#And there's a huge cast of characters that you'll definitely find someone to attach to

[harpoonsnotspoons]

hello moot can you please inform me of what the hell goes down in sonic the hedgehog all i know is that theres a blue guy who loves chillidogs and goes fast[pressumably sonic]

This is the most important part of Sonic

[krakenjoy]

I'm 6 hours into the Pale Beyond on Steam and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's a survival management game where you balance resources and maintaining loyalty. It's got the Terror vibes, since the Franklin Expedition and the Endurance expeditions were direct inspirations. There's a character who I think looks like Cornelius Hickey who's background probably isn't the cleanest, and the doctor has Goodsir vibes. Someone says 'this place wants us dead'. The characters and narrative are intriguing. Also you get to pet dogs (I have a bad feeling about this).

It's difficult to not reset the game every time you mess up, and the game would prefer you not do that, since you have to restart the entire week. It's not just because of a more beneficial choice, but I also don't want to upset the characters.

Speaking of the characters, I did not expect to get attached this much. Even though you mostly interact with the specialists, the majority of them are given enough characterization to make them stand out. It should be quite easy getting a good/neutral response once you have a grasp on their personalities, generally just respect them and don't pry too much. Just do what they want you to do or find a neutral point.

Moving onto resource management. The most common resource you'll get is food, but besides eating, you also have to burn them for warmth. It's not hard to keep the crew happy so far, so you could alternate between half rations and half heat each week and be fine, which is what I should've done. If people get sick, there are ways to immediately heal them, or if you don't want to waste resources, send them to the doctor and they'll be fine next week. But it's still a hard choice if you like the characters as much as I do.

There are some bugs, like resource cards turning black when I click them even though I can add more and a few letters extending far beyond my screen (might not be wide screen optimized yet). I also experienced a loading problem besides the game screen popping out. It's not a huge issue (or I'm just used to Fallout New Vegas), and devs are fixing them.

Even if you're not a Terror fan, give it a go if you like narrative-driven strategy games with an interesting cast and brilliant art style.

SPOILERS up to Act 2, maybe beyond!

I have a tendency to spoil endings for myself. I didn't watch any youtube videos, but I did go on the steam forums and read some reviews. But first:

I thought Templeton was definitely going to stab me in the back somehow (judging from one reviewer), but up till now he's just being pragmatic and giving sound advice, if not a little suspicious. It's not hard to get on his good side. And wow, the plant metaphor really suits him! Please don't stab me in the back.

Grimley, on the other hand... it's ok if you don't completely trust me, but you don't have to sing about it to everyone, especially if we're going to be stuck together for a long time. Seriously, everyone is loyal to me but him. What the hell do I have to do to make him at least tolerate me? Cool song though.

I knew Hammond was going to fight someone sooner or later. Great work ethic borderlining on obsessive, but if I tell him to take a break he'll be pissed. Hopefully with Timmy helping, he'll worry less. Nice sense of humour.

Kurt is fine, surprisingly not that arrogant for a celeb. He's definitely insecure about his age and use of a cane hindering his ability to help, but he's still knowledgeable.

Junior is more sociable and receptive, but I'm still suspicious of him, considering his closeness to Captain Hunt and his brother.

Kasha is nice and super helpful for morale. It's great that she warms up to the crew, especially Arthur and Kurt.

Speaking of warming up (heh), Arthur's relatable with his social anxiety and need to be reassured. He does start bonding with the others. Besides that, there's Cordell with her love of singing and theatre and dogs.

The character development is amazing. The most heartbreaking part for now is when all the characters say they might not make it back and tell you to look after their family/tell their family etc.

Other memorable characters include science couple, science gun guy, Thomas Blanky vibes, the gymnast, and Timmy and his da. Also Grips who told me was in the military (because I picked colonial).

Leave the ship a week after announced, before dinner.

Get the medical supplies for the expanded bed space, one set of digging tools, and the guns to get more food and defend against the seal asap. Use the shotgun if you don't wanna die!

Don't hesitate because you want to please both characters.

Theory:

The expedition is funded by the canned peach company. (Huh. Tins.) Templeton and most of the science staff are botanists. Why would you need botanists in the cold?

Captain Hunt said something like 'if I don't take this then others will'. Then he got drunk and left. It's definitely related to the expedition.

On the forums and in the achievements, I saw something about a 'tree' and 'fruit'.

The Viscount went to look for the Tree five years ago and vanished. The peach company hears about this and wants to find the tree and make money off the fruits, or the fruits are magical somehow and they want to exploit it. They organize the expedition in the name of finding the Viscount and send Templeton and the scientists to study the Tree. Hunt hears this somewhere, doesn't agree. He takes the job, deliberately choosing the path so we would get stuck in the ice, ignoring Kurt's advice. He sets off with some trusted crew members and leaves to find the Tree so we don't get to it. The rescue ship is to bring the harvested fruits back.