Welcome to our review of Park Beyond! A game I previewed twice before writing up my final verdict, and I’m happy that I can finally dive into the whole game. Let’s buckle up and find out if this game is worth your time, time, time (you know, carnival sound effects… Hey, I tried).
Park Beyond
I already discussed a lot of this game in my preview, so I will give you a small rundown of what the game’s about and talk about all the cool stuff I got to do in the full version. So for those unfamiliar with Park Beyond:
Park Beyond is a theme park simulation that allows you to create and manage the parks of your dreams! Whether you love to manage finances and visitor experience or create fun and cozy parks, the game has something in store just for you! In Park Beyond, you are the creative force behind a series of amusement parks, a Visioneer! You’re a combination of a creator, a manager, and a designer, wrapped up in one powerful package. Every aspect of developing and maintaining successful theme parks will be under your control.
Gameplay
As I stated in my previews (which you can read over here and over here), it’s RollerCoaster Tycoon on shrooms. Everything you can imagine to build can be built ingame and multiplied by an imposification factor of 10. This does not mean that Park Beyond is a walk in the park. It’s one of the most challenging simulation games I have played (and I play many). Once I cruised through the tutorial and first story mission, I was thrown into the second story mission. And oh boy, I was getting my butt kicked by a simulation video game.
Each story mission starts with a pitch meeting, in which you try to determine for which audience you will build the park and which aspects you want to focus on. These unlocked certain conditions ingame, like subsidized rides for target audiences, development options for said audiences, etc. However! This does not mean that only the target audience will visit your park, so you must walk a fine line between building what your audience wants and what you need to make ends meet. Because the goals in Park Beyond are pretty harsh – if you’re making a loss for a straight three months, they’ll shut your park down. So no more impossified teacups, rollercoasters, and janitors with bincinerators. No mister – time to start from scratch and do BETTER.
It took me four tries to master the second campaign level, and I completed a handful of challenges. Luckily, the game lets you pick which challenges you want to achieve, so once I figured that out, I worked towards those challenges from scratch, which improved my park and my experience with the game. And helped shape my experience in the sandbox, in which I spent a reasonable amount of time again. Sorry story mission, I’m a sucker for building theme parks without worrying about existing elements and rides.
Sandbox
Although the latter is enjoyable, I must admit that I prefer the former. The campaign provides a clear structure, a range of exciting objectives, and an excellent introduction to the game mechanics. The characters are also quite endearing, even if they receive more screen time than necessary. However, the campaign does limit some of the game’s most excellent features, such as the ability to customize and build without restrictions. Although this is intentional, I did begin to feel the weight of these limitations after completing the first few chapters.
I was free to switch to sandbox mode at my leisure, and it was smart. Once I grasped the game’s mechanics, playing without any imposed restrictions allowed me to appreciate the game’s moment-to-moment gameplay fully. I selected a map that piqued my interest, gave myself unlimited funds, unlocked all options and features, and began constructing. This is where I found my enjoyment in Park Beyond, and I eagerly anticipate doing more of it. The game provides an overload of maps, allowing you to create your park in any biome you desire. You can also choose from themes like Wild West or Candyland. Moreover, you can customize your theme park experience by catering to the needs and wants of your guests, focusing on different age groups as your primary audience. The degree of control that Park Beyond offers for park construction is impressive, even though other games in the genre, like Planet Coaster, may provide more.
“Accumulating enough amazement unlocks the ability to impossify your rides and your park’s shops, facilities, and staff. Each category has its unique impossifications.”
When creating your rollercoasters in Park Beyond, the customization options are awe-inspiring. With a range of tracks and freeform building mechanics, you can let your imagination run wild and design the coaster of your dreams, complete with heart-pumping loops, dizzying drops, and twisting turns. Moreover, the game enables you to tunnel your tracks through mountains, the ground, and even water, so you can create truly unique and thrilling rides that dip and dive all over the place. Of course, building a complex coaster from scratch can be time-consuming, and you’ll need to test every nook and cranny to ensure it’s safe for passengers before opening it up to the public. But once you’re done, there’s nothing quite like experiencing your creation from the passenger seat and feeling the rush of adrenaline as you whip around every twist and turn.
Before even considering the impossification mechanic, it’s important to note that visitors to your park generate amazement on each ride, varying levels depending on the ride. Accumulating enough amazement unlocks the ability to impossify your rides and your park’s shops, facilities, and staff. Each category has its unique impossifications. For example, a janitor could be equipped with a flamethrower instead of a vacuum cleaner, or an entertainer could don a mascot costume. Rollercoasters can even be made to defy the laws of gravity. The process of impossification is gratifying, and generating the necessary amazement is an excellent motivator for continuing to invest time into building your park.
Controls & Bugs
Yes, this game is playable on the Steamdeck; it runs decently even though it drains a lot of battery life. However! I still urge you to play these games with a keyboard and mouse. I’m considering hooking my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to the Steamdeck for this game. Designing coasters and paths works better with the good and old keyboard and mouse combination. I did not encounter many bugs in the preview, even though I saw many people writing about them online. Maybe I missed them, or I was lucky to play the Steam version instead of a console version. Remember that this game is still a work in progress and optimization. And it features an annual pass, which I don’t want anymore. No more battle passes, annual passes, just no.
Conclusion
I still think Park Beyond can be the next big thing for the genre. I’m just worried that the game still is not in the state it could have been. Hopefully, a few more tweaks and patches will solve the minor annoyances people are experiencing now. Park Beyond fueled my love for theme park building and made me realize it’s pretty hard to do what RollerCoaster Tycoon did back in the day. But I still urge you to try and play around with Park Beyond; it might scratch that theme park building itch you have been feeling all these years.
