Beyond Eden

hm, i certainly enjoyed the game's aesthetic dimensions. the background illustrations were particularly divine. i was also impressed by the simple yet effective scoring. albeit, a touch bit repetitive at times. with a game like this, i reckon they could have gone a bit harder with the sensual audio effects. some did not mirror the realism i was hoping for (e.g. mouth action). additionally, i could have done without the interactive story mode. i get it, but it did little to bolster the overall experience that much. that aside, for those who appreciate a plot-driven fanfic with a smattering of oddly tasteful smut, proceed unfettered

Well this game seems to be sensored. You can't see any of the sexy scenes. I was not expecting this so I requested my money back. 30 bucks for this BS? No way!!!!

The amount of "passionate" scenes in this game is generous, spoiling me. Love seeing composed, masculine men break down into helpless little c*******s... so... exhilarating...

Thank you, Studio Pieplus, for feeding my addiction for several countless sleepless nights.

Pretty good game, nice take on the revenge genre. I felt genuinely bad for some of the stuff the MC did towards the other characters. The extra for getting 100% completion was funny, and a nice touch. My biggest gripe with the game was I felt at times there was too much H content. Overall I'd give this gave a 6.5/10, definitely worth playing if you like BL and darker stories.

This game for sure should receive more attention and love. It is a really good game with appealing story lines, flexible choices, a bunch of lockable routes. I especially like you can decide you would love to be submissive or dominant. I hope to play more games from this studio and more audience were reached by this game.

This is a really good game I like a lot the story in very in depth and compelling it makes you want to play all the routes just to see the changes. The music is phenomenal it it really draws you into the experience of being in aristocrat.

I was sold on the demo of Beyond Eden with the artwork and the Korean voice-acting so I bought this game when it was on sale. After completing all the routes I can proudly say that Beyond Eden is really worth the money.

The plot is really compelling. The story for all the routes were really well-written (in spite of some very minor translation errors) and all the characters' have unique personalities. The MC is designed in such a way that the choices made for the different endings felt believable (i.e. different routes/endings doesn't feel like the MC goes through personality changes to cater to the routes). Do be warned though that the MC is written as an antagonist and that the story of Beyond Eden is anything but wholesome romance; almost all the characters in this game are damaged people with issues, but that's what make it more interesting as a story.

There are 18+ scenes in this game. And I must say this is the first BL VN I've read that has multiple 18+ scenes incorporated in the plot and still maintain the integrity of the storyline. Each of the love interest have at least 2 sex scenes in their routes. with the exception of the underaged boy, and another who only got one scene Yet all the scenes did not compromise the flow of the story. So I like that the sex scenes were more than just for fanservice but actually feel like they're essential to the plot.

Beyond Eden also really did their homework when it comes to the features and game interface. You can actually replay all of the scenes that has a CG in them in the gallery, and not just the 18+ ones. The menu option also always show the keyboard shortcuts so it made it easier to enjoy the game. These are features that I think are basically must-haves in a VN.

The few things that are either different, or could probably be worked upon in the future are the partial voice-acting and the cliffhanger endings. This game doesn't have full-voice acting (but all the 18+ scenes are voiced) so it surprised me a little bit, but it doesn't take away from the experience. The cliffhanger endings could probably be solved by a sequel or a fandisc.

Overall, a great game that has the perfect balance between story, characterization, and NSFW scenes.

A story-rich mystery VN with porn AND plot! Relatable characters, drama, more drama, defied tropes and (unexpected) plot twists!

Pros:
- Alex Wake, not your typical BL game protagonist.
- Alex's blue raven hair and smug smirk.
- Revenge!
- A mystery plot with choices and multiple endings.
- Laurence, Alex's adulthood friend.

Cons:
- Lack of Edward's fandisk.
- Could have been edited better.
- "The latter" and unnecessary epithets.

Recommended to everyone who likes reading long(ish) entertaining stories and doesn't mind adult content and consent issues.

I’ve been meaning to write a review for this game for a long time, so I’ll just pour my heart out a little here...

I found this game when I was looking to splurge on a good M/M dating sim (something along those lines), and I was drawn to this one over the others for the nice art style and historical setting. I went in expecting a typical dating VN; simple story, romantic routes with your stereotypical character ‘types,’ etc.
Let me tell you, it blew my expectations out of the water...


Beyond Eden follows Alex Wake, a man returning to his childhood home after 12 years with intent to take revenge for sins of the past.

You play as the antagonist, which is a unique twist. There are 6 character routes, and 17 endings. Each route further uncovers his deep-seated resentment toward the house and its occupants, and underlying reasoning behind his scheme of vengeance.
The story moves slow at first. It’s a buildup, but the conversations aren’t empty by any means. As you play through and replay from the start, you notice things. Subtle actions and dialogue that allude to the bigger picture. (All this time spent on it and I still catch little things here and there.) It’s brilliantly written.
The relationship dynamics between these characters are realistic and very interesting. They aren’t just a roster of love interests with entirely separate stories pertaining solely to them when you pursue them. Everything is connected in a shared history in that house. Same people, different perceptions, years of buried regrets.

Being that it’s a revenge story, the mood of it isn’t all that romantic. (Which was fine by me, I actually prefer to watch character relationships develop in non-romantic settings.) This game doesn’t give off that cliché romance vibe, nor does it really resemble a ‘dating game’ in any way. Actually if I were to re-categorize this, it’s more of a drama / psychological drama, with a dash of suspense, mystery, and tragedy; and a core element of complex M/M relationships.

So while it’s definitely BL, the cast and overall story can stand alone strong enough to be genuinely intriguing even to those typically uninterested in BL novels. (As long as you aren’t put off by it, as it is unavoidably explicit in all but 4 of the 17 paths.)



As for the visuals, the art style is clean, consistent, and very pleasing to the eye.
There are 72 CGs total, about 26 of which are sexual in nature. The sexual CGs do not show genitals. The writing however is very explicit, and extremely well-written. (You know how word choice is everything with sex scenes? Dancing that fine line to avoid sounding cringey? Well...these guys do an incredible job.) The scenes are fantastic, and feel very fitting to the characters. (And as far as my experience goes, non-cringey, in-character erotic writing has been a rare find in M/M VNs, so I was thrilled with this.)

>A side note for those who want to know in advance if the protagonist is a top or bottom:
Alex is a bisexual switch/power bottom.
2 routes he’s 100% top, 1 route he’s 100% bottom, 2 routes you get to pick. So in total, Top/Bottom it’s about a 60/40 split.


Like others already said, if noncon is an absolute deal breaker for you, you probably shouldn’t play. Though I will say it’s actually handled in a way that fits the plot, and I never felt it was gratuitous.

If you’d like a quick overview of the types of noncon, amount of it, etc., of the 6 routes we have:
1 with hard noncon via physical overpowering.
2 with noncon via blackmail/extortion, (levels of consent ranging from highly resistant to dubious.)
1 with some dubious consent and just generally twisted encounters.
1 completely consensual route.
And one non-sexual route. (The child, Jeremy. This is a friendship/familial route and more or less the canon route of the entire game.)



A few other notes:

- The music is beautiful.

- It has partial Korean voice acting for the more important scenes.

- There’s a scene replay feature that allows you to replay any scene without having to keep track of save files. (I personally don’t remember seeing this feature in any other VN I’ve played, so it was a huge plus for me.)

- Like other reviews mentioned, there are some typos here and there, but the devs are actively working to fix them. Otherwise it is very polished, especially being the first game from an indie studio.


So to conclude.
The overall quality of this game exceeds anything else I’ve ever played in the same genre. It's set the bar so high, nothing I’ve played since has even come close to competing with it.
Beyond Eden is a forever favorite of mine and I can’t recommend it enough.

I'm neither a fan of most BL visual novels nor dark and unhealthy relationships in stories, so I went into this game expecting the usual stereotypes, and Beyond Eden blew me out of the water. I'm glad I took a chance on this game despite my wariness - it may be my favorite VN of the last 10 years.

Fundamentally, Beyond Eden isn't really a romance VN. Its main focus is on telling a good story about flawed-but-sympathetic people with complex relationships, and while romance can occur (in spite of the protagonist's best efforts) it's incidental to the primary themes of revenge and redemption. Structurally, the full story is uncovered bit by bit through each of the six characters' routes; each has a unique plotline focusing on the protagonist's specific grudge against that character a la Count of Monte Cristo, and a different theme at its center - forgiveness, freedom, trust, etc.

Characterization (and the writing) is the highlight of this game. Every character - from the responsibility-burdened eldest son to the affectionate family doctor to even the vengeful protagonist - is realistically portrayed, with understandable motivations and weaknesses. Their interactions with each other are a joy to watch, whether the scene is humorous or dramatic, and you honestly want to root for them through everything. And while dubious consent and outright nonconsent does play a significant role, it's always acknowledged as what it is and used to drive the narrative; I never felt that it was gratuitous, out-of-character, or excused as romantic.

There are still some areas that could've been improved on - for one, even the happy endings are very open-ended about how exactly the plot would resolve - but in general the writing is highly competent and engaging, and the translator did a great job of capturing the Victorian period setting in description and dialogue. The editor less so, as there are still numerous typos and misstatements in the game script, but the devs are very responsive and actively fixing them (which is a big point in their favor). Aesthetically the game is well-designed as well; the art and music skillfully set the tone of the game and give life to the characters, and the artwork is appealing while being tasteful, including explicit CGs.

In the end, although I've played this game for way longer than how long it actually takes to finish, I keep coming back and finding new nuances I didn't notice the first times around. Beyond Eden really is a gem, and I'm looking forward to any other releases by this studio.

So dark its beautiful.
Drenched in despair.
It bascially was shone for me after I finished the entirely game.
And left a cozy feeling of madness as an aftertaste.
Basically laughing of how wonderful it felt.
A feeling that I gladly get embraced of.

This game although, is not for everyone.
Why?
Due to its dark nature.
Its rather heavy with malice and ill will that its rather unhealty, and disturbing scenes. But its even reasonable why they contain these feelings.
Which is also the main plot of the game, revenge. And the MC Alex Wake, certainly is an evil, yet human, a broken man. And despite that description also relatable to some degree, at least for me. A fascinating character to follow as he want to destroy the Edenic family. The story will give all the details one by one, till its complete and it was amazing!
And as I said, in the beginning left a pleasant humming feeling.

All the character's routes had something to enjoy, and several endings. That was certainly horrible feeling to get the bad ones, since it was really cruel. But I did also love it, to shatter someone completely. Everthing were within a realistic way, feelings and actions. Really well thought and executed.

The art is suits well for its theme. The colouring is the strongest point. The backgrounds were well chosen. fitted well in, yet not something that was distracting enough to look at or marvel.
But I did not always like the proportions on the sprites, their necks could look awkward stiff. Their bodies felt like logs at times in the CG:s, rather unatural. Some were better than others though. But I as a whole, did I like it anyway.
Did not like that the game was not able to be fullscreen despite being fullscreen, since at the sides of the screen were black coloumns on each side.

Music.. Uh .. some piano pieces were pretty. The music for the intimate scenes felt so modern it was odd. haha. Otherwise .. I did not reflect much upon it.

The writing is okay. But they the vocabulary felt rather strangled. Since the liked the words vigorously and latter. They used the latter most.
Sometimes they used the wrong name, some misspellings too.
But gramatically, it was okay anyway. And easy to follow the events.

Voice acting! It was nice it was partly voiced in korean, so its a plus! A minus for it is .. the moans .. were ahaha ..I could not bear to listen to it. It was just that embarrasing .. and not in a hot way.

The intimate scenes between the love interest and the MC, did show their position but no speciall parts. ( Phew )
It contains rape scenes ...(Edit: 2022-08-23: The game would been better without those scenes ... ) And they do end up in love anyway...
( Edit: 2022-08-23 Depending on which scenes, sometimes it was also like they want to be intimate, but also don't want to admit it? Due to it being two men in an era where it was less okay .. Still could been written in a different way I think, without making ''fanservice'' of it... The darkness was there anyway.) So its difficult to tell if they like it or not at times...And it was also used to scare and threat, and in the end they will end up like it too. But some scenes were better than others. ( Still a NO! Means NO! ...... ).
I prefer it mutual feelings between the characters, which also happend, and was also could be rather sweet when they embrace each other.



But the story, and characters, which had this harboring darkness, was that made the game great. And I also liked it since it was BL. Also a certain route felt so refreshing that I could not help to laugh in delight.
Basically the game was intoxicating with its allure of revenge.
And became one of my favorit games of all time.
I liked the creeping madness it left behind..

( If this happend in real life, I would not accept it! I like it fictional only! )

The game is exactly what it says. There is a protagonist, he's not very nice, and he's out for revenge. If you don't know what this means, go read The Count of Monte Cristo. It's basically that.

A couple of quick points, I think people need to bear in mind when reading the negative reviews.

1) It's a REVENGE story.

2) The Main character is NOT a nice guy. If you can't cope with playing as a "mean guy" then this game isn't for you, and you should avoid it.

3) The main character's motivation for revenge became more clear as I played through, and saw some of the bad ends.

I must say this BL game is very good. The story is very deep and complex. The soundtrack is amazing and very memorable. Most of story paths are emotional and intense. One particular ending even made me cried because how emotionally touching it was.

This is one of the best BL games I played so far because this game gave enough focus to the plot instead of merely focusing on smut or fanservice. Definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoy BL story.

A beautiful game. 9/10

The story is a pretty dark and yet very touching.

Pros:
1. Very complex story.
2. Strong characters.
3. Great art & music.
4. Good lenght.

Cons:
1. Subtitles could be better.

WARNING: If you're looking for a love story then walk away. 90% of the sex here has no romantic feelings involved and there's a thin line between consent and rape.

As someone who's played a lot of BL games such as Dramatical Murder, No Thank You, and Hadakashitsuji for example (I'm such a sadist lol) I'd say this is pretty decent even if it is short compared to the examples I gave since the main plot is pretty simple and straightforward.
Partial korean voice acting which means certain events are fully voiced while some are not.
Don't expect a happy ending because even the good endings aren't necessarily happy.

I loved this. I love this beyond words. I love studio pieplus. I regret nothing about buying this game! The love, hate and revenge was awsome and my inner revenge loving nerd could not stop playing! I loved all the routes and how they were different. My fave was Joshua (My lovely sweet bunny that must be protected!) and Oscar came at a close second. I loved how we as Alex could choose in what way we wanted to "make love" in some routes. Neverless i hope that there will be a second part to this game or yet another game from Studio Pieplus that follows this love and hate revenge team. I would love that! And buy it no matter the price!
Alas the only thing i wish is that Edward could be a route!
Neverless any Boy's love visual novel nerd/gamers should really give this a go and i swear you will not regret it! Best Boy's love visual novel ever!

A beautifully f*cked up BL revenge story.

The narration style is sparse, delivered in the third person and rarely diving deep inside a character's head. I think that distance works well for a story like this, leaving some mystery and ambiguity, letting the story unfold without making the player complicit in the protagonist's misdeeds. Perhaps it's also the case that if you've experienced abuse, you can better fill in the gaps of the characters' emotions and why they behave the way they do, leading to a fuller, more impactful story than more fortunate readers might get.

Unfortunately, the lack of detail leads to some abrupt endings -- particularly the good endings, which seem reluctant to address the fact that even if the protagonist gives up his revenge plan and tries to make amends, he still has to clean up a whole lot of sh*t. I also wish the interactive mode scenes were used to greater effect.

The translation is much better than a lot of VNs on Steam, but kind of feels like the devs hired a competent translator and then couldn't afford a copy editor. The style and flow are generally good, but the script is full of typos and minor grammar errors, as well as a few repeated awkward phrasings ("the latter" is one that particularly stuck out). (I think most of the translation errors have been corrected since the review was originally written!)

The H-scenes aren't censored for Steam (the CGs are just drawn from angles that don't show naughty bits, which is fine with me). There's a bit of wonky anatomy, but in general the CGs look great. The voice acting often feels flat (I'm not familiar with Korean, so there's probably nuances I'm not picking up on), but it has its moments. Except for Laurence's route, all the sex is noncon/dubcon and not romantic, but again, it's clearly not meant to portray healthy relationships. Depending on the route, the protagonist can be a seme or a power bottom, neither of which are super common in yaoi games, so that's nice.

I bought Beyond Eden for the yaoi and discovered a powerfully emotional story about flawed, complex, and ultimately sympathetic characters. The content requires a bit of a "recommended if you like that sort of thing" hedge, but still, definitely recommended.

~ YaoiRecs ~
~ Kimchi Tea Reviews ~

Even if I really love BL games (and wish for more BL games to be available on Steam)... I just can't recommend "Beyond Eden".

But at first let me say what I liked about it:
+ the music isn't something to remember but it sounds good and soothing
+ the characters voices are relaxing and they sound professional
+ the art is really lovable (and oh how I love some of the pictures)
+ there are very different love interests to pick from
+ the protagonist can be both seme or uke based on the route/choices
+ if you like 18+ scenes... well there are many to choose from

Nevertheless... now for the reasons why I am disappointed after playing the game:
- the protagonist (Alex Wake) is simply an asshole... I didn't want a sweet and innocent protagonist for a story about revenge but there is just no chance for me to like him.. As the player I have to like the main character even a little bit or else I can't enjoy the game
- the background story about said protagonist is good and it has some shocking moments but it doesn't justify the things that Alex is doing to his love interests (some of them didn't even do anything wrong to Alex)
- I can't understand how some routes are all about Alex r@ping someone and yet there is still a chance for the choosen character to fall in love with Alex.. just how?!
- the choices that you have to make while playing are kinda obvious
- there should have been more time to talk about the characters and to develop deep feelings between them and Alex
- there was so much potential about the story but I have the feeling that it was kinda rushed

All in all it was not really worth the money. That's kinda sad because I waited so long for this game. Nevertheless it had some good sides and I am always happy to support visual novels.
(Oh and English is not my mother tongue so if I made any mistakes you can keep them xD)

I wanted to like this game, I was really looking forward to it, but it was actually underwhelming.

Alright, so from the premise I'd not expecteded Alex Wake to be lovely and adorable, but I had hoped for more possibilities of redemption/catharsis, but what I got instead was a man's really convoluted logic about guilt (partially understandable, terrible things happened to him as a child), which is hardly ever addressed or questioned by any of his "romance" options.

Then there's the non/dub-con. Unfortunately, it's apparently par for the course for the BL/Yaoi genre, but it's a major plot point/feature in almost all of the romance routes. Three of the romances actually hinge on non/dub-con, which is not only vile, but at this scope, it's just bad writing.

In favour of the game, I must say that in spite of it all I liked the general idea as well as most of the characters, I just wish more could have been done plot-wise. Jeremy's route wasn't bad, even though Alex is a jerk, but Laurence' route was the only one that truly felt rewarding.

And I enjoyed the soundtrack.

But all in all it was a disappointment, and I can't recommend it, especially not at this price.

Sadly, no.

I know there aren't many good BL visual novels out there. I know this one has decent art and voice acting, and even translation is acceptable. Not only that, I would say, that the overall story, especially at te beginning (where I could still picture protagonist as a bit lost, but semi-decent guy), is engaging and well written. I also like the fact, that one of the romantic options is an older guy (well, older as for forty-something, but for visual novel standards that's like SUPER OLD).

My issue with this game is different. For the reasons I cannot comprehend, BL fans are much more forgiving when it comes to forced sexual relationships, so this may not be issue for everyone, although if you would switch all love interests for female characters, I'm pretty sure this game would get pulled off Steam at some point or at least get a loooot of hate. But this is a yaoi so it's "fine". I like revenge-themed stories. I like a little bit of love-hate relationship. Not only that, I'm not big a fan of fluff and I really like more "rough" side of BL. But not straight up r*pe.

In almost every route, protagonist is blackmailing his romance option to sleep with him (or straight up force said romance option to do so). That's disgusting and it makes main character completely unlikable.

Also, his story doesn't help. It's not deep, though it tries to be. After getting through every route is very hard to understand why protagonist is treating romantic options in such horrible way, since they had very little part in his personal tragedy. He hold grudges over so simple things (like someone not coming to his sister funeral or, more often, not behaving in a way he expected), that when he's ready to r*pe, murder and destroy everyone on his way, because of those thing, it's really difficult to feel sympathy for him or even understand his actions.

I gladly support BL games on Steam, with hope that there will be more truly deep and interesting titles, with realistic relationships and drama. This one was a disappointment.

I'm still bad at writing reviews of any kind, but here I go again..
You see, usually I'm a bit of a greedy bum, so I was going back and forth on if I should spend the money or maybe wait a little longer for a sale or bundle or whatever else is out there always coming to the aid of our 'poor' wallets...
However, even though I haven't been actively keeping an eye on the Game and it's progress, I was still one of the people who voted 'yes' on Steam Greenlight back then and have been looking forward to the Game's release ever since then, so in the end I jumped right into it despite it seeming a bit pricey-- and, lucky me, despite usually finding one or two good reasons why I should regret spending so much money on fictional lovers, I don't feel any kind of regret with this one.

I agree that the voice acting seems kind of dull during the steamy scenes if one is used to the luxury of japanese voice actors going all out, but it still wasn't horrible and maybe, who knows, it might have been even more realistic in the end.
The interactive scenes were a nice little touch. Not necessary, obviously, but still nice and though they didn't add much to the story in general, I do think that they dragged me deeper into the story as Alex Wake? Meaning, that I didn't just feel like an observer to the story, hinting Alex on where to go next with the help of the choices he had to face/make, but it made me feel like I was slipping into the role of Alex Wake taking in the people of my past and taking part in small talk that might not be necessary to get to a certain ending but made the story feel a tiny bit more realistic to me. I suppose the feature shines the most though, during Oscar's route. Though, no spoilers here ;')

The only thing that really bothered me is the fact that Edward doesn't have his own route, despite me thinking that his would have made more sense than giving one to Jeremy. But again, just my personal opinion.
I mean, with his gambling and strong rebellious nature towards Oscar as well as his attraction to Alex, it just seemed to make more sense. Especially since Alex was seeking out to bring the Edenics to ruin, so pushing Edward deeper into his mess and making it an even bigger problem, lending him more and more money over time, while comforting him that "next time he will win it all back", while also making himself look like the only one who ever had faith in Edward, more or less ripping him away from the arms of his family, causing Oscar and the rest the suffering of loss and betrayal... I would have loved to see something like that, rather than Jeremy's route, which could have been brought in piece by piece during other routes instead of being one completely on his own, since it basically just consisted of the Family fighting between each other and flashbacks of Beth since Jeremy was so much like her..
Though I do want to add that Jeremy's route wasn't bad, I'm just not a big fan of overly-annoying goody-two-shoes.

Long story short: if you're a fan of BL, visuel novels or are just looking for a good story with some steamy romance as well as blood-boiling revenge, this game is what you need to still your thirst for a while. :')

EDIT:
There's something I forgot to mention after all!
The translation isn't a 100% perfect. The mistakes are minor though and barely noticable if one decides to turn a blind eye on them.
I think I spotted two or so spelling/editing errors as well, one having stuck to me during one of Oscar's adult scenes in which my korean-language-skills failed me. Luckily enough it was just the translation of a moan that turned into a funny looking stick-figure, so it was nothing bad.

I was eagerly waiting for this release as there are so few English BL games, and in general, this game delivers (7/10).
It's pricy but I'm supporting in hope to see more BL games in future.

Pros:
1. Unique: Main character can be a seme or uke depending on routes.
2. Unique: Characters are manly (at least the 2 routes I have ventured). I like that men behave like men vs. trying to make the uke more feminine.
3. Good length (and with up to 6 characters to romance with).
4. Relatively attractive art & music.
5. Korean voiced (most parts).
6. Interesting plot (revenge, anyone?).

Cons:
1. There are less choices for players to choose from (I would feel more engaged if there are more choices).
2. Wish there are fluffy moments to show how the characters fall for each other vs. rushing to the steamy scenes.
3. Voice acting (to me) has room for improvements (when compared w/Jap BL games) because there are parts that becomes boring when it should be simulating.
4. Interactive mode (I don't get why it's fun).

But all in all, I enjoy this little distraction over the weekend.
Lastly, kudos to the Developer and Voice actors, pls develop more BL games!