[PS3] Beyond: Two Souls

[jms493]

Anyone else predict this game gets lost in the shuffle and GTAV train. I hope they have low sales expectations.

 

[Swarley]

Anyone else predict this game gets lost in the shuffle and GTAV train. I hope they have low sales expectations.

:wtf2:

Why are you in a PS3 thread?

 

[jms493]

:wtf2:

Why are you in a PS3 thread?

I am a proud PS+ Member!!!

 

[JayDizzle]

I can't get over the Uncanny Valley thing these Quantic Dreams games have.

I know it's motion captured and they're using real-life actors/actresses but it just looks weird when I see a guy like Kadeem Hardison, who I've basically grown up watching on TV and in movies...

And he's in a video game but not through an AMV or some other sort of live-action video clip.

...it feels like I'm watching a robot wearing a cheap halloween mask that looks like his face.

I know the demo gets better but shit is creepy.

 

[JBauerisGod]

Played the demo today. The controls are really hard to get into, and although I like the essentially zero HUD aspect of the game, some of those white dots that signify that you can do something are very easy to miss.

One thing I do have to say -- they game looks absolutely gorgeous. I'll probably get this Day 1.

 

[Handleit_44]

 

[Handleit_44]

Tuesday... can't wait.

 

[JBauerisGod]

I think it's pretty interesting that there hasn't been any reviews yet. Not sure how that bodes for the game.

 

[SethMode]

There's 50 something on Metacritic now. It's a little crazy how almost all of the "big name" review sites seem to be anywhere from "meh" to "ick".

I honestly still don't even know what the game plays like. I only ever come into this thread while at work, and I have no access to videos there. Then I forget to check at home because I was pretty meh on Heavy Rain, and find Quantic Dream's style of game to be a little stupid (if even a game at all), or at the very least, not suited to my taste.

 

[JayDizzle]

Rev3Games gave it a 5-out-of-5.

IGN gave it a 6-out-of-10.

Issues from both reviews revolve around the staggered narrative (you obviously can't play through a 15 year-straight period but when you jump two years after just weathering a heart-wrenching moment... might put off some people)...

The QTE system being janky like it was in Heavy Rain...

...and that the game "plays" more like a directed, sometimes passive narrative than an actual do-whatever-you-want title.

IMO, it's one of the last great titles coming to the current gen PS3 system before the launch of next gen just on how it was made alone.

It isn't a samey-shooter like COD or BF.

You won't life like a criminal kingpin in GTA.

It's an experience that's gotta be played through once if you have the means.

ALSO: BONUS POINTS for a co-op mode where Player 2 can play as Aiden so you don't have to worry about hotswapping between him and Jodie every 5 seconds.

The ability to get others in on the action is a plus.

 

[SethMode]

The QTE system being janky like it was in Heavy Rain...

...and that the game "plays" more like a directed, sometimes passive narrative than an actual do-whatever-you-want title.

IMO, it's one of the last great titles coming to the current gen PS3 system before the launch of next gen just on how it was made alone.

It isn't a samey-shooter like COD or BF.

You won't life like a criminal kingpin in GTA.

It's an experience that's gotta be played through once if you have the means.

Eh, this is all well and good, but I've read too much about the story ranging from bad to goofy, and considering my distaste for the way it plays (since it apparently plays like Heavy Rain), it doesn't leave me much to be excited about. That it's unlike COD or BF or GTA is beside the point. There are a TON of games unlike them.

All of that being said, I'll probably play it at some point. :running:

 

[JayDizzle]

Eh, this is all well and good, but I've read too much about the story ranging from bad to goofy, and considering my distaste for the way it plays (since it apparently plays like Heavy Rain), it doesn't leave me much to be excited about. That it's unlike COD or BF or GTA is beside the point. There are a TON of games unlike them.

All of that being said, I'll probably play it at some point. :running:

:bobbyv:

When I can afford to pick this up, I'll see for myself.

 

[JBauerisGod]

I'm loving the game so far. One of the complaints I've been reading about the game is that they find it hard to get attached to Jodie and feel for her, but I've had no problem with this. Ellen Page has put on an incredible performance so far. As for the story overall, it's definitely weird, but I'm kinda into it. Once again, this is due in part to how fantastic Ellen Page is as Jodie. Games need more real actors instead of the people they pick off the streets. My only complaint with the story is the telling of it -- the story jumps all over the place, from Jodie as an adult, to Jodie as a kid, back to Jodie as a CIA killing machine, back to angsty teenage Jodie, and so on. David Cage made it almost impossible to really follow the story.

The other problem I have with the game is the controls and camera get in the way of each other occasionally. You'll be walking in a room, holding the analog stick forward, and then the camera will cut to another position where you have to hold the analog stick left to keep moving in the same direction. If you don't change the direction of the stick quick enough, you'll walk right back into the other scene, and you'll be stuck switching between the two different camera positions as you try to determine which way to hold the stick.

I'm probably a little over half way done with the game, but I'm digging almost everything I've played so far.

 

[JBauerisGod]

Just beat the game. I would estimate it took me about 10 hours.

Beyond is definitely David Cage's best effort yet. There were no gaping plot holes, mainly because Beyond was much more linear than Heavy Rain or Indigo Prophecy. Linearity is not a bad thing at all in this case. There are what I would describe as two main endings with derivative endings off of those. The version I got gave a pretty fulfilling ending to the game.

It really surprises me that Beyond got pretty mediocre reviews. It's like everyone who reviewed Beyond forgot that David Cage isn't creating a standard video game. While the game isn't exactly action-packed, I was hooked on the cinematics and the story. I felt like I was Jodie Holmes. These "movie games" are the ultimate role-playing games in my book. No, there isn't a skill tree or progression system, but I what I do have full control of, just like in real life, is what Jodie says and how she says it. Dialog options are one of the things I like in role-playing games, and Beyond did it superbly.

No one can grade Beyond down on the visuals. Honestly, Beyond might be the best looking game produced this generation, and it will certainly look better than some of the early next-gen titles.

Critics hate how cliche a lot of the dialog in Beyond is, and they are correct -- much of the dialog is drivel you would find in cheesy movies. But at the same time, Heavy Rain had the same cheesy dialog with much larger plot holes and worse presentation and they loved it. It doesn't make any sense to me.

The Walking Dead is still king in these cinematic QTE games. If the visual and cinematic guys at Quantic Dream could get together with the writers at Telltale Games, we could have an incredible game on our hands.

My final recommendation to anyone who's thinking about the game is to rent it. Find a free Redbox game rental code and spend a weekend playing this. The story won't be for everyone, but the performance that Ellen Page puts in is at least worth a rental.

 

[jms493]

Reviews are for pussies...judge the game based on your own tastes and fuck everyone else.

The only thing I need to know from a review is

1. is the game broken?
2. frame rates?
3. estimated length of single player story?

I liked Dante's Inferno....yeah I said it!

 

[SethMode]

Well, I think reviews can be important, but Metacritic is absolute shit. Just find a reviewer who has tastes similar to yours, and you can guess that you'll like or dislike a game that they like or dislike. It's one of the reasons I really only visit Giantbomb, because a) they don't bother reviewing everything; and 2) the guys and their tastes are pretty clear. For example, I like pretty much anything Alex and Patrick like, so I often find their reviews to be very useful, especially if it's something I haven't heard or seen much of.

That being said though, Quicklooks are the best, and the biggest reason I go there.

 

[DDRGuido]

Bought this on release and haven't played it yet. Want to beat GTAV first. I loved Heavy Rain.