Skyrim - Beyond Reach: A Mod Review

[@nottin10]

Nice review and very good criticism. You are right about the second act being somewhat rushed, the quests you see after The Last King fight were initially drafts that just got fused into the final project. Had an entire investigation quest planned where you have the option to accuse someone of the murders and then some more quests exploring Damian and the escaping serfs. There was just a lot of issues with returning voice actors (a lot of them went silent after they sent their first batch of lines), so I wasn't keen on changing out entire VA just for one unvoiced quest. I think many people's main criticism comes down to the main storyline, but I always wonder why a lot of people never engaged in the side content or just explored in general. It really does seem people just rush through the main quest without doing much else, if you're not that interested in playing a mod and only "getting it out the way", then you shouldn't play it. I do regret a lot of writing choices and that ending scene at the quarry is particuarly weird, fortunately it's still not voiced so I can rewrite a lot of it.

[@TattleDelta]

"I always wonder why a lot of people never engaged in the side content or just explored in general" For me, I fully intended to and really wanted to see what this had to offer. I successfully forced myself through the main quest, but that was it for me lol. Between dark elements that just seemed to be in the story purely for cheap shock value and everyone including their pet rat talking like hyper-eloquent philosophers.... lol. A ton of work went into this, anyone can see it, especially if you clip beyond the borders and see tons of obviously cut content. It's masterfully done, just a bit much at times.

[@thefloodwatch785]

i enjoyed the aelid dungeon and the hermeaus mora secetion and quest a whole lot. very refreshing how much detail went into it made me wish base skyrim had more like it made me realize how fun dungeon crawling can be. i agree that thjs reviewer finishing in fifteen hours seems rather rushed.

[@talatq719]

For me, with side-content, I did everything I could in the Western half of Evermore, because I just loved the Oblivion-esque feeling it gave me. That area was so comfy I went out of bounds to run around the barely developed grasslands and see what was there. I can't say the same for the Reach portion of the map. It holds the bulk of the content, but I didn't feel as engaged running around. Most of the smaller settlements that were further from Raven Spring and the Divide were all basically destroyed in natural disasters or wars or the affliction, so knowing I was just running around looking at ruins the whole time just didn't engage me. It was the main story that kept me interested in the Reach and what it had to offer, and I think the main story takes you around the whole Kingdom pretty well, so side content is never too far out of the way (it helped I had Survival mode on, preventing me from fast travelling everywhere). Especially in the second half (which I personally liked just as much as the first) did I learn to sort of appreciate what was in the Reach. I just didn't like the witchmen very much. Also, that first cave you see when you enter the Reach and how utterly massive and complex it was made me very selective on which caves and dungeons I wanted to explore (mainly due to me being super thorough in checking every pathway a dungeon has to offer which in turn made me spend way more time than needed, or intended rather, in any one dungeon or cave). All in all, loved the mod. It tied with Vigilant on my quest mod tier list's top spot.

[@KazZannerman]

⁠@@thefloodwatch785 I want to clarify that I explored every location and completed every side quest before making this review. Possibly most of the unmarked locations too.

[@thefloodwatch785]

@@KazZannerman wow i guess you just did it much quicker than me noted

[@TheMoinomedian]

I felt the same after finishing this mod. My Dragonborn had ptsd and I retired him after arriving back to Skyrim in my home Morskom, seated by the fireplace. Probably one of the best experiences I've ever had with a mod.

[@IronDBZ]

About the RP value. There follower mod called Remiel that has some dialogue for BReach. I think the addition of a second perspective in the player's entourage can keep things from being too hopeless. Just by keeping the human element alive. It also helps a lot to have a character around that speaks plain English and reacts in more emotional way to what happens. Part of what keeps the hollow feeling in the mod is how broken everyone in the Reach and Evermore already is before you ever get there. It doesn't matter what happens, they may be surprised and even afraid, but they're never shocked. They're all subdued by the setting.

[@KazZannerman]

That's a good call! It could be useful to have that more human element with you, if you don't want to go all in with the hopelessness of the setting.

[@giagarex]

A bit late but I think a great way to follow up with this mod is by playing Vigilant and get the best ending. It sort of gives your character the redemption he/she deserves and give you the reason to continue on and push forward in your quests

[@jadenthecommenter]

Dang judging by these comments this mod really messed people up 😭 I'm looking to start a vr playthrough and play these mods. I'll definitely do this. I'm kinda reluctant tho cuz I usually avoid mentally heavy stuff like berserk and such so idk how I'll take this going in blind.

[@kriegsdorff]

Great, thoughtful review. I had a lot of similar thoughts after playing through it, especially including retiring the character I was playing afterwards. Going back to skyrim and strolling into a bandit cave doesn't feel the same after watching a city burn

[@Gripen1974]

I was mentally drained after playing through beyond reach. I recommend you play though it at least once, but i don't think most ppl can handle the mental drain of it more then once. It is a pretty awesome made mod in general but the grimdark will eat you and ptsd scar you.

[@Avinele]

Also the complex dialogue that's shrouded in metaphors is pretty hard to follow. The last creature you talk to speaks exclusively in metaphors and within a few minutes of his dialogue I could feel myself phasing out of existence lol Edit: it's mentioned in the video. Yes, it's the wayward husk

[@Jay-mx6bg]

I said the same thing about vigilant

[@jahniyaavila3348]

Lmfao its a dlc, play the shit and replay it if you want, not that deep

[@SerkeysTV]

Witchmen had such shit voice actors. Other then that it was decent

[@MattDean-o1t]

@@jahniyaavila3348 😂 I was literally thinking the same thing! It’s a game it’s not that deep dude lol

[@barrydalton4743]

This mod made me feel something few games and especially Elder Scrolls games had ever made me feel; defeat. I don’t mean defeat as in I died lots of times or anything like that, but rather the kind of defeat that despite everything that I did, even making the “right” choices, everything still falls apart and I’m helpless despite being the Dragonborn to really solve the crisis, aside from just helping and saving those precious few. It’s what made going from Beyond Reach to Vigilant all the better, and yet I still think of Beyond Reach every now and again.

[@Babblecat3000]

Please make more mod reviews, this is fantastic.

[@Blackferret66]

This mod is insanely impressive from a technical standpoint, and it's obvious that a lot of work went into it. That being said, I had issues with it. Firstly, I hated the "you can't fight this thing, so you have to run" quests. If I'm the Dragonborn and have beaten Alduin, don't tell me that there's anything I have no chance of fighting. Second, the Oblivion realms were often so dark that I had a very hard time navigating them. Thirdly, some graphics mods in the game affected Skyrim itself. Many of Skyrim's children were wearing the child slave outfits when i went back, and the overland map had this "aurora borealis" effect overlaying it, which made it hard to see. Both of these things ended when I delete the Reach mod. Fourth, as you mentioned, the dialogue can be interminable. I could go out and get lunch in the time it took for some NPCs to finish talking. Although I knew that the mod was grimdark, I did feel it went some places that it didn't need to go, and was being dark for emo's sake, rather than truly being for the story arc. And there are some twists that I felt were not just out of left field, but just done for shock value. I also didn't care for the difficulty boost. If difficulty setting are part of the game, then it should be so across the board. The groups second region mod, Bruma, is a masterpiece. It doesn't have a lot of what I didn't care for in Reach, barring one railroading scene, and I've made a point to play through it in all my new Skyrim runs. It's less a cohesive single storyline, but I found it extremely enjoyable.

[@KazZannerman]

I agree on most of what you bring up. While I don't mind a section or two of having to run rather than fight, it can be really hamfisted. It doesn't fit the intended power fantasy of Skyrim. But the mod also makes it clear that the PC is intended to be a nobody mercenary, rather than a legendary Dragonborn. I do think the section in Grey Belmor is done better than Reject's Respite, as there you at least kill the creature chasing you by finding the source of its power. But maybe it's all a metaphor for mental health and depression inexorably chasing you. I didn't have any trouble with graphics carrying over to regular skyrim, but I did have a whole modlist of graphics & RS Children outside Beyond Reach. I do want to note that Beyond Skyrim: Bruma and Beyond Reach are different mod teams. Beyond Skyrim is a project to bring other provinces of Tamriel into the Skyrim engine as expansions, and Beyond Skyrim: Bruma was a pre-release of the Cyrodiil project. Beyond Reach is a completely separate project by another mod author. Having them both called Beyond "Something" creates a lot of mixup.

[@Blackferret66]

@@KazZannerman Ah ok, thanks for the clarification. I was sure I read someplace that it was the same team, but, as you mentioned, it could have been the similarity in the names. I also have the RS Children mod and it still affected the clothing, although the RS only affects the children's model and not necessarily the clothing, so if you had specifically a child's clothing mid, it might prevent it. The only other follow up comment I'd make is that, if the intention is for the PC to be a non-Dragonborn merc outside the main Skyrim quest, hen they would have done well, IMO, to lower the difficulty so that you could start it from scratch, rather than needing to be Dragonborn for 20 to 30 lvls and then start Reach. I'd look forward to see you covering more large mods for Skyrim.

[@Aryan_H1]

​@@Blackferret66you can stop the chasing monster with the spell manifest supremacy.

[@frog6054]

Does bruma have a good quest line?

[@Blackferret66]

It has a decent "main quest", although has one or two deus ex moments where things get railroaded. I'd call it less a questline than a progression of events, though. Bruma does have a good number of miscellaneous quests, however, including a couple Oblivion-style Aelid dungeons.

[@vernerakhulakan1207]

Beyond Reach for some reason reminds me of the original Final Fantasy 7. They feel very similar with the melancholic undertones they give, specially at the early stages of the game. There's a feeling of dread and hopelessness lingering, akin to like, maybe the thought of a bank account emptying over your head in real life. It's one of the reasons why I love the mod so much. It's like a quandary. I love it because of how the story was written and laid out, but I got so immersed in it that when I finished the mod, I felt so broken that I wasn't sure if it was a place I would like to go back to. I enjoyed it so much in that way. It's been a long time since I played Skyrim, but I'm slowly getting back to it again in the past few weeks. I hope the mod author will be able to finish all the unvoiced quests and many others. It's not perfect, but the mod is really solid.

[@heinrichguil1524]

Beyond Reach was greatly inspired by Berserk, to the point that some OST pieces are just borrowed from 1997 anime adaptation. If you look at it from this standpoint you will see that such exaggeration of characters and a bit cartoonish villains are just an anime/manga trope.

[@pacifica2391]

Finally, a review that's actually a review instead of a glorified summary/playthrough

[@perverse_ince]

0:51 "I'm not a moddist, some of my best friends are modders!"

[@GoldenRiderAtreyu]

Short concise review that covers most of it's problems simply. Biggest criticism is just the heavily modded Skyrim trying to make it an anime Dark Souls.

[@xxarcangelxx143]

I remember trying this and it doesn't mesh well at all with skyrim. Its like a separate game and that last part of the main quest was so damn dark and hard to see and no torch, light spell or night eye really helped. Story was hard to follow and kinda felt like things randomly happened because of it.

[@MischiefWaffles]

What armor did u have when u enter that frist dungeon at 3:40 look super cool

[@leadpipejustice9253]

New update recently and this mod ruled

[@charderothelupe]

Great job at making this review.

[@Gokersky]

Great review.

[@jun-3434]

Wow, this makes me want to play the mod, actually i have it installed year ago, but i havent start the play through.

[@skyrimadventurelore]

Great Video, Please Do Shumer and the Fall of Allagard WIP next!!

[@Jay-mx6bg]

Beyond reach really reminds me of the Witcher with the land being dreary and dark undertones

[@carterwagner3480]

I'd hope to see more reviews of other larger skyrim mods. You know the ones 😉 great vid

[@KazZannerman]

Got any recommendations?

[@carterwagner3480]

The Vicn trilogy most certainly. There's a lot of new gameplay and deep themes to unpack. Glenmoril is not yet finished but still worth covering.

[@KazZannerman]

@@carterwagner3480 I do love me some Vigilant/Glenmoril/Unslaad! Although ideally I'd like to make a video about all three after Glenmoril is finished.

[@Thrano]

I also scheme with the masculine manifest! I hate this mod, it makes me sad and the big gryphon thingy scares me. 8/10 mod Edit: I have now "finished" the mod (completed the main quest) and I will never play it again. The Reach can burn with its pillaging orcs, Daedra worshippers and revolting serfs until Alduin swallows the world for all I care.

[@ArdannaL]

I had all the scripts break in the last quest, I spent 2 hours trying to fix it before throwing in the towel.

[@kiffley]

I am genuinely so thankful for beyond reach’s second act. Like act 1 is probably objectively better but it feels way more shallow without act 2 like it’s one of the “you kill the bad guys and the world gets saved” stories a lot more in act 1 than act 2. Nothing wrong with that. Beyond reach is probably the best example I can think of in making that good. But it’s got many messed up aspects that show how horrible the reach is but you help and one by one these start to go away. But then act 2 just takes all that progress and throws it away because uh-oh. You just gave the king who is a disgusting human being have so much power. And his son is a demon wearing his son’s skin! Woah! Because I feel without the first act it doesn’t feel as… kind? To these subjects? Like it feels like it tells you that you and you alone can fix all these fucked up issues. Which, without act 2 can lead to it feeling like a standard Skyrim mod but with insane and dark edgy things in it. Like: Oh yeah the orcs might be a people who literally have been persecuted and can’t even enter the main city, there’s child eating eagles. R*** But you can fix it! Go kill 30 reachmen drawn to the brink of insanity. Just, act 2 highlights so many of the things glossed over in act 1. It demonstrates that the reach cannot be fixed by simply obeying the order hoping shit to change. And that the only way for stuff to happen is for drastic things. And you can’t control what everyone wants, or needs. You can’t let the cycle continue. I feel like Damian and everyone around him being so goddamn evil makes sense for the messaging of the mod. It also feels so much more real in its conclusions than the likely outcomes of it ending at chapter 1 with: oh thanks Dragonborn you did so well. Thanks for saving everyone you’re deserving of a player home. Instead the endings for many characters is either bittersweet or pretty tragic. Like the lady at the watch tower. Who is so hurt by what happened she tries to end it all. But you can’t control save her and she’ll just go with the legion with the hope better things will happen. Refugees in the camp who worked for the king disgusted that they affiliated with him, rados being a drunkard but not living to his grandads expectations. His own person. The ending also feels super deserved of Damian getting his evil fucking empire. Or everything collapsing. Because tension even though raven spring is healing is palpable. Literally banking entirely on damian. Who you murder. The orcs are taking the chance to not be genocided. The outcasts seize the chaos, the evil dictator people are being the worst and trying to control at least any power. People are outraged, the witchmen want the reach also that was their last religious leader outside of lady disgust herself. It’s so much more earned than: Ancanno telling you: Go kill that innocent family and feel bad about it so molag bal will be summoned, or fight me which you won’t be told you can do and lose and kill the family and feel bad about it so molag bal will be summoned, or fight me and win and then the mom of the family is pissed off you killed her husband earlier so she summons molag bal.

[@brixferera8938]

Your Skyrim simply looks awesome.

[@theprinceofawesomeness]

wow, this mod is old, i thought this was a new Beyond Skyrim mod

[@michaeltelson9798]

George from Zero Period Productions did a complete walkthrough on this mod 2 years ago.

[@thefloodwatch785]

what are some of your favorite mods? liked the video

[@herwigdesk5861]

Hey man what is your modlist. Your game looks graet and goes smoothly

[@SwedishEmpire1700]

Have this mod been updated? last time i played it the map was pretty much empty past the prison west of the city.

[@KazZannerman]

If you refer to the Orc quarry as the prison, it is still very empty. As far as I am aware, the mod is considered done, so I would not expect more to be added.

[@monkiplatts9224]

vigilant review next if you please

[@GuyNamedLazalo]

can i ask what kind of texture youre using

[@Cattling7961]

What is the Armor in the Thumbnail?

[@KazZannerman]

It is the Evermore Aventurier armor from Beyond Reach. It is also included in the Immersive Armor collection. Vanguard Plate, I think.

[@Cattling7961]

@@KazZannerman Yay

[@deathjoker666]

To be fair, sexual assault is nothing new in lore of Elder Scrolls, Molag Bal for example is how that Daedric Prince created vampires.

[@trevinwhiteley2730]

I mostly just watched this to see if others felt like the second half kinda sucked, it really pissed me off to get to the end and not know what was going on. Why am I going to the quarry? Why am I talking to this husk again? (I listened to all of the dialogue with it, I am well versed in the lore, and I still hardly have any idea what the hell it’s supposed to be beyond a Namira serving Breton/orc that fought against wayrest). Oh now I get why I was bringing children to evermore, fuck me. I get that reality isn’t the knight fairy tale, but I play Skyrim because it’s fun when it ends up that way. The first half was some of the most fun I’ve had playing Skyrim in years, I wouldn’t have been so disappointed otherwise.

[@hyperborean7248]

are you using a modpack or your own mod loadorder?

[@KazZannerman]

It is my own modlist

[@jackpitman15]

Whoever wrote this mods story should really publish it as a standalone story, strip the "elder scrolls" from it, chabge some details and you have a recipe for how to start a new dark fantasy novel franchise.

[@trevor8726]

what is that text mod?

[@KazZannerman]

Look for "Sanguis - An Oblivion Font" on Nexus Mods.

[@trevor8726]

@@KazZannermanty

[@brycebusby5488]

What enb is tht

[@KazZannerman]

I believe I used RudyENB

[@brycebusby5488]

@@KazZannermanthank you!!! Your Skyrim looks amazing I would kill for a mod list showcase lol

[@ether5386]

I would also add that the second part of the storyline is really buggy. Granted i play with the Nolvus pack, i had to use console commands often to progress in the story. It's too bad the plot is incomprehensible, because they are some really good bits here and there.

[@james739123]

Well if it's a bad ending regardless of your actions it's not worth my time

[@jimbodile]

not really, its more-so bittersweet. There is a ton of hints that the kingdom is corrupt beyond that if you just don't look at things beyond the surface level and quite a few of the characters are compelling enough such as the priest of the nine in Arnima. The mod is like a very deep puddle, focusing on Arnima and Evermore makes it quite enjoyable but if you don't go in with the right mindset it will really just seem like dribble spatting out from a horse. So basically you have the options of a bad ending, really bad ending or a bitter-sweet ending. I would really recommend trying it out despite what the reviewer says, although I believe he has valid criticism I think its a bit nitpicky at times and I don't think he covers the good content within that makes the mod worth it as he should've. I mean the comments 2 months old so it's not like this'll change much but it is a fun experience if you just go into it with the right mindset and context.

[@james739123]

@@jimbodile no

[@bizznick444joe7]

At this point Skyrim doesn't even belong to Bethesda no more.

[@liss2166]

Promo>SM 😻

[@presidentialsystemenjoyer]

Great review