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Test Review #4: Beyond: Two Souls!

sorry tsupertsundere :P

PlayStation Exclusive, played original version only

Recommended for Immersion

Go through a long journey of Ellen Page’s life and her erratic gift that got her into very tense and varying situations in another installment of David Cage’s cinematic games!

Gameplay Even though it’s not heavy, it goes out of its way to highly add immersion

Obviously, as a cinematic game you won’t find an action heavy game here. This isn’t a shooter or a strategy game. You are meant to be immersed in the graphics and the story. However, there are some differences that you won’t usually find in other cinematic games. I’ll get to those differences in a bit.

Firstly, let’s get QTEs out of the way. Telltale usually pops up buttons and directions on the screen to prompt you with a response, without the adrenaline this could remove from the immersion quite a bit. In Beyond: Two Souls, when it prompts you for a response time slows down and the character moves in a certain direction that you are required to move as well. This is truly intuitive to keep the cinematic feel. However, it has some drawbacks as sometimes you aren’t truly sure which way she is going and I screwed up quite a lot even though I’m usually pretty good at QTEs. Another very annoying drawback is that you can’t change brightness settings in the game, and some events are too dark to even tell what’s going on.

Interactions in the game are very straightforward and wonderfully done, again adding immersion. The way the character interacts with the environment is very natural and beautiful, the way the comments are made and items are picked up and NPCs reacting to you.

One way that the game is played differently than others in the genre is what I would like to call immersion gameplay. When you are undressing, or opening a package or climbing for example, you are prompted to push some buttons to make the interaction feel much more natural and immersive. Some would disagree and say that it is unneeded but I personally welcome it and find it to be a nice addition to cinematic gameplays in general.

Another difference in this game is the erratic gift I talked about in the intro. I won’t dwell on this topic too much in my review so you can experience it for yourself. But in here you are able to interact with the environment in a way that is not usual, and that is required for some “puzzle solving” and finding bonus items. The “puzzles” are very straightforward and generally won’t take much of your time.

Story Slightly above average and varying in vibes which also includes slice of life parts

The game itself is cut into small parts that form up story. In the PS4 version, they have added a chronological way to play the game instead of the original way.
These small parts are pieces of Jodie’s (the character) life ranging from when she was a kid to a teenager to an adult.

The original version scatters these parts throughout the game, so in one part you’re stranded and walking in a tense situation as an adult and then the next part you see yourself getting some oil from the garage for your mother as a child. This is where the controversy occurs, a lot of players complained that they are left confused and not able to follow through with the story properly. That’s why the chronological version was added. I have only played the original version but I don’t think I will go back to play the chronological version. The controversy can hold true, I also found myself a little confused with the timeline of these parts when I try to piece them together. But generally I was able to follow through. There are some skills you unlock and that’s why the original version is done that way. I would assume the build-up would also be different than the chronological version.

Now let’s get into the illusion of choice and how it affects the story. The story was made in a clever way, in which you actually get to see some effects happening when you make a choice, but that usually does not have any effect in other parts of the story. You can make a decision with a very big impact but you don’t usually see it referenced in other parts. I could be wrong though, my playthrough didn’t have a major effect that I would expect it to be referenced in other parts. It happened in one case but I’m not quite sure if that event was supposed to happen or not.

The real story comes towards the end, where it is pretty chronological there. It’s a little tense but if you would think about it it’s very short. You can easily tell the story isn’t the strong pillar here. Like a very mediocre movie you’d watch at home.

Immersion Incredible realism and acting that was way ahead of its time

If you still seem interested in the game after reading the other two pillars then definitely get the game.
There are very few glitches here, and totally not game-breaking or annoying in any way. Just an NPC smoking with a cigarette a meter in front of him.

Graphics in this game compete with games that came in this year. All the characters’ acting are well-performed without a hint of any doubts. It would be quite hard not to fall for Ellen Page in this game if you hadn’t already!

As I also previously mentioned, the gameplay is designed in such an incredible way that really adds to the immersion and have the whole experience feel natural. It would’ve been much better though if the settings allowed you to change the brightness level as there were some scenes that I wasn’t able to view properly especially with the QTE sequences.

Verdict
Basically speaking, if the game sounds and looks interesting to you, it wouldn’t hurt to play it.
If you are expecting a story as good as Heavy Rain’s however, you could end up disappointed.
Ellen Page really did a wonderful job acting in this game, all facial expression were done very naturally as if you are watching a movie.

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Have any of you guys played this game? How accurate was I in my review?
What did you guys think of my review in general? Anything I should add or remove for my next one?
Is there any question left unanswered after you read my review?
Should I have added more information in the story? Or do you believe it is enough to judge based on what I wrote?

What would you like to hear about next: RiME or Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice?

I played Hellblade a few months back, but I think I remember enough to write a pretty good review for it