Beyond the World is a new otome game, which is a story-based video game targeted towards women generally focusing on developing a romantic relationship between the female main player character and one of several male characters released by NetEase in early 2024. Due to its creative theme, the game generated a revenue of $1.39 billion yuan within the first month of its launch, surpassing Genshin Impact’s $1.22 billion yuan.
Storyline
The storyline is extremely innovative, as it is an otome game wrapped in a survival game setting. When I played, I died before encountering the main male characters, which is a very novel concept. It sparked my interest in continuing playing after my initial death.
Strategy Approach
A captivating aspect of Beyond the World is that players don’t need to pursue the male leads; instead, the male leads pursues players. In typical otome games, we often agonize over which choices will increase the favorability of the target character. However, in this game, players don’t need to worry about that.
Text
The text is mediocre, with a limited range of adjectives. The descriptions often focus on the color of the male protagonist’s eyes, seemingly lacking diversity. Additionally, some descriptions are peculiar. One particularly strange description is about the character Yi Yu’s fingers being thin and long, making dishwashing efficient.
Artwork
The artwork is not good, sometimes giving the impression of being AI-generated. As it is known, AI-generated character illustrations may have issues, and players discovered that in some illustrations, the male lead has six fingers. The card illustrations are sometimes perfunctory as well, especially evident in the lowest-rarity cards, where they simply change the background to create a new card, showing a lack of dedication to the game.
Six-finger image:
Two elbows:
Item Acquisition and Drop Rates
The drop rate guarantees a rare card after 70 draws, with one card draw consuming 300 items. Besides recharging, there are few ways to obtain items, and players can only get 50 items per day, raising suspicions of being forced into spending real money. Compared to other similar games, which require 180 items for a draw, this game is relatively expensive.
Game Stamina and Coin Consumption
Stamina is quickly used, with a daily limit of only 100 stamina. Completing a stage requires 20 stamina, so after five stages, all stamina is used up, making it feel as if the game only allows you to be online for five minutes. Obtaining coins is also difficult, as stages do not provide them. Coins can only be acquired through daily check-ins or system gifts. However, upgrading card attributes consumes a significant number of coins. Lacking coins to enhance cards, even with sufficient other items, results in a delay of about half a month to improve the card.
Rating:
I strongly agree with the comment left by Huahua Sasa on February 8, 2024: “I hope it can get better. The game is really attractive and enjoyable at the beginning, but it indeed feels like an unfinished product.” This person rated the game four stars, and I also hope that the game will be improved in the future.
Based on my experience, I give Beyond the World a three out of five stars. The game has new ideas but fails in writing, art, and managing items.
Written by Jinjin Tian, Lethbridge College
