I’ve started playing Beholder again, a title I last blogged about in Nov of 2016. I liked a lot of what the game did back then, but found it a little too brutal. Surprise, (note: not a surprise at all if you have been following this blog for a while) since that review a lower difficulty has been added that basically makes the game less punishing and easier to advance in.

The key to the easier difficulty is that things cost less, and you get more money for most tasks. This is very important because rather than having to go down the 100% optimal path, you can now make mistakes, get a little bit less money, but still have enough to avoid the hard stops the game will occasionally force on you. For the min/max crowd the original mode still exists as well.

At the lower difficulty setting, Beholder really is far more enjoyable, and playing through the game (about 6-8 hours) to the end is very worthwhile, because what starts as a slightly oppressive government soon goes full crazy-town on you, and the decisions you have to make get really, really tough.

I’m sure the game will be part of the upcoming Steam sale, and I’d recommend picking it up to try something a bit different. Even if it doesn’t fully click for you, at it’s low cost, a few hours to experience something unique is worth it IMO.

Note: The game also has one piece of DLC, which I’m likely going to grab during the sale, but can’t comment on right now.