I’ve forced my hand, in a non-wanky way, to write-up my thoughts of the recent Lust From Beyond beta I played last week. Besides sharing some words, I posted a video, which will be at the foot of this piece.
** If you’re interested in the review, hop on this link **
Unlike the Lust From Beyond Prologue, from Movie Games, which we were exposed to, among other things, the beta is much different from our first encounter. This time we play two characters, and there are a few more locations.
I used to overthink this game, thinking that if you play it, you’re a pervert. Perhaps, and while I’m no more a perv than most people with the internet, it’s interesting to see different approaches to erotica without it being shoehorned to just teenage boys.
Lust From Beyond Beta Preview
The Lust From Beyond beta is intoxicating. It’s both vile and beautiful at the same time. Presentation isn’t everything, but it does play an important role in a game, and the visuals here are outstanding.
If people were to groan about walking simulators and the like, I could care less and would happily stroll through both the moist entrails of Lusst’ghaa as well as the mansion that serves as HQ for this cult. Are they a cult? Surely?
Within seconds, the Lust From Beyond beta sets the tone as you remove a creature from the carcass of an unidentified deity of sorts. Curled around your arm, you return to the portal to bring you back to Theodore, who we met in the demo.
…the nature of reviewing things is giving an opinion, and I love this game.
But before seeing the masked one, there’s a mask on the dresser that looks familiar. As with the Prologue, you can pick up and spin a 3D object to inspect it, but this one you can wear. Wait a minute… this isn’t Christopher, but Amanda. I did warn about spoilers, so if you’re skimming, it’s your own fault.
To Lusst’ghaa… And Beyond!
I only represent myself and can say I’m not easily offended, but naturally have lines. There wasn’t anything in the Lust From Beyond beta that got my shackles up, posting a rhetoric on Twitter to ban this, that and everything else. I wouldn’t bother anyway and, call me old-fashioned, keep it to myself.
Still, the nature of reviewing things is giving an opinion, and I love this game. We’ve established the opener, and you’re only in Lusst’ghaa for a heartbeat, then shifting back through the portal to the infamous mansion. But this is also a brief visit as you’re whisked away to the new character, Christopher.
Christopher is an antique dealer, and when we’re introduced to him and carry out his tasks, the Lust From Beyond beta loses all its charm and borders on monotony. But patience is a virtue. Doing a few fetch quests for a customer, then setting up ‘date night’ for your beau Lily, we understand that our protagonist has ‘issues’.
Taking sedatives to keep him grounded, Christopher has a bit of a funny turn where he keeps having these lucid nightmares – like Nightbreed/Cabal – but we all recognise we’re in Lusst’ghaa once more, and it’s as vivid as ever.
Festival Season
The nature of the game means that we’re solving puzzles and avoiding an imminent death. While there’s a gun in the back of Christopher’s shop, there aren’t any weapons in the game, and you soon find out that you have to use a mixture of stealth and sprinting to avoid any threats.
For a first-person experience, the controls work great and even with a couple of platforming areas, which is perhaps over-egging it, it was an enjoyable experience. But it wasn’t Lusst’ghaa that was the highlight this time around, but the town you visit, well, hotel – which name escapes me.
After your episode, Lily refers you to a specialist. Turning up to this remote location, there’s an ominous police roadblock that lets you in once they know you’re there to see the doctor. Alarm bells would be deafening, but still, he heads into town.
It’s like a Mardi Gras ghost town without a single person about. With the doctor’s office closed, you somehow have to find a way to contact him without your phone and find a place to stay for the night. Then it gets a bit Silent Hill without the fog…
What’s Your Problem?
Lust From Beyond beta isn’t action-packed, but the ambience it projects is engulfing. From the eerie sounds and opening of doors where your imagination runs wild to the slowly developing lore of this town that dates back centuries. There’s much more depth to the game than the fantastic presentation.
Not everything is perfect, of course. For starters, this should be a lesson for you not to be so bloody kinky. I can’t think of one reason to visit Lusst’ghaa, but this is a game. Sorry to shatter that illusion. Not a lot happens in terms of action, but it’s the presence; there’s a menace lurking, and fortunately, it’s no phantom.
There’s much more depth to the game than the fantastic presentation.
There will always be people moaning about something or other about what they don’t like in a game, and while there’s nothing I would say I didn’t like per se, as much as I like bumping uglies, I didn’t want to play a QTE of banging the grubby love interest. Cutscene sure, but not clicking buttons to the beat of the… nevermind.
I’m a bit of a fiend for textures, and both Lusst’ghaa and the mansion are stunning. The town was a little too sparse in places, but the hotel you visit makes up for it. Other than that, that’s all there is to say at the moment. I have some inklings on where it will go next, but that will have to wait until the 11th of March.
Below is the first chapter with the censorship turned on. I don’t really use YouTube, but I don’t want to get told off. If someone other than myself and a bot watches it, perhaps I’ll make some follow-ups too. In the meantime:
