Beyond: Two Souls

Contains SPOILERs and possible TRIGGERs! I read this game was meant to be for non-gamers (what? why?), and without gratuitous bloodshed. True that many shooters have that, but this game's character traumatizes test participants, mind-controls her friends, and has the wonderful option of killing her own mother by telekinetically stopping her heart. Good times. Non-gamers will have spent their time on movies and series instead, and will find the plot so old, chewed through, and unoriginal, I wouldn't recommend it to any one of them. Nothing is new. Not the characters, not the powers, or the supernatural ideas. The protagonist is a woman (plus, normally) who is two heads shorter than any of the guys and has to be constantly saved while crying, A LOT; despite acing CIA training, she huffs and puffs going up a ladder. Also, seen in her underwear and showering a lot, is almost raped as a teenager, tries to commit suicide on several occasions, and the games forces a relationship with the cold guy who traps her into beocming a murderer and is of course much older. The other women in the plot are devices - the mom she longs for, the pregnant friend who gives birth and you get to help, aaaand that was it - with the only silver lining being the old Navajo lady who helps you with a spirit ritual. Then dies. I have never been confronted with controls this awful. They make you guess where to move the controller/mouse while holding: down to open this door, side for the next door, down again. Becasue of no saves, if you fail at any task you wanted to be good at, you have to play the entire chapter again. The super power is arbitrarily limited in range and ability, you can only control either the PC or the power BUT the game still offers a multiplayer option so two people can suffer through the gruelling controls. The only good thing I can say is that the delivery out of chronological order is interesting (in this case made it bearable) even if unlogical, and that the graphics are indeed pretty good.

3.5-4. Story was great. Controlling the characters were unfamiliar and a bit strange.

I enjoyed the story a lot. The focus on just one character allowed the athors to make the plot deeper ang more engaging. I remove one star due to unclear controls (sometimes), because the QTEs with the movement of the right stick do not explicitly indicate the required direction but instead suggested to be understood from the animation which is not always clear. This small issue with the controls is not significant though. The game must be played with a controller!

Oh David Cage games, they are essentially the Sword Art Online of narrative focused games. What do I mean by that? I mean that they are very love them or hate them. Now I wont be commenting on the politics that can get thrown into this game because of the main character's actor. You can come to your own conclusions and thoughts on that. I will be solely commenting on the game. So onto the Pros and Cons! Pros - - Graphics (Given that this was originally a PS3 game on PC it still looks fantastic) - Character Animations ( The movement of characters in story sequences and facial animations and lip sync is really good again given this is a 10 plus year old game now.) - Choice/Consequences (the story does diverage and branch depending on those choices.) - Sound ( Voice acting is fantastic, overall audio is good, decent soundtrack) - Story ( All I can really say while it takes a bit of turn into left field when everything is fully explained, the dynamic between Jodie and Aiden is easily the selling point as it relates to the story.) Cons- - Gameplay (QTE and David Cage about sums it all up.) - Story (Once full explained youll either love it or hate it again the typical David Cage trope, and the bouncing back and forth of how the story is presented can make the story feel even more confusing.) - Length (for the gameplay style its about 10 to 11 hours which can feel long and they could have shaved it down to probably 9) So overall I think strictly speaking Beyond: Two Souls as a narrative driven game is good IMO. So if you like the choice consequences, branching narrative styles games this should be right up your alley. If you hate QTE's or David Cage or both, this game will definitely not change your position at all.

The game is great, love it. But the control is poor , keyboard mouse and controls, nothing made it better. It's better on the PS. I see why it's at a reasonable price.