome.
That being said, nothing is quite clear. A choice you make in Chapter 1 can come back to bite you down the road, and you’re likely not going to restart the game to make a different choice that far back, right?
That’s why multiple playthroughs are recommended.
Artstyle
Overall, I’m quite a fan of the art style in The Pale Beyond. The style fits the theme, with a very historic vibe. Apparently, the studio was inspired by Victorian-era artwork, which makes a lot of sense.
Every character, and all of the environments, are hand drawn, with muted colorings—dark blue, gray, and dull whites—that provide a sense of foreboding.
Even the world itself is part of the cast—living and changing as you push deeper into the world.
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Replayability
With multiple endings to the game, if you’re okay with replaying the occasionally slow-paced gameplay to explore a different path in the story? How about new choices along the way?
That’s the major selling point of The Pale Beyond. Your choices matter. When you assigned one character to a specific job, it makes a difference down the road. The same goes for certain dialogue choices.
You can enjoy an extremely fresh perspective on a second playthrough.
Bugs and Other Issues
While I did not experience any bugs of any kind — it’s an extremely polished game — I did notice a few gameplay-related concerns that may affect other players.
For instance, the game is quite harsh. As someone accustomed to survival games, like Frostpunk, I’m okay with the difficulty. But for other players, having to start the entire week over if you make a mistake can feel borderline frustrating instead of worthwhile for a better ending.
In other spots, the gameplay can feel quite slow. If you’re capable of keeping up with the story while, say, taking it on in chunks in between a television series or while doing chores, you’ll find yourself without any issues.
Others, however, will play through the game in a single session or two without a care in the world. It’s subjective.
What did you think of The Pale Beyond? Is it one adventure you’re going to skip, or do you have a ticket for the ride of a lifetime?
The Pale Beyond is available now on Steam!