Quantic Dream's (Heavy Rain) Beyond

If you guys want a very detailed examination as to how bad this game is you can look at Two Best Friends Play and their playthrough of it.

That is the face of a man who just ate a kitten. Raw.

Who throws pig's blood on a girl at prom?

And what makes them an authority to be listened to?

I'm sure I could find a LP where a guy talks about how Metal Gear Solid 2's writing sucks. In fact, I've seen one. I still love the game and disagree with them. People have different opinions.

edited 1st Jan '15 8:59:37 AM by Nikkolas

They've played pretty much every other game of his and actually bring up intelligent reasons.

Plus they're funny :3

That is the face of a man who just ate a kitten. Raw.

Yeah, but that's a high school prom prank with some feasibility. It's exceptionally mean, but Prom is an event where spoiled, rotten, disgruntled kids, or sometimes even friends, like to mess with each other. The motives for covering Carrie in pig's blood were stupid, but the act itself wasn't far-fetched - and the perpetrators were smart enough (in the new one at least) to run away so they didn't get caught.

In 'The Party' chapter (or whatever it was called), Jodie either: dances with the guy and kisses him, or dances with him and brushes him off. She's socially awkward and that's adorable, but then she gives the girl a "bad" present, and they all suddenly turn on Jodie no matter what she did. They menace her, burn her, and throw her into a closet.

Then they go right back to drinking and smoking and chugging down food, like nothing happened. And mind, this might be after Jodie showcased her psychic powers and knocked some stuff around the room.

Only one of them was actually high, IIRC. The rest were buzzed at best.

At the very least, I'd expect them to stand around and keep calling Jodie names. What did they plan to do when the birthday girl's mom came back? "Jodie locked herself in the closet and burned herself mom, we had nothing to do with it."

I genuinely believed that chapter was just a nightmare Jodie was having, but then the chapter ended. All of that actually happened to her.

edited 1st Jan '15 9:30:37 AM by FOFD

Akira Toriyama (April 5 1955 - March 1, 2024).

"Bad" present.

Though to be honest I'm not a poetry person myself.

That is the face of a man who just ate a kitten. Raw.

Hey, I kinda like Sexy Rebellious Jodie in Like Other Girls. Although the chapter started off pretty bad. I had no fucking direction or clue what I had to do or what the game wanted me to do. Then I fucked up those random hicks.

Speaking of fucking up people, I've hit my first real "goddammit, let me control it" moment in the game. I choked Jodie's "father" and stopped when she asked me to. However I changed my mind and reloaded and didn't stop because this time I wanted to kill him. I thought it was my choice to kill him or not. But nope, you stop either way, whether you do it yourself or the game forces you to. That sucks.

Jodie wields a gift - power to hurt those who hurt us. Maybe it says something about me but I'm very happy to use that gift. Blow their brains out, choke them, do whatever. No mercy.

But yes...where was the "rape" in Homeless? That was the best, mot atmospheric section by far, I will agree. But all that happened was I played a guitar and sang a song by Beck or somebody and then helped deliver a baby. Oh and saved my buddies from some gangbangers. Should have just killed those motherfuckers earlier. Oh well....

Mostly I try to be as honest as possible with everyone. I told my homeless friends about Aiden and I was going to tell the one kid in Najavo but it got cut interrupted. The only thing recently I've lied about was I didn't tel Nathan that I saw anything when I did Flashback or whatever it is on the one thing. I figure Jodie would want to be....tactful?

And speaking of Navajo, I wasn't as sold on it as some others. It was okay but Homeless was better. I think maybe it just dragged on a bit too long for me. It was nice to see some happiness in Jodie's life however.I also only hugged the one guy because there ain't no romance there, come on.

I like Dafoe a lot but I'm pretty sure I heard his accent slipping in the one line before he goes and meets this Clayton guy. He said something like "I'll be back in a moment" and it sounded way different to me.

WOW, talk about whiplash. I cussed that Ryan guy out when he came to take Jodie away. I would have gone Carrie on him but the doc stopped me. But the whiplash comes in the form of "fuck you!!" and then "I wanna date this guy" next chapter. Kinda weird. I guess there is quite a span of time between the two chapters though and Jodie did seem to make a happy life at Welcome to the CIA.... I dunno. Also, is it optional what you take or do before leaving in Separation? I took the bunny. You gotta take the bunny. I was scared she might leave it behind but I picked it up again and put it in her bag.

I'm making Asian Beef for the guy because....well, I'd be happy with eating pizza with my GF but this is their "first date" and the guy wanted a fancy restaurant so.... Plus Jodie said it was quick and simple but it also sounds exotic. It asked me what seasoning to use though and fuck if I know. Maybe it said on the recipe but I didn't see it. Maybe Ginger? I didn't add anything. I also didn't have Aiden interrupt while Jodie and Clayton were talking. I just...I couldn't do that to her. Oh and I didn't say Jodie had time enough for a shower because....well, again maybe this says too much about me, but unless you're working out in the hot sun or it's been like a week, what's going without a shower? Jodie in her Elegant dress should be enough for any man of decent taste.

Okay I did have Aiden interrupt when they were eating and actually talked about him. Jodie said he didn't know who or what he was and then Ryan asked if he was there and I did something. Moved a plate maybe? Just to show a general annoyance. I just thought Aiden might be annoyed at being talked about in such a way.

Had Jodie kiss Ryan. Whatever my misgivings about the man, Jodie is clearly over-the-moon for him so what's one kiss? Only they start making out and it looks like things are gonna get hot and heavy. (Taking it a bit fast, aren't you guys?) Then I think Aiden interrupts....somehow and she starts crying and the jackass bails on her. If my girlfriend ever starts crying and I take that as a cue to bail, I should be shot.

Oh no! The blooming romance with Clayton went...about as well as I expected. I mean, I saw Salim being this Jamal's son coming a mile away but I didn't think it was some fucking Cold War Era CIA shit with murdering a guy we just didn't like. I honestly thought it was just some random warlord we were offing. Fuckin' government. They engineered Jodie's birth or something too, didn't they? There was like one scene forever ago implying that. Anyway, the whole Middle East mission took way too long and the only parts I liked were the last bits with Salim and the ending.

And speak of the devil. I mention not seeing much about Jodie's mom and then, boom, Jodie's mom. I dunno if it's optional or not but I had Aiden put her out of her misery. And then of course she gets caught immediately after. Saw that coming. Now we're off to destroy a country's Condenser while the Evil USA is building the best one ever. What could go wrong? I'm still not sure if Nathan is gonna turn out to be evil or not, or at least more of an asshole than he seems.

I gotta admit, despite my loathing of Ryan, I liked The Dinner chapter. It felt teh most like something from Heavy Rain, if that makes sense.

Think I'm gonna stop there for tonight. Tomorrow I get Mass Effect Trilogy and maybe beat Beyond.

Goddammit, I gotta replay all of Black Sun? I missed ONE QTE, I fucking swear. I missed Triangle. The next one was shake the controller and I did that. Fuck you game, i gotta repeat the whole damn level just for that ending part? The fuck.

I was wondering what the fuck happened. I looked it up and everyone was saying "you gotta choose your ending." I didn't get a chance to choose shit, everyone was dead, the end. I figured "well hey, she says she is piecing together her life while trapped in this hell so it makes sense. It explains the way the story is being told." I thought it was the "right" ending. Guess not. Now I gotta replay ALL OF THIS.

I don't know if you've played The Walking Dead, but assuming you haven't and like games like Heavy Rain (I would assume you're at least open to them, given you went ahead and got Beyond after playing it), I'd pass on my recommendation. It's similar gameplay, maybe a bit more like a point-and-click adventure game, except you get to mostly choose your dialogue. Some puzzle elements in the first two episodes, but that's mostly dropped before the mid-point.

At its core its plot is essentially "zombie apocalypse survival", but it's got some really nice characterization and that's in the spotlight.

MY GF recommended the games to me just yesterday. I'm not really a zombie guy but I guess I could give them a shot in future. Mostly I'm annoyed by them, or rather their fans, because Walking Dead games are almost always thw ones who say "ya know, Heavy Rain and David Cage are the worst sins of humanity but Walking Dead? it knows how to actually do that type of game." And I liked Heavy Rain a lot and think most David Cage haters are at best full of hyperbole and at worst full of shit.

But I guess I shouldn't blame games for their fanbases... Otherwise I'd hate Metal Gear.

Okay, so that's Beyond: Two Souls. I....don't hate it. But it be a stretch to say i like it, or want to replay it. The problem with this game, compared to Heavy Rain, isn't the the absence of choice or punishment for failure. The problem for me is that B 2 S is much less interactive than HR. I commented when I started the game that I was happy for the more intuitive gameplay. To move left you just nudge teh control stick left. In HR, for the same action, you mmight have to hold down two or three buttons or to move the joystick in a sort of angular shape. To knock on a door in B 2 S, you just press the joystick, to knock on a door in HR you do the...it's sort of a U shape I guess I'd call it? The point I'm trying to get across is that, in HR, you had to be on your toes to do a decent amount of work. It was a lot more involved than you nudge the control stick in one direction here and there and that is it. A lot of B 2 S saw me just kind of staring at the screen and forgetting I had a controller. I can assure you that never happened in Heavy Rain. As for the ending....

I chose Beyond. I've played the game, I've played Jodie's life, and there is nothing left in the Life for her. Life has done nothing for her except kick her in the ass every chance it got. There was no reason to stay. Sorry Ryan, I don't hate you or anything, but there is a whole new, far better world out there for Jodie.

As for teh story and all that...it was okay. The problem is, as I mentioned earlier, is that it is Jodie's story. Heavy Rain was four peoples' story. It was Ethan's story, it was Norman's story, it was Scott's story and it was Madison's story. I like Jodie, I really do. She was a good character. But she's a solitary rock in a sea of forgettable characters. I mean, Stan was okay, Nathan was okay, Cole was okay, but the best I can say for everyone besides Jodie and Aiden is that they were "okay." Speaking of Aiden, I liked him. I liked the reveal at the end. It makes sense. I think Aiden has good presence in spite of having no voice. I liked to play him as wild and overprotective and that really works IMO. I think Aiden is probably the most....flexible character in B 2 S. You get more control over him than Jodie even and he's better for it. Your Aiden might not be teh same as mine.

Overall, B2s had its good points, I won't deny. But it failed to live up to my expectations unfortunately. Heavy Rain was a really good game, one of the best games I've played in a long time, but this was....just kinda okay.

If I had to confess my single greatest disappointment, it would be: the torture bit. That could have been so much better. Believe me, I had my thumb hovering over the X button if it got ugly but it really didn't. I mean, if that guy had started to carve out Ryan's eyes? I probably would have talked. But I stayed silent because this game just didn't get it. I know Cage can do it, he did it in HR with The Lizard, but here....it was like he pulled his punches. I dunno why.

I find it best never to judge a fanbase by what they think of another game. If it's the same genre, they'll bring the other up to put their liked game above it, if it's another genre they'll just sort of stare at it confused at best. Most people I know who have played TWD don't really know of Heavy Rain. I imagine if you went more in Heavy Rain-focused places, the people there who mention TWD are obviously going to be the ones holding it above.

Anyway, I've voiced my recommendation, back to the topic.

Heavy Rain's controls were probably never it's selling point, but I did like them feeling more immersive, at least compared to Beyond. Made it feel less like you were just pressing X to do whatever, for the most part.

Well I appreciate your rec. Mass Effect 1-3 will keep me busy for a while though but after that, I will look into Telltale's stuff. Aren't they doing a Game of Thrones one too? I read ASOIAF and really like it.

As for HR controls vs. B 2 S, I agree with what you say. HR made you feel like you were a part of the game. B 2 S made you feel like you were only mildly contributing to the game every now and then.

....What was wrong with Willem Dafoe's performance? I'll admit I haven't seen that many of his movies, but even in the Spider-Man films where he's obviously given up and switched over to a diet of scenery, I wouldn't say he turns in a bad performance.

But anyway, Ellen Page was great (first thing I've seen of hers, really), I thought Ryan's VA was surprisingly good (even if most players hated the character), and holy shit, the black guy was voiced by an actual black guy for once.

"Homeless" was one of the game's emotional high points, and even though "Navajo" was just a sidequest, I took a liking to Jay (even if the possible romance was nonsensical) and the mythological elements that it brought.

Strange as it sounds, I honestly felt the game's big hook was kind of unnecessary; Jodie was a compelling enough character that Aiden seemed redundant when he wasn't getting in the way of her development, like during her date. I was kind of annoyed that he turned up in the "Ryan" ending since I felt that epilogue should've been strictly between the two of them.

Heavy Rain & Beyond: Two Souls coming to PS 4