Life can be cruel, and the world is often unfair. These sentiments can break us, or we can try to power through and find the good amidst the turmoil and despair, clinging to it as best we can. Doing so with those we trust who can look out for us and vice versa makes all the difference. Such is the premise behind traditional RPG Beloved Rapture, a message it manages to beautifully convey despite a rushed final portion and some other caveats.
Beloved Rapture stars Johan and Aiden, two individuals with separate goals who eventually form a powerful bond with one another. At the start of the game, Johan, who has just come of age in his peaceful village under the watchful gaze of his overprotective mother and childhood best friend Zach, encounters a figure from his past, and horrific truths come to light in the face of an unthinkable tragedy. By contrast, Aiden, having lived in exile far from his true home, is tasked with a crucial mission by his distant and often unintentionally dismissive knightly father. When Johan and Aiden’s paths eventually cross, a chain of events begins that will forever impact both men. Will their developing bond and deeper feelings be enough to save one another and all they care about from sinister threats, or might darker forces tear their world apart?
Joining Aiden and Johan on their quest is a young woman named Crysta, a powerful mage with her own reasoning for tagging along on the journey after nearly being sacrificed by a nefarious cult while traveling through the kingdom. The trio later meets Karuka, a determined warrior with a chip on her shoulder who knows more than she initially lets on about the evil, enigmatic necromancer connected to the ongoing chaos and the crimes in the kingdom. The group also comes across Lance, the seemingly frivolous “bastard prince” with a surprisingly honorable and decent side, especially compared to his kin within the ruling family.
I came to appreciate the party in Beloved Rapture, with Crysta becoming a supportive cheerleader and sister figure to Aiden and Johan while also having some of the best observations about the narrative events around her. Karuka’s reluctance to trust others due to her past is pretty realistic, but I also enjoyed seeing how she ultimately warms up to everyone in the party. Lance was a genuine surprise for me, though, as he became one of my favorites once you see how different he is from those currently in power and how ostracized Lance tends to be from the family he still tries to love even though they belittle him for having a conscience. Of course, the central character focus is on Aiden and Johan and their evolving dynamic together. Johan is a determined character forced to endure too much too soon, while Aiden is a dorkily earnest young man wanting to do right by everyone. I love how the rapport between them grows into something profound and meaningful, as well as how the party eventually becomes friends despite initially having their own goals and agendas.
That isn’t to say that Beloved Rapture’s storyline isn’t without its weak points. With only one notable exception, most villains appear one-note and are not given much depth or reasoning behind their more hypocritical actions. There are also some glaring plotholes by the end of the game, though this largely stems from the noticeably rushed plot progression in the game’s final third. Before that point, the story clipped on at a relatively even and balanced pace. Still, once you reach the volcano dungeon area, story events start happening so quickly that you develop narrative whiplash. The closest comparison I can think of for the game’s finale would be the divisive final segment of Xenogears, and that’s not a compliment. Fortunately, Beloved Rapture’s continued focus on Aiden and Johan’s rapport, even throughout that last third, along with the strength of its overall ending scenes, keeps the conclusion from going entirely off the rails. Still, it comes pretty darn close at points and there are some moments where you may scratch your head in puzzled confusion.
As with the story pacing, the gameplay portion of Beloved Rapture starts with a robust setup that loses some steam in its troublesome last third. For the most part, you spend a lot of time traversing various areas and lengthy dungeons peppered with generous cutscenes set at a pace reminiscent of old-school JRPGs. You can even swim to find hidden treasure! You can uncover side quests in towns and villages before advancing the main story like any decent JRPG. However, all of that goes out the window once you reach that pesky volcano dungeon and the gameplay pace becomes more streamlined to coincide with the quicker plot progression. I only encountered one glitch while playing Beloved Rapture before that point, but I quickly found three game-crashing glitches in that last stretch. Fortunately, simply loading a save and avoiding what caused the glitches prevented repeats, but it certainly doesn’t help the game appear less rushed. Even now, the title is receiving update patches, so hopefully, those issues won’t be so prominent soon.
Beloved Rapture offers choices as far as how to approach difficulty. There are classic and story modes, depending on how you want to play the game. You can also opt for active mode, where enemies attack even as you’re trying to figure out your next move, or wait mode, where there’s a pause in combat as you ponder things strategically. Battles are turn-based affairs where you physically attack, use items, cast spells, or defend with the ultimate goal of raising your relica bar to use a decisive super move. There are no random encounters, and the party raises levels quickly, allowing you to allocate bonus points to different character stats. The battle system has nothing inherently wrong, especially if you’re familiar with traditional turn-based combat. Still, the repetitive strategy gets tedious, considering that bosses have large health pools. Overall, the gameplay loop is quite solid and entertaining for what it is, even if it doesn’t reinvent the traditional RPG experience.
I played Beloved Rapture on my Steam Deck and found it plays very well on that system. However, since the controls lean more towards a keyboard schematic, it takes some experimentation with a controller to figure out specific button commands. Unfortunately, there’s no new game plus option after finishing the game, so replayability isn’t exactly high. You’re looking at a solid (give or take) 25-hour playtime, though given how rushed and condensed the finale is, I wouldn’t have minded if that portion had extra padding to provide the game with a more extended playtime.
Visually, Beloved Rapture‘s pixel graphics are detailed and gorgeous. I also love the portraits used for the more major characters in the cast. The world itself is quite colorful and vibrant. If you’re a fan of pixel games, this one delivers the right aesthetic. The soundtrack is also a personal highlight for me, with many tracks that call back to traditional RPGs of yore. The battle themes (such as “Sword in Hand“) are astounding!
The storytelling in Beloved Rapture is another strong selling point. I especially liked the party members and many of the supporting cast. Unfortunately, the script could’ve used another go with editing before the game’s release. There are some grammatical and typographical errors sometimes, and the script overuses ellipses to a detrimental effect. It…can…really test…your…patience…when trying…to read…multiple sentences…that…look…like…this… (I wish that was an exaggeration, but it isn’t!)
I also found the derogatory language used to describe women characters to be too much, especially. Be prepared for not only antagonists but also other women in the cast to constantly be referred to as the B-word, or a more insulting term for ladies of the night, and even in one particular scene, addressed with the C-word. I’m no wilting flower when it comes to cursing, but it would’ve been nice for the game to have thrown them around in an equal-opportunity sort of way when describing male characters, often referred to as “brats” or “monsters.” This name-calling is especially true of all the antagonists who do truly despicable things throughout the story, as it feels weird to have the female villains more singled out in terms of strongly worded insults. However, I don’t believe there’s some underlying malicious intention within the writing for this. It sounds more like the script was probably trying to be edgy, but misses the mark.
Beloved Rapture is a memorable indie gaming experience that admirably captures the feel of classic traditional RPGs throughout its twenty-plus hour playtime. I especially enjoy the story’s focus on Aiden and Johan’s evolving bond and appreciate the underlying message of love and perseverance. The rushed components near the end lessen the impact the narrative might’ve otherwise had, but I still enjoyed playing Beloved Rapture by the time the credits rolled. Those desiring a traditional RPG homage should consider giving Beloved Rapture a try for themselves.
