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"Beyond: Two Souls" (PS3)

Posted : 8 years, 12 months ago on 31 March 2015 01:52

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I've just started a new blog over on Blog.com, and this is the first review I published on it. And it actually ran longer than I was expecting. :) I usually try to contain my reviews to less than 250 words to prevent myself from over-writing stuff. But with this one, I decided to let loose a little more. So, enjoy a slightly more unfiltered review than I usually do. :)

All her life, Jodie Holmes has possessed supernatural powers through her psychic link to a mysterious invisible entity named Aiden, which gets the attention of scientists in a department owned by the CIA.
As Fahrenheit (AKA Indigo Prophecy) is one of my favourite games of all time, I'm always hopeful for anything Quantic Dream puts out. But this outing, along with Heavy Rain, is another one that I'd probably just place in the "okay" category; it didn't do all that much for me.
But let's focus on the positives first. :) The graphics are amazing โ€“ some of the best the PS3 has to offer. The music is also good; every Quantic Dream game has a different composer with a unique identity, appropriately striking a completely different tone each time.
Also, in comparison to Heavy Rain, the quick time events are much more user-friendly: you always know where to look for the prompt, and the action is usually just a joystick movement (or maybe that's only on easy mode). Not to mention, in dialogue scenes, the options on screen actually stay still! :D And, while the directional controls can still be a little awkward at times, at least you don't have to worry about stupid shit like holding R2 to walk.
The storytelling, however, is where it falls flat. It's a fantastic idea, a brilliantly imaginative notion of a spirit world colliding with our own, but it's not executed too well.
For one thing, our main character Jodie has no clearly defined personality, which makes her seem flat and hard to latch onto. I know the point is that your choices shape her, she's entirely what you make of her, but couldn't they have written her as cynical or something and plotted all the dialogue options around that basic framework? Still, at least it's only one dull character this time as opposed to four!
But the main thing that dragged the story down for me is that I don't think it needed to be told in a nonlinear fashion. The chapters are on complete shuffle, usually with no apparent link from one to the next. I guess the idea is that she's remembering scattered bits and pieces as she tells the story, but I fail to see how she remembers the events in this specific order; hardly any of them naturally flow into each other. This robs the story of a great deal of integrity and dramatic tension, because we can't really connect to the character's journey. The fact that the narrative covers so many vastly different locales certainly doesn't help; it never manages to find a consistent tone.
But for what it's worth, the story did hold my interest as the mystery was slowly pieced together, and I was constantly anticipating the resolution. One of my favourite scenes is the Condenser chapter, which perfectly nails the feeling of terrified dread as Jodie descends into the facility: you don't know what you're going to see, but it's clearly very dangerous indeed.
But the main thing the game did for me was the twist ending, which I can honestly say I did not see coming.
So, much like Heavy Rain, I think I appreciate it more for what it was trying to be than for what it actually is. It's technically impressive โ€“ there's no denying that โ€“ but the story structure and lack of characterisation make it more conceptually interesting than dramatically or emotionally potent.

My rating: 60%


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Beyond: Two Souls review

Posted : 9 years, 3 months ago on 29 December 2014 11:14

In line with previous releases by Quantic Dream, Beyond: Two Souls is an attempt to create an interactive drama as much as a video game. The gameplay style was very much in the same vein as Heavy Rain although the controls were slightly refined with most button pressing sequences being more simplified, as well as the removal of on-screen prompts during fighting sequences. During the combat elements the player must move the action stick to attack the enemy or dodge their attacks which sounds fine in theory but with the camera moving around a lot this was more difficult than it should have been due to the changing perspective on the action. It was also disappointing that moving the characters around was still as difficult as it had been in Heavy Rain, this being one of the weakest aspects of both games.

Where the game really shines is in the graphical presentation. Every scene has a sense of realism to it and the characters are superbly animated and believable with only a few instances of uncanny valley moments. Environmental effects such as snowstorms and rainfall are highly accomplished. The sound design was also extremely good with appropriate effects being used throughout the game. The soundtrack was also fine although for my money it was less memorable than the score for Heavy Rain.

The story was derived from various influences including Stephen King novels, the X Files, Black Hawk Down and movies of the James Bond series as well as several James Cameron productions. I found it to be compelling although the non-linear structure took some getting used to and it did jump around within the timeline more than was really necessary. The cast were mostly excellent, Ellen Page is superb and brought out the emotional aspects of the story very well. She was ably supported by Willem Dafoe, although his role was much smaller so he only appeared in a few scenes. None of the voice acting was ever bad, but some of it was a little uninspired at times. The script was mostly good with the proviso that some of the dialogue could have done with a little polish, especially in the final scenes.

Overall I found this game to be highly entertaining with only minor defects which weren't significant enough to really spoil the experience. It is definitely worth a look if you enjoyed Heavy Rain or are looking for something a bit different to the norm.


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Beyond: Two Souls review

Posted : 10 years, 5 months ago on 28 October 2013 09:05

One of THE BEST games i have ever played !!!
heavy Rain was awesome game, but with this creators done even better. Just speechless. Must have, must play - MUST EXPERIENCE.


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