Between Horizons + Lacuna Bundle

Genre: Compilation / Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Between Horizons + Lacuna Bundle is a Compilation of the two named titles, released on Nintendo Switch in 2024 and 2021, respectively. Both of these games are Graphic Adventure games in a sci-fi setting.

I have separately reviewed these games. Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Lacuna	Graphic Adventure	1	A-
tl;dr Lacuna is a Graphic Adventure that has players as a futuristic FBI agent investigating the assassination of a visiting offworld dignitary, with the plot growing progressively thicker. This game has superb worldbuilding, likable characters, excellent pacing, beautiful pixel art visuals, a great atmospheric soundtrack, and some great puzzles that do a good job making players truly play the part of a detective. The game is stingy about refusing to let players save as they please though, meaning any mistakes you make will be stuck with you as you progress. While this mechanic may not be for everyone, I still think that fans of Graphic Adventures should consider this a must-play game.
Between Horizons	Action-RPG	1	C
tl;dr Between Horizons is a Graphic Adventure that puts players in the role of an investigator on a colony ship trying to uncover a conspiracy that threatens the ship. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t do a great job setting up its characters and setting, and the gameplay suffers from multiple frustrations, including the game repeatedly refusing to indicate where you need to go to find information you’re looking for, even when the people you’re speaking with should be able to tell you. The result is a game that feels like so much missed potential.

While both of these games share a lot of similarities in tone, setting, and gameplay, and even make use of the same progression system that denies players control over their own save file, I think Lacuna is far more successful at this, not only doing a better job setting up its protagonist and setting, but also handling the gameplay much better. Needless to say, I thought Between Horizons was a terribly disappointing follow-up.

However, a good deal can soften the sting of that sort of disappointment, so that leads us to the question of whether this bundle is a good value. Separately, these games sell for $36, but this bundle brings that down to $32, which is pretty minor as savings go. Much the same happens when we look at sale prices – separately the two games have gone on sale for a combined $13, while this bundle has sold for just over $11. This means that no matter which way you slice it, you’re getting a better deal with this bundle over the individual games… but not a much better deal. Add to this the fact that Lacuna, the better game of the pair, regularly goes on sale for only $2, and the only reason you’d want to get this bundle is if you’re absolutely committed to getting both games.

Personally, I’d argue you should just skip this bundle and get Lacuna when it goes on sale, but I suppose that if you really do want to pick up both of these Graphic Adventure titles, then yes, Between Horizons + Lacuna Bundle is the best way to do so.

tl;dr – Between Horizons + Lacuna Bundle is a Compilation of the two named Graphic Adventure games. This is a decent (but not great) deal over getting the games individually, but when Lacuna is the clearly superior game between the two and it regularly goes on sale for a rock-bottom $2, I think that unless you absolutely must have both games, you should skip this bundle and just get Lacuna on its own.

Grade: C+

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