Retro-ish Review: Beyond: Two Souls (PS4)

At the ripe old age of four and a half, it is finally time to review Quantic Dream's controversial, poorly received title Beyond: Two Souls.

This review is not spoiler free, given the game's age. With the names Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe etched on the cover image, you come here to expect drama, I guess.

You get drama. You get a story that starts with the end, and has choice morsels of information fed to you in a completely non-linear fashion. Threads are dropped to weave the story together in this style, and it's an excellent example of interactive storytelling.

You control Jodie Holmes, following her journey through psychic entanglement with an entity known as Aiden. It starts off as fun. You get to play the tortured little girl who can control a poltergeist and empty everyone's bowel contents. The only thing you can't do is hum creepy nursery rhymes at the same time.

You also control Aiden, through 'poltergeist' mode where you exit Jodie's body and can zoom around the game environment, interacting with orange dots (to move), or blue dots (to destroy, control, or influence) - the control scheme is very simple, and easy to pick up, but it does have frustrating moments, like when there's a legitimate training montage as Jodie somehow finds herself training as a CIA agent.

That's the main, unbaited hook here; you've got a talent, and its a talent that powerful organisations wish to exploit. The downside is that the vulnerability of Jodie is not explored in enough depth. She's a pawn in the CIA's hands, and a pawn in Aiden's hands, who, by extension of the dualshock generation, is a pawn of you, the player.

The game doesn't quite break the fourth wall in the way that Max Payne blatantly does, but it comes terribly close - in telling a story about how the decisions of an individual at specific moments in time can be influenced by those around them, much like the recent show on Netflix, The Push.

At the end of each of the twenty eight chapters that make up the story, you get to see how your choices differed from others who had come before.

Each chapter presents you with a series of choices that each tell a story on their own - and your choices in one particular point in time do not seem to dramatically impact your choices at another point in the game.

There's one chapter, for instance, where Ryan, a CIA handler or some person working at the Department of Paranormal Activity is introduced as a potential love interest for Jodie. I chose to not pursue this romantic option, being as cold hearted and dismissive as possible, yet time and time again, throughout the later stages in the game, the option for Romance remained.

Either Ryan's an incredibly persistent guy, or just doesn't get the message after I put a dangerously large amount of pepper on his Chinese Beef dish. The guy couldn't handle the spice.

Each and every chapter is produced thoughtfully, and the constants throughout the game are Jodie, Nathan (one of her "doctors"), as well as Cole, assistant to Nathan. Ryan is persistent throughout not only his attempts to woo Jodie, but as a handler and team member throughout her "missions".

There's atmosphere galore and even though the game gives you the illusion of choice, if you stray from the path, you get a very obvious nudge in the right direction, as though to say "nope, not there, come this way", this is done obviously in some areas through the clever use of lighting, and obviously in other areas where you seem to wander around aimlessly until you marvel at the fact that a vehicle is very creatively parked to prevent you from passing.

Barring this, and the inconsistency in texture, background models and inconsistent set dressing in various scenes, Beyond: Two Souls tells a somewhat captivating (if convoluted) tale of a young girl who grows up without any control in her life.

There's loss. There's triumph. There's some more loss. There's action. There's tension, torture, and despair. There's also some very predictable outcomes and revelations which as an astute observer you see coming well before they're due. Not by design, and careful attention, but due to archetypes playing out perfectly.

One such example is that you're in a war zone, and come across a little boy. You help him out, he helps you out. You achieve your objective. Whoops, you've killed his father. He now hates you.

David Cage, the writer behind Beyond: Two Souls put together a convincing script, and a captivating story. There's so many paths, options, and outcomes to explore; that it feels almost overwhelming. The great thing is, even as far-fetched as a story about a girl who can control a poltergiest and the millitary trying to weaponise the realm Aiden the poltergiest is from; its still a story that manages to tell a human drama.

It's a drama that leaves you wanting to feel more, due to the fact that delivery in many places is sub-par, and given its length, the title could deliver more succinctly its point.

People can be controlled by those around them. They don't always get what they want, and sometimes those choices are not their own.

The game is good, but it takes a special sort of attention to truly appreciate - one that most of the gaming demographic may not necessarily hold.

This review was on the PlayStation 4 version of the game.