Beyond: Two Souls is ’emotional journey’

Don't expect fun when playing Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls. Rather, the new PS3 exclusive, inspired by the shocking loss of a family member, will be more about the "emotional journey".

Revealed at E3, Beyond: Two Souls follows protagonist Jodie Holmes, played by Hollywood actress Ellen Page, as she grows and evolves over 15 years and discovers more about what's beyond our world. We saw a brief glimpse of it during Sony's presentation and have recently learned more about it throughout the recent weeks, but the game largely remains a mystery.

Speaking to EDGE, game director David Cage explained he wants to "create something different" with it.

"My goal is to surprise people, to give them something they want without knowing they want it," he said. "I want to create an emotional journey, a unique experience."

"I am not interested in giving them 'fun', I want to give them meaning; I don't want to challenge their thumbs, I want to challenge their minds," he explained.

Using cutting edge technology and a new game engine, Beyond: Two Souls will be able to capture Page's brilliant performance and remove what Cage describes as "the robotic aspect" of video game characters. Cage is hoping that captured raw emotion from Page coupled with a story that follows protagonist Jodie Holmes for over 15 years will lead to a deeper emotional bond with the character than in other games.

"Maybe this is irrelevant or just overly ambitious," he says. "Maybe this is not what most people out there actually want. But this is the goal I set myself with Beyond: to create something different."

Those are some lofty goals for the developer, but I think it's something the gaming community would like to see more of. I think if there is anything to take away from Journey, which just so happens to be another PS3 exclusive, it's that players are craving a good, emotional story more than anything now. The industry is filled withover-the-top, mindless shooters, but what we need more of are these emotional titles.