Lust from Beyond: M Edition – Spotlight
The topic of sex in video games is notoriously difficult to navigate. When it’s attempted to be portrayed, it comes across as silly half the time. The rest of it is disgusting. The Lust series is one of the few games that have attempted to address the subject matter in a serious manner. In 2018, Lust for Darkness gave it a shot, and now Lust From Beyond is looking to follow it up after not one but two free prequels. Playing through all four games one after the other, even if it was enjoyable, has left me feeling sex-ed out.
You should probably play both Prologue and Scarlet in addition to the original game in order to fully appreciate this review. Even if it doesn’t always make sense, those three games all connect to Beyond. There are parts of Prologue that are canon and parts that are not, with the game seemingly picking and choosing which parts it wants to keep and which it wants to discard. People who died in Prologue suddenly reappearing as if nothing happened is bizarre, but I guess the developers thought it would be more interesting that way.
Victor Holloway, a sex-obsessed antique shop owner, is your character in both games. A strange, otherworldly realm known as Lusst’ghaa haunts Victor in his dreams. While having sex with his girlfriend Lily one night, he finds himself back in Lusst’ghaa and as a result, lashes out, hitting Lily. A doctor named Austerlitz is one option that Victor considers at this point when he decides he needs professional help. After only a short time, Victor finds himself caught up in a cult war and returning to Lusst’ghaa time and time again.
Basic set-up works well enough to travel between destinations. There are numerous cults dedicated to Lusst’ghaa, and the writers appear to be interested in giving them a lot of lore. A few points in the storey made it feel like they were just looking for violent ways to kill people, though. Adding insult to injury, the game has a poor relationship with its gay characters. There are few sex scenes in the majority of the game that aren’t between straight or lesbian characters, and they’re either sexy or horrifying. Gay characters are limited to villains who rape the main character. In addition to giving off the impression that “gay people are scarier than monsters,” it does not depict a consensual gay sex scene for the express purpose of pleasure until chapter 13, out of a possible sixteen total chapters.
Unfortunately, this clouded my understanding of the game’s events. I’m not sure if this was the intention of the developers, but it certainly had a grotesque feel to it.
There are noticeable improvements in gameplay in Beyond over the original and its prequels. Instead of feeling like a walking simulator where scary things occasionally pop out, the game plays more like a full horror game. A variety of tools and gadgets will be added to your inventory as you progress through the game. I’m referring to the series’ newest addition, combat. In the early stages of the game Victor is given a knife, which allows him to engage in extremely clunky melee combat that should only be used as a last resort. A revolver is eventually acquired, and the action-horror tone of Beyond shifts.
Honestly, this is a big improvement. The game’s stealth simply isn’t that good, and it wasn’t worth the time and effort I was putting in to learn how to use it effectively. One or two clever moments include boss fights in which you must not only shoot the target, but also find items hidden around you. In spite of the fact that most of the enemies in the game can only attack by running up and slamming you, it shows what could be and gives the impression that a better sequel is in the works.
Everything in the game seems to need an asterisk next to it, noting that it didn’t work out so well in practise. There are two types of health bars: one for physical health and the other for mental health. When you are injured, your physical health deteriorates, and if it is depleted, you will die. When you see something distressing, your mental health suffers. Eventually, if your mental health deteriorates, your vision begins to sway and your controls begin to randomly reverse. There is nothing wrong with the concept, but the reality is that in the early stages of the game, you are constantly playing with the equivalent of drunk goggles on.
Many aspects of Beyond feel like they could be described in the same way. Lust’ghaa has an upgrade system where you can gain favours from the deities, but the upgrades are worthless and since you can spend several hours outside of Lust’ghaa, the upgrades are few and far between..” Essence can be found in Lusst’ghaa, but it’s mostly used to solve simple puzzles, and you’ll need it to interact with some elements. Even though interactive sex scenes are promoted on the Steam page, they are nothing more than quick time events. To unlock special cases, you must find enough collectibles, but the rewards aren’t worth it..
In spite of everything, there’s still a lot to see and do in the Beyond. I had a lot of fun exploring the various environments. In many ways, it was reminiscent of the bizarre, surreal worlds created by H.R. Giger. It was well worth it to be able to wander around and take in the sights. While you’re not in Lust’ghaa, the landscapes are still beautiful. Despite its bleak appearance, the town of Bleakmore has a lot to offer in the way of little treasures that won’t give me anything but feel like odd spots in strange towns.
Lust From Beyond could have been so much more enjoyable. As soon as things looked like they were going well, the game took a turn for the worse. Certainly, not everything is a disaster, and I still consider it worth playing through, but the only desire I had was for a better game.
