Recent reviews by Raggart

Last played on: March 2023

I remember adding Beaurecard to my watchlist (e.g. follow on Steam) as I found that the "cards as life points" was an original twist on the concept of card battler / deckbuilder. I bought the game upon release, as the price was low and there was also a rebate included at release.

My first impression was not super positive. The art is very basic, which is not necessarily bad in itself. However most of the cards' powers are also very basic. Deal damage, heal life points, deal damage but banish the cards, etc. The trap cards are a nice addition. They trigger when discarded, which means that you can get an advantage when losing life / cards, as long as these cards are not banished.

The character classes add a tiny bit of complexity to the game, with some classes being easier to play with than others. Contrary to some other games, the classes use the same card pool so there is not too much difference when playing one class vs another. The enemies, in comparison, could be all the same. since they have access to the same general card pool.

There was not a lot of strategy involved in playing the game. The biggest strategy, I think, comes in choosing the cards to add to your deck. After that, there is of course an optimal way to play the cards you're dealt. But I found there wasn't a lot of synergy between the cards so most of them could be played almost automatically.

The "choose your next encounter" selection is rather simplistic. There are events available, but there's only a handful of them and they generally don't offer as much advantage as additional armor or card upgrades.

All in all, I found I was a bit disappointed with Beaurecard. I was expecting a smart twist on the deckbuilder & card battler genre but found out that it was a rather bland game. It's not all bad, and since the price is very low, I think it might be worth it for people looking for simple, quick runs. The achievements are rather easy to get, and should provide a few hours or gameplay. If there was an option for a neutral verdict, I would probably pick it.

Pros:

• Cheap (at the time of writing)
  
• Simple gameplay
  
• Quick playthrough
  
• Quick learning curve

Cons:

• Very much luck based
  
• The items are useless
  
• Basic art
  
• Bland music
  
• The classes and enemies have no particular flavor

I would have loved to see additional mechanics that would have made the game stand out a bit more. Perhaps some way to protect important cards so that they are not discarded as hit points. Some cards or abilities specific to key enemies would have added a lot more flavor.

Last played on: March 2023

Looking at the tags on this game, I had high hopes I would like it. This seemed to check every box: a civilization, deckbuilder, strategy game: wow. But I came out disappointed. The reason? RNG

Many of the game's concepts and mechanics are fun and interesting. But the one thing that can make or break a game is the randomness. Starting with cards that you cannot play while your opponents add cards after cards to their timeline means that you just cannot win. On the other hand, getting the perfect flow of cards naturally means that you cannot lose.

Pros:

• Original concepts and mechanics
  
• Achievements unlocked naturally during gameplay
  
• Very fast games
  
• Well-balanced difficulty levels
  
• Simple yet effective art
  
• No messing around: no cutscenes, CG or anything to distract you from playing the game

Cons:

• Too much randomness which leads to
  
• Not enough strategy
  
• Not much difference between civilizations

Ultimately there was too much RNG and too little strategy for me. Your mileage may vary so you should give it a try!

Last played on: August 2021.
My verdict is at the bottom.
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Everything about Carto is adorable. From the hand-painted characters and scenery, to the cut-scenes, hell, even the way Carto communicates through smileys and gestures is cute. The basic concept of the game is ingenious and very well executed: help young Carto reunite with her grandmother by moving pieces of the map to gain access to new areas - and new map pieces!

I found Carto to be a short yet very loveable gaming experience.
The graphics are very simple and you can see the sprites repeated on the map (for sand dunes, trees or hills). Nevertheless, I think the game looks stunning. The map you create when playing is absolutely seamless and moving through it is quick and fun. The size of a map tile is also conveniently the same width as my screen, although it might be different for people playing with a resolution under 1920 x 1080 pixels.

The art style is delightful. Everything looks like it is straight from a children’s book. In fact, I think if you capture the screen in pretty much any situation the resulting image would do well in a picture book. The characters’ design, the environment, even the sounds and music put the player inside a pretty story book. Heartfelt congratulations are in order to Sunhead Games’ artist and art director, Kuan Hung Chen.
The music is light, bubbly, airy. Most of the time in video games, as in movies, music is used either to convey a message, help with scene transition or guide the player (or viewer) to a particular emotion. I found there was little of that in Carto. The music is simply part of the world, so natural that you notice it more when it is gone than when it is audible. You can also hear the fact that it’s a children’s story through its notes. I think it’s quite the feat achieved by Eddie Yu, the composer.
Game mechanics form another area where the game really shines. The main character can only move and interact with objects and characters. Her incredible power, though, is to manipulate the game’s map by moving, switching or rotating map tiles. Most tiles are 1 x 1 squares but later on they become more complex.

Interactions with some game elements serve to help complete puzzles. Reading a book, for example, or activating a volcano (!!). Other interactions also include speaking with characters but more often than not this is not necessary to resolve puzzles.
The genius here is that the map mechanic creates all kinds of possibilities for puzzles. You can move tiles until they are in the correct position, create an empty space where another tile is automatically created, create shapes using some of the tiles, etc. There is a lot of moving around but because you can move the tile where you’re currently located it’s possible to warp Carto very close to where she needs to go without having to walk the whole way there.
If you want to spend a few relaxing hours solving puzzles, bathing in the world of a cute picture book, meeting quirky lovable characters all while using some innovative game mechanics, Carto is for you.
The relaxing and soothing gameplay. There is no real urgency in the game and everything is so beautiful that playing it always brought a smile to my face. Also, it’s lovely!
The burden of moving map tiles around and trying to find the matching one to solve a particular puzzle. While arranging tiles you have to ensure that each tile’s border is next to another tile of the same type. This can mean a slow, painful process when moving several tiles around, as it’s impossible to just remove tiles from the map.
Yes, when it’s on sale. I think the price tag is a bit overpriced for the number of hours of play. Note that this game seems like excellent fit for a young child. At the time of writing, you can also play Carto on Xbox Game Pass.

Last played on: August 2021.
My verdict is at the bottom.
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Before Bastion I liked playing video games. Thanks to this game, I can now say I LOVE playing video games. I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly that I like so much about it. Maybe it was simply the game I needed at that point in my life? It felt just like you find a book, movie or music album that just resonates.

The music is perfect, the narration adds a lot to the immersion, the gameplay is sharp and the story is captivating. All of these put together make for one of my favourite games of all time.
Bastion is an isometric action platformer where you play the part of the Kid waking up after the Calamity. Wandering around and exploring parts of his beautiful post-apocalyptic world, the Kid seeks survivors as well as answers. What caused everyone to turn to stone? What lies beyond the Wall? Venture forth while slaying all manner of beasts to find out.

I found the story, about hope, the future and how to (re)build it, quite appealing. The world’s lore and history are revealed little by little, with every level and stage, through the narrator’s gritty voice. There’s also “dream-like” levels (called “Who Knows Where”) where the personal story of each of the characters is revealed in greater details - if you can beat enough stages.

The story is well defined enough that even the various weapons, mementos and spirits have a unique story or description. It has been a while since I played the game for the first time but I remember I was really gripped by the story and wanted to finish the game as quickly as possible to finally have all the answers. Fortunately, every level, every step forward, reveals more of Bastion so you can enjoy the game and learn the story and lore at the same time.
The music, sound and especially the narration, play a big role in this game. I felt a bit let down by the Kid’s voice and found the sound effects ordinary. They hit all the right notes but don’t pop out any more than that. The narration, though, helps with immersion and reveals the story while never breaking the flow of play. It also helps cement the emotional investment.

An added benefit of the narration is that there is no need to scroll through walls of text or press buttons to engage in lengthy conversations. The flow of the game and the pace of the story is mostly seamless.
Bastion came out in 2011, more than 10 years ago! It’s a testament to the quality of game-making skills of the original seven members of Supergiant Games that the game is still so good after all this time.

If you play Bastion now and you have played other games in the same genre before, you will not find much that is new. At the time though, it contained a lot of novelty. The narration as story development, in particular, was unheard of. The devs really hit the nail on the head with this one.

Today it’s still a fun game with a lot of production value, including a New Game + mode - allowing you to replay the game with all the upgrades you had unlocked in the previous playthrough - if you feel so inclined.
As you can probably guess by all the praise written so far, I give the game a glowing recommendation. However it’s not for everybody. You have to enjoy isometric games, you have to like action-RPGs and I think you should play it with a controller. If you like games where music is important, you should also like Bastion.
The narrator! Also, the way every weapon and combination of spirits and weapon revealed its true potential after playing with them for a while.
How the end felt less fully developed than the start. At the start, the narrator will say random interesting things depending on how you play (“The Kid just rages for a while”). Towards the end everything is much more streamlined and I missed that special flavour.

Also, sometimes it’s hard to tell how to move through some of the sprites so you might get stuck during combat.
If you like this type of game, absolutely. Maybe watch a video or two before buying but for $15 I think you get more than your money’s worth. Also, it’s frequently on sale so you might get it for cheaper if you wait a bit.

Last played on: July 2020.
My verdict is at the bottom.
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Nowadays, few games are created with a religious undertone. The big craze over Satanism from the 80s and early 90s is long gone and so it was a surprise to see Blasphemous pop up in 2019. The game, as its name implies, is filled with religious iconography, themes and inspiration.This is a place set on a downward spiral, which creates a dark, bleak world, filled with despair, pain and suffering, devotion and hopelessness. This, in turn, creates an atmosphere that permeates the whole game, from the first minute of play - where the main character, the Penitent One, wakes up in a mass grave of sorts - to the alternate endings and the main credits.
The sinuous story centers around the Penitent One as well as the Miracle. In the world of Cvstodia sin and guilt physically manifest and so people spend their whole life repenting. The Penitent One’s quest throughout the game, for example, is his penance. Since there is non-linear progression, you can beat a given boss or choose to explore a certain area before another, which makes the story, such as it is, hard to follow. Still, I found the world of Cvstodia and its religion interesting and read all the tidbits of information I could find while playing.
The music is the one area where Blasphemous unfortunately felt disappointing. I was so hyped for the game because everyone kept telling me the music was extraordinary. When present - there are areas with no music whatsoever - it is almost always ethereal, low-key or atmospheric. I understand that it contributes to the particular vibe of the game; to me though it is simply not extraordinary. It is by no means bad music; Carlos Viola did an excellent job composing (and playing?) the different tracks for the different regions and fights. And there’s some really good guitar strings sprinkled throughout. My opinion of the music is that it is just not that memorable. This is probably because I had really high hopes for the soundtrack. The game was praised for its music and the Steam Store listing has the “Great Soundtrack” tag - one of the reasons, in addition to personal recommendations, I decided to play the game in the first place. I did not find myself humming melodies from the game or listening to the soundtrack while doing chores. Your mileage may vary, maybe I’m the one with eclectic music tastes.
Blasphemous is a well-made, and you should play it if you like metroidvanias, 2D platformers in general or religious-themed games. It is by no means exceptional.
The challenge! As well as the Penitent One’s costume (that hat!) and his healing ability through blood.
It’s hard to put my finger on it. I think it might be the depressive feeling permeating the game and the game’s world. Everything and everyone is so sad, it was hard to feel like I achieved something of importance, even after beating a tough boss or even finishing the game.
Buy it in a bundle, or on sale if you listened to the soundtrack and liked it.

Last played on: March 2020.
My verdict is at the bottom.
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]

Do you find it hard to know what a game wants you to do? Do you get confused or lost when there are too many options? Do you enjoy wonderfully well-crafted games that will stay with you for years to come? Boy, have I got a game for you! The premise of Inside is very simple: you play a boy that needs to go… somewhere to the right.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the environment, people, animals, robots and whatnot are all trying to kill you. Or incapacitate you, the story is not always clear on your fate when you “die”. And you will die a lot, at least at first.
The controls are simple and responsive. Move, jump, push, pull. That’s it. The ingenuity of the level designers makes for a very intuitive and yet intriguing experience. When unable to progress further, I would often ask myself “Well, what next?” And then, when I figured it out - which usually didn’t take long because the clues are often quite obvious - I would usually have a big “Oohh, that is clever!” moment. Once I learned to use a given object, I could extrapolate how to use it when confronted with a new scenario.

It’s hard for a game to make the player learn its internal mechanics without ever explaining them directly all the while conferring a sense of achievement every time an obstacle is overcome. It’s a concept that’s really hard to pull off but I found that INSIDE succeeds hands down. Note that I played the entire game with an Xbox 360 controller so the game will probably feel different with a keyboard and mouse. I highly recommend using a controller.
Because of its simplicity and general structure however, the game does not have varying difficulty levels or a lot of replayability, especially once all achievements are unlocked. It’s still a fun game to play, it’s only more of the same. However, because the game’s world, and the game’s atmosphere, are so well designed and well put together, I found myself repeatedly asking myself “Why?” and thinking about the game in general during the days after I finished it.

It’s a lingering experience of sorts, even if one doesn’t get to play it for a hundred hours. Also, I find there is something very satisfying about finishing a game in one sitting. All in all I had a good experience, and a good emotional connection with INSIDE. I still think about the game from time to time, which is a good sign the developers did a lot of things right.
I don’t want to spoil the ending, or even the major events happening during the game but I will say that you have to play the game to the end. It’s beautiful, completely incomprehensible but at the same time an epiphany of sorts. And it’s definitely a big part of the game, even if it leaves you scratching your head.

For my part, since I had all sorts of questions after playing the game, I also took the time to find the secret ending. Which left me with more questions than answers, but I feel like that’s the whole point of this game: to be an unforgettable experience.
INSIDE will haunt you, in a good way. This game is one of the few deserving of being called a masterpiece.
It’s very hard to say, because everything fit together so well. Since I have to say one thing, I’ll say it was probably the emotional connection with the world.
How sometimes I knew what I needed to do to get through a given area but in my haste I was somehow thwarted and I was forced to restart.
Definitely! I recommend buying on sale, because the replayability is low. I think paying $20 for 4-5 hours of playtime is not very good value.

Read the full English review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Joué pour la dernière fois en avril 2020
Mon verdict est au bas

La première connexion à Dragon Awaken se vit comme un voyage dans le temps. Les images sont saturées de couleurs vives, l'introduction est digne d'un jeu créé par des enfants de 10 ans et rien n'est expliqué quant aux mécaniques de jeu, aux différentes statistiques et possibilités. S'ensuit un périple de quelques heures où s'enchaînent des "missions" toutes plus inutiles les unes que les autres. Il faut parler à un personnage vide de personnalité, combattre des ennemis ne respectant pas les principes élémentaires de la physique, parler de nouveau à un autre "personnage" pour pouvoir débloquer une autre mission, et ainsi de suite.

Ce faisant, on débloque aussi des aspects du jeu permettant d'augmenter son BR, la statistique principale permettant de déterminer la force de votre personnage. Tout ce que l'on fait dans ce jeu sert à augmenter le BR (Boulet Ranci? Bijou Retord? Qui sait?). Je n'ai pu trouver aucun aspect RPG dans le jeu. La seule chose qu'on choisisse et qui a une influence sur quoi que ce soit semble être le choix de "Skill", qui détermine les attaques et habiletés spéciales du personnage principal durant les combats. Et pourquoi est-ce qu'on combat? Pour augmenter son BR! Qui sert à quoi? À gagner des combats!

J'ai essayé de trouver quelque chose que j'aimais de Dragon Awaken mais je n'y arrive pas. Par contre, j'ai encore beaucoup de choses à noter qui me dérangent dans ce jeu!

• Tous les personnages féminins, qui semblent avoir été conçus pour montrer le maximum de peau et avoir le moins de personnalité possible.
  
• Les animations à deux balles qui tournent à cinq FPS.
  
• Le chargement débile des ennemis sur une carte, qui fait que souvent vous passez à côté ou quelqu'un d'autre chope l'ennemi avant vous.
  
• L'interface ridicule et totalement surchargée, qui fait qu'il est impossible de retrouver du premier coup une fonction déjà visitée.
  
• Le manque total d'histoire cohérente.
  
• Le manque total de choix. (Ah, non, ça j'en ai déjà parlé! Mais bon, comme c'est censé être un RPG, ça devrait être au coeur du jeu, non?)
  
• La perte de mémoire (Memory Leak) de Flash, qui fait que le jeu ralentit considérablement au fur et à mesure que l'on y joue.
  
• Le design digne d'un mauvais manga vendu en rabais à deux pour $1.
  
• Le fait que je ne puisse pas lancer le jeu sous Chrome puisqu'il reconnaît que ça ne serait pas une bonne idée d'y jouer.
  
• Et j'en passe!

Si jamais vous avez du temps à tuer et que suite à un cataclysme quelconque Dragon Awaken est le seul jeu disponible sur la terre, n'y jouez quand même pas. Il vaut mieux, selon moi, trouver d'autres façons d'occuper son temps, quitte à regarder la peinture sécher sur les murs.

Last played on: December 2020.
My verdict is at the bottom
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
The game’s visuals are absolutely stunning! I found the depiction of different environments of the medieval countryside and city extremely realistic (if not historically accurate!) thanks to the game’s engine. The pre-rendered lighting did feel a bit static in some outdoor environments, mostly the forest and village. However, every time the light plays a predominant role in the game, which is a lot, the lighting is very well crafted.

Characters are lifelike in their appearance, and their movements. From what I understand the motion capture was limited to the body movements, not the dialogues, since the voice actors were not the same as the body actors. I found some mouth animation could have used some more work.

To me the main character could be said to be the rats that permeate almost every scene of the game once the first chapter is done. You can tell a lot of thought and energy was put into animating the rats: they’re squirming and swirling over and around one another, liquid-like, grotesque and definitely disgusting (and I like real-life rats!).
The game is pretty unforgiving. After all, the rats are always hungry. Although they follow very logical rules, they’re quick to sink their teeth and claws into the character’s flesh should the player stray from the correct path. That being said, the game is not really hard once you figure out which ability to use in which situation. If you try to rely only on the same ability all the time, you will quickly find yourself out of essential resources.

The game includes a lot of sneaking around, trying to pass undetected. When that fails, or when it is impossible to progress otherwise, Amicia must use her sling or Hugo his abilities in order to eliminate enemies. Sometimes both must be used in conjunction. I played the game with a controller and found it frustrating when the targeting reticle would not track quickly enough.

The fights with the inquisition or English soldiers get tougher as the game progresses. Fortunately there are different types of projectiles that can be used, and the sling can be upgraded with different abilities as well.

All in all I did not find the game hard but it was a good challenge to figure out how to survive every situation.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is a lot of fun to play! I usually don’t like games that force me to sneak because a given enemy is too strong. To me it feels like poor level design. This game, though, gives the player enough leeway that I could usually choose to either confront the inquisition soldiers or sneak around them depending on how I felt in the moment or my various resources’ levels. This freedom is not always offered but it feels great when it is.

Unlocking puzzles - like the ones built in the university level - was a bit tedious but still satisfying. Not as satisfying as taking down a guard or bandit that you just heard talking about killing innocent people, though. Or escaping thousands upon thousands of sleek little flesh eaters. There is a somewhat obvious solution to every problem you face: using light to scare away the rats, using a pot to distract a guard, hiding in tall flowers, etc. This is one more proof of the care and attention given to level design for the game: I never had to backtrack or search for minutes for the way forward. That doesn’t mean that I did not make mistakes and die for nothing, it just meant that the experimenting I had to do in order to progress in a chapter was rather minimal. This leaves the player to focus on moving the game forward and… well, enjoying themselves.
Play this game! If you like beautiful but scary stealth-based games, story-rich games, female protagonists or games with rich well-made voice acting, A Plague Tale: Innocence is for you.
The way the game is so beautiful even though everything about the events that are happening is horrible. A plague, a war, the inquisition. It’s no wonder the sun almost never shines while playing. And yet the game is still so beautifully wrapped together.
The way AI-controlled characters behave. I had to restart more than once after leaving an ally and they decided when the guard passed by was the best time to try and sneak.
Yes! Although at the time of writing it’s offered on Xbox Game Pass. If you plan on buying, I would wait until it’s on sale though (which happens often enough) because it’s a bit expensive. And since the game has sold at least one million copies the developers and publishers probably have recouped their expenses.

Last played on: October 15, 2020.
My verdict is at the bottom
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Dead Cells is a 2D rogue-like metroidvania, e.g. a platformer where the player moves the protagonist and makes him jump, dodge, block or attack in order to progress and eventually beat the game. The game features many unlockables which boost your power or survivability as well as some purely cosmetic ones. The game is very fast-paced and requires quick reflexes.
So Dead Cells uses some kind of pixel graphics. It’s not the old-school type of 8-bit or 16-bit graphics, but rather a style that’s very specific to this game. I think by pixel graphics I mean that the edges of characters, monsters, effects, etc. are not clearly well defined. Everything is still super identifiable and I don’t mean that the graphics are blurry. Just that they are not as crisp as they could be.

That being said, I think the game is beautiful. The colors are vivid, which helps identify items on the screen in milliseconds. This is really important with a fast-paced action game such as Dead Cells. I have no idea how a person with a vision impairment such as color blindness might see this game but I know the developers have made efforts to make the game more accessible to differently abled people.

The levels, called biomes, are procedurally generated. However they each have repeating areas and each biome comes with its own distinctive flair (as well as enemies, traps and bonuses). I found that the style of each biome was carefully crafted for a beautiful experience all-around.
The basic mechanics of Dead Cells are the same as other metroidvanias: move, jump, roll, attack and dive (when falling). However the game introduces some fun twists as well as additional mechanics. For example, if you kill multiple enemies in a short period of time, the main character will move faster, allowing the player to reach enemies faster and keep the bonus going. Being able to run the whole course of a level at maximum speed felt gratifying.

Dealing a lot of damage to an enemy (proportionally to its level) will stun them for a second or so, allowing the player to evade an attack or simply ramp up more damage. Some weapons will push back enemies, while others will draw them in. The Beheaded can also unlock a backpack which allows them to carry an additional item. There are also multiple status effects, the most dangerous one being Cursed. When cursed, a single hit is all it takes to kill the main character.

Finally, Dead Cells allows players to boost their character’s health and damage with a weapon type through the use of scrolls, which are disseminated throughout the game, with usually at least one in each biome. There are currently three weapon and consequently damage types: Brutality, Tactics and Survival. Some weapons will benefit from two types while others are “colorless”, meaning they will benefit from the highest level of damage available. Choosing how to assign each scroll is called a build and lines up the player for a particular type of weapon the further the game progresses.
A fast-paced explosive metroidvania, I would definitely want Dead Cells with me if I were stranded on a deserted island. Fun, challenge, action, this game checks all the right boxes.
The speed boost one gets after killing 8 enemies in 10 seconds! It motivated me to kill enemies as fast as I could to keep the fun going.

The building up of the three abilities was also refreshing. Sometimes I would prefer focusing on one area to maximise my damage while other times I had more success with a more balanced build. It brings the capacity to adapt which helps mitigate dead builds (e.g. when one gets items that cannot be used because of the current attributes or strategy).
On the other hand, item selection is mostly based on luck and some items are clearly better than others. This means you might start to build a certain way and end up with items that are not boosted by your build, which makes for a quick game over in later levels. Some sort of reset or stat transfer available once or twice (maybe at the store?) would be great.
Absolutely! One of my friends called this game “Da bomb” (thanks Alex!) and it stuck with me because it’s a good way to describe it and fits with its theme. At the time of writing, Dead Cells is available on EA Play as well as Xbox Game Pass. I find its Steam price of $25 very reasonable, especially since the development team is constantly updating the game, adding more stuff and fixing bugs.

Last played on: January 2021.
My verdict is at the bottom
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Besides Jodie Holmes, most characters are only slightly fleshed out. Aiden is a noticeable exception. Despite having no actual dialogue, Aiden certainly develops a personality of his own and grows alongside Jodie. Another outlier is Nathan Dawkins. He starts as a scientist and caregiver that might be trying to help Jodie but goes through a personal tragedy and becomes a warped, twisted version of his former self. I thought he was the only other well defined character in the game. I found other characters were mainly there to show Jodie’s growth (like Cole and the homeless people) or become potential love interests (e.g. Jay and Ryan).

The villains are absolutely ludicrous in how poorly-written they are but they occupy a very small portion of the game time. There is no alternate viewpoint. As a player, we are given (some) control over Jodie and Aiden’s destinies so they are the ones that are present most of the time.
Beyond: Two Souls is beautifully acted, through motion-capture and voice acting, with some well known actors such as Elliot Page (Jodie Holmes) and Willem Dafoe (Nathan Dawkins). The game excelled at drawing me in and making me care about Jodie. Being ping-ponged between different periods of her life somehow made me feel like Jodie was a friend or a family member. I certainly empathized with her, Nathan and Cole (another caregiver that becomes Jodie’s friend) throughout most of the game. Others, such as Ryan Clayton, are much harder to love. And the “evil” antagonist, General McGrath, is not well written enough to warrant comment.

I know this game was published in 2013 and I played it in 2020-2021 but it seemed forced to have Jodie meet potential love interests. I feel like the game would have been perfectly fine without any attempt to force a relationship. Fortunately the game gives the player some leeway in that regard.
The voice acting is of an extremely high quality. The performance from the actors themselves is excellent but the technical aspects of the sound design were also very well crafted. The slow-motion focus sound as well as the punches and other impact sounds really kept me focused during battles and fights. The music was composed by Lorne Balfe and produced by Hans Zimmer (yes, that Hans Zimmer). It is absolutely superb, alternating between styles: sometimes it’s mysterious and touching, other times rhythmic and full of energy or dramatic and sad. Although it is mostly instrumental, the soundtrack makes judicious use of chorus or chorus-like effects. It seems designed to help the player understand the characters more as well as enhance or highlight the emotions of a scene. And it works all the time!
This is an outstanding emotional story-telling game, much more akin to an interactive movie than anything else. I really bonded with the main character and walked away both filled and empty.
The bond and love I felt for Jodie, Aiden, Nathan and some other characters. I did not know (or I had forgotten?) I could feel that way for video game characters.

You know how sometimes you feel sad when you finish a book or TV series just because you won’t get to live more with the characters? Well this is how I felt when I finished playing Beyond: Two Souls.
While the story was solid for most of the game, it does contain potential plot holes as well as weird character motivations and the ending felt dubious to me. The whole Navajo chapter felt disjointed, superfluous and a bit tacky.
Yes! If you liked other games from Quantic Dream, if you like interactive movies or if you like storytelling games with deep emotional connection, you should buy and play this game. In my opinion, there’s no need to wait until the game is on sale.