Beyond Two Souls

      That’s right folks I’m back, back from what seemed like would be the end of my video game reviewing days. Gladly it wasn't, for those of you wondering, long story short, when certain people decided they are going lie, and just completely drop the work they were doing on the blog for me. I was forced to take on all of it and IT DIDN'T GO SO WELL. I stressed myself out and woke up one morning and just couldn't be asked to even bother worrying about posting ANYTHING. So I put this on the back burner while I went job hunting. Still job hunting, but now that I’ve figured out the direction we are going to go in. I’m back with more content for you to read and enjoy. With that I have some bad news, ALL of the old projects, dropping them, I don’t have the resources to finish them (I don’t own the games to finish playing them my Ex owned them, and she moved to Canada…) There will be one review every week, with and at the end of the month I will play and review a game that everyone hates, and see if there is any redeeming qualities about it. Anyway without further delay, let’s move on the first review of 2014. BEYOND: TWO SOULS. Due to the nature of this game I’m going to avoid try my best to avoid spoilers.

Development

      Beyond: Two Souls was developed by Quantic Dream, written and directed by its CEO, David Cage, just like his other games; Omikron: The Nomad Soul, Indigo Prophecy (my first David Cage game), and Heavy Rain (haven’t played it yet.) During the games development it was noted that the voice actor for Jodie (Ellen Page) said the script was over 2000 pages long. Considering the amount of ways this game can be played, I can only imagine what the script looked like. Unlike Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls is not compatible with the Playstation move, and like All of Cage’s earlier works, it has been called a “Psychological Thriller” and has been stated that the emotional narrative throughout the game was a key point in the games development. The game was first announced during E3 2012 featuring a trailer to debut the in-game graphic’s.

          The game was Normand Corbeil’s final work, as he passed away of pancreatic cancer on the 25 of Jan 2013 (moment of silence). Composer Lorne Balfe replaced Corbeil after his death as the games composer, having worked on the sound track for Assassin’s Creed III (To the games credit the sound track was one of things that DIDN’T suck…). The game also star’s actors such as Willem Dafoe, Ellen Page, Eric Winter, and Kadeem Haridson, with their in-game characters sharing resemblance to their voice actors. (for those of you who where are like, that Jodie looks like Ellen Page, SHE IS SUPPOSED, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS.) Speaking on actor’s, one has to wonder about the budget for a game like this. Oftentimes most AAA games budget out to around $25 million when it comes to development cost, with the lowest being around $10 million. It has been stated that GTA V cost Rockstar a grand total of $265 MILLION. Good thing the game sold so many copies eh, despite the online not being all that great just yet. GTA V cost 7 times the amount for Quantic dream’s Heavy rain, Beyond: Two Souls however not so much, costing around $27 million. A reasonable development price to be sure, although that particular question is subjected to the person who spent their hard earned money on the game, and rather or not they enjoyed it or not. The price is only 7 million more than Heavy Rain’s price, so I guess the question it comes down to is my opinion on rather or not the game was worth it. Stick around and find out what I have to say.

Plot Spoiler level (light)

       Beyond: Two Souls follows the timeline of Jodie Holmes (Ellen Page), who since birth been connected to what is known as an entity named Aiden. After being left by her foster parents, she is raised by two researchers, Nathan Dawkins (Willem Dafoe) and Cole Freeman (Kadeem Hardison). Nathan and Cole’s job is to conduct research to figure out more about the infraworld which happens to be where entities come from, so the USA can use it as a weapon. Nathan and Cole conduct countless test on Jodie, none of which are painful or are meant to cause anyone any harm, in order to help them understand the nature of her connection to Aiden, and help her further develop her control over him.

          The plot of the game while scripted, was developed to be nonlinear, meaning the narrative doesn’t follow a straight path from beginning to end. The game starts with Jodie beginning to tell you the story of her life, recounting the events of her past, and how she came to be where she is. The game jumps from different points in her life, with some points being when she was younger, and some with her being in her early 20’s working for the CIA, and even memories of events that happen after she goes AWOL. Throughout the recounted events you’r allowed to in away control what direction her life will go in, by the choices you decide to make. As the player you control both Jodie, and Aiden, with almost all of the game changes choices made by Jodie, very few will be done by Aiden, and if they are they don't change much.

Gameplay & Story Spoiler level (light)

       Here is the deal, Beyond: Two Souls, like David Cage’s earlier games, aren’t knowing for their amazing gameplay, they are more like interactive movies. There point is to tell you a story, not to thrill you with engaging gameplay that takes your breath away and blows your mind. I leaving out a lot of spoilers while talking about the this game because It's mainly just story, that’s really all there is to this game, and I felt I’d be cheating you out of what I felt to be an amazing storytelling experience. HOWEVER if you are one of those people who play games looking for action, wanting to be a force of destruction, kill people at random, or even just have active free roam, in a heavily interactive game, David Cage’s games are NOT for you. The point of the game would go over your head, and you’d hate the game for it having very little in the ways of actual gameplay. If you are one of those people who love a good story, and want to be taken on a ride and willing to let the story tell itself instead of insisting you know how it’s going to end. I suggest you pick this up and give it a try.

          Gameplay wise this game is scripted as i stated, while there are different ways of doing things, they all end in similar conclusions, events happen or don’t happen dependent on rather you press the right buttons, or if you press the button at all. When you control Jodie, most of your interactions will be of this sort. Almost all of your game changing choices come from Jodie as well. Jodie will have a good bit of combat in her later memories, but keep in mind this game is nonlinear, so while you may be recounting a memory in Jodie’s 20’s the next memory could be her teenage years. Other elements of gameplay will be taken on by Aiden, what are these elements, quite simply Aiden breaks things, throws things, and fucks with shit. He can choke humans, possess them, or launch objects at them. In certain memories you will be attacked by entities, due to the fact that Jodie is quite human, she can’t fight them, so this task is left to Aiden. While Jodie’s combat gameplay is enjoyable… AIDEN’S IS NOT… Honestly this could have been fleshed out more, as it felt to me at times I really wasn’t doing much of anything. I’m trying to keep spoilers to a minimum but let me just say this, move the thumb sticks in or out to throw or choke someone, or even kill another entity gets old. If I have to give you any advice it would be this, DO NOT get hung up on the gameplay, you will be disappointed, and remain so throughout the whole of the game.

          The story is where the game truly shines. As stated you follow Jodie’s life, jumping back and forth between different points in her life that cover more than fifteen years of her life. Throughout these memories you travel through different locations in which Jodie visited or lived through these periods in her life some being; The lab in which she lived with Nathan and Cole, CIA base where she trains to work for the CIA under Ryan Clayton(Eric Winter) who depending on player choices her opinion on may differ. You visit a war-torn Somalia under orders to remove a tyrannical dictator, a group of homeless people who despite their lack of means, care for Jodie, and a native American family who every night lock themselves in their house to remain safe from a vicious entity that wants to kill them. Jodie’s life is not a easy one, she is left by her foster parents due to her connection to Aiden and her father’s fear that she will kill them. Nathan and Cole became her family, but she was eventually taken away from them… by Ryan… or the CIA, but Ryan was a prick about it though.

          You follow Jodie’s life from her childhood well into adulthood, as she struggles to live with an entity she knows nothing about. Early in Jodie’s life she was left with Nathan Dawkins, and Cole Freeman by her foster parents. They eventually become the only family Jodie knows, and genuinely care for her. When Jodie was young she spent all of her time in the lab, undergoing test so that Nathan and his team could gain a better understanding of Aiden, and more importantly the connection between Aiden and Jodie. When Jodie is in her teens, Nathan is contacted by the government, that’s right they want Jodie to do something for them. It seems that the government has been trying to find away into the world in which Aiden came from, the Infraworld. Thing is THEY ACTUALLY OPENNED A DOOR, bad news for them, as the entities that come out are dark, and quickly start to murder everyone in the lab, and what’s worse, they can’t seem to close the door. You have probably already guessed it, but if you haven’t, they want Jodie to go into their lab, and close the gateway they created. Eventually this leads to her being taken away from the lab by Ryan Clayton who works with the CIA, she eventually joins the CIA where she is pretty much used as a tool. After certain events unfold that upsets Jodie greatly, she goes AWOL, ending up with a group of homeless people struggling with the choice to take her life, or continue living. Eventually she finds herself on a Native American ranch, helping them solve their problem with a entity summoned to by their ancestors. The game comes full circle when Jodie meets back up with Cole who tells her news of her mother. The two of them go to investigate and you eventually learn the truth about your mother, and why you were raised by the government. By now a great deal of the game should make sense to you. (in a effort to avoid massive spoilers I have left A LOT out.) After speaking with her mother, Jodie exit’s the room only to find out that they have been caught. Jodie finds herself speaking with Nathan again, who has been working with the government to create a stable gateway into the Infraworld, he succeeded, and with the new technology created to contain entities, the same tragedy that happen in Jodie’s youth didn’t befall this lab. Nathan tells Jodie that the CIA has one final job for her, then they will cut her loose to live her life. It seems another nation has created a doorway into the Infraworld, they want you and your old team to find their lab and shut it down. Long story short, you succeed, and return only to find out that due to events that happened in her youth Nathan has pretty much gone bat shit crazy. He is going to shut down the containment field and the gateway also known as the blacksun will pass throughout the world. Eventually the Real world and the Infraworld will become one and death will not matter anymore. After you’ve stopped his plan it’s happily ever after, or at least you think it is, since Jodie has had a vision of the future AND IT IS NOT HAPPY AT ALL. As you play the game, the story bounces around from her childhood to her rebellious teenage years, as well into her mid 20’s. You may find yourself confused at times, since the points don’t all start to connect into later in the game. This is ok, you’re supposed to be confused, this gives you some time to make some guesses about what happens next.

          In truth this game like David cages other games, has hardly anything beyond its own story, which is supposed to be its biggest selling point. For me even the downsides of this game were tolerable, the story line is entirely too predictable at times, and Aiden was more like a ghost buddy, not really fleshed out at all, and serves little purpose than a bodyguard who protects Jodie from hard, and helps her solve mysteries. The part that upsets me the most about this game however is it’s ending, While it makes perfect sense, it hints to a possible sequel. Issue is that David Cage has never made a sequel to any of his games, so the likelihood that one will be made for this one is slim to none. However as I said These things can be overlooked easily as long as you go into this game with a open mind. It is a David Cage game, do not go into this game expecting excellent gameplay, and don’t be too upset just because you saw certain parts of the story unfolding before you.

Endgame Spoiler level (medium)

            As I stated before, the ending of this game is the part that upsets me the most. I hate it when games end without answering all the questions, I hate it more when those games end and hint a sequel, when the developer of said game is not known for ever making a sequel to his jankball games. (Jankball being good in this case.) In this games defense a lot of questions were answered through the game play and in the games conclusion if not all of them. The ending pisses me off sole because how it ends, and the fact that actually enjoyed playing this game, and would like another one, knowing there is a slim chance of it actually happening. As with Indigo Prophecy the game has different endings. All based around your choices at the end of the game, and during the game. As I explained in the Gameplay section Nathan has gone bat shit crazy by the end of the game. After the death of his wife and daughter, he was become obsessed with Jodie and the Infraworld. Nathan has built a device that has pulled his wife and daughters souls from the Infraworld, literally keeping them trapped between two worlds, causing their souls extreme pain. After getting Jodie to use her powers to allow him to speak with them, he falls off the deep end when his wife begs him to let her go. He blames Jodie, saying that she said that, despite that Jodie tries to tell him that what he is doing is wrong, he refuses to listen, so she leaves. THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE BETRAYED BY THE US GOVERNMENT, SHOCKER RIGHT no, not at all, I bet you say this coming a LONG TIME AGO. The plan to do to you what they did to your mom. While you are bound Nathan comes to you and tells you that he is going to bring down the containment field around the black sun. Soon after your put in control of Aiden and it’s off to get help. Aiden manages to get help from Cole and Ryan (in mine I don’t know if Ryan is there in every play through as choices could change the outcome.) They free you and it’s off to stop Nathan, or in this case destroy the black sun, as you’re going to be too late to stop Nathan. After it’s all said and done, you get to choose rather you live or die. I’ll leave that part up to you to discover, I’ve already spoiled enough. Just know this, rather you choose to live or die, it doesn’t change the very end of the game. There will be a scene where you see the end of the world. Someone open Pandora’s Box and there is no going back. The hints to a sequel are so obvious yet I doubt we will see one, and that my friends is what pisses me off.

            As much as I would love to recommend this game to everyone, I just can’t. This game as well as all of David Cage’s other games are NOT ever everyone else. If you love David Cages other games pick this one up, If you enjoy playing games that start off normal then go super jankball pick this game up, If you are one of those gamers who can enjoy and accept a game for what it is instead of demanding it change to fit your gaming style and concept of what games should be, PICK THIS GAME UP, If you love weird super natural shit, pick this game up. However if you’re into fast pace games, games that are actually you know games, and not interactive movies, games that have more action, or don’t care for story, this isn’t the game for you. For me this was a great game, and if you’re looking to try something new, I’d recommend this game. It is worth at least ONE play through, and with that, I’ll give this game a rating of Play it. Asking you to finish it would be asking to much, some people just can’t be asked, and that’s understandable. Play it then trade it in or keep it for your collection.

This is the first review of many to come in 2014 I want to thank you for your time and support, coming up next will be my top 10 best games I played of 2013, which should be up sometime this week. Thank you again for your time hope you enjoyed the my thoughts, and understand that this is just my opinion, you are entitled to your own as well, and I will see you guys next time.