A real story fireworks is practically a gift right now on Steam. For 2 euros, you get 12 hours of cinematic entertainment.
The Summer Sale 2025 is currently running on Steam, and this is the moment every year when gamers probably make the most poor decisions and once again increase their “Pile of Shame.” However, some titles and offers are just too tempting to pass up. Especially fans of gripping storylines can confidently strike this time – because for only 2 euros, a film-like game titled “Beyond: Two Souls” awaits.
What is Beyond: Two Souls about? Beyond: Two Souls tells the story of Jodie Holmes. Jodie is not like other girls, as she is connected to a strange “entity.” A supernatural being that she named “Aiden” obeys her commands and grants her nearly magical abilities. Thus, Jodie can seemingly move objects through telekinesis or have Aiden tell her what he sees – even if she is several meters away or behind a wall.
Due to these abilities, Jodie grows up under the care of scientists and is later also used by government organizations who want to leverage her and Aiden’s skills to obtain special information as a spy.
Interestingly, Beyond: Two Souls does not always tell this story in chronological order. Sometimes a chapter takes place during Jodie’s adulthood, other times you experience her in her childhood. Thus, the puzzle pieces come together piece by piece, and you learn more about the mysterious Aiden – and all the problems Jodie has with the scientists.
And then there are naturally the “monsters” that Aiden always warns Jodie about…
Typical of Quantic Dream’s games, Beyond: Two Souls is more of an interactive movie than an actual action-adventure. While there are indeed many passages where you can directly control Jodie and explore the environment, in most cases your path is relatively clearly defined and influenced by the decisions you make.
For motion capturing, a real star ensemble has been gathered. For Jodie, Elliot Page plays the role, and Willem Dafoe plays the scientist in the “father role.”
If you’re interested in the game, it’s on Steam for 2 euros on sale until July 10th. It currently holds 88% positive reviews. However, the use of a controller is highly recommended, as Quick-Time Events are simply easier to play with them.
Quick-Time Events and Tough Decisions
How does the gameplay work? The gameplay is a mix of exploration, puzzle-solving, and Quick-Time Events, in addition to making decisions. Sometimes you have to fight your way through a forest and try to shake off pursuers, other times you have to engage in direct combat. At another moment, you need to tactically use Aiden’s powers to steal secret documents from a safe without being detected. Then at another point, you, as young Jodie, visit a children’s birthday party and have to decide how much you want to reveal about your “special friend” – weighing what the consequences of that might be.
Your decisions influence the story, and depending on whether you can convince other characters in dialogues or gain the upper hand in combat scenes, the course of the story changes. Because in most cases, failing does not mean “Game Over” – but rather a different course of the story. You can expect up to 24 different endings – some similar, some drastically different.
Various difficulty levels determine how often you can “fail” within a scene.
By the way, Beyond: Two Souls can also be played cooperatively. In this case, one person controls Jodie and the other person controls Aiden. This creates an interesting dynamic because, for the Aiden player to have a turn, Jodie must actively relinquish control. Once Aiden finishes his actions, he must also consciously return control to Jodie.
This can lead to interesting moments where you, with Aiden or Jodie, might make decisions or take actions that the other person would probably not like…
If you don’t want that, you can, of course, play the game alone and take control of both characters yourself.
Who is the game worth it for? If you want to experience a really good story game with engaging narrative and interesting ideas – and can overlook minor weaknesses – Beyond: Two Souls is the right choice. And for the nearly ridiculous price of 1.99 €, you get an adventure in which you will spend at least 12 hours – if you are interested in all the endings and alternative possibilities, this time could well double.
If you enjoy this type of games, the “Quantic Dream Collection” bundle might also be worth it. It includes Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, for only 18 € – so story fans would have something to do for the whole month. By the way, I have been holding back a Beyond: Two Euro
-joke this whole time. Be proud of me.
