Beyond Eyes
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Beyond Eyes
Over quickly and hardly exhilarating, but illuminating in a way games rarely bother to be.
This whimsical and original game mimics the disorientating effects of blindness, but fails to build meaningfully on its initial idea.
I badly wanted Beyond Eyes to use its attractively whitewashed look and novel, visually limited ideas to tell a much more moving story whose empathetic lessons could've stayed with me long after the end credits rolled, but it didn't. Only its ending taps into this potential, and it's a shame the rest of its short playthrough time couldn't follow suit.
You'd be better off visiting your local art gallery than spending full price on this, so give it a pass until it eventually drops in price.
Maybe it's petty to lay into a game for what it could've been, but this game, though unique, charming, and well-executed, feels like an appetizer when I really wanted a meal. Although the story doesn't feel cut off, it just feels too brief overall. I'd have preferred a game that ended when I wanted it to end. Still, I'm impressed with the job Tiger & Squid did with Team17's faithful help. It is at least a solid, unfettered artist's vision, not sullied by AAA expectations and producer's interjections. For that, I'll take this short trip any day.
As an educational tool, Beyond Eyes did a great job of teaching me of the struggles people face when their vision is impaired. Rae's way of seeing the world through memories and senses creates some fascinating insights, together with some genuinely appealing watercolour visuals and brilliant sound direction. As a game though, Beyond Eyes is about plodding through a maze with barely any meaningful plot until right at the end.
Beyond Eyes uses a gorgeous and inventive visual metaphor to emulate the feeling of being blind, but the high-concept idea fizzles as it fails to sustain interest throughout the short playtime.
Beyond Eyes most certainly is not a game for everyone. It's a noble attempt to show life with a disability through a clever mechanic, but sadly at times it forgets it is also a video game.
