Beyond: Two Souls: Divisiveness: Narrative: Colons: Thoughts

Recently, I settled into my comfy chair with a bottle of pumpkin ale and a Red Box copy of Beyond: Two Souls, determined to get my money's worth by beating the game in one sitting. After approximately eight hours of some of the most unique "game play" I've ever come across, I finished the game with a new found understanding of all the hubbub that surrounds Beyond and why it is a game that regardless of positive or negative experiences, you just sort of have to play for yourself.

The Divisiveness: 

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I think it's important to note that I have never played Heavy Rain, and the name David Cage meant nothing to me before hearing about Beyond. I had no preconceived notions about narrative or game play mechanics in Beyond past the snippets of reviews and opinion pieces that I had seen around the internet. As someone who takes pride in having the ability to see validity in both sides of an argument, I found the prospect of playing such a divisive game exciting, and I dove in ready for anything. What I found was a game that created not a division between good and bad game play but between good theory and poor execution. From this, I realized that most of the support of the game came from people who valued the ideas and attempts at something different that Beyond made as opposed to the actual end result, and those against Beyond focused more on what was laid out in front of them rather than what they thought the creators were trying to accomplish. Neither process is right or wrong in comparison to the other, but for me, it was important to note the difference when reading various critics' personal reviews.

The Narrative:

In my experience, I saw attempts at something new within game play and narrative. The melding of traditional quick-time events into a system of directional reactions while fighting was interesting (when you could actually see what was happening), and I applaud Ellen Page and William Dafoe for being the first mainstream actors to take the leap into video game acting on such a large scale (regardless of whether they were truly utilized to their full potential). I did not particularly like the narrative itself, but I did appreciate the life and authenticity that Ellen Page brought to Jodie as the main character.

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The biggest problem that I have with the narrative is the possibility of choice where there should not have been choice. Whether or not the choices made actually changed the outcome of situations later in the game was not important, it was the fact that some of the choices themselves were odd and ill-fitting enough to take me out of the experience.

*Mild spoiler next. It's a section of the game that is not essential to the plot nor does it give any great details away, but it is a part of the game nonetheless. So don't hate on me if you read it and haven't played the game.*

One instance I found the most jarring was the casual dinner date scene in which you spend about ten real-time minutes doing the best you can to create an enjoyable atmosphere for Jodie and her date only to be given the option afterward to ruin the whole evening and deny Jodie her small moment of normality. It is made clear throughout the game that Jodie's ethereal companion, Aiden, has been the cause of Jodie's unhappiness and inability to lead a normal life. During this moment in which I was in control of Aiden, it could have been assumed that I should act in accordance to what he would most likely do and ruin the night for Jodie. I looked around the apartment, aware of the items that I could interact with and destroy. I even broke one glass that was nearby the table where Jodie and her guest were eating dinner, just to gauge their reaction. Then I decided no, I would not ruin this for her, I did not want that sort of decision on my hands. Besides, why would I spend all of that time doing everything that was asked of me just to destroy the entire scene?

*End spoilers* 

In a game where a player is in control of two separate characters who oftentimes work towards a common goal, it can feel jarring and uncomfortable to be put into a situation where the player has to work directly against themselves. I enjoyed the choices that complemented the feeling of moving forward in the game, but being given the decision to destroy what I had just created felt like a step back. Showing the struggles between Jodie and Aiden were an important part of the story, and I don't think for a second that they should have not been emphasized. I just believe that in these cases, there is nothing wrong with providing a bit of linearity in the narrative by just showing the internal problems as opposed to forcing the player to engage in the conflict.

The Experience:

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Beyond: Two Souls is another example, maybe even the best example, of an entertainment experience that has risen from the fusion of video games and movies but does not fall under either category comfortably. However, Beyond is not the first video game that played as nothing more than an interactive cinematic experience. Older games like Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were popular because the heavy emphasis on cinematography caught the eye of children, regardless of how much actual man power went into playing the game. Even now, games like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us are being praised and winning awards despite not providing much actual game play. I don't think that a narrative driven video game is any less of a game than, for example, an open-world game or RPG, but I do think that there needs to be an evaluation by publishers into the price of games and what constitutes reasonable prices for the experience that is being sold.

If you read my The Last of Us part 2 post, I talked about how the gaming industry should recognize that a $60 price tag for a 10-12 hour game doesn't really cut it anymore. To compete with companies that buy and sell used games, it might be in the publishers' best interests to do away with fixed prices and sell games at more realistic values. This may mean that your Skyrims and GTAs end up costing $80 dollars at launch, but games such as The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls cost $40. In the case of Beyond, I believe that the game could have benefited from a The Walking Dead-type of situation where sections of the game were released in episodes. With the rise of casual gaming and the ability to construct worlds and experiences in video games that are impossible to do in any other medium, it is not an inconceivable future for many other games of this type to follow. 

Although I do not think that Beyond: Two Souls is game-of-the-year material, especially in a year with so many strong contenders, I do think that this game will create ongoing discussions about the possibilities of narrative-driven video games and will serve as an important stepping block for future games that will explore these possibilities. Unlike many in the vocal minority of gaming, I hope for a true fusion of video games and t.v/movies into a new form of entertainment, and I believe that Beyond: Two Souls is the start of this movement.