I actually really enjoyed this. The setting gave it character and set it apart from all the other visual novels in my backlog and the ones I've completed already - before Beyond Eden I'd never played a game like this set in the 1800s so it was an interesting change of pace for me. The characters were all pretty engaging and varied, and I warmed up to all of them by the end; I went into it thinking Joshua would be my obvious favourite (and he was) and that I wouldn't like Theodore's route, but I actually grew pretty fond of Theodore as the game went on.
I really enjoyed playing as a morally twisted protagonist like Alex; I usually prefer customisable characters rather than pre-established characters with backstories and pre-set names and appearances in my games, but it worked really well here. There were at least a handful of twists in each route, some more major than others, and each of the characters worked into Alex's backstory neatly.
I did the routes in the order of Jeremy (non-romantic route, obviously - very wholesome) -> Morris (some uncomfortable moments, but decent endings) -> Theodore (this guy is so funny) -> Oscar (probably the route that felt most 'canon' and that would make the most sense to me if this were a novel rather than one where you could choose your love interest) -> Joshua (still my favourite both in terms of design and how his good ending plays out - I was pleasantly surprised by how genuinely sweet it was).
A few nitpicks, mostly minor:
- Morris is supposed to be 46, but he looks in his 60s, especially because the flashbacks from over a decade ago already have him fully grey-haired.
- There are also a hefty amount of spelling errors and typos, and I think this game was very much in need of another run through editing; it didn't ruin my immersion entirely or affect my enjoyment of the game, but if you're picky about or bothered by that kind of thing, it's frequent enough that it might be an issue for you.
- It commits one of my grammatical pet peeves, A.K.A. using "........." and variations thereof instead of the proper three-dot ellipsis ("...").
- FWIW, I also ended up skipping the NSFW scenes pretty early into the game. They just get repetitive and awkward, and I say that as a guy who really doesn't object to some NSFW in my games.
- More majorly, I also found the Edward stuff in Theodore's route somewhat uncomfortable - he's supposed to be an adult in the game (I gather about 18), but his design makes him look 14/15 at the oldest to me and he acts and speaks childishly, so Alex having a sexual relationship with him made me feel like I was suddenly playing Groomer Simulator. However, I can for the most part try to ignore that because it only occurs in one ending (I believe a bad one) of one route.
Overall, a genuinely enjoyable game with an interesting plot, characters I liked, and some nicely-done twists.
I really enjoyed playing as a morally twisted protagonist like Alex; I usually prefer customisable characters rather than pre-established characters with backstories and pre-set names and appearances in my games, but it worked really well here. There were at least a handful of twists in each route, some more major than others, and each of the characters worked into Alex's backstory neatly.
I did the routes in the order of Jeremy (non-romantic route, obviously - very wholesome) -> Morris (some uncomfortable moments, but decent endings) -> Theodore (this guy is so funny) -> Oscar (probably the route that felt most 'canon' and that would make the most sense to me if this were a novel rather than one where you could choose your love interest) -> Joshua (still my favourite both in terms of design and how his good ending plays out - I was pleasantly surprised by how genuinely sweet it was).
A few nitpicks, mostly minor:
- Morris is supposed to be 46, but he looks in his 60s, especially because the flashbacks from over a decade ago already have him fully grey-haired.
- There are also a hefty amount of spelling errors and typos, and I think this game was very much in need of another run through editing; it didn't ruin my immersion entirely or affect my enjoyment of the game, but if you're picky about or bothered by that kind of thing, it's frequent enough that it might be an issue for you.
- It commits one of my grammatical pet peeves, A.K.A. using "........." and variations thereof instead of the proper three-dot ellipsis ("...").
- FWIW, I also ended up skipping the NSFW scenes pretty early into the game. They just get repetitive and awkward, and I say that as a guy who really doesn't object to some NSFW in my games.
- More majorly, I also found the Edward stuff in Theodore's route somewhat uncomfortable - he's supposed to be an adult in the game (I gather about 18), but his design makes him look 14/15 at the oldest to me and he acts and speaks childishly, so Alex having a sexual relationship with him made me feel like I was suddenly playing Groomer Simulator. However, I can for the most part try to ignore that because it only occurs in one ending (I believe a bad one) of one route.
Overall, a genuinely enjoyable game with an interesting plot, characters I liked, and some nicely-done twists.