The first Citadel game ended up being a surprisingly enjoyable experience... So, does the sequel live up to the expectations? No... It completely surpasses them! Now let's get into the how and why... QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES One of my biggest gripes with the first game was the abundance of insta-death pits. At any point while platforming above a bottomless pit, if you fell into it you'd die immediately, which is a problem for a game with no conventional saving. That was literally 99% of my deaths in The Citadel. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about that in Beyond Citadel, as now you instead just get teleported back, and that's great! Now I can jump around and platform like a maniac to my heart's content! Outside of that, we also have more map variety. While I liked the surreal design of the first game (ironically, it reminded me of the Citadel in Half-Life 2), it did get repetitive. Beyond Citadel still has those surreal levels, but also has city levels, a desert level, underwater levels and my personal favourite; a train level, because Blood made it look cool. Game is also twice the length of the original, and has WAY more anime fan service... which I approve of. THE GAMEPLAY The Citadel's arsenal returns in Beyond Citadel, with a lot of them being improved, as well as adding some new weapon varieties for most weapon slots. The meta-magnum is now infinitely better, getting more ammo, being easier to handle and straight up just having the ability to fire grenades, because why not? The Whalegun, a personal favourite, is even more satisfying to use. Game also introduces an RPG-lite upgrade system, where you can buff Martyr's health, speed, carrying capacity, etc. You also get a lot more movement tech, outside of the double jump present in the original. You get two air dashes, a grappling hook and at the end... wall-to-wall running. It can be quite intimidating to encounter a waifu in full juggernaut armour, running at top speed, whilst wielding an auto-shotgun. There's also a bigger variety of enemies, and new vehicles! The mech from the first game returns, but we also get a tank, and a freakin' jet! Also, the optional special reload system is absolutely unhinged and panic-inducing. I love it. THE LORE The first game had a very simple story, and very few characters. That's expanded upon in the sequel, as we get a lot more characters to interact with - my favourite being Sister Chloe ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) - a more fleshed out story, and a lot of backstory for Martyr herself. I won't spoil what happens, but suffice it to say... Beyond Citadel made me sad, but in a good way. It's been a long time since a video game has made me emotional, and this Japanese indie game managed to do that. Props to the dev; he made a 30 year old man feel sorry for the main character, and most of the cast. THE NEGATIVES Unfortunately, this game is not without its problems. Beyond Citadel has a tendency to crash, more so than the original. And it's random. Sometimes it won't happen for hours. Sometimes it will happen 2 - 3 times in the span of a few minutes, and I have no idea what causes it. I'll just blame it on Unreal. Thankfully, it didn't happen too often. TL;DR - This game is fantastic! I wish more people would give it a try, especially fans of shooters and anime, because it is genuinely one of the best shooters I've ever played, reaching the godly ranks of Ultrakill, Turbo Overkill, Cultic and Dusk... Uh, just keep it away from Twitter/Reddit/BlueSky freaks. They already mald over Stellar Blade, and they'll likely get several heart attacks upon seeing Martyr and her "outfits". Final verdict? 9.8/10! The ONLY reason it's not a perfect 10, is because of the crashing. The Citadel was great, but Beyond Citadel was beyond amazing! Also, Sister Chloe dating simulator when, developer?
