Beyond a Steel Sky

Honest review of the game:

It may just be me, but I find it very hard to find games I enjoy on the Arcade. But this game? Wow am I surprised. Overall 8.5/10 Graphics: 7/10 - great for a mobile game, scenery and art style were beautiful, and facial expressions were almost always well done. Puzzles/Exploration: 8/10 - very intriguing and really gets your brain going. EVERY puzzle contributed to the storyline and mission. Some difficult portions, but the hint system doesn’t just give the answer straight to you, it coaches you in the right direction depending on how long you’ve been trying at it. It’s wonderful. Storyline/World Building: 9.5/10 - AMAZING world building and overall storyline. It keeps you hooked on finding the answers and the environment matches the storyline so well. Controls: 6/10 - Let me say that I’m rating it on mobile controls. It’s good for mobile, but sometimes a little touchy when you’re trying to turn or pan the camera while you’re running. It simply doesn’t like it if you try to pan the camera behind you while you run the other direction, which was kind of annoying, but fine once you get used to it. Pacing: 9/10 - The speed of the storyline and game is very well put together. I would have liked it to be longer, just because I loved the gameplay. I have 9 or so hours of playtime into the game, and I loved every second of it. Thank you devs, I hope you make more!

Half finished buggy mess with lots of potential

The story is great, the background graphics are great, the puzzles are fun in the beginning but they are all kinda the same so it gets a bit boring but that’s not the worst… and even the graphic bugs and the questionable UX of the controls I could overlook… But the conversation is just a horrible unfinished mess… for instance at one point I had to go get a uniform, so I do and go back to where I’m supposed to work, talk to my droyd (to figure out how to start) and the droyd answers “but shouldn’t you go change into a uniform first?” Like dude, I just did LOOK AT ME. And it’s non stop like this where either the character says something “uh I need to do this first..” despite the fact I just did and it’s right in front of him… or the person I talk to gives me answer about something but I click on another conversation option to see if there is more, different, info, and my character asks something he just got an answer for a minute ago, or says something that was already long discussed. If it was just every now and then I could live with it, but it’s non stop. Do people not do QA at this game company?? It’s a hot mess, especially when you add all the graphic bugs and the bad UX of the controls to it…

Great just some suggestions

So I started playing this game like three days ago and I’m already addicted. I love how hard each puzzle is (I like a little challenge) and the graphics are great the plot is great... everything is great. My brother is very annoying and he won’t admit it, but I know that he is jealous of this game. I would totally recommend it for him lol. Anyway, every morning I wake up, go downstairs, and get on my iPad to, you guessed it, play this game. It’s so fun! I’m not writing this to complaint, I just have a few suggestions. 1: Sometimes when I need a hint, the hint is something that I’ve already done, maybe you could figure out a way to make the game like more updated when you’ve already done something (if you know what I mean). 2: Maybe in the screen that you go to to get a hint, you can add the controls and the things that you can do just so we can have a refresher if we forget. 3: Sometimes it’s hard for me to interact with, let’s say, the Gang Gangs because they’re moving. Maybe make an easier way to interact with moving things. That’s all I really have. Your game is amazing, and I can’t wait for more updates, and please put my suggestions into consideration! Stay safe! :D Update: I forgot to say that this game totally deserves to be on the Apple Arcade it’s worth it, and as I said before, I would absolutely recommend this to others. Thank you for making this really creative and fun game! :)

Best game i’ve ever played

Beyond a steel sky i have since learned is the second installment in this game series. this game is set after the first game, Beneath a steel sky, but it doesn’t make it lesser in any way. The graphics, the story line, the characters, pretty much the entire game will keep you interested the entire time. I have always had a hard time finding a game that is enjoyable, has action and adventure, and a good storyline but this game has it all. This game is also the perfect length, i’ve run into issues with games that focus so much on making everything perfect that it’s so short or games that drag on, but BASS not only has intricate details but keeps you interested throughout the entire game. I wasn’t able to put it down and the only thing that i regret is that i finished it. I would absolutely recommend this game for everyone.

The best game in the world!!

I swear to you that this is the best game you could possibly play on your phone. I’m not lying and I’m not joking, and for one thing I am very picky about playing games on my phone because usually there not that good or somethings wrong with it or it’s just plain boring. This game has the best graphics for a game on a phone, it is beautiful. It has the best game play and controls. The story line is SUPER creative and I LOVE it, and it’s not like one of those other games where you play it for a while and they tell you you can’t play anymore because the games still devolving because this game has an ending and if you have Apple Arcade you can play it FULLY through. To be honest I’d tell you you should only buy Apple Arcade for this game because how good it is. I want to say thank you to Apple and for everyone else who has made this creative an AMAZING game!!!!

Worth a play through

The game isn’t terribly long, it’s a good bite sized mobile game. Most of the characters are fun and the dialog was witty. Puzzles vary from super easy to moderately challenging, without being totally frustrating. I never experienced game breaking glitches like others have reported; however towards the end of the game I saw more graphical glitches in the cut scenes. Think the biggest issue with the game is the pacing. The start of the game is a bit slow and drawn out, requiring you to talk to each NPC and explore the area. But even though the game world looks expansive, most of it is backdrops that cant be interacted with. As you get towards the end of the game, it almost feels like last call and you start getting rushed to finish the objectives. Instead of puzzles that require multiple interactions, you get a puzzle that can be solved with in one step. Ultimately, it’s a decent and charming adventure game that lacks depth to really hook the player. Still, it’s worth at least one play through!

Best game I have played (Contains no spoilers)

Honestly, I don’t know where to start, but you should continue to make more of these (awesome) games, and mind the people who are criticizing this game. The storyline, the puzzles, the suspense, its all amazing. I really can’t find anything to criticize except the camera. The camera usually goes through the character a lot of times, like it shows the main character’s body in the inside (which don’t worry, is empty). Maybe you can fix that? Other than that this is a great game. A lot of playtime in it, which is what I love. I also liked the idea of there being hints, in case anyone needed help with the puzzle. In a nutshell, this is the greatest game i have ever played. Its just amazing. If the creator/creators is (or are) reading this, i hope you make more games like this. Its just amazing.

Very enjoyable

The graphics are gorgeous. The music is very fitting. The characters are memorable. And I liked the overall steampunk-y settting. The hint system also works well. So there’s no way you can get stuck. And I also used it one or two times, when I just didn’t feel like figuring something out myself. There. I said it. :) It took me three hours to finish it. Because I play in little bursts here and there, it came out to eight days. But I left out some dialogue and there would be more achievements if I felt so inclined. Maybe. I’m thinking of getting the original game that’s also on the App Store in a modernized version. And maybe after that I feel compelled to play through this one again. What I personally didn’t enjoy as much as the rest of the game are some of the worn out tropes in the story and with the characters. Some moments in the story are also very rushed. That’s too bad. But I didn’t subtract a star because of that. I just wish sometimes games would also cater to people like me who enjoy fresh, surprising or even challenging storytelling. So don’t expect an award worthy drama. But it is entertaining! I didn’t encounter any of the glitches or technical problems some earlier reviews are talking about.

Very solid game

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed playing this game. I’m on iPhone 7 so I balked at the 4gb download at first but it was worth it. There were zero glitches and the game ran smooth on my device. Had to use the hints system a couple times but I always had the concept of the puzzle figured out but just wasn’t standing in right place or missed an important npc or item that I overlooked. The puzzles were interesting and weren’t too difficult in my opinion. Well maybe too easy at times but to be honest I’m just happy I found a game on arcade that I didn’t want to delete after playing for five minutes. The dialogue was well written and I lol a few times. Took me a few days to finish playing casually. Wish there were more titles like this in arcade.

Great game, wonky controls on iPad mini

I played the original more than 20 years ago, one of my favorite games at that time. This is a worthy sequel in story, dialogue and gameplay. It was great to meet old characters and see what has become of UC. The best part imo is the sound and music. Connected to a stereo speaker set it was an immersive, atmospheric experience. The controls however, are sluggish and quite annoying in situations where time and precision are of the essence (i.e. Joey in the labs, a bit more time would help). There’s also still a frustrating bug quite a number of people seem to run into at the aspiration gala, my advice is to save when you got your outfit and then use a walkthrough for this chapter, since the hints are also bugged. Overall a very enjoyable ride and an amazing thing to see UC in a 3D 3rd person setting.

Shenmue (1999) Japan Studio ; Max Payne 3 (2012) Rockstar Games ; The Last Guardian (2016) Japan Studio ; Beyond A Steel Sky (2020) Revolution...

BFI Sat Sep 23 2023