Beyond Eyes was another Humble Monthly pickup (yes, I'm slowly working through them). I didn't read much about this one before I started but was interested in the art style used.

What I played was what those kids now-a-days call a 'walking simulator'. And you really walk in this one.

You play as Rae, a little girl who while out playing with her friends is blinded by what I'm assuming is a firework. It's not really covered as the story quickly jumps to a point after her recovery where she sits in her garden and is greeted by a cat.

Cats do just like some people. I was out feeding my sister's dog today as she's on holiday and her two cats came up for a cuddle. These cats don't know me and only one has likely seen me, and even then only once.

Anyway. Rae and the cat Nani become friends and Rae cherishes the visits Nani gives here. Over the first 30 minutes or so a year passes with the changing of the seasons and Nani stops visiting as much as she use to before stopping completly. Distraught, Rae wonders off into the world to find her friend.

And remember, Rae is blind.

The blindness mechanic is used such that you can only see the world once you walk over the terrain. The empty white void is slowly filled in with colour and shapes as Rae learns of her surroundings and memorises it.

It's all quite pretty once it gets filled in. The art style for the textures is partially water-coloured, giving everything a soft painterly appearance.

For the most part, you're not going to know if there is a rock, or a wall, or a barrel, or whatever in front of you until Rae can get near it. As best as the game engine is able, you'll see her stick her hand out to feel and gauge the environment. It's a nice little idle animation touch.

There's also sound/audio. Bird tweets, running water, and dog barks will light up areas in the distance for brief moments. These are your waypoint indicators and you need to head in those areas to finish off a chapter.

There are some that are warnings. The game will darken and Rae will become scared and move slower and huddled until she feels she is safe. But as far as I could see you can't die or cause a fail state. It is a linear adventure and you're totally safe.

My real issue is that the game is absolutely tedious to play. I've seen blind kids Rae's age walk, and they walk with greater confidence and speed than she does. Though the IRL kids did have a walking stick.

It is just so agonisingly slow and really taught me about walking-sim complaints. The world is beautiful to look at, once you have uncovered it, but it is such a pain to get through. In the later half of the game you have the paths behind you blocked off and have points ahead that can lead into not only dead ends, but wide open arenas that are dead ends.

I said that the game tells you where to go, and this is true, but sometimes though you may know where to go, the path to it is difficult. I do understand this is part of the game. Dealing with blindness. But did make me want to rage quit in frustration a few times, and I would of done so if I didn't know I only had about 30 minutes left to finish off.

Rae's also a trespassing petty thief as I joked in the tweet thread. Sure, she's an innocent little kid. But nobody has issues with her walking into peoples yards, stealing bread, and just taking an umbrella she found? Yeah it was raining, and she was walking in it for a good while too. Apparently the adults in this world don't care at all.

This might just be mandatory-reporting laws I'm bound to, but this was a bit sad.

The ending is also quite sad. It is not unexpected however and comes off a real downer for the journey you take Rae on. I've included pic 8 as the win-condition screen that hints at some of it, but the real truth happens in game.

Overall it is a simple artistic game. Really hard to recommend unless you like the genres it falls into, especially with the pacing issues.

Game Acquisition: Humble Monthly (November 2016).
Platform Used: Steam
Tweet Threads: 1 - 11 March 2017
PC Used: Scorptec Venom 2009 MK2

OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.4 GHz or AMD FX-6350
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTS 450 / Radeon HD 6770
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 1 GB available space
Sound Card: Windows Compatible Card
Additional Notes: Compatible controllers for Windows are Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers. Other controllers may well work but have not been thoroughly tested.