Yeah. They used them for Heavy Rain as well. All the "in-world" music you hear in HR and Beyond come from there, even those with lyrics. They make decent to awesome stuff (both original and covers of famous songs). Probably way cheaper than licensing original tracks from famous artists. Especially since Quantic always has a lot of music in their games. The only original song used in Beyond is Lost Cause by Beck and performed by Ellen Page.
It helps that Quantic has a pretty good taste in music selection. This stuff played in the nightclub in Heavy Rain and is still awesome: http://youtu.be/Y8J-GLj52CQ?t=17s
Brilliant so far, but I can't disagree with the thought that Cage is too easily tempted to throw in a massive cliche.
Couple of story related things I don't like:
(Chapter names in spoilers)
Navajo and The Condenser
feel out of place, even for a supernatural game
(Genuine spoiler)
The way you're expected to care for the little kid in The Mission as a character based on 2 minutes of screentime was silly. The parting scene was clearly designed to resonate emotionally, but he was a non-entity at that point in the story as whole
Nathan comes across creepy as fuck sometimes. Stan is one of my favourite characters of the year
a child soldier who helped jodie given that she was the enemy, just lost his father.
it isn't about screentime. EmptySpace understands the gravity of the situation because that is not far-fetched from what's happening out there, right at this very moment.
as well. It was a bit tedious, but okay overall. I'm liking it a bit less now compared to previous parts, but I still think the experience has been great so far. A bit too much 'dramatic situation for the sake of it', but I don't mind too much.
I just feel a lot of these elements could have made an amazing game instead of a barely interactive experience. When I saw the stuff in the menu about taking over people's bodies, using a shield, choking people and all that, I was expecting it to be a bit more dynamic. It's silly how you can only force choke very specific people. It would have been nice if they did each scenario where you could either get through it easily with Aiden or a bit more complex with Jodie, and that Aiden had a bit more limited usage I guess, but could more freely be used to do his abilities.
There are a couple of flaws with David Cage's 'game design' that will always keep his projects from being great games, even if they are great experiences.
I'm liking this a lot more than Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy though. Heavy Rain had way too much cheese with the accents and shitty acting that made it hard to enjoy most scenes that were meant to be dramatic. Page and Dafoe do a pretty wonderful job.
Wanted to do a little write up of the game. A lot of the spoiled parts are from late in the game so read at your own risk.
I'll start with the actually game mechanics first, of which I've already described as a bit disappointing. Having played Heavy Rain a short time ago there are a lot less scene interactions in Beyond. Action scenes seemed a lot shorter as well. There are less dialog choices and since Jodi can't really die, there is a lot less tension involved in a lot of the scenes. Some parts of the game felt downright boring and there were even times where you couldn't hit an object or do something until a certain action happened. The choices just seemed more surface level, instead of really meaning something.
The right stick QTE stuff was alright even though I was still messing up some of the actions near the end (I think my set was a little too dark). Aiden's ghost like powers offer up some fun amusement, especially when you get to posses someone. However, there usually only feels like one route or two routes to take and I don't think they did everything they could with the powers. At least, it usually felt like it boiled down to 'hit that thing'. Another issue I had was the walking in a straight line deal. Granted, a lot of Cage's games feature one direction to walk but it felt really apparent here. It was a bit silly having to send Aiden out
to find shelter and then walk straight ahead for a few minutes in order to get to it.
So, let's get down to brass tax and talk about the meat of the game, which is the story. I thought it was entertaining enough and felt the story was at it's highest when it was dealing with the ghostly otherworld (i.e the condenser level) because of the creepy and unnerving atmosphere. A lot of the scenes were well done although it felt tough to get attached to Jodie because of the way the game kept jumping around. One minute I'm crying in my bedroom and the next I'm in the Navajo section. I'm also bit mixed on Ellen Page. I like her movies well enough but there were times when she was just Page and not 'Jodi'. Now, that didn't happen often but I had a hard time believing her to
be a convincing CIA agent. When she slips into her soft spoken deal with Salim it was hard not to picture Juno.
I think it's an interesting problem for a game really, to get past the aspect of controlling a recognizable Hollywood character.
My favorite interactions were the one's between Dafoe and Page. I thought they did a pretty good job of establishing some kind of relationship there. However, I didn't buy
Dafoe turning into a villain. Since Daofe didn't get a lot of time it ended up feeling cheap.
Overall, the story was entertaining and well acted in parts although it fumbles on more than a few occasions. I get why the time line is the way it is but that didn't stop the story from feeling jumbled, in a bad way.
I think Beyond was a fun time. Some of the graphics are jaw dropping and the story felt like a fun ghost romp. However, I feel like it is a step back from Heavy Rain which had better pacing and more player involvement.
Some final thought points:
-I would have liked a second playable character. Maybe I got spoiled by Heavy Rain but it would have been cool to have been Nathan, trying to solve the entity mystery.
-Worst character in the game has to be
that General guy, so cliché.
-The scene that got me to nod my head in a sagely manner of acting respect was
the mother scene in the hospital
. That scene, along with some parts of the homeless chapter brought me into the game in a way that, I suspect, Cage wanted.
-Another great scene was
the dinner part in which the comedy aspect was played up. Aiden messing with Jodi felt natural and gave the game a bit of personality that it had been missing. There was also a hint of danger there when Aiden holds the knife up in front of Jodi, a nice interesting moment. It also presented an cool idea with the choice of screwing up the dinner or not and provided to be one of the more unique sections of Beyond.
as well. It was a bit tedious, but okay overall. I'm liking it a bit less now compared to previous parts, but I still think the experience has been great so far. A bit too much 'dramatic situation for the sake of it', but I don't mind too much.
It gets better again from this point on IMO. But I agree with you about Aiden. I still liked The Mission, because of the cool dynamic, even when it was limited.
I'm on the final chapter now. It's a pretty good game but I liked Heavy Rain a lot more which I was engrossed by. This feels like a bit of a mess.
I really think this game would have been SIGNIFICANTLY better if it was told in chronological order. I don't know if there's any logic behind the order of the chapters but it feels completely and utterly random.
I understand why Cage decided to do it this way but I wouldn't have minded playing the first 2 hours as 8-year-old Jodie. If anything it would have made me emphasise with her more, being confined to her small room for a lengthy period.
At the very least they should have told the story in chronological order except for the occasional flashback to 8-year-old Jodie - done at dramatic events for example when she gets knocked unconscious.
Also something that perhaps was out of Cage's control is that the game would have been better without any loading screens. There are some very lengthy levels spanning well over an hour long with no loading screens despite having sudden location changes, so it's a shame that couldn't have been done across the whole game.
Hopefully with Quantic Dream's PS4 game they will find a way to do it without the loading screens.
I'm on the final chapter now. It's a pretty good game but I liked Heavy Rain a lot more which I was engrossed by. This feels like a bit of a mess.
I really think this game would have been SIGNIFICANTLY better if it was told in chronological order. I don't know if there's any logic behind the order of the chapters but it feels completely and utterly random.
I understand why Cage decided to do it this way but I wouldn't have minded playing the first 2 hours as 8-year-old Jodie. If anything it would have made me emphasise with her more, being confined to her small room for a lengthy period.
At the very least they should have told the story in chronological order except for the occasional flashback to 8-year-old Jodie - done at dramatic events for example when she gets knocked unconscious.
Also something that perhaps was out of Cage's control is that the game would have been better without any loading screens. There are some very lengthy levels spanning well over an hour long with no loading screens despite having sudden location changes, so it's a shame that couldn't have been done across the whole game.
Hopefully with Quantic Dream's PS4 game they will find a way to do it without the loading screens.
There is a logic in the order for the most part, especially towards the end. And maybe playing as child Jodie for 3 hours would have been alright, but 3 hours as non-stop action adult Jodie would have gotten boring really fast. It was done for pacing reasons, to mix up the action and slow parts. Also many people complained about HR's slow beginning, so I think this is a direct response to those criticisms.
Also the game does play in chronological order for a decent amount of time in the second half. It just jumps between child Jodie and adult Jodie exactly as you described.
The loading screens are very useful, because they show you the timeline of the game. Without them I'm pretty sure no one would be able to understand the story at all. They serve a valuable purpose. I'm sure QD could have designed it in a way so there are none, but it's much better this way. Also the loading never took longer than 10 seconds for me, so I didn't care.
Just finished the CIA chapter and I'm quite enjoying the story! Guess it must be because I'm focusing on jodies story because with some of those really low scores out there I thought it would be much much worse.
There is a logic in the order for the most part, especially towards the end. And maybe playing as child Jodie for 3 hours would have been alright, but 3 hours as non-stop action adult Jodie would have gotten boring really fast. It was done for pacing reasons, to mix up the action and slow parts. Also many people complained about HR's slow beginning, so I think this is a direct response to those criticisms.
Yeah I think it generally feels to have some flow even considering how it jumps around. I like the loading screen because as you said it tells you the order of events, that way it just makes me go 'okay so this event happened after X but before Y'.
It is a bit more jumping around than most movies/games/etc tend to do, but I'd say it works.
Just finished the CIA chapter and I'm quite enjoying the story! Guess it must be because I'm focusing on jodies story because with some of those really low scores out there I thought it would be much much worse.
Yeah basically. What I also find a bit funny about this is that pretty much everyone can agree that the adventure gameplay of The Walking Dead is pretty much throw away, about as easy to proceed as it is in this game. There are a decent amount of games that get praised as being great while having minimal to no gameplay (also stuff like Gone Home and To The Moon).
It's not like these interactive movie sort of games come out that often, having a unique experience every few years is cool.
Just finished the CIA chapter and I'm quite enjoying the story! Guess it must be because I'm focusing on jodies story because with some of those really low scores out there I thought it would be much much worse.
Yeah I think it generally feels to have some flow even considering how it jumps around. I like the loading screen because as you said it tells you the order of events, that way it just makes me go 'okay so this event happened after X but before Y'.
It is a bit more jumping around than most movies/games/etc tend to do, but I'd say it works.
Yeah basically. What I also find a bit funny about this is that pretty much everyone can agree that the adventure gameplay of The Walking Dead is pretty much throw away, about as easy to proceed as it is in this game. There are a decent amount of games that get praised as being great while having minimal to no gameplay (also stuff like Gone Home and To The Moon).
It's not like these interactive movie sort of games come out that often, having a unique experience every few years is cool.
Pretty much, the way they control isn't for everyone, but nothing is for everyone. It's a sluggish, simple and outdated way of controlling a game, but it works for the experience that the game wants to lead you on.
I think the supernatural and sci-fi stuff is pretty cool so far. I mean how the hell can a game be made surrounding an invisible entity NOT have those elements? It's different when a seemingly non sci-fi or supernatural game suddenly goes batshit crazy with ghosts and levitation, but Beyond never pretended to be normal.
Again when it comes to genres, like control input, let us have some damn diversity.
I genuinely think some people might hit a eureka moment during gameplay, or hopefully if they give the game another chance, that you really should focus almost solely on Jodie. Even when others characters get a bit of limelight focus on Jodie's reaction to whatever they are doing, not their own.
I think I'll most likely fall on Heavy Rain being the better game at telling an all encompassing story where multiple characters are memorable, where as Beyond really is the tale of one person. Quite different games, and so far I'm incredibly happy Cage didn't make "Heavy Rain 2", as in, a new story told in a similar way.
I'm not saying it was everyone or that there isn't a lot to criticize in this game, but I feel like a lot of people who were disappointed were expecting a much more grounded drama full of feels. I was expecting something like that myself, the difference is that when I got anime, I loved it even more.
I wasn't expecting Beyond to be this, but I was hyped as shit when I found out it was. I didn't even play the demo, so I honestly had no idea at all. The motorcycle part was a Rules of Nature goes with everything moment.
I swear I felt like I do when I'm playing character action titles in some moments. There were moments for feels, but there are such moments in ridicously over the top animes like TTGL as well, so yeah, I feel like this game is anime as shit, and that might have disappointed a lot of people, and may be the reason for some of the low scores.
But again, there are things to criticize, I'm no Cage fanboy and I completely understand a lot of the criticism, so in the other hand the rest of the low scores or people not liking it may have absolutely nothing to do with that.
Question re seeing multiple endings without having to replay
Black Sun
a million times: I'm trying to follow the method in this trophy guide and I'm not getting the option to pick the other endings when going back to
Epilogue after I hit "choose life".
E.g., I picked Alone, and then played through the Epilogue, let it save after the credits and then went back and started the Epilogue again via continue, but instead of letting me pick a new ending it just went straight into Alone again.
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I don't want to have to replay
Homeless has been my favourite chapter so far. Loved the Heavy Rain easter egg in it as well. There's probably quite a few things to be found in Aiden mode.
Just finished it, thought it was pretty fantastic overall. I can see the split between IGN vs Gamespot, it's basically 'game' vs 'experience'.
Some scenes were better than others, but holy shit at some of the set pieces, just phenomenal.
For example, near the end when you are
in that underwater suit walking in the dark ocean
it made me want a full game like that.
The design of all the CIA stuff was great too, perfect example of futuristic but plausible.
For the ending I
stayed in Life, went with Big Boss
, I was happy with it, perhaps a bit too generic, but I felt it was deserved.
I also think Quantic Dream really needs to do a horror game, some parts of this game were quite spooky. Like also near the end where
Jodie channels the wife and daughter, and their screaming to be let go
. Seeing a little girl with inverted eyelids is also spooky in general.
My biggest gripe, as is obvious, is gameplay. I thought some stuff towards the end was more like an adventure game like
when you are Aiden and have to get to Jodie after the torture scene
it was a very simple puzzle but it at least felt like you were interacting. The mechanics of shield, possess, strangle, etc for Aiden are great, but you basically HAVE to use them at particular times they aren't really an option, if the game let you have 2 or 3 ways to get through situations and you had a limited GHOST METER or something it might be cool, I mean it's already a mechanic that Aiden gets weaker. (I believe I did say something similar earlier perhaps, but yeah.)
Lastly, if this was an early PS4 game, I would only be slightly upset, looks so damn good. Though I'm sure plenty of early PS4 games will look worse...
Just finished as well, sad the journey is over. Great game, putting aside some well documented issues.
Now that it's done I totally agree the narrative jumping was needed. While it still lends to weird pacing especially near the start, I do not think the overall experience would have the same impact if played in order.
Carry on being Cage, Cage. A game like this is expected to divide opinions, but some of the haters passion towards hating Cage, well, haters gonna hate.
Edit: On a slightly related note, I wonder if the supernatural and "afterlife" interpretations rubbed any religious people the wrong way? Being an atheist myself I just go with the flow on any interpretations of either, enjoying or finding dull, but never offensive (obviously).
Carry on being Cage, Cage. A game like this is expected to divide opinions, but some of the haters passion towards hating Cage, well, haters gonna hate.
I can totally understand an opposite opinion in this case. I love it but I know what I love about it isn't its 'game' aspects, so that aspect can certainly split things. It's also got a fair bit of cheese and over-dramatic parts, but I feel it is better than those parts.
I think David Cage accomplished what he was trying to do with it, certainly its not a game for everyone, but if he can accomplish his vision, then he should do what he wants instead of appealing to a larger crowd. I respect Sony for their relationship with QD, it's clearly not going to be some HUGE seller. (Though I got no idea how Heavy Rain did, and I kind of imagine Page and Dafoe will boost numbers).
I can totally understand an opposite opinion in this case. I love it but I know what I love about it isn't its 'game' aspects, so that aspect can certainly split things. It's also got a fair bit of cheese and over-dramatic parts, but I feel it is better than those parts.
I think David Cage accomplished what he was trying to do with it, certainly its not a game for everyone, but if he can accomplish his vision, then he should do what he wants instead of appealing to a larger crowd. I respect Sony for their relationship with QD, it's clearly not going to be some HUGE seller. (Though I got no idea how Heavy Rain did, and I kind of imagine Page and Dafoe will boost numbers).
To aid in not scaring away any actors from trying out games in the future I hope Beyond sales meet expectations. To be fair though it would be really weird to see Ellen Page in another game. I guess she has been cemented as Jodie, TLOU jokes aside
One last thing in relation to the game, criticism of the graphics?! (mainly looking at Destructoid). WTF?
Holy shit I just read that, I got huge respect for Jim Sterling, but I think he is very wrong in this case. I've basically always had a high-end PC and I was still really impressed.
I mean sure there are things that look meh in comparison to the models, like that desert landscape and such, but as a whole graphics are easily one of its less arguable qualities.
Just beat the game. I enjoyed it overall, the atmosphere and the graphics were amazing, it was hard to believe the game was running on 7 year old hardware at some points.
The story was a little convoluted though, and didn't really make sense at some parts.
That said, I enjoyed it more than Heavy Rain (which I found depressing) and I feel the game is pretty underrated.
Because self-censorship and there is only so much you can do with mo-cap. I already cringed at that scene, seeing a lot of blood would have probably put me over the edge. They obviously know how bloody a
birth
looks like, it's common sense, but they couldn't do it for obvious reasons. Video games have to treat ground like this carefully, or they get fucked over by the rating boards.
And what do you mean with one day? The fire happens the same day and when she wakes up in the hospital it's 3 months later.
Because self-censorship and there is only so much you can do with mo-cap. I already cringed at that scene, seeing a lot of blood would have probably put me over the edge. They obviously know how bloody a
birth
looks like, it's common sense, but they couldn't do it for obvious reasons. Video games have to treat ground like this carefully, or they get fucked over by the rating boards.
And what do you mean with one day? The fire happens the same day and when she wakes up in the hospital it's 3 months later.
When she examined Tuesday's belly and saw the baby, the baby was clearly in breech. I presumed Tuesday started going into labor only a day or two later. At that time, the baby was head down.
Tuesday said that the baby was coming next month, I want to believe that Jodie stayed with the homeless people more than 1-2 days but maybe they didn't do a good job telling the player.
Tuesday said that the baby was coming next month, I want to believe that Jodie stayed with the homeless people more than 1-2 days but maybe they didn't do a good job telling the player.
Is it just me or does this game have no brightness config/settings? Some sections are far to dark, I literally cannot see anything. Other sections seem far too bright!
Is it just me or does this game have no brightness config/settings? Some sections are far to dark, I literally cannot see anything. Other sections seem far too bright!
The menu is definitely rushed. I only had the problem that some sections were too dark, I increased the brightness on my TV slightly and then it was perfect
Is it just me or does this game have no brightness config/settings? Some sections are far to dark, I literally cannot see anything. Other sections seem far too bright!
I don't have time to watch that right now but yeah, I would compare this to an anime plot. I'd like to see the breakdown of opinions of anime/non-anime fans on BTS lol
For anyone interested, here is a interview with Ellen Page on the DP/30 Youtube channel (great channel for any film buff!). I haven't watched it yet completely and don't know how much they actually talk about Beyond.
For anyone interested, here is a interview with Ellen Page on the DP/30 Youtube channel (great channel for any film buff!). I haven't watched it yet completely and don't know how much they actually talk about Beyond.
-She loved the project, script and the character
-Jumped on board immediately
-Beyond is one of the "most challenging and fulfilling" acting roles she ever had
-Emotionally and physically exhausting in a good way
-In general she doesn't care about reviews and likes it divisive
-Played the game, is amazed how it came together and is digging it
Wish I could be one of those people that likes how divisive the game is and understands where the complaints are coming from, but usually the detractors just sound like fucking idiots reading from the same complaint book meme.
