ZDS'S PROFILE

Disclaimer: I helped playtest this game. And it is developed by my brother.

I'm taking this post I made on his itch page already.

There is nothing out there that is like Rival's Beyond. Much like all of PSISteve's work, it is an ode to the magic of his childhood. The game is like one of those classic cartoons from the 90s, but it also has this sadness behind it all. But it is done in a way where the player is meant to simply have fun, not get depressed from it all.

How to describe it? It's like a turn-based RPG version of Punchout, but based off this weird limbo after life where you fight these charming cartoon critters.

The art is all hand-drawn and it is all so well done. I don't think anything else looks like this. PSISteve is really talented at making his own style and having it catch the eye. Every single enemy/character have so much personality oozing from them.

The goal of the game is to explore and find your opponents. Then you fight them. Each fight is refereed and you must pay attention to what your opponent does. If your opponent becomes too fast on their feet, you can devastate this with an attack of your own. They can also make YOU too fast on your feet and they can devastate you. It's very satisfying punishing your opponent when they think they have the advantage. There are a handful of other states like this, such as when they fly/grow defensive/think too hard.

PSISteve also composes his own music. Every song is moody and quirky and adds to the atmosphere quite a bit. As usual, one of my favorite aspects of his games.

The world is very creative. Each area feels like a different alien planet.

The story is purposely vague. It starts you off with a heavy mood but then instantly lets you just enjoy the fun/cartoony world of it all. So even though it's fun, there is something sad lurking behind it all.

The ending was particularly good in my opinion. Without spoiling, it was very simple and effective.

The game felt complete. Which is hard to do in the limits IGMC sets.

This game is very good, but I am also biased alas. I still would bet on this game being a treat for most who play.

im not worried i trust ya

lol I almost want to let these cheaters in so we, who follow the rules, can still beat their ass

rmn has slowed down a bit about stuff like this ):

(i might be entering shh)

I too played RF5 and was happy with it. It was janky. Very. But the game was also very good. There are tricks you can do to make it less janky on Switch, I forget details, but it worked.

It all stems from companies these days feel like they HAVE to compete with the other HD games. RF is too small to ever compete with that. I'd rather they just did the old prerendered style again. I think the game would have run smoother and the people who bought it still would have bought it and likely been happier.

I'm aware Frontier and Tides of Destiny weren't the DS styled prerendered, but those were not HD when it was made and I feel like smaller companies can pull off a lot more before the HD development became a standard.

It's a similar fate with Camelot (who make Mario Golf and Mario Tennis now, once made Golden Suns, made Shining Forces way back when). Before HD, their 3D games looked fantastic. Now that they are doing HD, it is a bit off looking and a lot of their style was lost in the transition.

I'm personally happy these companies are still going, but I just wish they allow themselves (or whoever is in charge of them) let them go back to what they do best and not demand the same standards as much larger companies.