Tags: Adventure - Sidescroll
Additional Tags: Archived

TLDR: Beholder 2 is a great improvement over the original. Suffers from mobile oriented controls, difficult to parse hotspots, a cryptic game world and game mechanics and a slow gameplay loop.

Outstanding issues:
-Is an adventure game that, when it is played on desktop, wants you to use tank controls/wasd
Mouseclicks only allows minor movement forward, the character routinely switches from run to walk speed, the constant reclicking can be fatiguing and the process is much too cumbersome to navigate even tiny lateral corridors.
Playing an adventure game where you navigate through wasd but still need the mice to interact with objects makes it a significant downgrade from the tap interface this was obviously designed around.

-Little exploration is possible and within those small environments choices are unclear
Beholder 2 revolves around a daily-activity structure. In which you will revisit familiar areas, while the local population might be different, objects might had been moved. The game relies on the player managing an action economy. In that talking with NPCS, working your job etc will consume the "time" asset supplied at the beginning of the day and without advance knowledge of which hotspots unlock which branching path, which offer a choice that goes against the "ethical/roleplay" direction you want your character to take, and which are just witty fluff text meant to add body to the game world it becomes just a random and unsatisfying guessing game to click on said hotspots and lowers immerssion

-Odd in-game culture. Bland. Odd mechanically.
Which departments, which offices, which forms, which faction, who to trust, is not intuitive. It is possible to gather some information by being slow and methodical with the npcs and perhaps replaying the game. However the game tone initially starts as "generic orwellian with a dash of kafka". The heavy use of black and white, the samey looking character models and the nice but heavily recycled audio makes it less of a sensory or intellectual treat to go through the game at a slow pace or experiment with the mechanics in a trial and error manner.

-Fun in small bursts
While it is an alright distraction to follow the narrative, the quest chains, to make simple choices and see the story unravel, it does become a bit of a slog to do it repeatedly. Running left, doing a thing, being told to go speak to someone, whom you not know the location of, running right in the hope of finding them, wondering if you should "waste time" on talking to other npcs on the way.... Its okay but its not the kind of experience I'd actually ever want to stop everything im doing for, pull up the computer chair, sit down with a warm drink, and do for hours.

Positives:
+Much better structured and presented than Beholder1 which had a stricter "spinning plates" action economy and clunkier overall engine and thinner narrative
+Would be fun to whip up on a tablet when stuck bored somewhere, especially as a cheeky way to "stick it to the man" when stuck at a government office or waiting in some waiting room somewhere.
+Seemed to boot correctly, displayed correctly at 4k. Had its own style, charm, and writing quality and seemed to have an identity of its own. Bland at first but the "mystery" and "factions" aspect of the narrative had me a little intrigued

Conclusion: While I am not very keen on playing this at this time, it could be that I am not in the right mindset currently, or maybe I just need to watch a lets play of someone else who knows how this game is played first.

I feel ... extremely untalented at doing anything in this game. My actions feel... random. The results I get from it are miffed, little cash, little "authority" rewards, my roleplay choices already seem to contradict themselves and im only at the beginning of the game. Once I had a firmer grasp on how this game handles maybe I would actually enjoy it quite a bit more.

Unfortunately I do not own a tablet, and I am reviewing the desktop version which also really does hinder the potential I see in this game given how it has been executed. I do see that it has been made with some level of care, it goes on extreme sales often if you do not mind the controls and want that kind of flavor and either are interested in the mechanics or want to figure them out. It could be "recommendable" for you.

The outright lack of "fun factor", the pacing... there are too many elements here that de-incentivize me from playing and I think many other gamers might feel the same. I will however keep my copy in the hidden library for potential future use and perhaps the sequel, Beholder 3 will a better overall product. If it is superior in all the ways maybe I would discard this in favor of an even better executer third entry. After all, if the devs made this much progress in one sequel the latest in the trilogy could prove very entertaining.

EDIT: After a short look it seems the third game was made by a completely different studios, the reception is poor. I guess this is as good as this series is going to get. Unfortunate.

Tags: Adventure - Sidescroll Additional Tags: Archived TLDR: Beholder 2 is a great improvement over the original. Suffers from mobile oriented controls, difficult to parse hotspots, a cryptic game world and game mechanics and a slow gameplay loop. Outstanding issues: -Is an adventure game that, when it is played on desktop, wants you to use tank controls/wasd Mouseclicks only allows minor movement forward, the character routinely switches from run to walk speed, the constant reclicking can be fatiguing and the process is much too cumbersome to navigate even tiny lateral corridors. Playing an adventure game where you navigate through wasd but still need the mice to interact with objects makes it a significant downgrade from the tap interface this was obviously designed around. -Little exploration is possible and within those small environments choices are unclear Beholder 2 revolves around a daily-activity structure. In which you will revisit familiar areas, while the local population might be different, objects might had been moved. The game relies on the player managing an action economy. In that talking with NPCS, working your job etc will consume the "time" asset supplied at the beginning of the day and without advance knowledge of which hotspots unlock which branching path, which offer a choice that goes against the "ethical/roleplay" direction you want your character to take, and which are just witty fluff text meant to add body to the game world it becomes just a random and unsatisfying guessing game to click on said hotspots and lowers immerssion -Odd in-game culture. Bland. Odd mechanically. Which departments, which offices, which forms, which faction, who to trust, is not intuitive. It is possible to gather some information by being slow and methodical with the npcs and perhaps replaying the game. However the game tone initially starts as "generic orwellian with a dash of kafka". The heavy use of black and white, the samey looking character models and the nice but heavily recycled audio makes it less of a sensory or intellectual treat to go through the game at a slow pace or experiment with the mechanics in a trial and error manner. -Fun in small bursts While it is an alright distraction to follow the narrative, the quest chains, to make simple choices and see the story unravel, it does become a bit of a slog to do it repeatedly. Running left, doing a thing, being told to go speak to someone, whom you not know the location of, running right in the hope of finding them, wondering if you should "waste time" on talking to other npcs on the way.... Its okay but its not the kind of experience I'd actually ever want to stop everything im doing for, pull up the computer chair, sit down with a warm drink, and do for hours. Positives: +Much better structured and presented than Beholder1 which had a stricter "spinning plates" action economy and clunkier overall engine and thinner narrative +Would be fun to whip up on a tablet when stuck bored somewhere, especially as a cheeky way to "stick it to the man" when stuck at a government office or waiting in some waiting room somewhere. +Seemed to boot correctly, displayed correctly at 4k. Had its own style, charm, and writing quality and seemed to have an identity of its own. Bland at first but the "mystery" and "factions" aspect of the narrative had me a little intrigued Conclusion: While I am not very keen on playing this at this time, it could be that I am not in the right mindset currently, or maybe I just need to watch a lets play of someone else who knows how this game is played first. I feel ... extremely untalented at doing anything in this game. My actions feel... random. The results I get from it are miffed, little cash, little "authority" rewards, my roleplay choices already seem to contradict themselves and im only at the beginning of the game. Once I had a firmer grasp on how this game handles maybe I would actually enjoy it quite a bit more. Unfortunately I do not own a tablet, and I am reviewing the desktop version which also really does hinder the potential I see in this game given how it has been executed. I do see that it has been made with some level of care, it goes on extreme sales often if you do not mind the controls and want that kind of flavor and either are interested in the mechanics or want to figure them out. It could be "recommendable" for you. The outright lack of "fun factor", the pacing... there are too many elements here that de-incentivize me from playing and I think many other gamers might feel the same. I will however keep my copy in the hidden library for potential future use and perhaps the sequel, Beholder 3 will a better overall product. If it is superior in all the ways maybe I would discard this in favor of an even better executer third entry. After all, if the devs made this much progress in one sequel the latest in the trilogy could prove very entertaining. EDIT: After a short look it seems the third game was made by a completely different studios, the reception is poor. I guess this is as good as this series is going to get. Unfortunate.