Reigns Beyond Review

Reigns Beyond is the latest entry in the Reigns series of games by developer Nerial. I have never had the chance to try out the other titles in this franchise, but I can tell you one thing: this is a game unlike any that I have ever played before. You swipe cards to the left or right
to make quick decisions about what your character will say or do, and based on your responses, you will have to live with the consequences of your choices!

You awaken on a spaceship with the ship's computer talking to you; apparently, everyone is dead, so you now have to take control of the Sandman. To play, you swipe the screen to the right or left, selecting the response you want to give. If you reply “Dead?” the computer tells you that they have been totally evaporated, so yes, dead. Alerts have been piling up on the computer's system that someone will need to deal with by taking command. If you agree to take control of the ship, you will need to follow the Seven Statutes of the Stardominator. If you agree to these terms, you are given access to every subsystem of the Sandman.

Once you take control of the ship, you learn that you are quickly approaching the planet Sidoma at a high speed, and you need to engage in the safety X12 protocol. If you crash and die, you will have been the commander for 15 seconds and 34 milliseconds. That's a record! Of course, you crash-land on the planet, and when you wake up, you realise that you are surrounded by thousands of angry beings. You have apparently crashed your ship into a concert that was going on.

First, we see Sala the Pilot; he resembles a skinny Shrek but has a white lightning bolt mark over his right eye. Besides being The Pilot of the Fury, he is also the bass player of the band and an explosives expert. Along with him is Dose, an engineer who also has that same white lightning tattoo. She claims that you wrecked their ship and killed Brandon. When you look behind the shipwreck, you see a guitar hanging next to what looks to be a severed hand; apparently, it was Brandon's...

We meet another member of the crew, Anton the Mechanic, who is also the band's drummer. The crowd around you is getting angrier, so you pick up the guitar at your feet. To play the song, you will use the left thumbstick to follow the music path, touching all of the hearts that lay on it. Once the tune is done, you will see how many hearts you were able to collect; the first song has 84 hearts. You will earn money based on your performance; getting all the hearts will earn you $1000. Dose says that your performance was legendary and asks you if you want to join the band since they are now in need of a guitarist. She claims to be the best engineer you will ever meet, and she offers to take a look at the ship for you.

There are three different actions that you can choose to take: shop, go back to the ship, or go out for a drink. I'll assume martinis are Sala’s favourite, as this is the icon selected to represent it. If you decide to go shopping, you stop at the Galactic Emporium and speak with Rodry Sharp. Like all the other characters you meet, she has a white lightning tattoo. There are six different items you can purchase, ranging from chocolate to a rose, a USB stick — called an inefficient nail file — or a revolver. The game says to sell this firearm to a romantic pirate. There is also an item called the Zultron5, it is very expensive and costs $19999000, so it's going to take forever to get that one!

Since the crash, the computer tells you that its systems are all down and will need to be repaired. So to get the money you need for the fix, you agree to join the band, where you will split the money made at the concerts you perform at and other activities you take part in. Fortunately, the computer gives you access to over 20 million dollars to use towards repairs, but since that engine itself costs almost that much, the funds don't last long. But you do get to pick the colour to paint the chassis between blue and red!

Now that the ship is fixed, you head to space, where you pick which of the multiple routes you and the band will follow. One route leads to one of the poorest areas of the galaxy and is full of despair and prisons; one leads to a marketplace located in the Fringe; while another is considered low-risk with good takeout food. There are others, but I have to go with the route that has good food!

Reigns Beyond is more of a management sim than a music title. You are trying to keep your ship in good shape and keep your whole crew happy at the same time. Besides your core team, you will meet other characters while on your adventure, like Bianca De Souza, who apparently is a doctor, and the rebel queen of the Underground Alliance.

As you follow the path you have chosen, you will stop at planets along the way and meet the local residents; some, like Oik - Hargoal, who is a roadie, will join the team and help you out. You can even rescue a stranded pink cat in space! There are a huge number of silly characters that you will meet on your travels, and they all add a lot of humour and variety to Reigns Beyond. A shark — who is also a loan shark — as your manager sounds great until you realise that he can easily kill you if you make him angry!

While on the ship, you can check out the band, try playing your guitars, inquire about getting new guitars to add to the collection, change the band name, or speak to Sala about your Fame, which is the number of followers you have on Stargram (it is currently 4711). Once you have checked everything out, you can head back into space and select which of the current paths you wish to take.

When you pause the game, you can see a list of celestial deeds, also known as the objectives that you have fulfilled so far. There are 91 different tasks that require you to learn special information from your crew on the ships or complete tasks like collecting all the hearts in a song or fixing up your ship. It is sure to take you a while to complete them all!

Sometimes you have to make hard decisions, like when you are flying through a highly radioactive star system. Do you amplify the ship's shields or get stuffed with anti-cancer meds with the oxy-cycler? The decisions you make affect the meters of the icons on the top of your screen that show your energy, air quality, crew happiness, and ship health. Make a bad choice, and it will drop down.

The music is quite catchy and sounds chill and smooth at the same time. The music fits with the simplistic look of the game. The characters are kind of cartoony, with vertical slits for eyes that give everyone a cute and innocent look. Mixed with vibrant colours, you have a unique and fun-looking game!

Control-wise, you can get much more simple than Reigns Beyond; the majority of your time is spent swiping left or right, with the odd song to play. Instead of trying to time button presses to match the beat, you are controlling your guitar to fly into the heart-shaped notes. The more you hit, the more money you will make.

Reigns Beyond feels more like an interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book, with plenty of ways to die, like having your head bit off by a shark, starving to death, or inhaling space fungus. One bad choice can quickly lead to your demise. This is an entertaining game to check out, but if you are expecting more of a music game, you may be disappointed. The band segments are very simple and aren't very fun to play.

If you are looking for a funny, casual game, Reigns Beyond is a title that will fill this niche, especially for shorter gaming sessions. The premise is incredibly simple, but you will be surprised to discover all the wacky ways you can manage to kill not only yourself but many others too! Who would have guessed dying would be so entertaining?