Infinite: Beyond the Mind (Switch) Review
Release Date: May 7, 2020
Publisher/Developer: Blowfish Studios/Emilie COYO
Platform: Switch (reviewed), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam
Price: $9.99
Infinite: Beyond the Mind takes classic side-scrolling action in a chibi pixel art aesthetic and cranks up the action through sixteen levels as you play one of two superpowered women on a mission to save the other from an evil regime.
I:BTM feels as if it would be right at home in an arcade, as the storyline consists of a short cutscene that leads straight to the action, and it’s nonstop from there on in. After a basic level for you to get your feet wet, you are thrown into action with tons of enemies swarming you at once, just below a bullet-hell version of a platformer. Occasionally they’re spiced up with hopping in a turret or an air speeder, or taking on unique bosses. After downing one of these massive foes, a still shot of their defeat is covered by your high score before rolling on to the next zone.
At the start, you get to choose between Tanya and Olga. They appear different but play identically. You have a double jump, dash, and attack, or the ability to call in a special bombing attack to take all enemies on the screen out at once. A timer is running in the top of the screen and adds to your overall point total at the end of the round.
The presentation of I:BTM is beautifully oldschool. It’s fast, without a hint of lag, and the chibi characters are well animated. Enemies are that perfect combination of recognizable and predictable that you’d find in a bullet-hell shooter, allowing you to see the enemy and predict their attack pattern so you can rush through at high speeds. It’s a chaotic blast from start to finish, with rounds lasting a couple few minutes each with several branching paths through the area.
As a game, Infinite: Beyond the Mind is an exciting romp, but when I sit back and think about it I find a few issues with it’s general structure. At the end of a level, you get bonus points based on the time taken, but no real indication of scoring in game when taking out enemies, so the score seems arbitrary at best. Is it better to race through a level or take out every enemy? I guess that might be up to your own play style, but with no high score saving or online leaderboards there’s nothing to strive for but personal bragging rights. Even when you bust out two player mode, finishing a level shows a cumulative score, so there’s no in-game competition between active players.
The in-game plot mentions in an easily missable scene that one of the pair is kidnapped at the start of the game. The press release discusses that rescuing the other is the prime drive of your protagonist. Of course, this is not mentioned in multiplayer, calling the girls the last hope to stop the evil empire. The press release also actively discusses drop-in multiplayer taking control of a “flying robot kitted out with long-range weaponry.” The main menu shows a Solo play and Co-op option. Playing Co-Op nets you both girls, and solo mode does not allow drop-in whatsoever. All I got when trying was a constant loop of re-syncing the controllers that after struggling simply led back to one set of Joy-Con attached and no second player.
Jumping in and not worrying about anything else, Infinite: Beyond the Mind is a lot of fun, plowing through wave after wave of enemies and pushing toward stopping the nefarious villains at any cost. Unfortunately, taking time to think it out results in aimless direction: is attacking or dashing past better for the overall score? How is there “drop in” multiplayer if you have to start the game with two players to play at all? If there are no branching paths, no character growth or leveling up, and no score charts to beat why do we need five separate save files? Hopefully some of these bugs can be ironed out, allowing drop-in multiplayer and adding a score tally to the action screen letting you see how well you are doing in-level. Online leaderboards or at least saved scores (and separate ones for each player in multi) would do a lot toward adding replayability instead of punching buttons for arbitrary numbers. At $9.99, Infinite is a fun romp, especially if you have a second player to power through with (you can continue the battle when you die instead of being forced back to the start). According to press releases, this is the first game by this indie developer, and it has some great DNA that could lead to many wonderful games in the future. With a few tweaks and updates, Infinite: Beyond the Mind could be an excellent two-player platforming bullet-hell-like adventure.
Pros:
-Some really good “bones” that make a fun game
-Butter smooth controls
-Classic arcade action
-Cute yet distinct art style lets you always see what you are coming up against
-Fun and unique boss battles
Cons:
-Unclear on scoring method as to whether you should rush or take them all out
-Original press release advertised drop-in multiplayer which is simply not there
-Really looks like it had a lot of ambition for issues that could use some clarification in patches
Special thanks to Blowfish Studios/Emilie COYO for providing a code for review!