Beyond: Two Souls Review Summary

Engaging and emotional storytelling: The game features an engaging and emotionally rich story that captivates players from beginning to end. The narrative is well-written, with deep and complex storytelling that includes twists and emotional depth.

Outstanding voice acting and performances: The game is praised for its excellent voice acting and performances, particularly by Willem Dafoe and Elliot Page. The acting is described as outstanding, with strong performances that enhance the overall experience.

Impactful player choices: Player choices have a significant impact on the story and gameplay, offering meaningful decisions that influence the narrative and provide replayability with different outcomes.

Well-developed characters and plot: The game features well-developed characters and an intricate plot. The characters are believable and complex, contributing to a deep and interesting storyline.

Immersive and enjoyable gameplay: The gameplay is described as immersive and enjoyable, with a focus on story-driven experiences. The game blends cinematic storytelling with interactive choices, enhancing player engagement.

Clunky and problematic controls: Many players have reported issues with the game's controls, describing them as clunky, difficult, and unintuitive. These control issues are particularly pronounced during action scenes and on PC.

Issues with Quick-Time Events: The game's Quick-Time Events (QTEs) are a significant point of contention. Players find them annoying, difficult, and sometimes broken, with ambiguous animation cues and unreliable recognition.

Confusing non-linear timeline: The game's non-linear timeline and disjointed storytelling can be confusing for players. The fragmented narrative structure can lead to initial confusion and a chaotic story experience.

Poor PC controls: The game's controls are particularly criticized on PC, where they are described as cumbersome, poorly translated, and uncomfortable, especially when using keyboard and mouse.

Choice-based narrative: Players experience a story-driven game with decisions that affect the narrative, offering a choice-based story with psychological depth.

Emotional and narrative-driven: The game features emotional storytelling and narrative-driven gameplay, with a focus on emotional engagement and non-linear storytelling.

Interactive movie experience: The game offers an interactive movie experience with a choice-driven narrative, emphasizing decisions and consequences in an interactive film format.

QTE-based gameplay: Quick Time Events (QTEs) are a core gameplay mechanic, providing an unconventional mix of QTEs and context-sensitive prompts.

Character movement and switching: The game involves character movement, direction-based actions, and dual character control with switching mechanics.

Controller interface issues: Players report various problems with controller interfaces, including recognition issues and control problems.

Well optimized for modern PCs: The game runs well on most modern PCs and consoles, with medium PC requirements and the ability to run on maximum details.

FPS and graphical settings: The game has a capped FPS of 60 and some issues with graphical settings, including shadows and general glitches.

Visually impressive: The game is visually impressive, especially on PC, with high-resolution support and impressive visuals for its time.

Steam Deck compatibility: The game performs well and is compatible with the Steam Deck, providing a good gaming experience on this platform.

Story-driven game recommendation: The game is highly recommended for fans of story-driven and narrative-focused games. It is praised for its deep, emotional story and unique interactive storytelling experience, making it ideal for those who enjoy interactive dramas and mysteries.

Value for money: The game is considered to offer good value for money, especially when purchased on sale. It is described as emotionally engaging and worth the investment for its unique and engaging experience.

General positive recommendations: The game receives general positive recommendations, with reviewers highlighting its unique and emotional experience, and its worth for those who value narrative and emotion.

Comparison with Detroit: Become Human: Some reviewers recommend playing Detroit: Become Human instead of this game. However, it is also recommended for fans of Detroit: Become Human and similar interactive dramas.

Ideal for interactive movie fans: The game is recommended for lovers of interactive cinema and those who enjoy movie-like games. It is praised for its immersive storyline and beautiful atmosphere.

Community fair range: $1.00 - $6.00.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Story completion: 10.0h.

Endgame: 8.0h.

The game starts slow and confusing but becomes more enjoyable as the story progresses and players get accustomed to the gameplay, especially in co-op mode.

Reported time to anchor: 1h.

Friction: Non-linear storytelling; Awkward controls; Slow pacing; Confusing initial segments.

Story-First Explorer: Immersive, story-driven gameplay with a focus on decision-making and emotional connection. Motivation: Emotional engagement and narrative depth. Stance: buy.

Critical Appreciator: Balanced gameplay with a focus on both narrative and mechanics, often playing with a critical eye. Motivation: Appreciation of specific game elements despite flaws. Stance: sale.

Narrative-Focused Gamer: Story-driven gameplay with a focus on narrative and character development, often playing despite gameplay frustrations. Motivation: Story and character engagement. Stance: sale.

The game generally performs well across different hardware cohorts, with most players reporting a positive experience. Even lower-end systems with less VRAM manage to run the game smoothly with minor issues.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Players report a mostly smooth experience with minor frame rate drops and graphical issues that do not significantly affect gameplay.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. The game runs well with high performance and good narrative experience.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. Players enjoy improved graphics and smoother gameplay, with a significant enhancement in visual quality and operational ease compared to previous versions.

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback for the Steam Deck experience reveals several significant issues impacting the user experience. The most frequent and impactful complaints include problems with camera controls, overall control scheme, compatibility with the Steam Deck, game stability, and battery drain. These issues suggest that the game has substantial technical barriers that need to be addressed to improve the user experience.

Linux and Proton: The game exhibits strong compatibility and performance on Linux using Proton, as well as on Steam Deck. Users report smooth gameplay and solid performance without major technical issues.

External guides: The primary user complaints revolve around the lack of in-game guidance and the necessity to rely on external walkthroughs and guides to understand the game's mechanics, achieve certain endings, and progress through the story. This reliance on external data significantly impacts the user experience, as players feel the need to constantly refer to external sources to fully enjoy and complete the game.

Difficulty settings advice: Players shared advice on adjusting difficulty settings to improve control and gameplay experience.

Influence of content creators: Content creators had an influence on players' perceptions or decisions related to the game.

Mention of Kazakhstan: Some players noted the inclusion of Kazakhstan in the game, which might be a point of interest or curiosity.

Exhibited at Tribeca Film Festival: The game was exhibited at the Tribeca Film Festival, which might have attracted attention and interest.

Played with sibling: Players enjoyed the experience of playing Detroit: Become Human with their siblings, highlighting a social aspect of the game.