XING: The Land Beyond

An excellent 3-D puzzle, adventure game. Beautiful environments, with clever puzzles and poems.

Overall I can't recommend this game. The good parts are really really good, and the rest of it is uncomfortable, irritating, or worse.

I will start on a positive note and say that the game looks and sounds beautiful, and assuming the team put in the effort to make their own art and assets for this, they did an incredible job.
I wasn't expecting this kind of game to have difficult puzzles in it, but I will say that quite a few are a few steps above non-trivial, and as someone who regularly enjoys the mental masochism and challenge of tougher puzzles, this was a pleasant surprise.

Mechanically, the game suffers in quite a few areas. I've been struggling to get through the second area, but not because the puzzles are difficult. The game is extremely buggy in regards to jumping and object throwing/bouncing physics, which, combined with poor choices of checkpoints and "jump assist" targets, makes navigating through the game painful. Some platforms that should have jump targets don't, some platforms that shouldn't have targets do, and the assist system will gladly prioritize a target that makes no sense or is counterproductive. On the other hand, there is at least one jump that I could not make without the assist system, meaning I've had to go into the settings repeatedly to toggle the feature. The drums with colored symbols in the second area are also horribly broken - they change their positions and orientations after bouncing an object, and sometimes it seems like their bounce trajectories and even hit boxes don't update correctly. I ended up getting puzzles into unsolvable states quite easily and had no ability to reset aside from leaving the game and re-entering. I eventually got so fed up that I opted to restart the level, erasing ALL of my progress and prompting me to uninstall the game and write this review.

While it does not affect the gameplay, I will also comment that the theming smacks of European exceptionalism and it REALLY doesn't feel good. The areas are themed after an unnamed Pacific Island, presumably Aztec South America (although it's hard to tell because there are durians and rafflesia, which would indicate Malaysia or the Phillipines), Japan, and what I can only presume is meant to be Egypt. I understand that the setting is some sort of afterlife so things could get blendy, but everything is just the wrong amount of incongruous and the cultural blending doesn't feel intentional or artistic, only vaguely mystical.

I totally loved this game, played it a second time and probably will again.

These are the type of games I really enjoy. Nice puzzles and absolutely stunning environments along with a nice little narrative to go along with it. Now, the puzzles themselves aren't particularly taxing or over complicated, but can occasionally cause you to sit back for a moment to think about them. The stories throughout are beautifully told in the form of small, beautifully written poetic verses and have some quite emotional moments.
Solid mechanics and beautifully imagined and rendered environments, along with a beautiful, non-invasive musical score jut round out the whole thing. It's a really nice, relaxing, almost meditative experience, not too hard and not really much in the way of hand-holding either. There are hints and tips dotted around the place, should you feel the need for them, They're just cryptic enough to give you a rough idea what to do without outright telling you exactly what needs to be done.

My only issue, really, is the movement, there's no option for smooth turning, and the walking pace is quite slow. The other issue is if you play it sitting down and adjust your "standing" height in the options, when you teleport to a new area, it resets you back down to sitting on the floor so you have go go back into the options menu each time where it says you're still at the same height as you set it, and adjust it up once and then down once to reset your height. These are only minor quibbles and nothing that will really ruin the game though.
Overall I love it.

Liked:
Good puzzles
Good story
Different kind of thinking...
Disliked:
Can't save games so can't go back to particular levels (wasted time...)
End puzzles way too easy, childlike...
Finding one letter (the "i") was really haphazard. No logic.

Great game. Good puzzles.
Works well with my HP Reverb.

An underrated gem.
Even though this game was released over 7 years ago, it holds up well. It still looks gorgeous and the puzzles are enjoyable. New puzzle elements are introduced gradually and the difficulty builds up nicely towards a grand finale.
It is a puzzle platformer, but there is a jump assist mode for those like me who dislike platforming.

I would imagine this game is really cool to experience in VR, the environments are beautiful and obviously a lot of effort went into making it interesting for VR. I played it without it and still had fun- most of the puzzles aren't very difficult (some optional ones toward the end of the game are pretty challenging), and it's pretty obvious what you're supposed to do to progress. This is chiefly to one of the systems in the game, 'muses', which are essentially very obvious hints as to what the current puzzle entails and they are situated directly on your path and most of the time cannot be avoided. Which is cool for some people I guess, but I kinda wish there was an option for them to not immediately hint the solution before you even had a chance to look at the puzzle before you.

Another issue is how clunky the jumping feels- your sprint jump is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than your regular jump, leading you to constantly trying to jump an obstacle, failing, turning off sprint and jumping again. If this was an action game, that would probably earn a negative review alone, but since it's a puzzle game, it's forgivable.

Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable first person puzzler, but you probably shouldn't expect it to tickle your brain much 95% of the times.

Such an enjoyable game.
It is essentially an exploration and puzzle game where you progress through different stories and have to solve puzzles to get through. The mechanics are learned as you go along and the controls are good.
The puzzles get progressively harder but not unsolvable. The lands are all beautiful and the stories are enjoyable.
I will be looking for other games like this.

Very beautiful looking game, nice physics and good, relatively mild puzzles requiring more exploration than brainpower.

I played Xing in standard mode and it was stunningly beautiful. It did remind me of Myst but it can stand proudly in its own right. Others have mentioned Witness, but the puzzles are challenging but not obscure like the former was. It had echoes of RiMe which is a favourite of mine. Most people take 10-15 hours to complete so a lot of bang for your bucks.
You are dead and your soul has entered the spirit world. There is no religion or faith attached to this game, but it does touch very lightly on reincarnation. You arrive at a hub which has 4 massive doors to 4 vastly different worlds and there is a gate which enters into another area which is closed. This gate needs all the runes found in the 4 worlds.
The spirit guide in the hub says you have to enter the 4 worlds to collect the 4 souls lost there. Itzali Point is a beach setting where you learn the story of a female environmentalist. Nahele Rain is about a Shaman in a Sth American jungle setting. Hyaku Lake is in the mountains with a heavy Asian influence. You follow a girl and her dog here. Desert of Naar is self-explanatory and tells the story of a ruler.
Once you collect all the runes you can open the gate to the forest of Zeneth. This forest contains multiple doors to various worlds. Each door is a short vignette about a person. The final area is the Steps of Akash which has more puzzles and takes you to the ending. You don't have to complete the steps to 100% the game.
Game play entails finding scrolls in each world which tells the story in poetry about the person. You also collect red balls which are the hints, but they can be quite obscure. You need to find the golden rune in each puzzle level. They are usually difficult to get to. You have the power to manipulate the elements of fire, rain, snow, water, and wind. You are also able to change night to day and vice versa.
Puzzles entail manipulating the platforms or creating a walkway to cross over something. You can use gongs to weaken ice or drums to bounce fruit or glowing balls to where you want. There are quite a few sokoban areas which can be challenging. Some of them fried my brain so much that I had to take a break for a few days!! There is some platforming and a bit of running around to solve the puzzles. I found them medium to hard to complete. I mucked up the final one on Steps of Akash, so I threw in the towel and watched the end online.
Ah...the graphics! This was the highlight of the game. The environments were absolutely stunning and with the backing of a full orchestra, it created an amazing experience. This game allows you the explore and enjoy the surroundings with its natural sounds of waterfalls etc. Hyaku Lake was my favourite area with lakes, mountains and the ominous Asian lions and blossom trees. The story on this level gave it an additional emotional impact.
This is a peaceful game as there is no hidden threats or combat. After all, you ARE already dead!! There is no stress or urgency in the game, apart from the frying of your brain cells. There are no timed puzzles also, so this game is ideal for those who are slower with their reflexes. Some of the mechanics of moving the sokoban pillars were very innovative. I did struggle with the wind fan lifting me up to a ledge. I went everywhere else but to the ledge!! Grr.
If I had a quibble, I would say that it is a touch too long. By the time I was finishing Steps of Akash, I had a severe case of puzzle fatigue despite the variety on that level.
Highly recommend for puzzles lovers and those who love beautiful surroundings. 9/10

A great VR puzzle and platformer game that is also fun in non-VR mode and looks amazing.

I started exploring an island with some relaxing music in the background. Switching between day and night and carrying fire was an inportant part of the puzzles.

Have played in VR too a couple of years ago. It's so rare that a game works both with and without VR.

Highly recommended in both modes.

Hidden gem of VR.

If you like well done puzzles in an atmospheric world full of subtle storytelling- you will love this game.
If you have a VR headset this is a must play experience.

It's a puzzle game, okay!? Everything else is secondary. It is a great puzzle game, though, amazing even: It's in full 3D and with a good variety of things to figure out and places to explore. Exploration wasn’t a main theme, but there were some rewards to be found here and there. I had a great few hours of good fun.

The game also offers a large variety of fruit—and coconuts, which count as fruit. I set the coconuts on fire and watched them burn. I fed big fish with fruit-shaped hand-grenades—or hand-grenade-shaped fruits. I bounced other kinds of fruit on drums in a sometimes obscure order.

The main character is a collector of dead souls and, apparently, when we die, we all speak in rhymed verse with odd metrics. As the grim reaper you have many perfectly expected talents like pushing boxes, controlling the time of day, and making it rain (not snow, never snow, nor hail). It’s great.

I have no idea why I am doing all these shenanigans, but I'm having fun and that's all I'm asking for. There’s also a lot of extra content. When you are not solving puzzles, you can just walk around for a bit and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The stories being told by the souls you collect are of an intra[inter].personal nature.

I ended up muting the music and listening only to the natural sounds (rain, wind, birds etc), which was nice and relaxing.

Full review:
https://maskinkultur.com/2018/04/20/review-xing-the-land-beyond/

This game is absolutely outstanding! First of all, unlike many other games for VR, this one is really a full-length game. It took me about 15 hours to fully complete the game, including collecting all runes\collectibles\achievements. The game's visuals and art style are absolutely gorgeous, the locations are lush, interesting to explore and carefully crafted. The puzzles are also well-designed; they are challenging but solvable by your own effort. I should mention the incredible sound design and music - not only are they beautifully implemented in a certain unusual way, but also they are essential for creating a truly relaxing, cozy atmosphere of the game. But what I am excited about the most is the game's plot and how the game manages to communicate to you. Instead of telling just one story XING: The Land Beyond tells you many seemingly different ones in a beautiful and poetic way, only to unite them all at the end. This game is a very rare example of a game that has a soul! Sometimes it tells you a silly joke, immediately followed by wise words that touch your heart, yet both exist in perfect harmony with each other. I also should mention the emotions you feel playing the game - not many authors are brave enough to explore a theme of death in a game, while also doing so in such a beautiful and poetic way! Because of that XING: The Land Beyond can hardly be called a "game", it's actually a parable the size of a book made in a form of a puzzle game, that contains an entire philosophical journey inside of it. This game was an absolutely unique experience for me, and without modesty I can say that it definitely has its place both in my personal top of games for VR and my heart.

In times of information, pace and changes
We hide ourselves in artificial worlds
Some help you find your way along the edge
Against all odds

Xing The Land Beyond is undoubtedly the most beautiful puzzle game in VR. Each level is thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted, placing you in gorgeous locales such as tropical islands, lush jungles, ancient forrests and barren deserts. The mysterious realm of purgatory in which you find yourself, has you solving puzzles by manipulating the weather and/or time of day. The puzzles themselves are not too difficult, though they do get a bit more challenging as you progress. Each unique chapter recounts the memoirs of a given individual who has since passed away. These characters narrate their story in an eloquent and poetic fashion, which keep you engaged throughout the 20+ hour journey. I’m frankly stunned at the quality and production value found in this game. It is easily one of the most beautifully realized VR games I’ve experienced to date. One thing I will say is that on occasion I found myself stuck within the geometry with no other option but to quit the game. This was quite infuriating as I lost my hard earned progress. Minor issues aside however, this game is still a must own for puzzle game fans or anyone looking for a relaxing game with amazing visuals.

For me it's the best puzzle game on steam,
and maybe overall the best puzzle game that I've ever played.

It's a little unknown and the storepage has to be discoverd by luck or by accident, but when find yourself on the storepage and get curious, you'll be greatly rewarded.

Rewarded with a very well made and thought through puzzle adventure.
I know the graphics engine itself looks a little old in 2020, but what they've made out of it is just handsome and amazing.

You'll find yourself solving different kinds of puzzles in varying environments, you have to use logic, sometimes time, you'll have to switch between day and night, and sometimes even the weather.
Basically all elements are required somewhere during your journey,

You are accompanied by a pleasant background soundtrack, and enjoyable voiceacting.

The difficulty gets a little harder and harder over time, but i never had the impression of puzzles being unfair or unsolvable.
They mostly made sense to me and the whole game is relaxing and very playable without any kind of guide.

As a negative aspect i have to mention that your character seems to have like two broken legs or something and can only jump about 10cm high, which can be extemly annoying until you are used to it.

The game plays fine in VR and NON VR and i didn't notice any bugs or problems, further more i had a lot of fun playing it, and i can fully recommend it, even for the full price!

This review is for Xing : The Land Beyond
The sheer beauty and awesome scenery should have been a good clue this was a well thought out game and well attended by its creators. So much detail and love went into this game. I had to stop shooting screenshots because it was Totally getting out of hand.
The game is a puzzler and not a tough one EXCEPT in parts(i.e. clock puzzle) These puzzles range from hard to extreme. Typically there is a Weather(sun, rain, etc...) component to the solves and that makes thisa game so special. I have only gotten Rain, Sun, and Moon, but theres also wind. The solves for this are outrageous but can be figured out if you listen and observe. Im at a puzzle right now Im stuck at but I can say I have not had tro use any form of cheat so far. Im enjoying the "Finding things out".
I'd recommend this game because its not Hard you just have to get used to the environment parts of the puzzles. The game is a joy. Short, if you're good at the puzzles, but this isn't a cakewalk.
I took days for some of the puzzles. Its enjoyable because even if you aren't making progress you are entertained by the surroundings. AND, if you need you can always go Back to previous chapters and finish them too. I can tell you they make the Return Hard, but possible, you just need to keep an open mind and an open eye for clues to solve these puzzles.
Id rank this and 7- 10 as i got stuck and fell off things, more times than allotted. I am a Klutz.
I enjoyed everything about the, game controls are responsive and a little slow but not enough to put me off giving this a positive review! I got stuck in a few places as the boundaries are tested every time I play. Not something You might have issues with. I like to see where I can go.
Please check this game out.
I got it on sale and it was SO worth it. You will go nuts also with the screenshots. I guarantee it.
This had Myst feelings to it, and I LIKE that! This is a beautiful game a joy to play.
If you like mood(its VERY immersive), and puzzles this game 'has it in Aces'.
I play this game and haven't finished yet. I keep playing it and cant stop.
That's a good thing, Right?
I'm having fun though. You will, too.

Feel free to follow my review page!

The gist of it:

Story

Gameplay

Audio

Graphics, performance and tech analysis

Conclusion

Final score: 8.12/10

Beautiful graphics.
A very small fraction of the puzzles are interesting at all.

I care more about puzzles than graphics.

“Be careful what you wish for.” That's what I told myself about halfway through this game. Xing: The Land Beyond is a beautiful puzzle game where you assume the role of a person who had just passed way. Your goal is to help the Guardian track down four lost souls so they can be “preserved”. If successful, you'll never be born again, allowing you to pass through to the other side.

Pros:
Graphics are top notch
Puzzles range from kindergarten to insane
Well optimized
Diverse and beautiful environments
Entertaining puzzle elements
A progress button (In the pause menu)
Mini stories

Cons:
Some rendering glitches (mostly in the last story area)
It's possible to become trapped in the very last puzzle

When I started this game, I began to think to myself, “I hope the puzzles get harder than this” because it felt as though I was playing “Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses”, a children's PC game. “How do you know this?”, you'll probably asking yourself. Simple, I played it with my daughter who was 4 years old at the time.

About a third of the way through Xing, the puzzles became much more complex. Then, at the half way point is when I utter the first sentence in this review. By the time I got towards the end, the puzzles where becoming insanely hard, BUT, I managed to do it without help. When it was over, I felt like my brain had just been baked.

One of the things I really liked about this game is the progress button in the pause menu. It tells you how many letters you found, how many there are to go, and how many runes found. Each world has five runes and you have to find them all if you want to know what the signs are trying to tell you.

I didn't have any technical problems with this game but I did get trapped on the last puzzle of the game, forcing me to start the area again... I wasn't happy. However, I managed to finish.

At the time of this review, Xing: The Land Beyond was selling for $19.99. I logged in about 16 hours from start to finish so it's well worth it. I wouldn't even wait for a sale, buy it now.

As a serious fan of first person puzzle/adventure games, I found this game profoundly dissapointing.

The puzzles are all tedious switch and key finding. I was far more often impeded by the slow walking speed and useless platforming sections that I was by the puzzles. You are regularly forced to walk back across sections of the game you have already completed if you want to bring a newly discovered key item to the key-item-receptacle it belongs to, as though I should feel clever for remembering that there was a pineapple shaped keyhole that I passed five minutes ago, and be rewarded with another five minutes of time wasted backtracking.

The meagre and uninteresting story is told through terrible poetry, all forced into rhyme in the way that elementary school students believe all poetry must be upon first being introduced to the medium. It is cringe inducingly bad at times, and worse still none of it means anything.

Most disapointing of all is that there does not appear to have been any effort made at worldbuilding. There is no environmental storytelling, the world is just made of scenery and puzzles, neither of which have anything, thematically or narratively, to do with each other. The bad poetry doesnt appear to have anything to do with the bad puzzles (none of the characters seem to mention living in a world of random rotating bridges and glowing key item receptacles). There is no WHY to anything. Why is there a door that only opens if I place a coconut on the coconut shaped glowy altar? Who built it? Why would they build it? If there is no expectation of narrative to be fulfilled, then why fill every level with poetry slabs? They certainly weren't written by anyone who was passionate about poetry.

The best I can say about the game is that the presentation is decent. Graphics are solid, and music is serviceable, though neither are particularly memorable. The developers sure know their way around the lighting engine.

If you have already played every other puzzle/adventure game of any repute, the game certainly has a bunch of puzzles waiting for you and will fill up a bunch of your time if you are desperate to waste it. Otherwise, I am sorry to say that I can think of no reason to visit Xing.

Please fix the physics where you jump on platforms and even though they are solid, you fall right through into water. Others have mentioned this and I experienced this on the very first sun/moon puzzle. I can't proceed in the game b/c of this.

The game looks beautiful, but I cannot continue playing due to this bug. Will have to refund until this gets fixed.

HELPFUL THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE PLAYING

THE GOOD

THE NOT SO GOOD

TECHNICAL ISSUES

It's ok, even though I have spent more time stuffing around with the graphic settings than actually playing. It's also a little hard to jump onto platforms as it doesn't line up and even though you are jumping on something it's not actually right and you end up in the water. Can get very frustrating and even after resetting position it just gets worse.

Puzzles are good and the island looks spectacular, just wish I could find the right setting for the graphics. $20 seems fair as you can tell a lot of work has gone into it and it's actually a game not some shit tech demo that is flooding the VR category.

Overall a pretty good VR game, if it was just a pancake game I would probably not buy but in VR it's pretty good.

Recommend to those who like puzzle games and spectacular islands.

For anyone looking for a very good VR atmospheric puzzle-adventure game then look no further. This is a brilliant game from start to finish and a must have for those who like Myst style games.

Pros

• Great visuals
  
• Great sound design
  
• Interesting mini stories
  
• Different locations / environments
  
• Fun gameplay mechanics
  
• Full length game
  
• Great performance / well optimized
  
• VR motion controllers
  
• VR locomotion
  

[*]Few gameplay bugs & glitches here and there

A pretty good game so far with one major caveat for VR users. First, the positive...

Reasonable Length - This isn't another 1hour/$20 VR game. I've completed the first of 4 chapters and there seems to be a 5th endgame area which probably isn't as long as a full chapter (it might just lead to the end credits for all I know) so at 90 minutes so far, I estimate it will last a good 5-6 hours or more. There's also a completionist element since you can find golden runes hidden in each chapter. I thought I only missed one in the first chapter since there was an optional door I hadn't figured out how to unlock but I missed 3 so some are decently hidden.

Nice Aesthetic - The scenery looks beautiful and there are plenty of moving details like the tide lapping the shore, water falling, flames flickering, butterflies flittering about, etc so it's not a dead static environment. It's very important for a world to feel alive even if there's nothing alive in it and they did that very well here.

A Good Mix of Puzzle Difficulty - I can't speak on all of the puzzles yet but in the first chapter they started off very simple and the main puzzle near the end did take a little bit of time.

And the one big caveat for VR users is that this game does not run fantastically. I run an i5-2500K @ 4.5GHz and a 1070 OC Edition and I had to choose between 100% resolution, 90fps and a very blurry game or 130% supersampling, 50fps and a game that looked a little better but was still blurrier than I would have liked. I still felt ok after the 90 minutes of gameplay but I was getting that tingle in my gut that said it was time to call it a night and I typically don't get nauseous in VR. While nice graphics come at a cost, part of the problem is just poor optimization.

Overall, I will recommend it as long as you have a decent rig and don't get sick in VR easily.

I have been waiting for a game like this. Magical, immersive, beautiful, relaxing and with puzzles that are not too difficult (so far). It's like a casual zen version of the Talos Principle. Menus are excellent, all the settings you need, de-coupled controller movement, performance is really good with high SS, etc. What more can you want? They even added some nice voice-acting. The music is perfect too (but maybe some more tracks would be welcome). If you like exploring and puzzling in a beautiful relaxing environment, I highly recommend this.