Design of Beyond: Two Souls

Design of Beyond: Two Souls -

(NO SPOILERS)

Gameplay -

Beyond: Two Souls is so much more than a game, it's an experience. A beautiful one at that.

I love such interactive narratives not only because of their compelling stories, but also the choices they provide with in-game that have consequences no matter how big or small.

Quantic Dream’s new approach to games, since Heavy Rain, serves one sole purpose and that is to provide the best interactive experience possible.

The story of Beyond: Two Souls unfolds based on the choices made in the game and every action and spoken dialogue has a short term or long term consequence. The game also has multiple endings that can be unlocked through multiple play throughs making different choices.

The game lets players explore using the traditional 3rd person controls and uses QTE (Quick Time Events) for action sequences. Failing to complete the QTEs can result in either the characters dying or the game leading to different scenarios.

Acting -

Game these days have motion capture actors and voice actors give life to characters, but Beyond: Two Souls takes it a step further by having actors such as Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, who’ve done an incredible job by making characters feel so alive and real.

The cinematic sections of the game feels like watching a movie and the game at times feels like an interactive movie, which is good thing as it is so different from the games we usually play.

Conclusion -

It's a perfect mixture of story, action, excellent cast of characters and a wee bit psychology. The game was so immersive that I was not able to put the controller down. Quantic Dream managed to provide an excellent experience through its games yet again.

Thank you for making such experiences, Quantic Dream @quanticdreamgames and here’s to hoping you make more.