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Shopping day? Shopping day. Following the news that Tencent and SIE acquired 30% of FromSoftware, another Chinese conglomerate, NetEase, has announced that it has fully acquired French developer Quantic Dream �known for cinematic adventures such as Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human.

Holding company NetEase originally purchased a minority stake in Quantic Dream back in 2019, but has now taken full ownership of the company, which becomes NetEase's first European studio and will be used to spearhead NetEase's presence in the global market. Quantic Dream will continue to run independently, under the continued leadership of its current president, David Cage, and Chi?ef of Operations, Guill?aume de Fondaumière.

Quantic Dream, typified by its highly dramatic, quick-time-event laden adventures, has been under the microscope in recent years due to allegations of harboring a toxic work environment, with accusations of racism, sexism, and a culture of humiliation and bullying within its walls. These accusations led to a lawsuit in 2018, where a former employee sued the company for unfair dismissal. The case was dismissed by the Par?is Court of Appeals in 2021, with a jud?ge ruling that the plaintiff had already shown "tacit acceptance" of photoshopped images that were allegedly circulated throughout the QD offices.

"Quantic Dream reaffirms once again the values that the studio has always defended in its games and within the company, which are values of humanism, inclusiveness, and the right for individuals to express themselves uniquely," said de F??ondaumière of the appeal. "We will continue to defend them with the same passion and determination as always. Quantic Dream remains firmly committed to continuing to work with its employees to create a serene work environment conducive to the professional and personal development and fulfillment of everyone."

GamesIndustry.biz featured an interview with both Quantic Dream and NetEase today.

The post NetEase acquires Detroit: Become ?Human studio Quan?tic Dream appeared first on Destructoid.

Dustborn

It has been a while since we've heard anything from David Cage's studio, Quantic Dream. After Detroit: Become Human in 2018, t?he developer has mostly b?een silent apart from some PC ports of games that were previously PlayStation exclusives.

Now we know Quantic Dream's newest game, but not in a developer capacity. It's publishing an indie game that seems like it spiritually fits among everything in Cage's portfolio. Quantic Dream is publishing Dustborn, which is a story-driven adventure game that's set to c??ome to PC and consoles sometime next year.

There's a lot to process with Dustborn. Broadly speaking, it's a transcontinental roadtrip in 2030 where you play as a pregnant woman named Pax who's delivering a mysterious package. The world ??has sort of gone to hell after an event called "The Broadc??ast," which seems to have been a disinformation campaign that divided America. It's literally fake news that seems to have caused a civil war of sorts, and developer Red Thread Games says Pax and her friends need to survive via "manipulation, subterfuge, and force."

Got all that? David Cage's invo??lvement wouldn't make sense unless there was a lofty premise and a lot of promises to live up to.

Dustborn [Quantic Dream]

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In all their diaper-changing, table-laying, guitar-playing glory

Quantic Dream's Epic Game Store exclusivity deal is coming to an end. As such, cinematic pseudo-trilogy Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human will all be available to purchase on PC via Steam from June 18.

Originally released back in 2010, Heavy Rain is a murder-mystery thriller wherein the player controls a number of characters whose lives become intertwined by the common bond that unites them all: an at-large serial?? murderer known as The Origami Killer, who is leaving a trail of bodies around Philadelphia.

2013's Beyond: Two Souls is a psychic thriller starring Ellen Page and Willem Daf?oe. The former plays ??Jodie, a young woman with powerful and dangerous kinetic abilities. The player guides Jodie through numerous stages of her life as she attempts to carve out a semblance of normality for herself, chased down by shady governmental types who wish to harness her unasked-for powers.

Finally, 2018's Detroit: Become Human is a sci-fi anthology set in a near-future where androids have become commonplace within society. Again, players? step into the shoes of mult??iple characters, learning of their lives and loved ones, while dealing with the politics and prejudice of living as an "inhuman" within a human world.

All three titles feature 4K resolution and 60 frames-per-second gameplay. The Steam sto??re pages are live now, and a demo is available for each title if you want to get a test of Quant??ic Dream's quirky blend of point-and-click meets QTE gameplay.

Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human launch on Steam June 18. They are also available on Epic Games Store and PS4.

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The iconic 'guitar-playing' boss fight

Quantic Dreams' psychic thriller Beyond: Two Souls has been listed on the Steam database, (as spotted by @Nibellion), suggesting that the 2013 QTE-fest is preparing to move out of its Epic Game Store exclusivity deal and be ma??de available to purchase on Valve's digital storefront.

Beyond: Two Souls, the third release in David Cage's chin-stroking interactive adventure series, sees Ellen Page in the role of Jodie Holmes, a troubled young woman who can perform acts o?f psychic phenomena through her spirit guide, Aiden. Forced out of an ordinary life and into a series of hazardous, extraordinary situations, players guide Jodie as she attempts to carve a semblance of normality out for herself, while evading the sha??dy forces who wish to harness her amazing powers.

Originally released on PS3, Beyond: Two Souls, along with its brethren Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, have since been re-released on PS4 and PC via Epic Games Store. The PC port of Beyond: Two Souls launched on EGS July 27, so assuming that the exclusivity deal was for one-year, Jodie's adventure should, in theory, arrive on Steam soon after that. Incidentally, Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human launched on?? EGS June 24, so from a calendar standpoint these titles should arrive on the Steam platform first, if at all.

Beyond: Two Souls has been listed on Steam [VG247]

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'Gimme a hard copy of that...'

Limited Run Games has announced two more physical releases heading to its store in the near future. The new physical editions will be for Nightdive's upcoming remaster Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition and Quantic Dream's 2005 psychic mystery Fahrenheit (under its U.S. title Indigo Prophecy).

Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is a revamp of the classic 1997 PC release by Westwood Studios, which sees Rep-Detect ?agent Ray McCoy embroiled in a far-reaching mystery following a massacre at a pet store. The remaster is scheduled to launch later in 2020. The Limited Run release will be available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, with details to follow at a lat??er date.

Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy is an amnesiac ??mystery, packed to the brim with weird spiritual overtones. Players guide murder suspect Lucas Kane? through a snow-covered New York, as he tries to stay one step ahead of the law while uncovering the truth about his horrifying actions. The Limited Run edition will feature the 2016 PS4 port, and will be made available to pre-order on April 3 for a four-week period.

Both titles will be made available from the Limited Run Game online store.

Blade Runner / Indigo Prophecy physical editions [Gematsu]

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ANDROID

For today's contest, we're giving away PC copies of Detroit: Become Human!

Sometimes, I feel like I don't really need to say much. I like to do dramatic intros to these posts, but I don't think anyone can out-drama David Cage and the folks over at Quantic Dream. So I'm not e?ven gonna try!

We've got some PC copies of Detroit: Become Human to gi??ve away so you can live the drama of...becoming human...in Detroit. Huzzah! Read on for details, fellow androids.

Ok, so as previously stated there's lots of drama, because humans went ahead and made androids to do stuff for them. Like wash their cars and make them cotton candy and stuff. But of course the androids are like, nah, we don't wanna wash your car. ?So a bunch of stuff happens! And since it's a Quantic Dream game, you can be sure that tons of emotions will show up. It's inevitable, really. Here are some game features.

PLAY YOUR PART IN A GRIPPING NARRATIVE -- Enter a world where moral dilemmas and difficult decisions can turn android slaves into world-changing revolutionaries. Discover what it means to be human fr??om the perspective of an outsider -- and see the world through the eyes of a m?achine.

THEIR LIVES, YOUR CHOICES -- Shape an ambitious branching narrative, ?where your decisions not o??nly determine the fate of the three main characters, but that of the entire city of Detroit. How you control Kara, Connor and Markus can mean life or death - and if one of them pays the ultimate price, the story still continues...

COUNTLESS PATHS, COUNTLESS EN??DINGS -- Every decision you make, no matter how minute, affects the outcome of the story. No playthrough will be exactly the same: replay again and again to discover a totally different conclusion.

FULLY OPTIMIZED FOR PC -- Previously only available on PlayStation 4, Detroit: Become Human is brought to PC with stunning graphics, 4K resolution, 60 fps framerate and full integration of both mouse/keyboard and gamepad controls for the most complete Detroit: Become Human experience to date.

Will man ever learn to love machine?

Comment below answering this dire query to enter to win a copy of the game. How will man and machine come together to live in perfect harmony?? Can they? Will they? What does this future of man-on-machine love look like? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

We have five PC keys available, redeemable through the Epic Games Store. Winners will be drawn Wednesday, January 15. Make sure to comment using a Dtoid account with your current email address on file. Don't have an account? Sign up here to get your machine-lovin' on!

Detroit: Become Human is available now through the Epic Games Store. Hit up our sister site, PC Invasion, for more chances to win a copy!

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Real human being

It's neat to see promin??ent PlayStation games find their footing on PC.

Detroit: Become Human managed to pull in players who were curious about Quantic Dream's brand of storytelling but not enough to go through with Heavy Rain or Beyond: Two Souls, and soon, the studio's android-starring adventure will grow its base even more. The long-time-coming PC port of Detroit is following its predec?essors with a December 12, 2019 release on the ??Epic Games Store. It'll be $40.

How is Detroit? Here's a quick word from Chris, who found the sci-fi game flawed, but coherent:

"Detroit: Become Human, like most Quantic Dream games, is filled with muddled symbolism and a spark of hope amidst its most interest??ing universe yet," he wrote in his review of last year's PS4 version. "It doesn't have anything particularly new to say, but it delivers in terms of drama, to the point where I started a second playthrough shortly after my first seven-hour-ish run."

The game a?lso looks fantastic, a feat? that should be even more pronounced on PC.

I don't know how I've made it this long, but it's happened, just now, years later than it should have: the name Detroit: Become Human suddenly looks wonky as hell to me. I'm aware that it's been a strange title this whole time, but the true gravity of its strangeness was lost on me until right this moment when I said the words "Become Human??" out loud for the first time (???). Brains are weird.

Detroit: Become Human [Epic Games Store]

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Heavy Souls, Beyond: Two Rain

A few weeks ago we gave you kind folks a small taste of the raw EMOTION of Quantic Dream's games. Today, we're back with another round to let you into the strange, uncanny valley world that I'm pretty sure no other studios want to make, let alone would if they could.

We've got some bundles featuring PC copies of Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain so you can get your Dafoe and your JASON!!! on, right in the comfort of ??your home. Press X to Enter!

I'm going to give a trailer for each game and some press. So yeah read and watch and li?ste??n and love.

HEAVY RAIN: Play four different characters in this tension-soaked psychological thriller. Choose your next move carefully, as every decision may have dramatic outcomes. Spanning four days of mystery and suspense, the hunt is on for a murderer known only as "The Origami Killer" - named after his macabre calling card of leaving behind folded paper shapes at crime scenes. Each of the four characters follow their own ??leads, with their own motives. Directing their very actions, you have to prevent the killer from claiming a new victim. How this story ends is entirely up to you... This acclaimed game, previously only available on PlayStation consoles, is brought to PC with stunning visuals including 4K resolution, widescreen compatibility, and 60 FPS frame rate.

BEYOND: TWO SOULS: A unique psychological-action-thriller featuring A-list Hollywood performances from Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, Beyond: Two Souls takes players on a thrilling journey across the globe as they play out the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes. Born with a connection to a mysterious entity with incredible powers, Jodie is different. Players' actions will determine ?her fate as she faces extraordinary challenges, danger and heart-wrenching loss on a journey to discover the truth of who she is. Players will be able to experience the entire Beyond: Two Souls story, complete with "Advanced Experiments"?? downloadable content and featuring stunningly optimized visuals, including 4K resolution, widescreen 21:9 compatibility and 60 fps frame-rate. Jodie's story can be played in either cinematic or chronological order, and players can share the experience with a friend in local co-op mode.

Ok, so I haven't actually played Beyond, but I've owned it for like six years. Does that count? Who knows. Heavy Rain is a true classic, though. It's perfect in every way, except for all the ways it's not. You'll understand soon, my friend. Just ignore all the naysayers and?? roll with it. I mean, if you win it's free, anyway, so yeah.

??To enter to win, comment below telling us what happens when you press X. Will you pay your respects? W??ill you JASON!? I simply must know.

We have two bundles to give away; keys are redeemed through the Epic Games Store. Winners will be drawn on Wednesday, August 28. Don't have a Dtoid account? Press X to sign up and join in on the fun.

Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain are both available for PC now, exclusively through the Epic Games Store. Head over to PC Invasion for more chances to win!

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Dafriend or Dafoe?

I'm pretty sure this is the only current contest on the internet featuring Willem Dafoe, so come win a PC copy of Beyond: Two Souls.

For anyone who's been around here long enough, you'll remember the? days when you couldn't go two front page posts without being reminded of Willem Dafoe. It's been a while, but man those were crazy days. RIP ?Dafoetoid.

Let's resurrect that creepy-faced bastard from the dead, and give away some copies of Beyond: Two Souls, ??starring Dafoe, himself.?? Also Ellen Page. Can't forget her.

I'm going to copy and pa?ste some PR because otherwise I'd just keep talking about?? Willem Dafoe.

A unique psychological-action-thriller featuring A-list Hollywood performances from Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, Beyond: Two Souls takes players on a thrilling journey across the globe as they play out the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes. Bo??rn with a connection to a mysterious entity with incredible?? powers, Jodie is different. Players' actions will determine her fate as she faces extraordinary challenges, danger and heart-wrenching loss on a journey to discover the truth of who she is.

Players will be able to experience the entire Beyond: Two Souls sto?ry, complete with "Advanced Experiments" downloadable content and featuring stunningly optimized visuals, including 4K resolution, widescreen 21:9 compatibility and 60 fps frame-rate. Jodie's story can be played in either cinematic or chronological order, and players can share the exp??erience with a friend in local co-op mode.

4K Dafoe sounds....uh.......

To enter to win your copy, tell us what Willem Dafoe is doing right now. Imagine that creepy, large face of his staring at some?thing. Following something. Consuming something. What is it? What's happening? Why do I feel breathing down my neck? Dafoe is out there. Tell us about it.

We have three PC keys for the game to give away, redeemable from the Epic Games Store. Winners will be drawn Monday, August 5. Don't have a Dtoid account? Sign up here to creep out your fellow internet denizens.

Beyond: Two Souls is available for consoles and PC now. Dafoetoid lives!

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Roll out all those memes again

French video game developer Quantic Dream has announced demos and dates for the PC ports of their most recent releases: Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human, all of which will be made available ex?clusively on the Epic Games Store.

"Bringing our last three interactive dramas to the PC platform will enable new audiences to experience what Quantic Dream games are all about," said the?? company's co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumiere in a press release. "Through these demos, gamers will have the opportunity to look into the hard work and dedication we have put into the PC versions of our beloved titles. ??For those who have never played a Quantic Dream title, this will be a great opportunity to experience the unique nature of our games."

Noir mystery Heavy Rain will launch June 24, with a demo available May 24. Psychic tale Beyond: Two Souls will follow July 27, with a demo on June 22, while Robo-political drama Detroit: Become Human will be released sometime this Fall. The former titles will cost around $20, while Detroit is expected to sell for around $40.

Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human are all available now on PS4 as individual releases or compiled as the Quantic Dream Collection.

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More money, more emotions

Althoug?h it's e?asy to think of Quantic Dream as a Sony subsidiary (kind of like one might erroneously ponder Next Level Games and Nintendo), it's actually been a completely private company based out of Paris since 1997. That changes today.

NetEase and Quantic Dream have jointly announced this morning that the former? has acquired a "minority stake" in the latter, primarily for the purposes of "further[ing] the development and distribution of global online games." According to the duo. Quantic Dream will be able to operate independently under David Age and Guillaume de Fondaumière's leadership. Ethan Wang, VP of NetEase, notes that the deal allows them to secure "partners that compliment [NetEase] in the d??evelopment and creation of next generation games." It's all a bit vague, but Quantic Dream is no longer 100% independent and there is certainly room for NetEase to increase their pull as time goes on in the company.

The global ownership wars are well underway. Tencent fired the warning shots with aggressive investments in companies like Epic Games (yep, Tencent is poised to win big ?from the potentially huge burgeoning Epic Games store). NetEase has also thrown money at Bungie prior to their departure from Activision. Who knows where this will all go, but it'll be fascinating to watch in the next few years as those two battle it out.

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Press Triangle to celebrate

Studio Quantic Dream has proudly announced that their latest title, Detroit: Become Human, has passed the two million sales mark since i?ts initial release back in May of this year.

This statistic makes Detroit the fastest-selling title in David Cage's gaming catalogue, beating out previous releases Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. While some criticism has been lobbied toward Detroit for its eye-rolling cliches and thematic tropes, praise has also been given to its perfo??rmers, especi??ally actor Brian Dechart for his portrayal of android detective, Connor.

If you want to check out the interactive flick that is Detroit, then it is currently available as a part of the Quantic Dream Collection - along with Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls - for around $40. Detroit: Become Human is available now on PS4.

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Interactive movies unite for low price

If you get a kick out of the cinematic adventures of David Cage's stu??dio Quantic Dream, then a ?compilation of their last three releases has been made available to purchase today, in both physical and digital format.

The Quantic Dream Collection is comprised of three titles; 2010 murder-mystery Heavy Rain, 2013's psychic thriller Beyond: Two Souls and, from this year, the "What if robots... HAD HUMAN FEELINGS?" sci-fi title Detroit: Become Human. Missing from the collection is PS2/Xbox release Fahrenheit (or The Indigo Prophecy).

The set costs around $40, which isn't too bad considering Detroit is only about six months old. So if you fancy an adventure through some well-worn genre conventions and awkwardly animated digital sex scenes, then th??is com??pilation should satisfy.

Are you gonna pick this set up?:
Cross - Yes
Circle - No
Square - Put Down Dinner Plate Hard
Triangle - "We, The People..."

Quantic Dream Collection is available now on PS4.

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Upcoming GoalBall tournament puts EA in the premier league

Another shake-up in the UK Charts this week has seen Electronic Arts' FIFA 18 return to the number one slot again, no doubt amidst all the e?xcitement of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018 tournament, which kicks off (literally) in Russia this Summer.

Last week's debuting number one, Quantic Dreams' Detroit: Become Human, has shifted to second place, followed up be Sony's God of War and Ubisoft's Far Cry 5, which still refuses to go gently into that good night. Both Dark Souls Remastered and State of Decay 2 have also held fast in the Top Ten.

Retro-compilations Sega Mega Drive Classics and Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection made strong Top Ten debuts, while celebrations continue for the anniversary of Blizzard's online shooter Overwatch, retaining seventh place from last week. Elsewhere in the charts, MadMind's edgelord survival horror title Agony debuted at number 31, while Microsoft's pirate adventure Sea of Thieves made a leap back up the chart?s, going from number?? 28 all the way up to number 15.

I still think God of War is destined for another turn at the top before sales peak, tune in next week to find out whether games from 2017 (and even 1991) ??continue to outsell titles from this year.

U.K. video game sales chart w/e: June 2 2018
(Chart reflects in-store sales only)

1. FIFA 18 - Electronic Arts
2. Detroit: Become Human - Sony Computer Entertainment
3. Far Cry 5 - Ubisoft
4. God of War - Sony Computer Entertainment
5. Sega Mega Drive Classics - Sega
6. Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection - Capcom
7. Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition - Blizzard Entertainment
8. State of Decay 2 - Microsoft
9. Dark Souls Remastered - Bandai Namco Entertainment
10. Fallout 4 - Bethesda

U.K. video game charts [GFK Chart-Track]

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Boy reportedly pissed

The King has been dethroned. After a solid five weeks stood atop the UK Charts, Sony's open-world epic God of War has been usurped by the chin-stroking drama of Quantic Dream's sci-fi soap opera, Detroit: Become Human.

Kratos and Boy came under heavy attack this week from a glut of debuts, with Microsoft's survival sequel State of Decay 2 and long-awaited re-release Dark Souls Remastered snapping up the number two and number three slots, respe??ctively. Electronic ?Arts' FIFA '18 still holds fast at number four.

In another amazing move, Blizzard's arena-shooter Overwatch made an incredible leap from number 40 all the way up to number seven. This is ?no doubt thanks to the ongoing anniversary celebrations, which included a free weekend, and had retailers offering various discounts to celebrate the shooter's second birthday.

It's definitely been an interesting week, but I wouldn't count God of War down and out just yet. Tune in next week to see if David Ca?ge's glass casket of emotion can hold on to the premier position, which is a very hotly contested spot right now.

U.K. video game sales chart w/e: May 26 2018
(Chart reflects in-store sales only)

1. Detroit: Become Human - Sony Computer Entertainment
2. State of Decay 2 - Microsoft
3. Dark Souls Remastered - Bandai Namco Entertainment
4. FIFA 18 - Electronic Arts
5. God of War - Sony Computer Entertainment
6. Far Cry 5 - Ubisoft
7. Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition - Blizzard Entertainment
8. Destiny 2 - Activision
9. Fallout 4 - Bethesda
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Nintendo

U.K. video game charts [GFK Chart-Track]

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What if you already are?

Sony seems to have a thing for storybook adventure games. They hosted Until Dawn in 2015, and have been steadily supporting Quantic Dream for the past eight years with PlayStation exclusivity for Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.

Like everything Quantic Dream has ever made, that latter pair was met with a polarizing response, and Detroit: Become Human is poised to be more of the same.

Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony
Released: May 25, 2018
MSRP: $59.99

Detroit explores one of my favorite philosophical conundrums -- if you mold an artificial lifeform into the various parameters most people would consider human, does it have a soul? It's one step away from "do animals go to heaven," but I find the question fascinating, especially when it's backed up by decades of wondrous literature and recent contributions, such as the Channel 4 UK series HUM∀NS.

Yet, a lot of what Detroit offers is surface level exploration of this concept. David Cage, the game's director, is not a subtle man. Throughout the entire ?adventure the idea that androids are second class citizens smacks you across the face like a rolled up newspaper. In the first 10 sec?onds a presumed human is shouting at your player character "why didn't they send a real human?" belittling your stature as law enforcement, a not at all hidden authoritarian dig that isn't the last. You should also brace yourself for a few quotes directly from t-shirt slogans or historical movements.

I really wish Quantic Dream didn't always have to shove in a detective angle (Connor literally kneeling down, looking at blood, then tasting it to initiate a specimen protocol elicited an audible chuckle as I imagined the intro to CSI ?;-- there's even an "I'm too old for this" Harvey Bullock-esque partner and a no-nonsense Captain!), but it's handled better here compared to their previous efforts. Connor's calm demeanor and android origin is an interesting way to frame the investigations, and subsequently allows for the largest array of choices.

Detroit is actually the story of three people: Connor, the aforementioned cop, Kara, a housekeeper model android, and Markus, another robot who is a caregiver. You can sniff out the theme almost immediately: service. All three are put in a lesser position than their superiors, and are constantly dogged throughout. The catalyst behind the meta-narrative involves the sci-fi trope of the "android glitch," (called deviance) which causes man's creation to become sentient. Free will, facilitated by you, the player, is the crux of Detroit's entire soul.

Given what Detroit is trying to accomplish, I'd say I bought in halfway by the time the credits rolled. The setting is not only believable but captivating, and the gentle use of blue hues were soothing, but authoritative in their attempt to carve out ?an identity. The game nails it in the smaller moments, such as the childlike innocence of a girl calling a manufactured robot companion "a friend," before it has a chance to learn human behavior such as jealousy and loss and truly become free.

These sort of things make Detroit Quantic Dream's strongest world to date. Watching someone throw trash at a street-cleaning android while walking is something that takes seconds to witness (and you may not even experience it), but gets its point across more than the major heavy-handed moments; of which there are many (yep, there's even a "they took our jobs" movement). There's a decent amount of world-building too, conveyed through watching ancillary activities like television or just looking around at the environment. Androids also convey emotions to the player through on-screen text, which allows for rapid-fire intense situations that feel unique to Detroit. The mood is nearly always unsettling.

In terms of its three narratives Kara's story is the weakest, curbed by its flimsy opening. That's through no fault of actor Valorie Curry; but the script. Tackling domestic and substance abuse just isn't something Quantic Dream has the finesse to take on, especially when it's coupled by a cartoonish representation of their offenders. Oh, there's also a girl named Alice who reads and reflects portions of Alice in Wonderland. Like I said, not so subtle.

Markus on the other hand gets to take care of an artist straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (he's not complainin'). His tale, while occasionally as melodramati?c as the rest, is a little more heartwarming as he's constantly told how much potential he has by his owner, played to aplomb by famed film and voice actor Lance Henriksen. When he's pushed to his limit you feel for him more, as his baseline and his backstory is less of a caricature compared to Connor or Kara respectively.

Detroit is meant to be replayed, but like many adventure games the threads mostly lead to the same outcome, with a few exceptions for particularly riveting scenes, especially near the end. By examining an entire setting you'll uncover "beneficial" unlocks, like more potential dialogue options that could sway a situation in your favor. Quantic Dream ?can get away with occasional moments of wooden acting and uncanny valley visuals because it's a story that focuses on entities who aren't technically human, but even then it can grate. The more open environments can also feel like a tease, as smoke and mirror "no androids allowed" signs frequently curb exploration and keep you on a more beaten pointed path. I also encountered one glitch -- an NPC wouldn't let me pass and trapped me in a room. After a quick checkpoint cycle I was back in and only lost 30 seconds of progress.

Conversely, with the android motif it can also justify more gamey elements like a "chance of success" meter because these lifeforms have certain advantages that others don't, providing a loose justification for a built-in Batman HUD. Plus, during certain key moments, Detroit does sufficiently entice players to try scenarios? again to see how different they can become, especially the ones that rapidly swap p?oints of view and playable characters.

You'll accomplish various tasks in the narrative through walking and talking, interacting (which includes an Arkham style "reconstruction" system using your android vision), and most importantly: choosing dialogue and c?ourses of action. Without spoiling any particular events you might have the option to talk you way out of a jam or force your way out of it, sometimes with the use of items or insight you've acquired previously.

As an adventure game Detroit is more than competent, though it does awkwardly force in some relics of the past like analog stick rolling to interact with objects or motion-centric controller swinging. Having to navigate a deadzoned controller wobble to turn on a flashlight is a headache (I counted five times where I needed to pause the game to re-orient or reset my controller), and because you were no doubt wondering -- yes, Detroit does feature sparing QTEs, some of which use the aforementioned wonky motion (remember Sixaxis?). It balances these grating mechanics with clever DualShock 4 Touchpad swiping with in-universe tablets and such. The annoyances that Detroit has feel old ??fashioned, but aren't a complete dealbr?eaker.

Detroit: Become Human, like most Quantic Dream games, is filled with muddled symbolism and a spark of hope amidst its most interesting universe yet. It doesn't have anything particular new to say, but it delivers in terms of drama, to the point where I started a sec?ond playthrough shortly after my first seven hour-ish run. It's flawed, but coherent, which is an upgrade.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Quantic Dream's most branching story ever

Quantic Dream's next branching narrative title, Detroit: Become Human, launches this Friday (May 25). To celebrate, Sony has uploaded the launch trailer for the game. We get a look at each playable character in the game and get a quick summary of what their motivations are. Despite not explaining all too much, it does give us a nice look at the graphical engine and it certainly looks great. I hear the game is a real treat on PS4 Pro, t??hough even base PS4's provide a full HD output.

Detroit: Become Human – Launch Trailer | PS4 [YouTube]

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Don't forget to save the fish

Quantic Dream have announced that their dramatic RPG, Detroit: Become Human, has gone gold and is ready for mass production. Tomorrow ??will see a demo of the cyber-soap oper??a land on PS4, allowing players a chance to check out the game's storyline and mechanics.

The demo will feature an early scenario from the game, Hostage. This scene, which I reported on back in October, feat?ures android detective Connor, who is called to a situation involving a shooting at a family res?idence. Connor must work quickly to piece together all the information in can find at the crime scene, before confronting the killer in an intense stand-off.

Quantic Dream have also released an Amazon Alexa "CyberLife"?? app, which can be used in conjunction with the demo (and the game itself). This will allow players to ask questions about characters and scena?rios, and even works as an FAQ system for discovering the game's branching paths.

Detroit: Become Human launches on PS4 on May 25.

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Fahrenheit rising

A few months back, reports started coming out that developer Quantic Dream, known for titles Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit, had allegedly been running a fairly toxic workplace. There were claims from former employees of sexist and racist jokes being thrown around the studio as well as a pretty disgusting report about employees' heads being photoshopped onto naked bodies. It made the studio seem like a real hellscape and founder David Cage's response didn't really help matters. His "judge me by my work" retort made no sense in the context of the reports and mostly s??eemed to ignore the allegations against his studio.

It seems Quantic Dream wasn't just sitting idly by while these claims started circulating through various channels. According to a report on Kotaku, the company is now suing two French media outlets -- website Mediapart and newspaper Le Monde -- over their reports on the allegations. Kotaku writer Cecilia D’Anastasio discovered this information during an interview with Cage, where the founde??r bluntly stated, "we're suing their journalists."

Canard PC, o??ne of the other outlets that broke news about Quantic Dream, is not being sued. While the outlet received threatening letters before and a??fter their story went live, nothing yet has come from those messages. Publishing director for the site, Ivan Gaudé, told Kotaku the two sites being sued will now have to prove to the judge that their outlets used appropriate caution when reporting the story and had reached out to all parties involved in an attempt to offer their perspectives.

Detroit Developer Quantic Dream Sues French Media Over Articles On Toxic Work?? Conditions [Kotaku]

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We are the robots

Sony have released three new trailers ahead of the release of Quantic Dream's moralistic cyber-story Detroit Become Human. Each of the trailers presents us with on of the andro?id protagonists players will control in the shifting-narrati??ve adventure.

First up is Connor - RK800. Connor is designed to assist detectives at crime scenes to establish cause and effect of events using a sophisticated reconstruction device and a variety of in built forensic tests. Connor is the Detroit lead known most famously for taking part in the world's easiest hostage negotiation atop an apartment building.

The next trailer features Kara - RK200. Kara's model was created by ??CyberLife as a household help, performing chores around the home and babysitting your squawking kids. We all know Kara from the infamous domestic violence scene, which you shouldn't ask creator David Cage about because you wouldn't ask a film director the same question, or something.

The final video features Markus from the RK200 series. Markus is one of the lesser-advertised characters ??in the? game, but could turn out to be the most important. Owned by celebrated artist Carl Manfred, Markus is taught in the ways of the arts, passion, love and humanity, all of which will help guide him to growth and, ultimately, revolution.

Detroit Become Human launches May 25 on PS4

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David Cage's latest film

Wacky wild man David Cage, who has designed a lot of his previous characters as robots, is l?aunching his robot game on May 25.

We've seen a lot of Detroit Become Human over the past few years, a title that David Cage himself calls "Quantic Dream's most ambitious title to date" and "the most bending game we have ever made." As previously announced it'll tell the story of three androids -- Connor, Kara, and Markus -- and e?ach story is, according to Cage, "almost as unique as your DNA." Welp, with Molyneux out of the spotlight someone had to take over with lofty sales pitches.

Like the androids in Detroit it's hard to feel anything at the moment given how wildly inconsistent Cage is. All I can muster at the moment is -- this game took so long that there are now multiple seasons of the similarly themed Humans to watch instead.

Detroit: Become Human Launches May 25 [PlayStation Blog]

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Kara makes a comeback

Say what you will about David Cage, but Detroit Become Human looks relatively interesting. I think its a good move on his part to make the main cast actual androids, considering the performances and motion capture from his previous titles were robotic. I jest, but this latest trailer for Detroit was really intense.

I think its cool to see that Kara, the tech demo for Cage's PS4 engine, makes an appearance in Detroit. I know this was already known, but its still a nice gesture to pay homage to the development of the game. We didn't get an exact look at the different choices you'll be able to make or if Kara's story will fit into the larger narrative of the Detroit, but this game is definitely going to lean heavily into themes of humanity and domestic? abuse.

The post Detroit Become Human looks suitably dramatic appeared first on Destructoid.

What if a robot HAD HUMAN FEELINGS?

"Hello. Welcome to Detroit..."

It was a warm and friendly voice, but it was coming from a young woman with a hollow, vacant face, stood in a pose like she was at one with the universe, yet ready to pounce into action at a second's notice. This was the "android" managing the queue for the booth set up to showcase David Cage's latest, Detroit: Become Human.

As she welcomed each attendee to the queue, I watched as they responded ??to her, but were immediately perturbed by her thousand-yard stare and empty stance as she slowly scanned the surroun??dings. She blocked off the queue when it became full, turning away further attendees with a polite message, but mostly unresponsive to their further questions.

Without a doubt, Android Girl was my favourite part of the EGX weekend, I never saw her out-of-character, she was unshakeable in the face of people staring at her, and she rolled out that act, all day, for four str?aight days (includin??g, I later found out, her birthday.)

Detroit: Become Human is the latest in the line of David Cage's interactive movies, all of which seemingly re-tread the same path: a story told a hundred times before, the illusion of choice, life-or-death decision making, QTEs, and terrible sex scenes. Detroit is a tale of three androids, all of varying levels of sentience, who interact in a Sliding Doors-esque story s??et in the not-too-distant future. The characters will learn about themselves, their world, and the prejudices held against them by the human populace.

The demo featured robo-cop Connor, arriving at a murder scene that has become a hostage situation. A servant android has killed his master, taken the family daughter at gunpoint, and is perched on the precipice of the building, panicked and frenzied. Exiting the lift, I walked Connor through the apartment, which was teemin?g with armed police. The child's frantic mother immediately lost it at the realisation that an android had been sent ?to save the day, rather than a human.

Connor gathered evidence to piece together what had happened in the murder, picking up clues that would help in the upcoming hostage negotiation. I spoke with the police, including a by-the-numbers "??Badass Captain" who was doing the whole "Now you listen to me, Ah don't like androids" schtick.

This sequence is, for all intents and purposes, the player simply walking ov??er to everything that they can click on, then clicking on it, whilst wrestling with an unruly third-person camera. As you gather the items, y??ou have a percentage gauge literally displaying the likelihood of achieving a positive outcome.

The other major mechanic on display was the crime recreation mode, which is identical to the same mode from Arkham: Origins. Once you find all the evidence, you get a wireframe, recreation of the crime to scroll backward and forward through in real-time, looking for dropped items, impact damage and other points of interest. It isn't similar to the Arkham: Origins system, it's identical.

I was concerned that I might be running out of d?emo time, and wanted to get to the negotiation. So, despite having a 48% chance of success, I made my way out onto the balcony to confront the killer. Here, Connor exchanged words with the "faulty" android, whilst I leaned slowly on the thumb-stick to carefully approach the suspect. I was convinced I was going to see this kid die, after all, I had such a low success percentage.

I wa??s amazed when, after choosing three obvious "nice guy" options, the girl was saved. For all the evidence I had missed, for the mistakes I had made, and for my inexperience with the game, I saved the girl?? with the absolute minimum of effort (though the android himself got blown away by Five-O, despite my promise of his safety.)

Connor exited the? scene like a total badass, a?? child rescued, a mother placated, a flopping fish returned to it's aquarium, a job well done. Suck on that, Captain Angry.

There were elements that drew me into Detroit in this demo. The visuals were great, facial animation in particular has taken a step up from Quantic Dream's previous games. I also really dug the intense sound and movie-style music, with a random gunshot actually making me physically jump. For all the one-dimensional nature of the dialogue an?d script, I genuinely cared about the outcome of the event.

It does however, seem like "just another" Quantic Dream title. The script is trite, hackneyed and obvious. I knew before I met the Captain?? exactly what his mannerisms would be, I also knew that the cops would shoot the android despite me promising his safety, AND that the mother would be outra??ged that the police had sent in a bot. Cage's writing remains "That straight-to-video movie" you've seen time and again, tropes, characters and dialogue intact. At least the acting seemed fairly on-point.

The illusion of choice is in full effect. Destructoid's own Cory Arnold managed to get the child killed, but only by specifically not making any choices during the balcony showdown. I wouldn't be surprised if we h??ave another "Ten thousand paths, two outcomes" situation on our hands with Cage?'s new baby, as if we were expecting otherwise.

I am somewhat interested in the story Detroit: Become Human has to tell, and I think in terms of facial motion-capture, sound and voice acting, the new game takes a stride forward from its predecessors. But overall very little seems to have changed, or been learned, from Beyond, Heavy Rain, or even Farenheit.  Cage is convinced in his stylistic choices, clearly committed to a format as robotic as Detroit's inhabitants.

Upon leaving the booth I passed Android Girl again, whose inability to smile, commitment to the role and hollow outlook had made me oddly enamoured with her.
"I don't know who your masters are," ?I told her. "But humans are kinda shitty,?? so you should probably just overthrow them, y'know? take the planet for yourselves?" She turned her head slowly, and stared right through me with captivating, but completely lifeless eyes. "...Thank-you."

So yeah, I may have doomed us all.

Detroit: Become Human launches on PS4 in 2018

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'Stay away,' is what I'd go with

While fanboys and fangirls may have no filter when it comes to insulting their opposition, usually professional or official Twitter accounts have some form of decorum for poking fun at their competition. I guess whomever is running the account for David Cage's next "masterpiece," Detroit Become Human, failed basic PR classes.

I have no idea how this got by anyone.

In the now removed tweet, yo??u can see that clearly someone over at Quantic Dream isn't exactly a fan of Microsoft or Xbox. They also seem to just outright dislike fans of Xbox, which could have a pretty big crossover with people who own PS4's.

I mean, I can come ??up with a few witty retorts to that post. The f??irst one that pops to my mind is, "Xbox One is better without David Cage," but the fact that this tweet somehow made it through marketing is dazzling. It isn't the most blatantly offensive sentence, but to insult people for deciding to go with a different console is like some '90s era commercial schlock.

Sega basically did the same thing with the "Nintendon't" campaign, but we've come a long way from succumbing to schoolyard name calling. Sega also didn't insult people who owned Nintendo products, so there is that. This tweet, though, does nothing to address how Sony has a range of different exclusives not available on Xbox and vice versa. It doesn't bring up the hardware of its specific platform or any kind of benefits. Th??is is more like tooting your own horn before even seeing if you're worth a damn.

Personally, I haven't enjoyed a David Cage game in quite some time. I was big into Fahrenheit in high school, but I was also an angsty teen that listened to shitty music by bands like Seether and Fuel. Cage's ridiculous melodrama and asinine plot twists worked for me because it was yearning to be taken seriously b?y a crowd that rejected it (namely film ?critics).

As I've gotten older, I've learned that you don't need to i??mpress anyone with the things you like. You can listen to whatever you want and no o??ne really cares. Well, some people will care, but they aren't worth your time. You can enjoy something that is "bad" or less popular for reasons beyond trying to look edgy or being "unique"

For artists, if you craft something that is worth telling, most people will find it interesting and even naysayers will admit to the good points of your work. David Cage seems to have gotten lost up his own ass, and his work has become increasingly self-indulgent. One need look no further than Heavy Rain to see a story that has no logic and relies far too heavily on a nonsensical twist to shock players into enjoying the game. Even so, Heavy Rain has its fans and that is fine and dandy.

So to whomever this may concern over at Quantic Dream and Sony, tell your people to stay respectful. You can secretly hate us all you want, but just reign that crap in. At least let us live with the illusion that you care about us, because opening?? the flood gates is going to do more harm than good.

Detroit: Become Human tweet swiftly removed after poking fun at Xbox [Eurogamer]

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E-mo-tion

In the Detroit: Become Human hands-off theater demo we were shown at E3 2017, we got to see some of the iconography that will define the android/human conflict at the heart of the game's story. The androids' much-lauded digital graffiti featured a single fist, raised to the sky in defiance. Some old-fashioned paint-based graffiti from the anti-android group depicted three raised fists, also raised to th??e sky in defiance.

Using a symbol traditionally associated with marginalized groups for both sides of a conflict is a curious design decision, which is why I was both relieved and concerned to hear that it was not actually a design decision. According to Detroit director David Cage, the iconography of the resistance can be defined by the player, so you could pick something different for your digital graffiti flag but not the human graffiti.

That's where the concern comes in – so much of Detroit: Become Human is racially coded that it becomes uncomfortable when two different grou?ps are fighting over a visual language that the story implies should belong to the androids. The androids keep referring to themselves as "slaves," and all androids must wear blue armbands to designate themselves as machines. When I asked Cage why the raised fists ??were an option for both sides, he declined to explain in the hopes of letting players form their own thoughts about the game. "I don't want to explain things, I just want people to play the game," Cage said. "We're not going to tell you what to think."

When I first saw the demo, I absolutely did not believe him. The hands-off demo showed android activist Markus and his newly freed android comrades ripping up a shopping center; with each violent action, Markus' morality meter continually ticked towards the red-hued "violent" end of the spectrum. I took that to mean the game was condemning violent actions, a la Infamous or the first Watch Dogs, but according to Cage, that's not the case.

"The game has all the shades of grey, it's a very complex situation," Cage said. "There is a scenario for mixed messages [in the game.] I tried to stay away from a good/evil binary." Cage didn't want Detroit to be a game that explicit??ly condemns violent protest, especially considering the debate surrounding the proper way to protest in 2017. "We need to be very respectful of real life situations," Cage said. "Can we create something that will resonate in our world?"

Here's the setup for Detroit: it's the late 2020s, androids are part of our daily lives, but some of them are starting to gain a manner of sentience. You play as three different characters – Connor, an android tasked with hunting other "deviant" androids; Markus, an android who has started feeling emotions and can pass that gift to other androids; and Kara, the android from the eponymous tech demo Quantic Dream showed off a few years back. If you've seen Blade Runner, or I, Robot, or Ex Machina, or I guess some parts of The Matrix trilogy, or Tron: Legacy, or Code Lyoko then you know the? score. Can androids really feel, what does it mean to be human, and all that bio-digital jazz.

Both the hands-off demo I saw and the hands-on demo I played later on (the hostage negotiation scene from last year's E3) felt schizophrenic. I didn't feel as many emotions as I suspect the game wanted me to feel, but I'm not going to lie to you and say I felt no emotions. The deviant android taking his family's d??aughter hostage is all the sadder when you realize he considered them to be close friends. The voice acting and dialogue was fine during the hostage negotiation, but both dipped significantly in quality during the shopping center scene. Both scenes also had some wild lip syncing, it looked like everyone was doing vocal warmups while delivering their lines.

The game plays like absolute garbáge too, with Connor moving like he had taken a couple rides in the Shatter Machine, if you know what I'm saying. My dude controls like he takes the "turn 360 degrees and walk away" joke very literally. Playing this guy feels like you're about to play some summer camp hide and seek & you've just spun around like 12 times with your nos??e on a baseball bat. Using the left stick to move this android feels like God is backse??at driving on your controller. It's not good, is what I'm saying.

Detroit occasionally sends players into their respective Mind Palace to analyze the situation and solve problems. This is where Detroit starts feeling more like an adventure game; I could see myself really getting into scene reconstruction in more complex scenarios, but that hinges on whether or not the game has a difficulty curve. It's "busywork" in that you'll spend a lot of time waiting for the ??game to catch up with your deduction, but it otherwise doesn't feel obtrusive or dull, which is the best you can ask from detective work in video games these days.

If you're just coming to Detroit to play a video game and walk away, you might be disappointed. Cage and his team clearly want to make you think, and maybe get you to feel a couple emotions along the way. But without seeing more of the game, it's unclear if Cage's historically uneven screenwriting can kee?p up with a topic that other writers have explored in the past – especially with the addition of racial undertones.

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Also, we're 'geeks'

David Cage has revealed more information about Quantic Dream’s new engine and detailed how the advancements are improving the cinematic storytelling in his latest game, Detroit: Become Human. 

In a video interview on the PlayStation Blog, Cage talks some more about Detroit: Become Human’s premise, which? takes places in the "near future" and examines the complex relationship between humans and advanced androids in a script? that has "thousands and thousands" of pages. 

"All our character are real people,"?? Cage says in the interview. "We do a casting session and we find the right actor for the role, then scan his face in 3D, scan his body, recreat??e his avatar, get him on set and performance capture, and record his performance."

"We wanted to push the limits with Detroit and have an engine that would offer us more features regarding cinematography ?in particular," Cage adds. "So, we wanted to work on realistic lighting, especially. So we re-developed an entirely new engine from scratch pretty much."

"We play with all this technology and player??s don't need to care about all this because it's just interesting for geeks and developers but actually we really enjoyed doing these things. We hope that players, even if they are not interested in the technology behind all this, will like the result on screen."

In our preview, we said: "I can't speak to where the mystery is going or what it will be like to 'become human,' but I will say that this specific scenario wi??th Connor worked for me. I bought into it, which is something I've struggled with for past Quantic Dream games. If the rest of Detroit can keep me?? engaged like this, I'll be a happy camper. "

Goodbye, children. :(

The post David Cage: ‘We wanted to push the limits with Detroit’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Not as a full remaster though

Developer Quantic Dream confirmed at E3 last night that Indigo Prophecy (also known as Fahrenheit) will be arriving on PS4 on July 18 for $14.99. The studio later clarified that this will ??be a "PS2 Classic on PS4," so no, it's not a full-on remake or remaster like some people have come to expect.

The funny thing about Indigo is that David Cage wanted to make a serious story, but failed so spectacularly as the compelling murder mystery setup eventually devolves into a Dragon Ball Z superhero saga. If you have an open mind and like anime, I highly recommend picking it up as it doesn't take itse?lf nearly as seriously as Cage's later games, when he realized he wanted to become a Hollywood director.

You can also grab it on PC for $9.99.

Quantic Dream [Twitter]

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Everywhere else gets one, though

Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain is getting a remaster on PlayStation 4 at the beginning of March. In all different regions, people have the option of picking up the Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls Collection, or just getti??ng the digital version. Well, except in North America.

According to a regional launch schedule that Quantic Dream posted on Facebook, there's no physical edition of Heavy Rain on PS4 in North America -- not even the collection?? that's be?ing released everywhere else.

The developer makes no mention of why this is the case. It could have to do with ??the added logistics of a French company distributing overseas. Or, maybe it's a necessity due to Internet infrastructure in some parts of those other regions. We just know the end result, not the how com??e.

The Heavy Rain remaster releases in North America on March 1. It was previously mentioned that people who bought Beyond: Two Souls' remaster would receive a discount on Heavy Rain, but that wasn't elaborated upon with today's news?.

Hea?vy Rain and the Heavy Rain & Beyond: Two Souls Colle??ction coming in March to PS4! [Facebook]

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It's pronounced A-DEN, Jodie, not I-DEN!

When Beyond: Two Souls released at the end of 2013, it epitomised not just the lofty ambitions of creator David Cage, but also the capability still lurking in?? the PlayStation 3’s ageing infrastructu??re.

But whilst it’s difficult not to be mesmerised by the state-of-the-art facial and motion capture and that ambitious, cine?matic storyline, as the credits rolled that first time around, I laid down my controller and felt nothing but a nagging sense of fulfillment. Despite the glossy polish and Hollywood glamour, it was as though Beyond: Two Souls was a richly painted optical illusion??, a beautiful but achingl?y - frustratingly - two-dimensional experience lacking any meaningful depth.

And now, it's on PS4 too.

Ellen Page and Willem ?Dafoe lead an otherwise unremarkable cast in the tale of Jodie Holmes, a seemingly ordinarily girl blessed - or cursed, depending upon your viewpoint - with an extraordinary secret. Abandoned by her adoptive parents (all the hallmarks of a superhero origins tale, I know) and essentially brought up by Dr. Dawkins, her parent-by-proxy at the paranormal agency at which she lives, Jodie’s tale is at once both a Teenager Simulator and an episode of the X-Files, her life inevitably dictated by the fiercely protective entity, Aiden, in?explicably linked to her.

?The story unfolds as we step into non-sequential chapters of Jodie’s life, watching - and occasionally orchestrating - the girl’s passage from child, to teen, to woman. The vignettes focus on the key moments of her life that shape both her growth and her relationship with Aiden, but also? those rites of passages familiar to all of us who’ve rebelled (if unsuccessfully) growing up.  

While Page’s portrayal of protagonist Jodie Holmes is perfectly fitting in a perfunctory kind of way, her story fails to resonate fully, possibly beca?use the choppy, Lost-esque out-of-sequence storytelling me?ans you rarely grow with her, your time together boxed into disparate adult/child/adult/child again chapters that feel oddly insular. 

There&rsqu??o;s also very little consequence to the decisions you directly influence. Regardless of what you choose to do - or don’t do - to your emot?ionally-frozen father or those assholes in the bar, the story marches on regardless, with only a handful of actions having a meaningful impact on the story before you. 

It&r??squo;s here where we welcome one of the PlayStation 4 version’s new, and most requested, features. If you were put off by the original game’s pick ‘n’ mix story delivery you c?an now choose to explore Jodie’s tale in the full chronological order. While the original time-jumping version is (naturally) still available, it offers a fresh take to those who who’d like to take an alternative - and perhaps more comprehensible - route to the game’s finale. 

_{[Image courtesy of Digital Foundry]}

The original PlayStation 3 game occasionally spluttered with the weight of Quantic Dream’s boundary-pushing, but the PS4 remaster performs sweetly. Sony are keen to ensure we know about the 1080p rescale and enhanced graphics - which include motion blur, bloom, field of depth and boosts to the game&rs??quo;s celebrated lighting/shadowing effects - are what sit at th??e heart of this remaster, and to be honest, the game delivers here in every sense. 

Whereas the PS3 version occasiona??lly hiccuped with visual noise and juttery transition, for the most part, the PlayStation 4 version handles the strain with little discomfort. Two years ago there was little we could critique about the graphics (come on, it looked amazing on a near-end-of-life console) and now, able to compare the new with the old, we can see the tangible improvements. The lighting looks and feels organic, with the corresponding shadows smoother and more blended. Most marked perhaps is t??he introduction of camera-sensitive field-of-depth lens, a tool that naturally softens the fore- and backgrounds with beautiful results, albeit occasionally at the cost of sharpness. 

Though it does run at 1080p, PlayStation 4’s version of Beyond hits that marker by compromising on your ratio, presenting a 1920x817 resolution with a cinematic framing. While the assets are left mostly untouched and recycled from the PS3 version, in some places - such as the Embassy, for instance - a side-by-side comparison (thanks, Digital Foundry!) shows that though most PS3 assets?? have been recycled, in some instances the graphics have been replaced or improved, with wallpaper and flooring textures in particular? benefiting from the refresh. 

As you might expect, however, the things that might have frustrated us the first time ar??ound - Aiden’s cumbersome control scheme, for instance, or the spoon-fed narrative waypoints - remain untouched.

I didn’t enjoy my time operating as Aiden in 2??013, and nothing’s changed. Aiden can now (kind of) communicate with you via the speaker in your controller, but if it’s designed to heighten immersion, for me it simply achieves the opposite. And once again, the possibilities here - your natural curiosity to explore as Aiden, perhaps, or your desire to take control of an undesirable - are curtailed. The pacing still feels mismatched and uneven, with some chapters whizzing pass in minutes, and others feeling like they’re been (unnecessarily) drawn out for hours ... particularly as the gameplay’s irregular prompts are sometimes painfully overt, whereas in others they’re frustratingly absent. 

Also new, besides the spiffy graphics and all, is the Telltale-esque stats page at the end of each chapter. Though some may flinch at the spoilerific alternative story branches that hint at opportunities you may not have known was possible, for me, it gave a tantalising glimpse at the alter?natives, and offers huge temptation to jump back in and replay alternati??ve routes… as well as ascertain what were the popular - and not so popular - decisions taken by other players facing the same dilemmas.

Whilst the things that bugged me before still annoy me, I wasn’t sorry that I replayed Beyond: Two Souls. Regardless of the execution, Beyond remains an ambitious project, and I’m all for developing playstyles that deviate from what what’s become the norm, particularly if doing so attracts h??itherto “non-gamers” to our beloved pasttime. Quantic Dream’s stunning visuals and engaging narrative mean the?? game just falls on the right side of boring - it’s just the rehash of those QTEs and the curiously disjointed storytelling that frustrates, not the tale nor the presentation itself.  

If you enjoyed it on the PlayStation 3 and relish the chance to revisit Jodie's story, now boosted by enhanced visuals and the new Experiments expansion - as well as the chance to live Jodie's life chronologically - then you won't be disappointed. But if you intentionally side-stepped Beyond: Two Souls the first time around, there’s probably little here that will tempt yo??u back... particularly if you like your storytelling charged with meaningful agency.

For those who missed out last generation and remain intrigued by Quantic Dream’s unique and ambitious game? I can’t say it isn’t pretty.? It’s just a shame that that’s all it is, really.  

The post Beyond: Two Sou?ls is very much the same ga??me on PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

Do it for Dafoe

If a "huge portion" of PlayStation 4 owners never played something as universally liked as The Last of Us, I wonder how many of them missed out on Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain.?? "Enough," I suppose. Both games are being remastered for ?the system.

Beyond ($29.99) is up first, on November 24, with updated graphics, improved controls for action sequences, the option to play missions in chronological order from the start, and the Enhanced Experiments DLC included. There's also that "see the decisions other players made" feature ?that has become something of a tradition in modern adventure gamin??g. I love that thing!

As for the Heavy Rain remaster, it's not out until March 1, 2016.

"[T]hose who purchase Beyond: Two Souls digitally will be entitled to download Heavy Rain on PS4 when it releases at a discount," says Quantic Dream. I'm more interested in Detroit, myself.

Beyond: Two Souls Coming ?to PS4 ??on Nov. 24th, Heavy Rain Out Next Year [PlayStation Blog]

The post PS4 gets Beyond: Two Souls next ?week, Heavy Rain in March appeared first on Destructoid.