Beyond: Two Souls Reviews
David Cage's best "interactive drama" experiment to date comes to PS4 in better shape than ever.
Beyond: Two Souls feels like a Frankenstein creature; a television show with interactivity jammed in for the sake of it.
Beyond: Two Souls is still an intriguing piece of digital narrative. It has some plot flaws, but living Jodie's story in the new straight order is refreshing, and some of the improved visual effects are mesmerizing.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The visuals still impress, but for a game obsessed with storytelling at all costs the dopey plot and underwritten characters in no way make up for the lack of gameplay.
If you've been scared off of Cage's work before and you don't mind a tale that takes itself much too seriously, you might just be hooked by Jodie's journey.
A deft remastering of what was arguably the PS3's technical swansong, Beyond: Two Souls finds new life and an attractive home on PS4, with some extra features thrown in to sweeten the deal.
Beyond: Two Souls is strange game that isn't quite sure what it wants to be. There are moments where the title pushes boundaries and attempts things that most developers wouldn't even care to try, but the plotting is uneven and the more touching sequences are undone by prolonged periods of outright idiocy. Ellen Page is excellent throughout and the presentation is staggering on the PS4 – it's just best to know what you're getting into before venturing headfirst into the Infraworld.
Beyond: Two Souls comes to PC, but a change of platform does not hide the game's wider issues with its restrictive gameplay and overall narrative.
If you've not played Quantic Dreams' pair of interactive dramas on the PlayStation 3, they're worth playing on Sony's newest console - if you can get past the lack of player agency as their inexorable progress pulls you through to their conclusions.
Beyond: Two Souls would've fared a lot better if it had even more visual detail, other control options and extra content to make it more like a director's cut. As it stands, though, it's a great conversion of a pretty good Quantic Dream development, mind its storytelling issues and quick-time event gameplay.
Overall, for gamers who are thirsty for an experience that focuses on the story it is telling, Beyond: Two Souls has a tale worthy of your time. On the other hand, if you are someone who is looking for challenging a gameplay experience, all you'll find is a very basic set of gameplay mechanics that leave a lot to be desired.
Beyond Two souls is the same as the PS4 version. It thus magnifies the narration with a technical outcome that amplifies everything. More graceful than ever, this port offers its most beautiful version here. As a classic, Beyond Two Souls is now part of the history of video games.
Review in French | Read full review
Beyond: Two Souls is an interactive drama action-adventure with painfully inept writing. Ellen Page's top-notch acting can only carry it so far until it falls apart in a terminally inane climax.
The PC port stands as the definitive way to experience Beyond: Two Souls, boasting a higher frame cap, solid keyboard & mouse controls, and a remix mode. These additions, however, do nothing to remedy the poorly-aged, cliché-ridden script and inconsistent chapters you may remember, but do highlight the game's strong visuals and emphasis on variety.
At the reasonable price of $29.99 CAD, Beyond is well worth picking up even with all the other triple-A fare competing for your attention and dollars this holiday.
Everything adds up to what could have been.
Whether choosing to play it in random or chronological order, neither of these options make it a compelling story.
If you liked any of Quantic Dreams' previous titles, or are a fan of pick-a-path adventure titles like those from Telltale Games, I'd say the Playstation 4 version of Beyond: Two Souls will bring a decent amount of joy. The story is a little slow throughout, and it often feels like an interactive cutscene, but the graphics are good, the choices are interesting, the acting is great, and overall I feel the journey is more than worth the price of entry.
Beyond Two Souls is a mixed game, with many elements of the story amounting to binary choices, some aspects of the narrative being poorly fleshed out and gameplay regularly amounting to choosing whether to be terrible or not. At the same time though, there are enough satisfying moments that provoke empathy for Paige's character and moral quandary to intrigue and entertain those drawn to coming of age stories and tales of the supernatural.
Quantic Dream proves that even a six-year-old game can be full of new life on a converted gaming platform. Beyond: Two Souls on the PC is a beautiful, engaging story about a special child with a special connection.