![]() ![]() ![]() As always, BEYOND!Ġ0:00 - Intro and Jonathon’s Big Announcement! (And a little bit of news)ġ1:21 - PlayStation Memories from the Pastģ3:11 - Memories of Jonathon’s Time Hosting Beyondģ7:35 - Max and Brian Say Their Farewells to Jonathon I am so proud and grateful of the show we've made, and grateful to anyone who's tuned in. Beyond! has meant so, so much to me throughout my life as both a fan and someone on the show. But look, this episode is a more reflective, personal one for the crew, they'll be back to normal PlayStation discussions next week!)īrian and Max also join Jonathon for a segment to discuss their time on Beyond! together, wrapping up and bookmarking this era of Beyond! And then, Jonathon bids his final farewell to the show, to the audience, to the co-hosts, and producers.Īnd from Jonathon himself (hi, me here!), thank you so much to everyone who has supported the show during my time hosting. ![]() But if you're somebody who enjoys the occasional challenge of rhythm games without feeling like you have to play with the stress of trying to be the greatest rhythm gamer of all time, then Neon Drive is probably just right for you.On this week's episode of IGN's PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Jada Griffin and Mark Medina to bid farewell to Jonathon's time as host of Beyond!Īfter nearly four years as host, Jonathon is leaving IGN and Beyond!, too, and so Mark and Jada wanted to send Jonathon off by walking down memory lane, discussing PlayStation and IGN memories with each other, talking about what's to come in the world of PlayStation, and reflecting back on his time hosting Beyond! (We try to sneak in a little news talk in there about the DualSense Edge, the PSVR 2 launch window, and some surprising PlayStation movie adaptions. But this is an issue of balancing that's worth noting, even if only in passing. If the developers were a little more intuitive with the adjustment of lower and higher difficulties, I'd say it's a perfect rhythm game for one so short. The fact that the gameplay is addictive in true Audiosurf form is only the icing on the cake. Barring that, however, I would say it could have absolutely broken into my top 5 rhythm games of all time due to its' presentation alone. So in this way, Neon Drive kind of comes off as a game that's too casual for hardcores, yet too hardcore for casuals. While this would seem forgiving, it's important to note that this means that even at the lowest levels of play, Neon Drive is a game that expects 100% accuracy not as an achievement, but as the minimum passing standard. While many hardcore rhythm game players have taken issue with the game's higher difficulties being perhaps too easy in comparison to games like Audiosurf, the base normal difficulty may not be the most difficult thing in the world, but you are only allowed one mistake on said difficulty, and there are only two or three checkpoints littered throughout a song. In this regard, the major issue can be summed up in one word: checkpoints. Where the game falls apart, however, is not even in its' length (only 8 songs with 3 difficulties, but still more providing more mileage than you might expect compared to games with the usual Rock Band-sized playlists), but in its' accessibility. The music is indeed exceptional, and the visuals are indeed stunning. Looking past that veneer, however, is a Synthwave/Retrowave soundtrack and eclectic and edgy 1980s-meets-postmodern art style that I've never seen a game capture as well as Neon Drive. A freeform rhythm game in the vein of Audiosurf, Neon Drive is perhaps best summed up as an 80s reskin of Audiosurf, and while that makes for an excellent formula, it does bring the game's level of uniqueness into question for rhythm game veterans who know the insides and outs of the genre. Although brief, I can say that Neon Drive is perhaps stylistically the most potentially captivating and fun rhythm games in recent memory for Although brief, I can say that Neon Drive is perhaps stylistically the most potentially captivating and fun rhythm games in recent memory for me. ![]()
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