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[dragonbane]

Well this sucks, no demo to be found on PSN. Only has, add-ons, themes, videos and extras but no demo

Where do you live? US Store definitely has the public demo. Try to create another account.

Going from thanks for coming Jodie to burn the witch seemed really contrived, like most of the characters in this game, their motivations are not their own but only exist to help tell Jodie's story

They never said thanks for coming. Birthday girl gives Jodie a rather "I don't care" comment when she gives her the present and the first interaction with the group is already negative. Birthday girl even apologizes for Jodie's presence immediately by saying that she is in the same unit with her mum (and is invited because of that). Apart from Matt's obviously not honest advancements, they either pity her (Birthday girl) or straight up hate her from the first second (everyone else). Peer pressure does the rest.

I find even Cole is better than the entire Heavy Rain cast, except for maybe the detective.

I did like Heavy Rain a decent amount, but it's hard to get emotionally attached when NAHMAHJAYDENFBI comes onto the scene and tells you about how he visited your AFFICE this morning.

Cole is definitely a lot better than Madison that's for sure lol I find Jayden's accent cute though. His actor (British) did a pretty funny podcast once explaining how the accent came to be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1YIDEogmcc

http://playersdelight.blogspot.pt/2013/10/beyond-two-souls-most-unique-feature-is.html

This is a very interesting article. I agree with a lot of the stuff he writes regarding the invisible choice system. I definitely noticed that many players tend to ignore their surroundings as soon as they get an objective. "My imaginary friend" is a very good example. As soon as Jodie's mum gives you a task about 90% of the players follow immediately and ignore the rest of the house, although there are still plenty of funny and interesting interactions possible. One of them especially reveals a kinda important plot detail.

 

[flipswitch]

AUS store. I think I'll just go out and buy it. Place nearby has it pretty cheap, just need the catalogue to price match it.

 

[Gbraga]

http://playersdelight.blogspot.pt/2013/10/beyond-two-souls-most-unique-feature-is.html

Thanks a lot! I'll read it now. I liked it enough to replay it, but I have way too many games already started, so it'll have to wait a few months.

 

[More_Badass]

I tried the demo, and maybe I'm not as refined as the critics and reviews who bashed the game or rated it poorly, but I enjoyed what I played. Enough so that I'll probably buy the game when I have the $$. Excellent visuals, interesting story, and it seems like you have a lot more "direct control" over your characters compared to Heavy Rain

 

[Mesoian]

Giantbomb's doing their spoilercast right now with polygon and kotaku.

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/let-s-spoil-beyond-two-souls/2300-8157/

 

[ComputerMKII]

New David Cage interview: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=710394

 

[Philia]

I've finished the game today. Replaying it again to get the trophies...

I felt there were a lot of really good moments throughout the game, but in the end didn't really care all that much for the majority of the characters in the game with a few exceptions. The Jodie-Aiden relationship was good, along with Cole, but I felt mostly disconnected with the rest of the cast. I suppose Ryan was an exception too, but

Spoiler

I felt like I could never trust him after the entire CIA incident.

It may have been either the narrative or how I played the majority of the game in one sitting, but during their individual arcs, I became attached, then felt next to nothing at the end.

This I can agree on. I liked Cole and DaFoe, but everything else feels really forced. :\

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Just finished another 90-ish minute session; just got to the

Spoiler

Navajo desert section

. Veering between enjoying and disliking it for the most part. I'm generally fine with games that go for the cinematic feel at the expense of involving or complex gameplay, but I've never felt as much like I'm watching a film with periodic button presses as I am here. That being said, I'm quite enjoying the structure of it, with the jumbled up storyline and this strange idea that

Spoiler

dark spirits want Jodie for some reason.

Visually it's bloody amazing and possibly the best looking game on the PS3, but I feel a kind of disconnect because the gameplay is completely hollow. The performances all around have been great so far, although there seems to be a disproportionate number of bullies and arseholes in Jodie's life. I'll see it through to the end, but while I wanted to keep Heavy Rain, I can see myself selling this quickly to get back as much money as possible.

 

[HardRojo]

Just finished Beyond less than an hour ago.. Man I was thinking Heavy Rain was the better game but Beyond's ending has blown my mind.
I totally loved seeing that

Spoiler

Nathan had gone insane, it somehow reminded of Joel from TLoU, I guess I just love seeing characters you care about show their darker side

, it was a great decision in my opinion.
I think having prompts during the combat sections would have been better but maybe that would've made things too easy, I felt like the game had betrayed me when I failed some of those slow-mo sections :/
I might replay it but not any time soon, I enjoyed the ending I got, will read about the other possibilities till I go to bed.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Still plugging away at this. I'm on the army chapter where I'm on my way in Iran or wherever it is to assassinate some dude. It's an odd chapter; the gameplay really isn't suited to combat or fast-paced action. I do think the controls are a lot better than Heavy Rain for the most part, although it still feels kind of janky compared to most other third person games. I'm gonna see it through to the end, although I'll probably trade it in afterwards. I thought the Navajo chapter was awful. The best and most emotional moment for me was when

Spoiler

Dafoe answered the phone and found out his family died in a car accident

. That was much more affecting and much more real than any of the supernatural nonsense so far.

 

[fvng]

Going from thanks for coming Jodie to burn the witch seemed really contrived, like most of the characters in this game, their motivations are not their own but only exist to help tell Jodie's story

If you didn't pick up on the birthday girl's attitude when she 'greeted' her and the girl with the glasses' immediate attitude problem then you missed some glaringly obvious signs they didn't like her despite the facade which apparently fooled you.

 

[Sinthetic]

Finally finished this tonight and I can safely say it was an unforgettable experience. While it may not be perfect, some moments stick out as some of the most important and breathtaking choices I've ever made in gaming.

My personal ending was absolutely perfect and I'm not even sure I want to go back and experience the alternatives.

I gave you a standing ovation Mr. Cage, thanks for a superb Sci-Fi experience.

 

[BeberMan]

Finally finished this tonight and I can safely say it was an unforgettable experience. While it may not be perfect, some moments stick out as some of the most important and breathtaking choices I've ever made in gaming.

This.
Just beat it right now and I feel the same way.
I'm a huge fan of Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain, both are at my top tier of all-time favorite games. This game joins them gracefully.

If there's one thing I didn't like in this game it's the combat(slow motion QTE); a lot of times I couldn't understand where to push my analog stick so I just toned down the difficulty so that the game would tell me. Slowing down the scene also takes a lot of the edge off, which I didn't like. I prefer the way the combat was handled in Heavy Rain.

Other than that, a memorable experience; hard, influential choices, more gameplay variety than previous QD games, outstanding graphics, believable acting, scenes going from horror to drama to action, story presented in a unique way, strong ending... The list just goes on and on.

If you liked Heavy Rain, this is a step forward and you shouldn't hesitate on this one.
If you didn't, well, this game won't change your mind about these types of games.

 

[matrix-cat]

I think I've played about four hours so far (just finished the

Spoiler

Hobo baby delivery/burning building/Ellen Page escaping from hospital without my input

part) and I'm really not feeling it so far. By this point in Heavy Rain I was juggling four characters, working towards an interesting mystery, solving some neat puzzles and doing some reasonably taxing QTEs, but Beyond is a total snooze-fest in comparison. Obviously I don't know how things branch, so maybe I've been making choices all this time without realising, but the only choice I'm actually aware of having made was whether to walk away or take revenge on the kids at the party. Apart from that I've just been cruising along in a game that pretty much plays itself. The difficulty of the QTEs has been hugely downgraded from Heavy Rain's, to the point where it feels like they're just checking to see whether I'm still awake at the controller. That slo-mo shit with the fight scenes not only spoils the flow and choreography, it also just feels clumsy and dumb. I never quite know whether she's blocking or ducking or attacking, but it doesn't seem to matter when I get it wrong anyway.

The way the story flits around in time seems directly counter to all the emotions I know David Cage wants me to be feeling. The Hobo chapter lays it on thick, but I'm afraid I just don't tear up at the drop of a hat. Vignettes don't do it for me. "Look how sad this is all of a sudden!" The part where

Spoiler

Jodie finds a knife in a tyre and your first option is to slit your damn wrist is one of the most laughably stupid things I've ever seen in a game. OK, maybe Jodie's at a low point in her life, but ten minutes ago I was just guiding her through that ridiculous Ghost Tornado in the Condenser. Now I'm supposed to instantly flip to sadness because Ellen Page's stone-faced CG doppelganger is all mopey?

I liked Heavy Rain quite a bit, despite its flaws (I even Platinum'd that sucker), and I was really looking forward to a game that built on its strengths, but so far this ain't it. I'm hoping Beyond gets a lot better, because right now I'm not really enjoying the story or the gameplay or really anything about it.

 

[ComputerMKII]

David Cage interview at BFM Business: http://www.bfmtv.com/video/bfmbusin...-cage-quantic-dream-paris-est-a-15-11-158930/

 

[maverick40]

David Cage interview at BFM Business: http://www.bfmtv.com/video/bfmbusin...-cage-quantic-dream-paris-est-a-15-11-158930/

If only i could speak french!

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Completed this over the weekend. Really mixed thoughts overall; I really enjoyed parts of it, while others dragged on and on and I just wanted them to end. I found the structure of jumping back and forth in Jodie's lifetime interesting, although I think it would have been better had it been a character piece focused on Cole, Jodie and Nathan, rather than padding out with sections which to me ultimately felt pointless, like most of the CIA/army stuff, Ryan, the Navajo desert and the homeless chapter. I found the supernatural elements interesting on the whole, but it got very silly towards the end with

Spoiler

the Black Sun and all the evil spirits spilling through. In my ending I chose life and went back to the homeless gang, and then in literally the last shot it showed Jodie with a now-grown up Zoe, readying to face off against a huge rift in the middle of a city.

I laughed because it was so ridiculous; like it was trying to be Ghostbusters meets Terminator.

I'm glad I played it and I'm glad there are creators like Cage in the industry, but I did not enjoy this as much as Heavy Rain or Fahrenheit. It's one of the few games where I could genuinely understand reviews of anything from 4/10 to 9/10; for me it was a great experience but largely failed as a game. 6/10.

 

[Danziger]

I finished this game, and i saw 5 different endings!

For me Beyond is a grat game, exciting and addictive! I loved!

 

[Liferebooted]

I just got to the chapter Homeless, how far in am I?

 

[Cloudy]

I just got to the chapter Homeless, how far in am I?

Halfway

 

[Fess]

Just finished this and I'm just blown away how awesome this game/movie is. Loved it from the beginning til the very end. The story, the presentation, the motion capture, the acting. Top notch. It's more like an interactive movie than a game though, but just as with Heavy Rain I don't care when it's this good.
Quantic Dream, thank you!

Ellen Page was phenomenal too, I hope she wins GOTY award for voice acting, hopefully this won't be the last time we'll see her in a game.

 

[dragonbane]

I don't want to start a new thread for this, because I'm already tired of the not yet existing "discussion" that would take place inside, so I'm just going to leave this here:

Ellen Page is not so pissed off about the nudity in Beyond: Two Souls that she would try to sue people over it after Sony failed miserably at censoring and keeping images, videos and articles off the internet gaming communities that proudly boasted such material.

[..]

So real quick, Eskimo Press, one of the sites that Sony contacted about removing the objectionable material from their website, originally noted that legal threats may have been fired regarding Ellen Page's 3D avatar having a bare naked body up and available for the entire world to molest with their filthy, fap-impetus eyes. After the Eskimo Press made this note, a lot of people took off and ran with it, but that's not really the case.

As featured on Eskimo Press, they had an updated article noting that Ellen Page isn't actually pursuing charges on Sony or Quantic Dream for a large portion of geek culture having midnight fap sessions to her naked 3D alter ego floating around the internet like a liquid dream, with a Sony rep stating...

"I made a mistake in our last correspondence. I mentioned legal issues, but I was wrong and therefore this case loses its point. "


Well that's good news. Great news, in fact.

Crushable notes that GameNGuide revealed the fact that Ellen Page's representatives from William Morris Endeavor never bothered releasing a public comment regarding the situation (as the whole thing was probably beneath the warrant of attention from Ms Page).

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Ellen-Page-Isn-t-Suing-Over-Beyond-Two-Souls-Nudity-60449.html

tl;dr:

1. Nude pictures of Page appear
2. Sony goes after the pictures just to be safe
3. Misinformed Sony rep states legal reasons as the cause, even though that turned out to be wrong
4. No site has proof that Page actually cares or threatens to sue Sony, yet they run with it anyway
5. It spreads like wildfire
6. It dies
7. Two sites update their story after finding out that the no name site reported false information, most don't
8. Page's official representatives didn't even bother to comment on the situation or respond to inquiries, because no one cares
9. Ellen continues to be happy with her involvement in the game, likes the controversial reception and once said she would do another game if the role is interesting enough
10. News at 11: Press wants clicks and controversy, even if there is none

 

[Fess]

9. Ellen continues to be happy with her involvement in the game, likes the controversial reception and once said she would do another game if the role is interesting enough

Great news!
Maybe Naughty Dog should have her in their next Uncharted or Last of Us, if they can do motion capture.

 

[Cloudy]

I don't want to start a new thread for this, because I'm already tired of the not yet existing "discussion" that would take place inside, so I'm just going to leave this here:


http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Ellen-Page-Isn-t-Suing-Over-Beyond-Two-Souls-Nudity-60449.html

tl;dr:

1. Nude pictures of Page appear
2. Sony goes after the pictures just to be safe
3. Misinformed Sony rep states legal reasons as the cause, even though that turned out to be wrong
4. No site has proof that Page actually cares or threatens to sue Sony, yet they run with it anyway
5. It spreads like wildfire
6. It dies
7. Two sites update their story after finding out that the no name site reported false information, most don't
8. Page's official representatives didn't even bother to comment on the situation or respond to inquiries, because no one cares
9. Ellen continues to be happy with her involvement in the game, likes the controversial reception and once said she would do another game if the role is interesting enough
10. News at 11: Press wants clicks and controversy, even if there is none

Anyone who's a fan of her would know this was BS from the get-go.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Had to vent about this tbh, and no one noticed my lttp thread so

I'm convinced now that David Cage can only write half of a great story. Fahrenheit was really good until it got up it's own arse with the internet being a villain and such. Heavy Rain would have been great if it wasn't for the massive plot holes you could drive a tank through. And now this. I've almost finished this now, and my god what a hot fucking mess this turned out to be .

Story:
It's a mess, no, it's literally a mess; as it is told out of order and so it results in being hard to engage on any meaningful level with what is going on or with many of the characters. What I will say to the games credit is, I have so far really enjoyed the sections with young Jodie growing up pre CIA, learning to live with Aiden. I felt the best chapter of the game was the birthday party and was very reminiscent of Carrie (even though no one would act like that in real life, and I'm putting that on David Cage again). The problems then come with anything after that.

Pretty much all of the game's sections with present day Jodie are either uninteresting or laughable, especially in the particular case of the Navajo chapter, which was both tedious and utterly ridicuous.

David Cage constantly talks about how he wants to write games of emotion and people and is tired of action games, so why the hell did he make Ellen Page a psychic super soldier for the CIA off to assassinate people?!

Gameplay:
Again, credit where it is due, QD seem to have taken on board the criticism of not making "real games", this game is more "gamey" than Heavy Rain. But, it controls terribly, Jodie is like a tank whilst Aiden is akin to a drunk shopping trolley, much of his controls especially feel awkward and never natural nor comfortable. OTOH, Heavy Rain lay it's hand on how choice mattered, in this game choice seems to have very little impact in the overall plot, and I'm guessing that is to do with the non chronological nature of the story.

I've found the worst part of the gameplay however to be much of the scripting. The game will never give a clear indication of what to do on many occassions and just wants you to explore the space you are in, interacting with objects until someone says something or a cutscene happens.

E.g. On a train avoiding the cops Aiden wakes Jodie, and she ignores him, after which you can't interact with her and the game won't let you until Aiden messes with all of the other passengers stuff for no discernible reason.
The worst case I had though was on The Mission, where the game would not let me progress until I specifically put myself into one particular piece of cover before Jodie would tell Aiden what to do. I spent ages wondering what I was supposed to do, with no indication and invisible walls blocking me. It was this chapter more than any other that made me want to post about it.

I'm almost done now, and am just wanting to see how this all ends now, I can't believe QD made a game worse than Heavy Rain, even though they seemingly fixed it's most fatal flaw. And it's a damn shame because some of the story is good.
*sigh*

 

[illmatic22]

Well, I respect your opinion sir

 

[Gumbie]

Just went through the part where

Spoiler

you turn off the condenser

How many hours would you say I had left till the end?

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Just went through the part where

Spoiler

you turn off the condenser

How many hours would you say I had left till the end?

You're probably less than half way through. I'd say you've got a good six hours to go still; I recall the Condenser being pretty early on.

 

[Downhome]

I got this through Gamefly the other day and I've been working my way through with two play sessions so far between my time with my PS4 and the new Mario and Zelda games. I was up until freakin' 6am last night playing this, good lord. I got to chapter 10, decided to play a few more and they were pretty quick chapters, then I got to Navajo and my wife said just one more, so I said sure. I had no clue I'd be playing that one chapter for over an hour!!! My wife loves to watch me play this, she loved watching me play Heavy Rain as well.

The bar scene, oh my, insane. I went all out in that one, just didn't hold anything back at all. My wife thought even I went crazy, lol. She likes when I play "nice", usually. Or at least when I don't go full on crazy.

This game is amazing. Sure, it's very much an interactive movie, but I love it to death. There are things in this game I never expected to see. I'm blown away by it for sure. I knew next to nothing about this game before I started. I only finally went back to Heavy Rain last week or so and beat that one before I started this one.

I want the creators of this game should make a full blown horror themed game on the PS4 now. My favorite parts of this one may be when Jodie was a little girl and all of the crazy stuff was happening to her.

 

[ComputerMKII]

David Cage talks about next-gen: http://www.itele.fr/culture/video/consoles-next-gen-succes-annonce-63229

 

[jakomocha]

I'm very upset right now. In Like Other Girls I

Spoiler

accidentally possessed the guy but decided to not kill anyone (AKA I let the timer on that run out).

However, in The Dinner,

Spoiler

Jodie broke down crying anyways. Does this totally ruin the relationship with Ryan? I'm not really sure I want to go back that far, yet it is totally unfair the game doesn't recognize I didn't kill the guys at the bar. I don't even think I got the achievement for it.

Quantic Dream really needs to patch that.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

I'm very upset right now. In Like Other Girls I

Spoiler

accidentally possessed the guy but decided to not kill anyone (AKA I let the timer on that run out).

However, in The Dinner,

Spoiler

Jodie broke down crying anyways. Does this totally ruin the relationship with Ryan? I'm not really sure I want to go back that far, yet it is totally unfair the game doesn't recognize I didn't kill the guys at the bar. I don't even think I got the achievement for it.

Quantic Dream really needs to patch that.

Spoiler

If the guys are able to attempt rape, then she breaks down crying, regardless of whether or not you killed them. It doesn't ruin the relationship, no.

 

[jakomocha]

Spoiler

If the guys are able to attempt rape, then she breaks down crying, regardless of whether or not you killed them. It doesn't ruin the relationship, no.

Spoiler

Are you sure? I thought they attempt rape no matter what.

EDIT:

Spoiler

Never mind, I didn't realize you could stay behind. To stay behind you have to mess up though.

 

[dragonbane]

Spoiler

Are you sure? I thought they attempt rape no matter what.

EDIT:

Spoiler

Never mind, I didn't realize you could stay behind. To stay behind you have to mess up though.

Spoiler

You can leave the bar as well. As soon as the other two guys leave you can see that Jodie is getting more uncomfortable being alone with the guys at the bar as they keep starring over to her. You can then decide to leave just based on instinct (walk to the door and choose leave). If you are not sure you can use Aiden as well to eavesdrop on them. Just stay at your table or walk into the bathroom, so they feel unwatched. Then they start talking about Jodie and you can use Aiden to catch it. It gets so disgusting you know immediately what will happen if you don't leave. If you do the scene ends early and she doesn't get traumatized allowing you to have sex with Ryan as well.

 

[Elvick]

Spoiler

You can leave the bar as well. As soon as the other two guys leave you can see that Jodie is getting more uncomfortable being alone with the guys at the bar as they keep starring over to her. You can then decide to leave just based on instinct (just walk to the door and choose leave). If you are not sure you can use Aiden as well to eavesdrop on them. Just stay at your table or walk into the bathroom, so they feel unwatched. Then they start talking about Jodie and you can use Aiden to catch it. It gets so disgusting you know immediately what will happen if you don't leave.

Spoiler

I chose to leave, so that's interesting. (I knew about the attempted rape, but didn't really look into it much so I could play it later).

It's a shame that if you choose to leave, that it ends the chapter poorly. They should have at least had Jodie go get Cole, and apologize or something. It just ends so abruptly if you make the choice to leave. That's the only decision that felt right for me at that time, and I wish I could have just accepted not being able to go but that's another issue.

But that's the nature of the beast, some choices leave you without much to go on and you're always limited in some way. It'd be impossible otherwise.

 

[dragonbane]

Spoiler

I chose to leave, so that's interesting. (I knew about the attempted rape, but didn't really look into it much so I could play it later).

It's a shame that if you choose to leave, that it ends the chapter poorly. They should have at least had Jodie go get Cole, and apologize or something. It just ends so abruptly if you make the choice to leave. That's the only decision that felt right for me at that time, and I wish I could have just accepted not being able to go but that's another issue.

But that's the nature of the beast, some choices leave you without much to go on and you're always limited in some way. It'd be impossible otherwise.

Spoiler

Yeah there should have been a transition cutscene. At worst they could just give you a slight variation of the scene where Dafoe yells at you when you don't manage to escape. It's still a valid choice that also felt right to me. Sure I missed some content, but I felt rewarded in a way, because I was smart enough to avoid the rape. Just cool that the game gives you the option without outright telling you. Many other games would force you to stay.

About not being able to decide to not go at all. That's definitely an issue. They should have just allowed you the option to go back to bed ending the scene after 3 minutes ice-cold. At least there is a last chance to change your mind before you leave with Cole's car. I watched a playthrough where someone changed his mind after getting past the first guard. Instead of hiding inside the trunk of the car he just entered on the passenger side. Once you reach the front gate the guard will come over to you, because he sees Jodie. You can then decide to do nothing or violently break through the gate. He did nothing and just got captured giving you the scene with Dafoe. So that was his way of deciding not to go. That's something at least.

 

[Koozek]

What about the sales? Did it break even? I hope so for Quantic Dream

 

[ComputerMKII]

What about the sales? Did it break even? I hope so for Quantic Dream

The only available sales figures are from a banned site.

 

[Elvick]

Spoiler

Yeah there should have been a transition cutscene. At worst they could just give you a slight variation of the scene where Dafoe yells at you when you don't manage to escape. It's still a valid choice that also felt right to me. Sure I missed some content, but I felt rewarded in a way, because I was smart enough to avoid the rape. Just cool that the game gives you the option without outright telling you. Many other games would force you to stay.

About not being able to decide to not go at all. That's definitely an issue. They should have just allowed you the option to go back to bed ending the scene after 3 minutes ice-cold. At least there is a last chance to change your mind before you leave with Cole's car. I watched a playthrough where someone changed his mind after getting past the first guard. Instead of hiding inside the trunk of the car he just entered on the passenger side. Once you reach the front gate the guard will come over to you, because he sees Jodie. You can then decide to do nothing or violently break through the gate. He did nothing and just got captured giving you the scene with Dafoe. So that was his way of deciding not to go. That's something at least.

Spoiler

I think that would have been a nice alternative, wouldn't have been too hard for them to rework that in. I don't mind getting the same scene through different ways personally.

I didn't even think of getting in the passenger side. At first I was going to drive, but it didn't make much sense. And I don't know that it would allow me to anyway... been awhile since I played.

That's why it's neat to talk about games like this or watch LPs of it, everyone's experience is different. Even just a little. Though sometimes, like some reviews, it also brings along with it choosing a path with the least amount of details in the story. I believe IGN's review harped on why the fire started in the building never being explained, but if you escape you know who did. And if you don't, then you can still figure it out if you check items in your hotel room later on.

And honestly, without multiple playthroughs... I don't know how you can even review a game like this properly. How are you going to know the depth of choice? How are you going to know for sure that the story doesn't explain something? idk

And you're right about most games, they'd force you into the situation you wish you could leave. Granted, you don't always have that freedom in Beyond but it's a huge step forward in that regard. Which is why I'm glad that Sony supports games like this. They can't be easy to make, and they have a limited appeal, but they are awesome in my book.

 

[dragonbane]

What about the sales? Did it break even? I hope so for Quantic Dream

Doubtful. We have reliable hard numbers from our insiders and official tracking sites (not from chartz) for US, UK and Japan (first month):

US: ~123k
UK: ~60k
JP: ~30k

The rest of the EU and the world probably puts the worldwide sales number around 340k for the first month. Heavy Rain did about 900k in the same period.

Main reasons:

-Terrible release date. No one spends $60 on a new IP after just having bought and still playing GTA V and planning to buy either Batman, Battlefield, AssCreed or CoD
-Only exception: It gets raving reviews. Beyond didn't
-Market is dead

Minor reasons:
-Female protagonist
-No multiplayer or much replay value

Beyond is unproven and not a safe buy in a time where cash is scarce. Considering it has a slightly higher budget than HR and Sony wasted a lot of money on advertising it (probably did next to nothing) I would say the break even point lies between 0.9 - 1.3m sales (HR was ~700k). Maybe Beyond manages to reach 700k with a lot of price drops and eventually breaks even after a year or two, but I wouldn't count on it. It's not a huge bomba, but Sony is likely not happy with it. Should have made a PS4 port, so a lot of people would have picked it up as a graphical showcase alone just like people bought Ryse, which reviewed even worse.

The next game from Quantic definitely has to be a success again, or Sony may drop them leaving them in a terrible place in this harsh industry. Not sure if they would be able to survive for long. At least it's currently looking like the PS4 game will be indeed sci-fi and loosely based on the Kara demo. People are into that, so this has much more potential at success than Beyond from the get-go. Also we will probably see some form of online/multiplayer component, which should increase sales.

The executive producer recently tweeted that they are doing alright, so the PS4 game will definitely get made. The title is already well into production and shouldn't be affected much by Beyond's performance. I doubt Sony is going to compromise it. Fortunately they hired two new writers, so we can expect improvements there as well. Will it be enough? Who knows.

Not a good time to be a Quantic Dream fan that's for sure

 

[jett]

Sorry to say but this game didn't deserve to be a success. Maybe David Cage will nail it with the next one. I hope the PS4 tech demo is indicative of the tone. I liked that cutscene more than any other in his actual games.

 

[ThisWreckage]

I would wait until after Christmas to classify this game as a sales disappointment or not.

 

[dragonbane]

Sorry to say but this game didn't deserve to be a success. Maybe David Cage will nail it with the next one. I hope the PS4 tech demo is indicative of the tone. I liked that cutscene more than any other in his actual games.

Well, maybe not, but it could have at least made its budget back. I agree with you in the sense that Cage needs to stay on the ground and has to work hard and focused to get a good product out the door without letting his ego get to him. So worse sales than Heavy Rain is probably not a bad thing. It will help keeping him on his toes, but for the company at large I wish they eventually break even. Because I want him to keep trying (and I love most of his games even with their flaws), but with Beyond sales it's not going to work out. 2/3 of the sales of HR would have still gotten the point across that he has to try harder next time while not disappointing Sony too much.

It's especially disheartening to know that they are a lot of people out there who would have enjoyed the game, but got scared by the reviews. Most of them are completely fair and voice legitimate criticism, but some of them giving the game a 2/10 like it's broken garbage is just not fair.

Whatever, it would just suck seeing Quantic go away before they fully realize their potential.

I would wait until after Christmas to classify this game as a sales disappointment or not.

I hope so dude. But when the executive producer replies to someone on twitter telling him that he loved the game with "thanks for your kind words we need these today...!" exactly 30 minutes after NPD numbers came in then it can't be great. I just hope they somehow manage to break even in the next 6 months.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Disappointed in the sales if they are accurate, I was hoping it would do well enough. I don't think Beyond is a bad game by any means but it certainly wasn't an improvement over its predecessor imo. Maybe it's a definitive statement to Cage and will help the teams PS4 title especially regarding the writing, pacing and options available in terms of conversations/choices. QD could definitely benefit from hiring some writing talent to work alongside Cage.

 

[dragonbane]

I've decided that this thread needs more Dafoe. It also improves my mood greatly

 

[Haeralis The BRave]

I have never played this game OR Heavy Rain. I just blindly impulse bought this for $25. What should I expect? I heard that the story is excellent and I like Willem Dafoe quite a bit as an actor. Also remember thinking that the E3 2012 Reveal Trailer looked really interesting.

 

[Cloudy]

I have never played this game OR Heavy Rain. I just blindly impulse bought this for $25. What should I expect? I heard that the story is excellent and I like Willem Dafoe quite a bit as an actor. Also remember thinking that the E3 2012 Reveal Trailer looked really interesting.

I would probably play Heavy Rain first. This game is much better and it might spoil HR for you a bit...

Also, don't read anything about either game...

 

[dragonbane]

I have never played this game OR Heavy Rain. I just blindly impulse bought this for $25. What should I expect? I heard that the story is excellent and I like Willem Dafoe quite a bit as an actor. Also remember thinking that the E3 2012 Reveal Trailer looked really interesting.

Don't play the game on easy! Do co-op if you have a girlfriend or wife and she is interested. Let her play as Jodie and you play as Aiden. She can use her smartphone or tablet if she doesn't like the DS3.

Expect a pretty decent story with great acting and minimal gameplay that is focused around exploration and figuring out your current situation. The game doesn't invite you to explore, in fact the "tutorial" tries its best to guide you along a linear path for story reasons. It's essential and highly important that you don't let your playstyle get affected by this. Later sections open up considerably or have more interaction points inside them. Most of them are optional and you can continue moving forward skipping all of them. This results in a relatively linear experience, that I think does the game a great disservice.

EXPLORE! Whenever possible. If you are not done exploring and a NPC wants you to do something IGNORE IT. Whatever it is it will move the story forward and lock your exploration options away permanently. If your are inside a house, check out the second floor. If Jodie sees something interesting, try to use Aiden on it. Use Aiden in general to check around to make sure that you don't miss anything. See something interesting across the street? Try to cross it. Chances are the game lets you. Before leaving a room or advancing to the next one check it out fully or you might not be able to go back. Same applies for Aiden. Also remember that you can eavesdrop on conversations.

In short, don't let the game discourage you from exploring. It will try in some moments. Playing the game this way will not only extend your playtime, but will give you interesting details about the story, characters and the world and will sometimes even open up new choices or dialogue options. It makes the whole experience immensely more satisfying IMO. Of course this only applies to calm sections, there is obviously no need for exploration during action scenes. And there is a lot of action, so better get ready for it

If you have problems with the combat read the OP or the manual. It's also important to note that the story plays out in non-chronological order. You have to pierce the story together yourself, so keep paying attention to the timeline and what's happening. It will feel weird at first, cause the game jumps around like crazy and you won't really get a feel for the characters and the story until about 1/3 of the game. But it finds its rhythm eventually.

 

[Haeralis The BRave]

I would probably play Heavy Rain first. This game is much better and it might spoil HR for you a bit...

Also, don't read anything about either game...

I thought people really liked Heavy Rain?

 

[dragonbane]

I thought people really liked Heavy Rain?

Many like it more actually. 50% prefer HR, 50% Beyond. It is pretty even split. I'm one of the few that likes both for different reasons. Beyond is a very sad and emotional story (for me). Heavy Rain is not very sad, but rather depressing and incredibly tense. Beyond lacks tension almost completely (quite intentionally), which was very off-putting and disappointing for many Heavy Rain fans. Understandably, because HR is probably the most intense game I have ever played, because it managed to keep the tension alive even when I wasn't playing at all lol Impossible to put down. Therefore they really didn't like Beyond, because they wanted to have the same feeling and rush again. But Beyond tries to give you something else entirely. It was exactly what I was looking for, so I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Some others feel the same way.

Then there is a group who likes Beyond more simply because it does correct some really big flaws HR had. Mainly bad voice acting, weird animations, glitches and a lot of plot holes. This alone killed HR for many and Beyond is much better here, which is what Cloudy means. Going back to HR after Beyond makes these flaws obviously stand out even more.

Finally there is a big group of people who hate both games. Make no mistake. Beyond and Heavy Rain are hated by a lot of gamers. But I would say their impact is generally overrated and the mainstream does indeed like HR and/or Beyond for the most part. This is pretty evident by the fact that HR came in 6th place at GAF's 2010 GOTY voting. Play Beyond (or HR first) and make your own impressions. Keep in mind my suggestions from earlier and that both are VERY different games story wise, despite sharing a lot of the same mechanics and gameplay.

Here is how I would rate different aspects of both games. Depending on what you prioritize it might result in favouring one over the other or liking/hating both:

Graphics/Animations: Beyond >>> Heavy Rain
Voice acting: Beyond >>> Heavy Rain
Story: Beyond > Heavy Rain
Sound: Beyond > Heavy Rain
Controls: Beyond > Heavy Rain

Soundtrack: Beyond = Heavy Rain

Gameplay: Heavy Rain >> Beyond
Gamedesign: Heavy Rain >> Beyond
Choices: Heavy Rain >> Beyond