The last video game I covered for this site? Paper Mario: The Origami King, a delightful, funny, family-friendly RPG-platformer in which the player hops through Mushroom Kingdom! The latest video game I covered for this site? Lust from Beyond, a first-person horror-erotica game in which the player descends into a soul-punishing underworld full of blasphemy, corporal corruption, and extreme sexual violence. One of these things... is not like the other!
Inspired by maestros of "unfathomable body horror" like H.P. Lovecraft and H.R. Giger (what's with all the "H initial" names turning into horror creators?), Lust from Beyond comes from indie studio Movie Games Lunarium, who successfully crowdfunded the game's development on Kickstarter. It's the sequel to their previous title Lust for Darkness, and follows that title's path into hellish visuals, dangerously erotic explorations, and the general melting of everything we hold "reverent" into pieces of meat in the inherently conscience-crushing search for a realm of pleasure beyond our own. Mamma mia!
The studio released a wild-ass trailer, which even in its censored-and-blurred form (the adults-only version promised in the YouTube description has already been banned by YouTube) contains some of the most audacious — and bizarrely compelling — imagery I've ever seen in a game. If you're curious how the title plays, they've also released a prologue chapter as a demo of sorts on Steam, before the official title's release on September 24.
Check out the technically censored but still very NSFW trailer for Lust from Beyond below, alongside its official synopsis. The game's officially released September 24, 2020, but you can play the self-contained prologue for free on Steam now. For more in the world of "batshit crazy trailers," here's Kevin Smith doing his latest thing.
Lust from Beyond is a psychological horror with occult and erotic themes. The game creators are Movie Games Lunarium, developers of Lust for Darkness - the game that proved it is possible to create a liaison of erotica and horror. Now, thanks to the experience gained in the previous production, Movie Games Lunarium is returning with Lust from Beyond, opening the door to a realistic world full of desire, fascination and fear.
Victor Holloway, an antiquarian, is tormented by visions of a sinister land full of lechery and pain. To learn its secrets, he joins the Cult of Ecstasy, whose members seem to know the answers to his disturbing questions.
Victor learns the cult's life from within, getting lost in its blasphemous and sexual customs. Pleasures of this world are soon not enough. The cultists, following Victor's visions, attempt to enter Lusst'ghaa - the Land of Ecstasy beyond the borders of our reality.