Written By: Tyler Selig
Rating: 9/10
Verdict: Beyond: Two Souls isn’t a game for
everybody. It’s very story-driven, and doesn’t always offer the most
fascinating gameplay… but for those who want a unique experience and have an
open mind, it’s worth every second.
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| Damn, what kind of mess did Ellie find herself in this time? |
Beyond: Two Souls is always going
to be a memorable game, whether you love it or hate it. Like Heavy Rain and
Indigo: Prophecy before it, Quantic Dream has created an experience that is
very story-driven. You’ll notice I said experience and not game, because this
is where the controversy is.
What is a game? What should the
focus of a game be? Should the number one priority always be making something
that is fun to play? Or can we treat it like a movie, like a serious art form,
where cutscenes and story run rampant? People are going to debate that for
years to come, as video games have progressed from being simplistic, but amusing,
experiences to more complex ones. The answer ultimately depends on personal
issues. Nobody is really right or wrong in the argument.
I’m welcome to all experiences,
but if you asked me if I’d prefer a memorable story in a game that is boring,
or a shitty story in a game with wicked gameplay, I’d generally go with the
latter. Video games are my first love, and I will play them until I die. I am
constantly referring to games as art. But on average, I’d much prefer a game
that is thrilling to play, because at their core, that’s why I go to a game
rather than a movie.
But I approach all games as they
are intended. I was just as excited to play Beyond: Two Souls as I am many
other games, because I thought Heavy Rain had one of the better stories ever
told in the medium.
The star of the game is Jodie
Holmes, a troubled young lady (magnificently played by Ellen Page) who
constantly has an entity named Aiden in her presence. The game takes place
during fifteen years of her life, with chapters representing each of those
times. Beyond: Two Souls runs a gauntlet of tones and even genres during these
fifteen years so the last thing you can say about Jodie’s life is that it’s
boring, as you play through her as a kid all the way up until she’s an adult.
During this time she meets many different people of many different lifestyles
that have an impact both positive and negative, and for the most part every
chapter is wonderful at fleshing out her as a character.
The game tells its tale in
non-chronological order, and I’ve seen some reviewers say that the plot is hard
to follow. I never once had a difficult time understanding what was going on.
The chapters are appropriately put on a timeline so as long as you can remember
what chapters are what, it’s extremely easy to follow just by that alone.
The game does do a good job of
justifying this storytelling method, however, but I won’t ruin anything. Just
know that it does make sense, and it wasn’t merely David Cage flexing his narrative
prowess or him attempting to confuse you.
But what a story it is. For the
most part it is extremely compelling, roping me into its world in such a way
that very few games have. Whether its Jodie struggling with hauntings as a
little girl, to being homeless, to assassinations of warlords, the focus and
strength of the game is the story. I felt emotional many times throughout my
play through, and the ending hit me like a sack of bricks. Some will criticize
the constant tone shifts throughout, but I agree with David Cage’s reasoning
behind it when he said that life is full of different tones, it isn’t just one
flat note (that’s not an exact quote). This is important because the game isn’t
so much about central conflict as it is creating a realistic person, even if
what goes on with her is supernatural. Jodie Holmes is a fully realized human
being just like Joel and Ellie were in The Last of Us. In fact, while the
stories are different and Beyond: Two Souls is more spiritual and elaborate, I’d
say the story in Beyond: Two Soul’s is every bit as good as The Last of Us,
maybe even a little bit better. Even though David Cage seemingly threw in as
many different ideas as he could, this is his most focused narrative yet.
Beyond: Two Souls is touted as
an interactive drama, and that’s mostly true. It’s clear it’s pushing video
games as close to film as it can before it actually becomes a movie and gets
played in cinemas instead of at home.
It has an epic score composed by Lorne Balfe and produced by Hans
Zimmer, which would feel at home in any movie of this type. The songs are
beautifully constructed, and are able to induce sadness, panic, and horror,
among other emotions.
It is a beautiful looking game graphically, with realistic movement due
to the amazing motion capturing that they did. They put their work in to make
it look visually appealing and you know, like a movie.
That’s where the problem lies with some people. “It’s not fun to play,”
they say. They condemn it for “being a movie.” I get this criticism, but I’ll
come to the aid of the game somewhat in this regard. It’s true that the game is
light on actual game play. There are many times that the game play just
consists of quick-time events, or merely pressing up with no freedom to go or
do elsewhere. The game is extremely linear though I feel that’s understandable as
to not break the narrative flow. However, they did include a neat mechanic of
Aiden, being able to float through walls and do other things to help Jodie out.
The problem is, this is such a cool idea and it’s always very obvious what you
have to do as the game doesn’t allow you to explore and solve any puzzles. It’s
as simple as finding the dot, pressing the control sticks in the way that the
game tells you to, and ta-da, you’ve progressed.
It’s definitely something to criticize or at the very least put out in
the open for people to judge for themselves, but it doesn’t bother me nearly as
much as others. I was so into the story that it allowed me to overlook that,
and other flaws such as a sometimes irritating camera, which made it hard to
walk into rooms on occasion. Or the fact that it’s almost impossible to die,
which again, is a minor annoyance but I understand what they were trying to do.
These are issues that may bother certain gamers, and it’s understandable, but
you approach a game like this in a different way than you do a game like, say,
Battlefield.
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| Honestly? Just wanted a reason to post a picture of Ellen Page. |
When you break it down, Beyond: Two Souls is what I call “gameplay-lite.”
I firmly believe that this is a step in the right direction for Quantic Dream
making a game that manages to blend story and gameplay in a classic way. Nowhere
is this more obvious than the aforementioned assassination of a warlord chapter.
They throw you into a foreign territory, and your objective is to sneak in.
This is classic stealth gameplay, but it doesn’t go as far as it can. While you
can freely move, the path is linear, and the game holds your hand in regards to
taking out the enemies. Oh, and forget about shooting enemies when you want,
because that’s pretty much scripted as well and you don’t actually get to aim. So
while you have a lot of moments where the gameplay again is simply pressing the
right stick over, or rapidly tapping X, there are moments where it genuinely
feels like they attempted to “make a game.”
Beyond: Two Souls is a flawed game, but it’s one of those flawed games
that come along every so often where despite the problems I have with it, I am
in love with it. With some games, it does something so well that the issues I
do have with it seem so minor. In this case, the story is above so many games
that it’s unreal. I can still rate this a 9 because when I was done playing it,
I thought, “Wow.” It’s the type of game that will stay with me.
But in closing, I will say this: I sincerely hope that Quantic Dream
decide to put some emphasis on fleshing out their gameplay mechanics for their
next one. At the end of the day, I appreciate the shit out of what they
accomplished here, but games are going to be games, and I want to play. Give me
an amazing story, give me astounding gameplay. I don’t know why I kept thinking
of The Last of Us while I played -- maybe because of the controversy with Ellen
Page and Elli -- but that’s why The Last of Us deserves a 10/10 and this is a
(solid) 9.
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