Reigns: Beyond Review (PC)

Having spent countless hours wading through the fluorescent soundscapes of an intergalactic plane in The Artful Escape, busting out drawn-out solos and hacking through some ludicrously hallucinogenic images, I have to admit, I am a bit of a dab hand in the field of astrophysics and, for good measure, power metal ballads. And it’s a good thing, too, because developer Nerial and Devolver Digital have just this second launched a brand-new independent symphony called Reigns: Beyond—a “swipe-based” game that allows you to choose your own destiny as one of several astronomical band members, of all people.

I will put my hands up and say this: I never did get around to playing the original Reigns chapter, and so, in my mind, Reigns: Beyond is about as familiar to me as an alien is to a bottle of ketchup-flavored corn syrup. Saying that, I did honestly believe that I’d be a suitable candidate to test the new starry-eyed waters, despite having no prior knowledge about its intergalactic lore or the harmonies of which it produced in the debut performance. Suffice it to say, though, that I had endured The Artful Escape to the bitter end, and I had played the role of matchmaker to a rebellious punk rocker in Thirsty Suitors — so, what was one more gig, if not an excuse to flex my (self-inflated) legendary prowess with the aid of a fretboard and a guitar pick?

To cut to the chase, if you are returning to the Reigns series after a near-decade-long hiatus, and aren’t entirely sure whether or not to punch a ticket to the latest planet-wide event, then be sure to read on as we continue to unpack it. Sound like a plan? Then let’s suit up and hit the stage.

Home to the Stars

Reigns: Beyond transports you to the foot of an oceanic cosmos—a vast open network in which several fledgling musicians aim to align themselves with the stars as an up-and-coming indie rock band. The game, which allows you to navigate said galaxy and compose a few intergalactic scores along the way, involves you swiping through several cards and ultimately formulating a rags-to-riches journey of musical discovery and exploration. Think of it as Tinder for musicians, only, you don’t quite match with other potential suitors, but rather, a series of stepping stones that share the common goal of wanting to usher you into the next leg of your musical career. It’s more or less a create-your-own experience, in ways, as you spend most of your time deciding which course to take, and which resources are best suited to which component, etcetera etcetera.

As far as storylines travel, Reigns: Beyond really isn’t all that complex; it’s merely the tale of several wannabe rockstars hacking through the cosmos in search of fame and fortune as an overly ambitious musical ensemble. In spite of its simplicity, though, it does make a genuine effort to stuff a good amount of colorful personalities into the mix, which includes suit-sporting sharks to Vault Boy-like space pirates, and several other, well, highly unorthodox spacey types. This is but a collective fragment of what Reigns: Beyond encapsulates in its world; it has a lot more than that, but for the most part, its characters comprise the driving force behind the journey. And to be fair, it isn’t that bad of a roster; it has over sixty to converse with, too, so it’s far from lacking in that respect.

Swipe Right to Rock

Reigns: Beyond is all about selecting the right cards and, with them, the right choices for your band, whether it be cards that help you to score more social media followers, or cards that provide your spaceship with the necessary components for a smoother flight. Suffice it to say, as there are well over 1,400 cards to choose from, I was only able to scratch the surface in the single tour that I romped through. Don’t get me wrong, I could’ve quite easily returned to try out a different hand and change the fate of my band, but it  hardly felt necessary, as I was, rather surprisingly, able to tie up just about every loose end and generate a satisfying conclusion that left no reason to rekindle the wick. Perhaps that was just sheer dumb luck, but to me, a single sitting felt like enough — nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, as there are numerous options to sift through in the campaign, it’s easy to see why anyone would want to squeeze its potential outcomes for all they’re worth. Like a typical swipe-and-match app, though, there are really only so many times that you can mull over the same deck before your thumbs begin to ache and your mind soon starts to drift elsewhere. For me, this wasn’t always the case, but I did find that, with a gameplay loop as simple as that, I often yearned to experience something else — if only to break up the monotonous nature of flicking, swiping, and scrolling.

Highway to the Cosmos

There is a bit of good news to all of this: a mini-game does, in fact, exist. Granted, it isn’t anything particularly exciting, but it does make what would otherwise be a textureless and relatively A-to-B story slightly more interesting. As for the mini-game itself — it’s literally a bog-standard rhythmic game that asks only that you slide to the left or right, and essentially collect hearts along a track. If you’re able to knuckle in on enough hearts during a performance, then you go on to obtain even more social media followers. And, weirdly enough, that’s sort of the whole point of the game: to win the hearts of the galaxy. With more followers, of course, comes more cash, and with more cash comes sweeter incentives for you and your fellow bandmates.

There is another issue that you must address, though: the general needs of your crew aboard your spacecraft. In short, you must also keep a lid on four individual things: Oxygen, Power, Shield, and Crew Morale—four distinctive nodes that can only be boosted through the power of highlighting the correct cards and taking the appropriate steps as you move from one planet to the next. Again, none of these needs are overly difficult to keep tabs on — so long as you don’t mind scolding your guitarist for belting out solos during a major power outage, that is. Failure to keep track of such things can, and often does result in the rather unfortunate demise of your crew. Not to worry, though, as a simple misstep merely means having to rewind back to the previous performance and retrace your actions until you’ve arrived at a different conclusion.

Verdict

Reigns: Beyond is an easy one to digest, that’s for sure. It’s easy, mainly due to the fact that its gameplay is anything but strenuous or overbearing; it’s a little by-the-numbers, if anything, and therefore, you don’t need to be a genius to connect the dots and, well, align the stars, so to speak. And that’s a good thing, really, so long as you don’t mind sacrificing something slightly more in-depth and interactively taxing. This isn’t quite on the same wavelength as its space-based musical counterparts; it’s without its huge portion of tutorials or drawn-out symphonies, which is precisely why it’s so easy to pick up and slug through. Add the fact that it also includes an enormous array of possible twists, turns, and conclusions, and you’ve got yet another reason to pilot it — if only for a single tour across the cosmos.

If it’s a relatively straightforward intergalactic experience that you’re on the market for, then take it from me — Reigns: Beyond will serve you well and (probably) tick all the right boxes on that checklist of yours. If, however, you’re not one for fumbling with a deck of cards and shuffling the suits for several hours of uninterrupted play, then you might struggle to gel with the hand on display here. For the record, this isn’t a fifty-two card game; if anything, it’s a single card, and as a result of that, there’s a strong chance that it won’t be able to keep certain players’ attention for the long haul. Needless to say that, if you are the sort of gamer who finds comfort in the predictable, then you’ll no doubt find more than enough to enjoy with Reigns: Beyond.